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Fords dominate Chevrolets with ease
Posted: Sunday February 20, 2000 09:20 PM
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Fords, led by Dale Jarrett, (front) Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace, swept the Daytona 500 for only the third time in 30 years. Robert Laberge/Allsport |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The worst fears of the Chevrolet drivers were realized when Ford, led by Dale Jarrett, swept the Daytona 500's top five spots for the first time in 37 years.
The Chevy teams complained that the Fords had an aerodynamic advantage, but Jarrett's crew chief didn't want to hear it.
"Quit crying, let's race," Todd Parrott said.
Parrott and Jarrett reminded them that Chevys have been dominant at Daytona International Speedway. Chevys had won the last three season-opening races and nine of the last 12.
"I don't know why they're mad," Jarrett said. "They built it, they brought it."
The outcome of the race Sunday didn't surprise Richard Childress, who owns the Chevys of Dale Earnhardt and Mike Skinner.
"What can I say?" asked Childress, whose camp has led the argument for aerodynamic concessions from NASCAR. "Everything I've said, I've said all week."
Chevy drivers contended that their completely new Monte Carlos did not react as well as the redesigned Ford Tauruses to new rules that stiffened shock absorbers.
"If NASCAR can't see it, it's up to them," said Childress, who is worried about the race next Sunday. "If they don't do something, Rockingham is going to be another terrible show."
Parrott said some of the problem might be the lack of cooperation among Chevy teams.
"From what I saw, the Chevys need to work together," he said. "The Fords more or less team up with each other."
Jarrett agreed.
"Nobody's going to give it to you," he said. "You've got to go to work."
The outcome Sunday -- with Jarrett followed by Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin -- was almost a complete reversal from last year when Jeff Gordon won as Chevys took four of the first five spots.
Fords had not dominated the race since Davey Allison led a top-four sweep in 1992. It was only the third sweep of the top-five spots since the first Daytona 500 in 1959. Oldsmobiles swept in 1979.
Earnhardt, an outspoken critic of NASCAR all week, continued that theme after finishing 13th Sunday.
"They took the competition out of it," he said.
Gordon was taken out of the competition early, falling way behind because of an oil leak. He wound up 34th, five laps down.
"I couldn't run with those Fords," he said.
Johnny Benson, whose Pontiac faded to 12th after being passed by Jarrett for the lead on the 197th lap, agreed that the GM cars were overmatched.
"The Fords have been dominant here all weekend," he said.
Benson was trying to pull off one of the greatest upsets in stock car racing history. He led for 39 laps before Jarrett's decisive pass. But he knew he was in trouble.
"The Fords were going to gang up," he said. "There is nothing you can do."
Wallace could see that aerodynamics and handling were an advantage.
"The Chevys just didn't get their cars handling good, it looked like," he said. "They were having a problem there for some reason.
"They'd get looser and looser pushing the front end. I just don't think they hit on it."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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