Sunday Notebook

With mixed emotions, Robinson gases it to finish 24th

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Shawna Robinson ran out of gas, broke a drive shaft, spun out, avoided several crashes and managed to finish the Daytona 500.

"My head's still spinning a little," the first woman to race here in 22 years said shortly after finishing 24th, 13 laps behind winner Ward Burton.

Robinson was just the second woman to start NASCAR's most prestigious race, joining Janet Guthrie, who raced in the 500 in 1977 and 1980. She crossed the finish line Sunday with mixed emotions.

"It was a good first Daytona 500," she said. "I'm not happy about it, but the fact we finished in the top 25 and finished at the end, I have to say we accomplished something."

The two other rookies in the lineup were also still running at the end. Pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson, who lost the lead on the first lap and never regained it, settled for 15th. Ryan Newman finished seventh.

"It's a dream come true for me to race in the Daytona 500," Newman said. "To bring home a top-10 finish is really awesome."

Robinson, who started 36th, was near the rear when she ran out fuel on the backstretch of lap 81 and crawled back to the pits.

"That didn't help us any," she said with a laugh. "I want to be competitive. That's the steps getting there, learning along the way."

Crash Gordon

Jeff Gordon took the blame for a wreck that cost him a chance to win the Daytona 500 for the third time.

With six laps to go, in a battle of two-time Daytona 500 winners, Gordon tried to block Sterling Marlin on a restart, and both went spinning.

"Me and Sterling knew how important that last restart was, and he got a jump on me," Gordon said. "I tried to block him and messed up both of our days. ... I should have just given up when he got beside me and still had a battle and a shot to win the thing."

That wasn't Gordon's only bad moment of the race, either.

The defending and four-time Winston Cup champion collided with Kevin Harvick in a tight pack earlier in the wild race, touching off an 18-car crash.

"We touched and it spun him," Gordon said. "It certainly wasn't anything intentional. I hate to see such a big wreck like that."

Gordon started third, fell to 25th, led for 19 laps and finished ninth.

"Crazy race," he said. "I went from the back to the front, the front to the back. It was incredible."

Strong showing

Kurt Busch finished fourth in his second Daytona 500 and was pleased to hold his own against NASCAR's more experienced drivers.

"You saw a lot of unusual driving out there," Busch said. "The veterans seemed to want to go to the front and bully everybody around."

Busch contributed to a surprisingly strong showing by Ford drivers. He led for 16 laps and was running with the lead pack at the end.

"I wanted to bide my time," he said. "I knew I had a car to win the race."

Busch finished 41st as a rookie last year.

Hanging in there

A crash left Johnny Benson's Pontiac a wreck.

"Man, look at our car," Benson said after he climbed out following the Daytona 500. "That thing is tore up. There's no way we should have finished in top 30."

Despite getting hit twice in an accident that involved 18 cars, Benson finished 10th, his best showing in six starts at the 500.

Benson said the result was a tribute to his crew.

"I'll bet we had 30 pit stops," he said. "I ran just as good at the end wrecked as I did at times earlier."

Spark plugs

Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show and an avid car collector, drove the pace car during the parade laps. He's the first person to drive the pace car at both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. ... Brian Perry, Jeff Burton's jackman, sprained his ankle during a pit stop when Kyle Petty's car grazed it. Perry was replaced by Ryan Busgalio, the rear tire carrier. ... Sunday's race officially was a sellout, with about 190,000 fans in attendance. ... Burton's Dodge, the Ford of runner-up Elliott Sadler and the Chevrolet of Michael Waltrip, who finished fifth, were sent by NASCAR to the chassis dyno following the race for comparison of aerodynamic data.

Quote of the day

Dave Marcis, after finishing next-to-last in his 33rd and final Daytona 500: "You just don't never know."

 

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