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Daytona International speedway
EAS/GNC Live Well 300

Daytona International Speedway

EAS/GNC Live Well 300 Race Recap

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 16) -- Larry Foyt drove a great race in his No. 14 Harrah's Chevrolet to finish 15th in the EAS/GNC Live Well 300 Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored an emotional victory in the NASCAR Busch Series season opener driving the Richard Childress-owned No. 3 car, nearly a year after his father Dale was killed in a tragic accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

The race was delayed by rain for over two hours but once it got underway, Foyt quickly moved into the top 25 from his 36th starting position. However, the car's handling started to fade and so did Foyt's 21st place race position. A caution caused by Kerry Earnhardt's (Dale Jr.'s older brother) contact with the wall on lap 23 allowed the Harrah's team to pit and change all four tires and take out a round of wedge from the left rear to free up the car. The change loosened up the car and Foyt was able to race on the bottom of the track.

Nearly 10 laps later, Foyt was running just as fast as the cars in the top 10. He joined Kevin Lepage in the draft to pick up three spots and move into 18th position.

The caution flew again on lap 54 when rookie driver Johnny Sauter hit Mike McLaughlin's back bumper pushing him into Bobby Hamilton Jr. across the start/finish line. The Harrah's crew pulled off an impressive pit stop allowing Foyt, who'd been shuffled back to 22nd, to gain five positions and move into 17th.

Most of the field raced two-wide and put on a great show for the spectators until a seven-car pile-up up began when Christian Elder tagged the wall and collided with Ashton Lewis Jr. on lap 74. While the two were spinning down the track, they collected five other cars including Tony Raines, Hank Parker Jr., Tim Sauter, Casey Mears and Andy Kirby.

With 22 cars on the lead lap, Foyt doubled up [do you mean, hooked up?] with Kenny Wallace on the high line. However, the car became tighter and Foyt began to fall off the pace. He lost nearly half a second off the leader in just five laps and found himself out of the draft.

"The car's really good on the start of the run," said Foyt to the Harrah's crew over the team's radio. "But when someone pulls up behind me, I lose a little off the aero-push."

"Larry, I know you're doing the best you can, just hold on until we can get you back in," replied Jon Wolfe, crew chief for the Harrah's Chevrolet.

The timing was perfect for Foyt but not for drivers Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, David Green and Ricky Hendrick who tangled to bring out the final caution flag of the day.

With 16 laps to go, the Harrah's Racing Team pitted to make an adjustment to the car. Because of NASCAR rules, they were not allowed to put on new tires since teams are limited to two new sets changed under caution, which Foyt's team had done.

While Earnhardt Jr. diced it out with last year's Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Winston Cup regular Matt Kenseth in the closing laps, Foyt drove hard to maintain his top-15 finishing position. He followed Randy LaJoie, last year's Daytona 300 winner, across the line.

"I expected wrecks since it's the first race of the year. Luckily, we were able to avoid them," said Foyt, understating his uncanny ability to avoid multi-car wrecks. "The car was pushing pretty bad when I was by myself. I was able to save it one time; I even had to cross my arms to keep it from hitting the wall. That was very close.

"I worked the draft the best that I could throughout the race, it's just going to take more time and experience to get other drivers to work with me," Foyt said. "Overall, it was a pretty good day and a great way to start the season."