Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Dillon scrambled to a seventh-place finish after he was demoted to 18th for not maintaining pace under the final caution of the race. The recovery enabled Dillon to stay ahead of Buescher in the standings.

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

Wallace had tears in his eyes when he climbed out of his truck in victory lane.

“I’m very emotional right now, because a lot of people doubt you,” Wallace said. “They doubt your ability. An opportunity like this just proves, ‘Hey, I can get it done. Give me something good to drive, and I can prove I can do it.’

“I’m numb. My son’s at home, my daughters … I wish they were all here. It is my wife (Carla) and my anniversary this weekend. It’s a cool anniversary.”

Wallace turned to his wife in victory lane.

“This is your exotic weekend, honey,” Wallace said.

Johnny Sauter’s championship aspirations suffered a major setback on Lap 35. He and ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton had dropped to the rear of the field to stay out of harm’s way early in the race, but the strategy backfired.

The two trucks crashed as they ran together in tandem, after Donnie Neuenberger’s Chevrolet blew a right-front tire in front of them. Sauter, who entered the race second in the standings and five points behind Dillon, lost two laps as his crew made repairs on pit road.

With a wave-around and a free pass, Sauter got back on the lead lap and finished 15th, lessening the damage to his title chances.

Notes: Buescher trails Dillon by three points with three races left in the season. Sauter is third in the standings, 14 points back of Dillon and two ahead of Hornaday in fourth. … The top two finishers are a combined 105 years old. Wallace is 52, Hornaday 53.

Danica Wows at Daytona

Danica Patrick raced her tail off and tried her best to get the win Friday night in the Subway Jalapeño 250.  Though she didn’t win the race, she proved that she belongs in the Nationwide series.

She started her GoDaddy.com Chevy in seventh place and finished in 10th place.  Patrick led many laps and worked well drafting with Tony Stewart and Aric Almirola.  However, on the last lap Mike Wallace attempted to block her and caused a multi-car pile up that resulted her 10th place finish.  Leave it to a veteran to cause “the big one” at Daytona.

Patrick handled the incident well and kept her cool.  “It looked like Mike Wallace was like a fish out of water at the end,” Patrick said. “He was high, he was low and then he was high into me. It was just a cluster.”

Although the No. 7 JR Motorsports team did not get the finish they hoped for, the team was very excited about how well they ran and the progress they achieved.  “Hopefully I earned people’s respect out there some more,” said Patrick. “That’s what it’s going to take – whether you’re a girl or a boy, or young or new, you’ve got to earn the respect of your peers. That’s what I try to do every weekend.”

She seems to have the drafting aspect of it down.  Now she has to work on her intermediate and short-track skills.  When she came into the sport she had no idea how to communicate with crew chief Tony Eury Jr in NASCAR lingo.  She is quickly picking that up, helping Eury Jr get the car to her liking.  The cars are getting faster and the results are getting better for this JRM team.  She still has a lot of learning to do, but I am very excited to see how she does in the future.  I hope she will soon make the switch full-time to NASCAR so we can have a competitive female racer in our sport.

Turner Motorsports Success

Turner Motorsports is taking the Nationwide Series by storm.  Following the Subway Jalapeño 250, they now have all three drivers in the top 5 in points.  Reed Sorenson is the series point leader with one win under his belt.  Justin Allgaier and Mark Martin have also each gotten a win for the team this year.  Turner Motorsports is now the team to beat.  Reed Sorenson, Justin Allgaier, and Jason Leffler all have a legitament chance to win the Nationwide title.  Not to mention, all three drivers finished in the top 5 at Daytona this weekend and ranked fastest on the restarts.

Sorenson also won the Nationwide $100,000 ”Dash for cash” reward, given to the highest finishing young gun in the race.  Don’t underestimate this team; they only get better every week!

Joey Logano Finally the Bride

Joey Logano finally became the bride at Daytona. Logano held off hard-charging Jason Leffler to get his first win of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.  He only led the last half mile of the last lap, but thankfully for him that’s all that counts.

Logano had help from his JGR teammate Kyle Busch to push him to the lead.  “Usually, I’m the guy that’s finished second – unfortunately — but this time I am the winner, so I’m pretty pumped up about that. This is a huge win for me for a lot of reasons,” Logano said.  I’m still not sure where Joey came from on that last restart, but congratulations to him on his long awaited win.

Another caution for a wreck set up a three-lap run to the finish. Ron Fellows took third from Brendan Gaughan. Villeneuve attempted to chase down Edwards. But, Villeneuve had body damage and a tire rub. He began to slip back with a mechanical issue. He finished 25th.

Top 5: Edwards, Fellows, Brendan Gaughan, Brad Keselowski and Owen Kelly.

Brad Coleman, JR Fitzpatrick, Jason Leffler, Steve Wallace, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Colin Braun (11th), Ron Hornaday (12th), Tayler Malsam (15th), Paul Menard (16th), Kenny Wallace (21st), Jacques Villeneuve (25th), Ricky Stenhouse (26th), and Justin Allgaier (35th).

An eleven-car pileup brought out the red flag on lap 29. The wreck started when Brian Scott got turned in the corner. It looked like Brendan Gaughan got into the back of him. Some cars slowed to avoid hitting him, stacking up the field.

