David Gilliland

David Gilliland, No. 34 Ford

Starting Position: 39

Finishing Position: 16
 

David Gilliland and the No. 34 Ford team earned their fourth top-20 finish of the season after finishing 16th in the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night.  The race was uneventful for most of the night but got wild in the closing laps and ended in a double green-white-checkered finish.

Gilliland started in the 39th position and used the first several laps to get connected with the No. 14 of Tony Stewart, his intended drafting partner for the race.  By Lap 15, the pair had moved into the top 15.  Coordinating their every move, including pitting together for each pit stop in side-by-side pit stalls, Gilliland and Stewart methodically worked their way up to the front by Lap 70 -- Stewart in the lead with Gilliland pushing in second.

After proving they had the capability to push their way to the front, the pair decided to drop back where it was safer and where both cars could get clean air running alone.  The duo stayed in the back, rolling the dice that there would be cautions in the closing laps and then they could make their move.  The late cautions came, starting with a multi-car wreck with two laps to go in the 160-lap event. On the ensuing green-white-checkered finish, more than a dozen cars piled up again and Stewart suffered damage.

Restarting in 12th, Gilliland was left without a drafting partner for the second green-white-checkered attempt and quickly slipped back to 21st.  But another wreck on the final white-flag lap had cars scattered everywhere, with Gilliland squeaking through unhit.  He crossed the line in 16th.  David Ragan won the race, earning his first career Sprint Cup Series victory.
 
Comments from No. 34 Ford team driver David Gilliland after the Daytona race:

"Our guys did a great job this weekend.  We worked with Tony (Stewart) all night, just like we planned, and we were fast.  After running up front for a bit, we dropped back out of the lead pack because we knew we were fast and thought it'd be safer toward the back for a while.

"But then Tony got clipped in one of those wrecks toward the end, and we restarted that last green-white-checkered by ourselves.  We were hoping for better than 16th, but I guess we could've been in the middle of the last big wreck.  I really don't know how I made it through."

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford

Starting Position: 27

Finishing Position: 29

Travis Kvapil finished 29th in the Coke Zero 400 after getting tagged in one of the race-closing wrecks of Saturday night's race.  He had been running strong all night and was gunning for at least a top-20 finish until the late-race mayhem.

Kvapil and the No. 34 Long John Silver's team took the green flag in the 27th position, but eased to the back of the pack to meet up with their planned drafting partner, Joe Nemechek in the No. 87 car.  Like Gilliland and Stewart, the pair would work together for the entire race. 

With Kvapil doing most of the pushing, the tandem showed good speed and worked their way up to the top 20 by Lap 39.  By Lap 77, it was their turn to take the lead, with Nemechek in front and Kvapil in second for a lap until the ever-changing leaderboard shuffled them back.  Kvapil also earned a bonus point for leading a lap under caution.

The middle of the race saw more than 100 laps of caution-free racing, and Kvapil lost some ground on green-flag pit stops.  By the yellow flag on Lap 158, he was stilll running strong and in position to move back up into the top 20.  For the first green-white-checkered attempt, Kvapil restarted in 23rd, but on the restart lap got caught up in a multi-car accident.  The Long John Silver's team worked to repair the heavily damaged car under the five-lap caution and get Kvapil back into the race.  But on the second green-white-checkered attempt -- and in the second big multi-car accident -- Kvapil got collected again and spun.  He was able to drive his Ford Fusion across the finish line for a 29th-place finish.

Comments from Long John Silver's Ford team driver Travis Kvapil after the Daytona race:

"We had a pretty good racecar. Just probably not as fast as I thought we were going to be.  I hooked up with Nemechek all night and got to the front pretty good. Pit stops held us up a little and we got back on track position.  But, just got caught up in a wreck.  One of those green-white-checkered deals where you're just in the wrong spot.  The guys right behind me made it through, and the guys in front of me made it through, but I just got clipped.  I had a pretty good car.  Just wish we could bring one of these home."

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