Coke Zero 400

Hello Angels,

In February, David Ragan changed lanes on the final restart of the Daytona 500 before crossing the start/finish line. The end result was a drive-through pit-lane penalty and a guaranteed loss of the biggest race in NASCAR.

Fast Forward about four-and-a-half months and Ragan found himself leading the race on the last restart of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 race at Daytona International Raceway again. This time Ragan took the inside lane with his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, directly behind him and there wasn’t a need to change lanes as the previously winless Sprint Cup driver went on to win his first race of his Sprint Cup career and became the third driver this year to win their first Sprint Cup victory.

Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 looked like it was going to be a crash fest early on when the Daytona 500 winner, Trevor Bayne, got turned into the wall with only five laps in the books. Shortly thereafter, Carl Edwards crashed and then things started settling down with three, long, green-flag runs. It wasn’t until about 20 laps to go that the fireworks really started going off with cars crashing left and right. With the two-car Tango happening all evening, drivers kept their cool and their partners, but once the fireworks started going off, the “Big One” crash was bound to happen – and it did only after Jeff Gordon spun to bring out the first attempt at a Green-White-Checkered finish.

Gordon and his Hendricks Racing Team teammate, Mark Martin, had worked together the entire night and until Gordon’s spin with two laps remaining, the two were inseparable. Gordon’s car received significant right-quarter panel damage, but he was able to continue in the race after changing four tires. With Gordon starting in the back of the pack, Martin was attempting to team up with Joey Logano on the restart. Unfortunately Martin thought he had Logano cleared, but misjudged by a couple of inches and Logano sent Martin spinning into the wall to start the first of not only one, but two Big One crashes.

After the clean-up was complete, Ragan brought the field to green, and they all made it to the white-flag lap when there were two completely separate crashes that happened simultaneous to each other – one two or three car incident at the back of the pack and then the “Big One” that happened about seventh place on back.  Too many cars were involved and NASCAR  officials will be going through the film and racing loops to determine exactly where everyone finished.

Congratulations to Ragan on his first win.

For us Angels, the combined teams’ 19.33 average finish tells the tale of how our drivers completed the race for our individual teams.

Mr. X, you earned this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS TOP ANGEL AWARD with your 13.2 average finish. Three of your drivers – Ragan, Gordon and Kevin Harvick finished in the top 10 with Ragan of course winning. Gordon somehow managed to miss the remaining carnage and came home with a sixth-place finish. Harvick finished one-spot behind Gordon. Brad Keselowski dumped Bayne early in the race and paid the price with no one willing to work with Keselowski. In the end Greg Biffle did and Keselowski finished 15th. Edwards finished 37th after his early-race crash. For the record, Biffle was pushing Edwards when the latter went spinning through the infield concrete. Regardless, congratulations on your TAA this week.

On the flip side is CorWin who did anything but win this week – except this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD. The good news for you is that Gordon recovered from his late-race spin to finish sixth because all of your drivers were caught up in different crashes throughout the race. Marcos Ambrose finished 17th after he was caught up in the second Big One crash to end the race. Martin was involved in the first Big One crash, while Edwards and Bayne crashed out early to finish 37th and 41st respectfully. Your GCA earning average finish is a dismal 26.8. Much better luck next week!

Kris, you continue to do well and have now taken over the No. 2 Angels’ spot in the overall CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ standings. This week, your team earned you the CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD with your average finish of 13.8. Kasey Kahne finished fourth, Gordon finished sixth and Harvick finished seventh. Keselowski overcame his early-race demons to finish 15th, while Edwards was unable to recover from his early-race crash. He finished 37th.

Knox’Ville’, last week you earned the dubious honor of a not-so-pleasant award for keeping the same drivers on your team regardless of one of them not racing last week. There was a method to your madness I see now with your team earning you this week’s No. 3 Angels’ spot with their 14 even average finish. Kyle Busch and Gordon both crashed with two laps remaining, but both were able to continue – even with two green-white-checkered finish attempts. And they helped each other to finished fifth and sixth respectfully in doing so. Denny Hamlin finished 13th, while Johnson was the catalyst for the second-Big-One crash when he lost his drafting partner going towards the checkered flag. He went from a top-10 finish down to 20th place in the ensuing melee and dropped down in the overall Sprint Cup point standings as well. Landon Cassil had a great race, but a horrible 26th place finish to show for it after he too was caught up in the late-race melee.

For me, Gordon placed sixth and was my only driver with a top-10 finish this week. Tony Stewart finished 11th, while Ambrose finished 17th, Johnson finished 20th and Regan Smith, who was in the top-10 for most of the race, finished 24th after getting caught in the last-lap crash. My team’s average finish this week is 15.6.

Madison, for you, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne teamed up to be good pushers for Ragan and Joey Logano respectively. Because of this, Kenseth finished second and Kahne finished fourth. While Logano wasn’t on your team, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Hamlin, is. He finished 11th. David Reutimann crashed out of the race in 25th place, while Carl Edwards crashed early, but stayed in the race to finish 374th place. Your average finish is 16.2.

Kelly, we all knew it was only a matter of time that Ragan would win his first race of his cup career, we just didn’t know if he’d be able to do it at the same track that nearly five-months ago a mental error cost him the win at. Obviously, the nay-sayers were wrong and Ragan did exercise his demons and achieved redemption to earn his first victory. Harvick finished seventh, while Earnhardt got caught up in the last-lap crash and finished 18th. Smith finished 24th, while Martin finished 33rd. Your team’s average finish is 16.6.

Vivian, for you, Harvick was your team’s only driver to finish in the top-10 with his seventh place finish. Stewart finished 11th, while Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray finished 21st and 22nd respectively. Edwards rounds out your team with his 37th place finish. Your team’s average finish is 19.6.

Pete, you only had one driver make the top-10 and you made it count with it being Ragan and his first place finish. Earnhardt finished 18th, while Burton finished 21st. Martin and Clint Bowyer round out your team with their 33rd and 36th place finishes respectively. Your average finish is 21.8.

Candy Man, for you, Kahne was your only driver to finish in the top-10 with his fourth place finish. Biffle finished 19th, Burton finished 21st, while Martin and Edwards finished 33rd and 37th respectively. Your average finish is 22.8.

Evelyn, Gordon was your team’s best driver with his sixth place finish. Ambrose finished 17th and Earnhardt finished 18th, while Martin and Bayne finished 33rd and 41st respectfully. Your team’s average finish is 23 even.

Gibbons, your team didn’t have any driver crack the top-15. Earnhardt was your team’s top driver with his 18th place finish. Johnson, McMurray and Burton finished 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively, while Bowyer rounds out your team with his 36th place finish. Your team’s average finish is 23.4.

Julie, none of your teams drivers finished in the top-10 either and that reflected with your team’s 24.6 average finish this week. Stewart is your team’s top driver with his 11th place finish. David Gilliland finished 16th, while Earnhardt finished two spots behind him in 18th place. Edwards and Bayne round out your team with their 37th and 41st place finishes respectively.

Next week’s race is another Saturday night race under the lights with NASCAR Sprint Cup cars making their debut at Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see where you stack up against the other Angels after this Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 race at Daytona International Raceway.

Good luck next week Angels,

Charlie