Drivers in last-lap Daytona wreck talk about the incident
About a dozen stock cars crashed in the tri-oval near the finish line as they raced to the Coke Zero 400 checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway. Since the race was officially over, NASCAR didn’t provide a list of drivers involved. Here are some of the comments from drivers caught in the middle of the spectacular and frightening incident.
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 CHEVY:
“Well, a green-white-checkered finish is always exciting. (Dale Earnhardt) Junior and I had a good run through the middle and then up high around (Turn) 4. And I just watched the replay. It felt like I ran just along the wall but it could have been me that came down in front of the No. 38 (David Gilliland). It definitely wasn’t what I was trying to do at all. I was just following the No. 88 (Earnhardt). So, if that’s what happened, then I definitely apologize. I lost spots doing it.”
DAVID GILLILAND, NO. 38 FORD:
“We’re happy, but a little disappointed. We were there. We were definitely in contention there at the end and had a good run on the last lap coming off Turn 2, so I felt like we were in contention to win right there, for sure. Kurt (Busch) and I had a good run on the outside and came up a little short because we ran out of help. But I’m proud of our effort. I’m happy, and overall it was a good day for us.”
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., NO. 17 FORD:
“I had one to the inside of me. I thought I was gonna get shuffled back to about 15th there, and I saw the No. 88 form a line up top in the mirror and I saw the No. 10 was with him and had some good cars pushing him, so I thought they were all gonna get by me. Then all of a sudden a few of them got turned down the race track, and I think the No. 10 got spun right in front of me and then all of a sudden we ended up across the finish line and nobody was in front of us, so it was a crazy finish. I thought the racing was a lot better this go-around compared to the 500. It seemed like everybody was racing really hard and a lot of side-by-side racing, which these fans deserve to see, and I’m just excited about our top 10.”