A Flag-Waving Win for Jarrett

Winston Cup points leader Dale Jarrett started the second half of the season with a victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Saturday night.

Jarrett’s victory over Dale Earnhardt was ensured after an accident brought out the yellow flag with two laps remaining.

Just moments after Jarrett drove his red, white and blue Ford across the finish line, a fireworks show began.

Then Jarrett basked in the glow of the fact that since 1993, no driver leading the points race after the Pepsi 400 has failed to win the title. He has a 177-point lead over Bobby Labonte in the quest for his first series title.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence right now,” Jarrett said. “We want to get as big a lead as we can, enjoy it and hopefully the end of season will come real soon.”

Jarrett took the lead in the race after making a hurried pit stop on the 144th lap that left him with just enough fuel to complete the race. Jarrett’s car stalled about three-quarters of a lap after he crossed the finish line, forcing his pit crew to come onto the track and push him to victory lane.

It was a much different ending for Jarrett at Daytona International Speedway than in February when he apparently triggered a multicar crash in the Daytona 500 that knocked him and several contenders out of the race.

The victory was the third for Jarrett at Daytona, but his first in the Pepsi 400. He earned $164,965.

“This race has been a favorite of mine for many years,” Jarrett said. “To finally be here on victory lane on July 4 weekend is fantastic. It’s a weekend America celebrates and we’re going to celebrate with them.”

Two-time defending series champion Jeff Gordon was in the top 10 most of the race but fell to 24th after the late accident that involved Jeremy Mayfield, Wally Dallenbach and Jimmy Spencer.

Surprise pole sitter Joe Nemechek was little factor, leading in the early going but falling back and never being in contention again in finishing 16th.

Ricky Rudd also couldn’t capitalize on the outside pole position in finishing 13th.

Mark Martin drove with a cast on a broken left wrist and started at the rear of the field in a backup car because of an accident in practice Friday. He finished 17th and remained in third in the driver standings, 229 points behind Jarrett.

Earnhardt came from sixth place late in the race to finish second for the second time this year at Daytona.

A crowd estimated at 175,000 saw a race that had 17 lead changes and a fast average speed of 169.213 mph. There were only three caution periods, the first coming on lap 89 when a rained briefly on the backstretch of the 2.5-mile trioval.

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Pole sitter Greg Biffle overcame a botched pit stop and won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DieHard 200, also held at the Milwaukee Mile.

Biffle was eighth on the 137th of 200 laps when he overshot his pits and his crew subsequently dropped the jack from underneath his Ford before service was completed.

Biffle then chased down Jack Sprague and Rick Crawford to take the lead with 19 laps remaining and went on to become the tour’s first three-time winner this season. He averaged a race-record 106.714 mph and earned $46,350.

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Casey Atwood won the third pole of his young career with a record-breaking run in qualifying for the DieHard 200 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

Atwood, 18 and in his second year in the series, averaged 121.421 mph in a Chevrolet that was one of 21 cars to break Jeff Purvis’ year-old record of 119.904.

Points leader and defending series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a shoulder injury when his Chevrolet hit the wall hard in practice. Earnhardt let NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday qualify the car. Earnhardt is expected to drive today and will start in the 15th position.

In another incident, Jeff Krogh hit the first-turn wall in practice and had to be cut from the wreckage. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where his condition was not immediately announced.