You've heard Jeff Gordon say he doesn't
know how he can ever top his 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup season, right.
You know, that phenomenal year in which he won 13 races and his third
career Winston Cup championship. Sure, it's not going to be easy for Gordon
to do much better than that. Or is it?
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Gordon could have found no better way to start his 1999 campaign
than to win the Daytona 500 and that's exactly what he did. But, oh,
how he did it. Over the final 21 of the race's 200 laps around the 2.5
mile Daytona track, Gordon charged from 10th place, took the lead with
11 laps to go and held off Dale Earnhardt - the driver Gordon all but
idolizes and who won the 1998 Daytona 500 - in a thrilling finish.
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"People keep asking me how I'm going to top 1998
and I keep saying 'I don't think I can, 'I don't think I can,' said Gordon, who has now
won 43 times in 190 career starts. "Then something like this happens.
It's just awesome." It's more awesome than you might imagine. With the
victory, Gordon earned a whopping $2,172,246 which included the
$1 million Winston "No Bull 5" bonus. It marked the third time Gordon
has claimed the million bucks since 1998. Additionaly, Gordon became
the first driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole since
Bill Elliott did it in 1987.
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On lap 135, restrictor plate mayhem broke loose.
Jarrett was racing down the backstretch, caught in the middle of a
three-wide battle when Kenny Irwin's No. 28 Ford appeared to clip
him in the rear. Jarrett then lost control of his car and began spinning.
As the car slid back up the track, he was hit by Terry Labonte, causing
Jarrett's Ford to spin like a top. After being hit again and again,
it rolled onto it's roof and flipped over before coming to a stop
in the infield grass. By the time the wild collision was over,
a dozen cars sat damaged in turns three and four, including those driven
by Labonte, Mark, Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin, Geoffrey Bodine, Steve Park,
Rich Bickle, Ward Burton, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd.
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Though some were able to continue after
repairs, all but Ward Burton lost more than one lap and finished
30th or worse. According to those involved, the accident began when
Jarrett and Irwin collided. "The 28 wrecked the 88. That's all I
saw," Marlin said "He turned him around and he slid up, and there
wasn't anywhere for anybody to go. There was smoke, oil, everything."
Labonte said it appeared, however, that Jarrett may have been at fault.
"It looked like the 88 came down on the 28," Labonte said. "He(Irwin),
was trying to let him in and they ran out of room.
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Jarrett, who was uninjured, said he was
hit from behind, though he was unsure who did it. "They got a run
on me going into three and someone hit me in the left rear." Jarrett said.
"A couple of cars had passed me coming off two and down the backstretch.
I was the guy in the middle, and I was just trying to hold on there.
I don't know if somebody got on the apron and got into me, but they just got into the left rear...
I thought I was holding my spot, but I just got tagged."
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It was the kind of crash that is almost
inevitable in restrictor-plate races. "We'd run 100 laps and nothing
happened," Marlin said. "You figured it was going to happen."
"You're almost sitting there waiting," Jeff Burton said. You know it's
coming." "It's unfortunate, but any time we get cars bunched
up, things like that can happen," Jarrett said. "Just one mistake
and it took out a bunch of guys," Labonte said. "One little mistake
like that is a bad break for a lot of guys." And though it was a mistake,
somebody had to take the blame. Irwin, who finished a carer-high
third, just wished it would have never happened. "If I could have made
it not happen, I would have made it not happen," he said.
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But in the end, it was the Jeff and Dale
show. Earnhardt tried everything he could. He moved low on Gordon on the
backstretch, and he was blocked. He moved high and was blocked. Then,
coming out of the fourth turn, he moved as low on the track as he dared -
even giving Gordon a litle bump in the process - but to no avail. After the conclusion,
Earnhardt pulled alongside Gordon. "He gave me a little donut and then he waved,"
said Gordon, who took it all as a compliment. "He knows I did everything
I could to win the race."
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