Full Throttle

Mike Wallace, wasn?t a favorite heading into Friday?s night Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway, but he was fast. The driver of the No. 4 GEICO Ford Taurus used his veteran knowledge and overcame a series of wild obstacles on the last lap of the 100-lap event to score his first victory of the season, and the first for his team, Biagi Bros., Racing.

The race was solid from the drop of the green, but the sparks really exploded on the last lap when Michael Waltrip, in the No.99 Aarons Dream Machine, blasted his way from 25th on the last restart to take the lead with two laps to go, passing his Nextel Cup teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Behind, Waltrip was the No. 00 of Jason Leffler who scored a victory earlier this season at Nashville Superspeedway.

Heading to the white flag, Waltrip led the huge pack of machines with Leffler in second, and Greg Biffle in third. Heading into turn one, Leffler tried battling the veteran driver on the outside, but didn?t have enough to get by and ducked behind the No. 99. However, Leffler was a little too close for comfort and hit Michael in the rear, sending the Blue and White Chevrolet spinning wildly down the backstretch.

With Waltrip hitting the wall, Leffler backed off, but still retained the lead. Drafting into turn three, Jason Leffler was trying to hold off Chance 2 Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr but Leffler?s Haas Automation machine drifted high and put the two Chevrolet Monte Carlos into the wall.

Meanwhile, Mike Wallace, who is running the entire NASCAR Busch Series this season on a limited budget, snuck underneath the bowtie machines and motored his way to his first victory in more than a decade.

“The last few laps were just intense,” said Wallace, who last scored a Busch victory in 1994 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Before all the chaos, it appeared that Robby Gordon would win his first NASCAR Busch Series victory behind the wheel of his No. 55 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet, but a tire failure following the last restart dimmed his chances at the taste of champagne.

Behind the GEICO/Sport Clips Ford Taurus of Wallace was Jason Leffler who finished second. Many drivers including Dale Earnhardt, Jr argued that the former open-wheel driver was crazy on the last lap. Obviously, Leffler, a former Nextel Cup driver had a different opinion, stating that Michael Waltrip drifted high and his run in with Dale Earnhardt, Jr was racing for the trophy. In a late twist of events, Jason Leffler has been penalized one second by NASCAR not for his actions with Michael Waltrip, but his ordeal with 2004 Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The penalty knocks Leffler to 13th in the rundown.

“I don’t what to say to that, it’s a shame,” Leffler stated. “That’s what you get here in restrictor-plate racing, so it’s difficult, but we’ll take that finish and go on.”

With Leffler being penalized, Greg Biffle is credited with second. Biffle?s No. 60 Charter Communications/B.A.S.S. Ford Taurus was another competitor to grab four Goodyear Eagles on the last run and charged his way to a top five.

Martin Truex, Jr who battled an ill-handling B.A.S.S. Pro Shops Chevrolet Monte Carlo all night finished a solid third. Truex, Jr had a strong car, but when it counted it wasn?t enough.

Outside pole sitter Robert Pressley, in the ST Motorsports machine almost ended his night in the fence nearing halfway, but was another driver that snuck his way back to the front and finished fourth.

Pole sitter, Mike Bliss who looked to be the car to beat early on in the event maintained his position in the top ten for the majority of the night and captured a comfortable fifth.

Great Clips Dodge driver Kasey Kahne hovered near the front all night and finished a quiet but respectable sixth.

Casey Mears, who drove for James Finch this weekend in the No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Dodge Intrepid was fast, but not fast enough and landed the seventh position.

The No. 21 Reeses Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick was a factor, but not when it counted and brought his wounded Chevrolet home eighth.

Ron Hornaday who was in contention for the win on the last restart got pushed around in the last few circuits, finished a disappointing ninth.

Tim Fedewa, who was hit by Mac-Hill Motorsports driver Jeff Spraker to set off the “big one,” finished tenth. A nice comeback for the FitzBradshaw Racing driver.

Other notables in the top-twenty included: Bobby Hamilton, Jr (12th), Ashton Lewis, Jr (14th), Kevin Lepage in a MacDonald Motorsports entry (15th), Earnhardt, Jr?s Kentucky Fried Chicken got clucked (17th), Jason Keller (18th), ORTEC Racing?s Shane Hall (19th), and Markle Motorsports part time driver Rich Markle (20th).

“We were running up on (Leffler) and I went to the outside and he just run us in the wall, ain’t no other way to put it,” Earnhardt Jr. explained. “He took us out, crashed us, wrecked us, whatever you want to call it,” continued, Earnhardt, who had hopes of scoring his second win of the season.

Drivers David Stremme, Kenny Wallace, Justin Labonte, and Casey Atwood all had impressive machines during the course of the event, but different circumstances put them out of contention for the halfway event of the 2004 season.

For Kenny Wallace, his Stacker 2 Chevrolet stacked its way into the wall after contact with female driver Kim Crosby. Stremme lost a tire after getting shoved into the wall by Casey Mears while running in the top ten. For Justin Labonte, and Atwood they fell out of contention after the lap 48 accident.

The females struggled this weekend in Daytona. After starting 42nd Tina Gordon in her No. 39 Yahoo! Ford Taurus overcame a series of problems on the start to finish 32nd. ARCA RE/MAX Series competitor Kim Crosby in the No. 51 Boudreaux’s Butte Paste Dodge finished 31st after starting 43rd. Crosby, who was competitive at times, but had developed problems with her Dodge, throwing her out of contention for another top-twenty finish.