2012 Coke Zero 400

2012 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona
Race details
Race 18 of 36 in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2012 Coke Zero 400 program cover
2012 Coke Zero 400 program cover
Date July 7, 2012 (2012-July-07)
Official name Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona
Location Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643.27 km)
Weather Temperatures up to 96.1 °F (35.6 °C) with 0.47 inches (12 mm) of rain reported within 24 hours of the race; wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed 157.653 miles per hour (253.718 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Roush-Fenway Racing
Time 46.781
Most laps led
Driver Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing
Laps 89
Winner
No. 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing
Television in the United States
Network TNT (simulcast on TruTV)
Announcers Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty
Nielsen Ratings 5.449 million

The 2012 Coke Zero 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 7, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 160 laps, it was the eighteenth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing took his third win of the season, while Jeff Burton finished second and Matt Kenseth finished third.

This was the last race of Bill Elliott's 36-year career.

Report

Background

Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held.

Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. David Ragan is the defending race winner.

Before the race, Matt Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship with 633 points, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stood in second with 622. Jimmie Johnson was third in the Drivers' Championship with 610, two points ahead of Greg Biffle and thirty-four ahead of Denny Hamlin in fourth and fifth. Kevin Harvick, with 565, was eight points ahead of Clint Bowyer, as Martin Truex Jr. with 556 points, was eleven ahead of Tony Stewart and nineteen in front of Brad Keselowski. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 117 points, seventeen points ahead of Toyota. Ford, with 84 points, was eleven points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.

Practice and qualifying

Matt Kenseth (car shown) won the pole position

Two practice sessions were also held before the race on July 5, 2012. The first session was 80 minutes long, while the second was 85 minutes. Aric Almirola was quickest with a time of 44.563 seconds in the first session, 0.130 faster than Marcos Ambrose. Joey Logano was third quickest, followed by Ryan Newman, Biffle, and Jeff Gordon. A. J. Allmendinger was seventh, still within half of a second of Almirola's time. In the second and final practice session, Jamie McMurray was quickest with a time of 45.492 seconds. Michael Waltrip, with a time of 45.516, was second quickest, ahead of Kurt Busch, Travis Kvapil, and Almirola. Regan Smith, Ambrose, Carl Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., and Juan Pablo Montoya completed the first ten positions.

Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kenseth clinched the eighth pole position of his career, with time of 46.781 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Stewart. Newman qualified third, Kasey Kahne took fourth, and Biffle started fifth. Gordon, Bill Elliott, Casey Mears, Allmendinger and Keselowski rounded out the top ten. The driver that failed to qualify for the race was Robert Richardson Jr. Once the qualifying session had concluded, Kenseth stated, "The interesting thing about qualifying, at least for me today, was nobody had any idea what the pole was going to be or how fast anybody was. They lined qualifying up by first practice speeds, but that was drafting for everybody. So, you really didn't know what anybody was going to run. That's the same lap we ran during a mock-up qualifying run [Friday], so I was glad we were able to repeat that, but I didn't know what anybody else was going to run. It's kind of fun to watch, because you really have no idea."

Prior to the race

Tony Stewart was stripped of his second place starting spot after his car failed post-qualifying inspection. A. J. Allmendinger was suspended by NASCAR after failing a drug test. Penske Racing scrambled to get Sam Hornish Jr. in the #22 and had Kenny Wallace (who himself was on standby for expectant father Kevin Harvick after NASCAR would not approve Austin Dillon for Sprint Cup competition at Daytona) ready to step in if Hornish couldn't make it to Daytona on time. Michael McDowell got into the #98 Phil Parsons Racing entry that Mike Bliss qualified.

Race

Pole sitter Matt Kenseth lead the first lap of the race. Green flag pit stops began on lap 41 of the race. On lap 42, Kenseth gave the lead away to David Ragan to pit. Ragan soon pitted and Josh Wise took the lead followed by Martin Truex Jr. After everything cycled through, Greg Biffle was the new race leader. The first caution would fly on lap 81 of the race when Sam Hornish Jr. crashed on the backstretch. During pitstops, there was contact between Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Kasey Kahne after Newman made contact with Gordon as Newman was coming out of his pit stall and then made contact with Kahne which turned Newman around nearly making contact with Brad Keselowski. No one was hurt. Matt Kenseth won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 86. On lap 91, the second caution flew for a 6 car crash. It started when Aric Almirola made contact with Kurt Busch and sent Busch up into Trevor Bayne and sent both up into the wall. Behind them, Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya made contact while Bobby Labonte spun to avoid the wreck. The race would restart on lap 96. With 37 laps to go, Kyle Busch took the lead. While he was doing that, the first big one struck on the front stretch taking out 7 cars. Cars were coming down pit road when Jimmie Johnson got turned from behind by Michael Waltrip and spun and nailed the inside wall on the front stretch. Waltrip spun and collected Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Bill Elliott, Regan Smith, and Martin Truex Jr. Tony Stewart won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart with 30 laps to go.

