2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series

Pepsi 400

Complete Results

The Pepsi 400 was held on July 2 at Daytona International Speedway.

After a two and a half hour rain delay, the Pepsi 400 finally started, but under a green-yellow start. This start was to allow the cars to dry the track where the jet-dryers could not, mostly in the turns close to the wall. Tony Stewart dominated the race, leading a 400-mile Daytona record 151 of the 160 laps. After the race, Tony Stewart climbed the fence in front of the tri-oval, near the starter's stand. In Victory Lane, he stated, "I'm just too damn fat to be climbing fences, but had to!"

The first laps were uneventful, up to the point of green flag pit stops. On lap 35, coming around Turn 4, Jeff Gordon signaled to pit, and slowed down. Jamie McMurray saw the signal, and slowed down, but the driver behind him, Scott Riggs, did not. Riggs drove into the back end of McMurray, forcing Mark Martin to take evasive measures to try to escape. Martin could not get out of the way, bounced off the wall, and created a nine-car pile-up in the process. Martin was out of the race and headed to the garage. Also collected in the wreck was Kurt Busch, whose car was wrecked beyond competitive form. Busch complained on camera that he thought the current points system, that would reward him for taking a non-competitive car back on track, was stupid. Elliott Sadler ran out of gas on lap 39 and had to be pushed back to pit road, where he lost a lap. He was able to gain it back on lap 65 with the lucky dog award when the caution came out due to debris on the track.

On lap 101, Bobby Hamilton, Jr.'s car hit the wall, right after Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler pit, allowing them to take the lead. On lap 109, Sadler took the lead from Jarrett, only to give it back to Tony Stewart on lap 110.

Lap 141: Caution again, with the leaders on pit road. Tony Stewart takes four tires and nearly stalls, losing five spots, only to take them back on lap 145, in a four wide pass.

Other cautions: Lap 69, Jeff Green; Lap 72, Michael Waltrip loses control due to a flat tire, also giving serious damage to the car of Greg Biffle; Lap 113, Boris Said takes a spin in the grass; Lap 147, seven car incident.

Top Ten Results