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Attrition factors Because of rules or boys being boys, The Big One happenedPosted: Sunday February 17, 2002 6:58 PM
By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- All these spectacular, massive pileups may not simply come down to the endless gripes over aerodynamic rules. It may just be a case of, well, boys being boys. Or driving hell-bent to win the Daytona 500. The latest running of The Great American Race brought out nine caution flags. The sixth of the yellows came after a whopper of a pileup collected 18 cars, triggered as front-runners Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick refused to budge racing side-by-side into Turn 1. "Me and Kevin talked," said Kenny Wallace, leaving the infield care center. "It's just trying to win the Daytona 500. ... Jeff Gordon is a tough racer. I don't think Kevin believed Jeff wouldn't let him out." Just hard racing? "Of course it gets competitive -- it's the Daytona 500," Wallace said. Thanks to wild, late-race crashes, luck has played a huge role in the last two Daytona 500s. If you just avoided The Big One and your colorful ride didn't resemble a castoff from a demolition derby, you had a shot for a nice finish. The massive collection of sheet metal came 60 laps from the finish. Then, for extra thrills, another seven cars got together on a restart with five laps to go. "You get to the end of these races and people don't respect one another," said John Andretti, a casualty of The Big One. "It's unfortunate because I always end up in the middle [of the pileups]." Todd Bodine's sentiments, exactly. "There's no give out there," he said. "It's all just take, take, take." The big pileup sent 10 drivers to the medical care center. All of them were treated and released. Harvick absorbed multiple hits from on-coming cars. Heavy damage to the right front and back of his Goodwrench Chevy was evident as it was towed to the garage. Longtime car owner Richard Childress was concerned when Harvick, who has stepped into the ride of Dale Earnhardt, initially didn't respond to radio calls after the wreck. "Taking a lick like that, he'll be sore [Monday]," said Childress, relieved. Heading into Turn 1, Harvick lost control after trying to block a move by Gordon. The smokey, fiery wreck was what you'd expect when cars are running nose-to-tail at more than 180 miles-an-hour and someone spins out in front. "Gordon wanted the same spot I did," said Harvick, after checking out of the care center. "I tried to block ... he came up and all hell broke loose. "That's the one downfall of this restrictor-plate package. You have to block, because if you get hung out you go to the back and start over again." Gordon was almost apologetic after the race, going so far as to compliment Harvick's race car. "I was getting pushed from behind and shoved," Gordon explained. "I gave Kevin a little push ... we touched and it spun him. It wasn't anything intentional." After the nightmare of last year's Daytona 500 and multicar wrecks at Talladega, NASCAR produced aerodynamic rule changes designed to eliminate packs racing bumper-to-bumper and side-by-side during the course of the entire race. In his pre-race comments, NASCAR president Mike Helton stressed to the drivers not to go under the yellow line on the track or to use it to block. "Stick that in your helmet and think about it," he warned. But drivers said the new rules packages, along with separating the cars, has made the fight for position even more competitive. "Last year you could go to the back and come back, but you can't do that with this new aero package," Bobby Hamilton said. "Everybody's scared to death to let off the gas or they'll lose the draft." Added Joe Nemechek: "Guys are taking more chances now."
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