Final laps

With 16 laps to go, the 4th caution flew when Brad Keselowski spun off of turn 2. The race restarted with 12 to go. With 9 to go, Matt Kenseth took the lead from Stewart. With 8 to go, the second big one struck on the front stretch near turn 1 collecting 14 cars. It started when Denny Hamlin got turned by Kyle Busch and Hamlin came up and collected Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Trevor Bayne, Marcos Ambrose, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Dave Blaney, David Gilliland, Casey Mears, Paul Menard, David Ragan, and Martin Truex Jr. The wreck would set up a two lap shootout. Kenseth took the lead on the restart and began to battle Stewart for the lead. On the last lap, Stewart lost his drafting partner Kasey Kahne but Stewart kept on going and took the lead from Kenseth. Kenseth tried to get to Stewart's outside but contact between Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle sent Biffle into Kevin Harvick and caused a 15 car crash that also collected Aric Almirola, Dave Blaney, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, Travis Kvapil, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Regan Smith, Carl Edwards, Paul Menard, Terry Labonte, and Jamie McMurray. It brought out the 6th and final caution of the race and Tony Stewart won the race. This would be Stewart's 4th and final Coke Zero 400 win of his career along with his 3rd and final win of 2012. Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 5 while Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Michael Waltrip, and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top 10.

Results

Qualifying

No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed Grid
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.781 192.386 1
14 Tony Stewart1 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 46.787 192.361 2
39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 46.789 192.353 3
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.804 192.291 4
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.841 192.139 5
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.860 192.061 6
50 Bill Elliott Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 46.872 192.012 7
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford 46.891 191.934 8
22 A. J. Allmendinger2 Penske Racing Dodge 46.901 191.894 9
2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 46.910 191.857 10
9 Marcos Ambrose4 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46.918 191.824 11
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.924 191.799 12
99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.946 191.710 13
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.953 191.681 14
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.978 191.579 15
21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 46.998 191.497 16
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.003 191.477 17
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47.054 191.270 18
56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 47.060 191.245 19
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.064 191.229 20
31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.097 191.095 21
98 Mike Bliss3 Phil Parsons Racing Ford 47.124 190.986 22
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.134 190.945 23
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 47.140 190.921 24
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.158 190.848 25
78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 47.190 190.718 26
30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Toyota 47.203 190.666 27
34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.215 190.617 28
55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 47.220 190.597 29
15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 47.230 190.557 30
1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.231 190.553 31
26 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.325 190.174 32
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.335 190.134 33
36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 47.339 190.118 34
32 Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford 47.357 190.046 35
51 Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 47.370 189.994 36
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 47.450 189.673 37
33 Stephen Leicht Circle Sport Racing Chevrolet 47.690 188.719 38
83 Landon Cassill BK Racing Toyota 47.699 188.683 39
10 David Reutimann Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 47.733 188.549 40
93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 47.888 187.939 41
47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 48.256 186.505 42
49 J. J. Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Racing Toyota 48.123 187.021 43
Failed to Qualify
23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Toyota 48.171 186.834
Sources:
Notes
^1  — Tony Stewart will have to start forty-second after his time and speed was disallowed because of an air hose violation found in post-qualifying inspection. Stewart was later docked six points for the infraction.
^2  — Sam Hornish Jr. replaced Allmendinger after he failed a drug test.
^3  — Michael McDowell raced in the car.
^4  — Marcos Ambrose started in the rear due to an unapproved change to the car under impound race rules.

Race results

Tony Stewart won the race.
Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points
1 42 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 47
2 20 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 42
3 1 17 Matt Kenseth Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 160 43
4 19 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160 40
5 3 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 160 39
6 13 99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 160 38
7 4 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 37
8 9 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 160 36
9 28 55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 160 0
10 41 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 160 34
11 39 10 David Reutimann Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 160 33
12 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 32
13 30 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 160 31
14 13 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 30
15 24 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 160 29
16 40 93 Travis Kvapil BK Racing Toyota 160 28
17 18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 160 28
18 7 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 160 27
19 17 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 160 25
20 34 32 Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford 160 0
21 4 16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 160 24
22 33 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 160 22
23 11 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 160 21
24 22 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 160 21
25 23 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 156 19
26 27 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 155 19
27 15 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 152 0
28 14 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 152 16
29 29 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 152 15
30 10 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 152 14
31 32 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 152 14
32 38 83 Landon Cassill BK Racing Toyota 151 12
33 8 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing Dodge 149 0
34 25 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 133 10
35 35 51 Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 132 9
36 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 124 8
37 6 50 Bill Elliott Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 123 7
38 31 26 Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford 47 7
39 26 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Toyota 25 5
40 43 49 J. J. Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Racing Toyota 16 4
41 36 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 10 0
42 37 33 Stephen Leicht Circle Sport Racing Chevrolet 4 2
43 21 98 Michael McDowell Phil Parsons Racing Ford 3 1

Standings after the race


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