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Day at a Glance
Busch Series grabs Saturday spotlight
Posted: Saturday February 19, 2000 04:32 PM
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Ron Hornaday, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s replacement, posted the fastest time during the final practice. Jamie Squire/Allsport |
By Ryan Smithson, CNNSI.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The focus has been on the Daytona 500 all week, but the Busch Series will have their day in the sun on Saturday.
The green flag drops on the Busch season at noon, when 43 cars will start the 42nd NAPA 300.
Hut Stricklin is on the pole -- the Alabama native is trying to resurrect his career in the Busch Series after being without a solid Winston Cup ride since 1997.
But all eyes are on Ron Hornaday -- the two-time Truck Series champion who took over Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 3 Chevrolet. Hornaday benefits from the best equipment in the garage, and the Californian has a lot of experience at Daytona. He was also fastest in final practice on Friday evening.
"We have got a good, neutral car that can go either way -- we can go tight or loose," Hornaday said. "We have been around this track enough and we know what thing needs."
Randy LaJoie is also long on experience -- he has won this race two of the last years, and he turned in a dominating performance last year in an unsponsored car. He was third in the final practice, and he starts ninth on Saturday.
The forecast calls for partly sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s. LaJoie doesn't think the weather will play much of a factor.
"It won't affect how the cars drive," he said. "It's going to be hot when we start the race, but it's not going to be much of a problem."
There will be eight Winston Cup regulars in the 43-car field -- three of them (Terry Labonte, Matt Kenseth and Kenny Irwin) will start in the top 10.
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Crash aftermath
No one was seriously hurt in Friday's frightening Truck Series crash, and Daytona officials insist that the protective fencing did its job.
The fence was severely damaged when Geoffrey Bodine's truck climbed the wall in the lap-57 accident. It took officials over two hours to mend the fence.
A total of eight posts support the fence, and seven of them were immediately replaced.
Despite the severity of the accident, there are already plans to bring the Truck Series back to Daytona in 2001.
Petty announcement official
The worst-kept secret in Winston Cup was finally "revealed" on Saturday when Petty Enterprises announced that their programs would run Dodge Intrepids in 2001.
"This is an opportunity for us to expand our technology base and to tap into the technology Dodge already has," Kyle Petty said. "This allows us to give Steve Grissom a better truck and to give John Andretti an opportunity to fulfill his potential a lot quicker. This also gives us an opportunity to put Adam (his son) in a great position with a manufacturer."
Bill Elliott is not expected to announce any plans on Saturday, but an announcement could come next month. Elliott is highly unlikely to announce anything this weekend -- he doesn't want the distraction since he is in prime position for his first win since 1994.
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Todd Bodine
Geoffrey's brother handled Friday's scary crash with unparalleled class and courage as he patiently answered questions to the media.
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