Wimmer shines, fellow rookies fade in Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A rookie with a revoked driver's license was the lone bright spot for a new class touted to be one of the best in recent years.

Scott Wimmer led five laps at the Daytona 500 on Sunday before Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. teamed up to pass him, leaving the newcomer to finish third in the Great American Race.

It was the best rookie showing ever in NASCAR's premier race.

Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs, Johnny Sauter and Brian Vickers were involved in crashes. Brendan Gaughan was penalized for speeding on pit road and finished 19th.

Wimmer, meanwhile, had a shot to become the first rookie to win the Daytona 500.

"It's a big momentum boost," said Wimmer, whose license was revoked after he was charged with drunken driving following an accident last month in High Point, N.C.

"I've been through a lot lately and I've kind of been down on myself," he said. "I'm lucky I have great people behind me. We've still got a long road ahead, but we're going to get it fixed up and hopefully nobody makes the same mistake I did."

Although NASCAR still might penalize Wimmer pending a March 10 hearing, team owner Bill Davis gave him a second chance and kept him behind the wheel of the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge for the season opener.

The decision paid off.

Unfortunately, the team's gamble on lap 169 didn't.

Crew chief Frank Stoddard called for a two-tire change on the final pit stop, putting Wimmer several car lengths in front of Stewart and Earnhardt.

But after five laps in the lead, Stewart and Earnhardt teamed up to pass Wimmer low and pulled away from there. Earnhardt overtook Stewart six laps later to win on the same track that claimed his father's life three years ago.

"Four tires would have helped, but they were just too strong when they were teamed up together," the 28-year-old Wimmer said. "I really could have used a draft partner."

But rookies rarely get draft partners, especially not in races as big as the Daytona 500.

"This race is always tough on rookies," said Vickers, who finished 39th. "You can't get any experience for this kind of racing except here. And it's hard to gain that experience because people don't want to work with you because you're a rookie.

"They know you don't have a lot of experience, so it's hard to get help. And you've got to have help at these tracks to win."

Each rookie driver has two bright yellow stripes on the back bumpers to show they are rookies. In Sunday's race, the mangled metal surrounding them was an even better indicator.

Sauter and Vickers started a 12-car accident that sent defending champion Michael Waltrip flipping through the infield grass.

Sauter nudged Vickers on lap 72. Vickers moved into Waltrip, sending him into the wall, then back down the track, where his No. 15 car went careening through the infield.

It took emergency crews about 10 minutes to flip Waltrip's car right-side up, and extract him from behind the wheel.

Waltrip was clearly annoyed that Vickers chose to run three-wide so early in the race.

"It was a little impatient and immature, but he saw other people doing it," Waltrip said.

Riggs and Derrick Cope were involved in the first of three crashes in the race. Cope spun on lap 33, and Riggs was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Another problem Riggs found was that few others would help him during the race -- the same problem Wimmer had late in the race.

"It's hard to learn what you need to learn to put yourself in all the positions and see what your car's going to do because nobody wants to let you in the group," said Riggs, who finished 34th.

"It's the rookie plague. Everyone wants to hold you back as much as they can."