Mike Bliss stopped to avoid hitting Michael McDowell and Alex Kennedy. Kennedy ended up in the kitty litter. Mike Wallace slowed to avoid hitting Bliss, while Tony Raines slowed to avoid hitting Wallace. Robb Brent slammed into Raines, who slammed into Wallace.

Then, Colin Braun made contact with Brent, turning him. Stanton Barrett turned to avoid them and ended up in the kitty litter. Kyle Kelley then hit Braun. The race was red-flagged for cleanup.

Keselowski was treated in the infield car center for excessive carbon monoxide levels. His level was said to be 13. The maximum allowable level to compete is 5. He underwent intense oxygen treatment, which brought his levels down right before the command to start engines.

Top 5: Keselowski, Logano, Kevin Harvick, Jason Keller, and John Borneman III.

Clint Bowyer, Tony Raines, Paul Menard, Brian Vickers, and Brian Scott finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Kenny Wallace (11th), Scott Wimmer (12th), Jamie McMurray (14th), Justin Allgaier (15th), Jeff Green (16th), Chrissy Wallace (24th), Steve Arpin (26th), Brendan Gaughan (27th), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (29th), Colin Braun (32nd), Kyle Busch (34th), Carl Edwards (35th), Joe Nemechek (36th), Steve Wallace (39th), Reed Sorenson (40th), Jason Leffler (41st), Mike Wallace (42nd), Michael Annett (43rd).

Carl Edwards was running in the lead pack when Ricky Stenhouse Jr got into him in the tri-oval, sending him spinning through the grass. Edwards spun up the track into Mike Wallace, who hit Reed Sorenson, sending him into the wall. Steve Wallace, Brendan Gaughan, Michael Annett, Jason Leffler, James Buescher, and Clint Bowyer were involved. 

Edwards made repairs and got back in the race. Later, however, he had a tire go down and he spun as the field passed him. He did not hit anything. He finished 35th.

Around lap 113, Colin Braun and Steve Arpin got together in the tri-oval which resulted in Braun hitting the wall and Arpin spinning to the inside. Several cars were involved including Kyle Busch.

On the green white checkered finish, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green with Jamie McMurray in second. On the final lap, McMurray with a push from Brian Vickers battled Harvick who was getting pushed by Clint Bowyer. Brad Keselowski moved to the outside making it three-wide, with a push from Joey Logano.

Bowyer ducked to the inside of Harvick for a second, but got right back in line. The move, killed his momentum and slowed Harvick a bit. Keselowski and Logano drove to the lead on the outside, with McMurray and Vickers in the middle.

As they entered turn 3, McMurray tried to dive in line between Harvick and Bowyer but there wasn’t enough room. He made contact with Bowyer and then spun in front of the field. McMurray spun into Vickers and Scott Wimmer. Wimmer hit Paul Menard who hit Dennis Setzer, sending him hard into the wall and the catchfence. His car climbed the wall. The front of the car caught the catchfence and spun on the top of the wall and burst into flames. Justin Allgaier then slid up the track and hit Setzer’s car. Brendan Gaughan also slid into the two cars.

The crash ended the race, as the leader had already taken the white flag. Keselowski earned the win. Everyone walked away from the wreck.

Kyle Busch held off a hard-charging Mark Martin to win the second Duel, meaning he will start the 500 fourth.

AJ Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield earned the two transfer spots available in the first race. Scott Riggs and Regan Smith raced their way into the show, earning the last two transfer spots.

Top 10 Starters: Martin Truex Jr, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin.

Did Not Qualify: Joe Nemechek, Boris Said, Brad Keselowski, Kirk Shelmerdine, Mike Wallace, Tony Raines, Mike Garvey, Derricke Cope, Mike Skinner, Kelly Bires, Carl Long, Geoff Bodine, and Norm Benning.

GEICO has sponsored Mike Wallace in the Nationwide series, but with Nationwide, a GEICO competitor, taking over, GEICO had to leave that series.

Mike Wallace will replace Carpentier in this weekend’s Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger will take over driving duties of the No. 10 GEM Dodge for the remaining races.

Mark McArdle, GEM VP and managing director of competition, said:

We certainly appreciate all the effort that Patrick Carpentier made for us this year. But our job is to put ourselves in a position to win races, plus we’re striving to get the No. 10 into the top 35 in [owner] points. We feel A.J. gives us the best chance to do both.

Being 338 points out of the top 35 does not bode well for the team. After this weekend’s race, Allmendinger will have five races to make up those points, which is highly unlikely.

Wallace said:

Running a car for Richard Childress Racing is incredibly exciting to me. I’m thrilled to death because it’s something that I have wanted to do my whole career and I couldn’t be happier than to do it with a fun sponsor like Team Realtree that has been around this sport for a long time makes it that much more satisfying.

Bowyer dominated much of the race, leading most of the laps until he lost the lead to Scott Wimmer on a pit stop. He retook the lead shortly after that only to lose the lead to Edwards when he wiggled on lap 223.

Top 5: Edwards, Wimmer, Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, and David Ragan.

Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, David Stremme, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Marcos Ambrose (13th), Mike Wallace (15th), Jason Keller (16th), Steve Wallace (17th), Brad Keselowski (21st), Jason Leffler (30th), and David Reutimann (34th).