Stewart Wins at Daytona After Last-Lap Wreck

Tony Stewart (14), takes the checkered flag to win the Coke Zero 400 auto race, followed by Jimmie Johnson (48), and Denny Hamlin (11), at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP Photo/David Graham)

(AP)

But post-race was subdued as the competitors contemplated the dangers of restrictor plate races. NASCAR uses the horsepower-sapping carburetor plates to slow the speeds at Daytona and Talladega, the two fastest tracks in the series.

It causes the cars to run in tight packs, where one small wiggle can trigger a multiple-car accident. This race was plagued with an earlier 13-car wreck that collected several contenders for the Chase for the championship, and the last-lap accident in which Busch's car lifted slightly off the track as it went nose first into the wall.

"It's plate racing. We're damned if we do, damned if we don't," Johnson said. "The guys are racing. Tony didn't mean to dump him. It's just the product of restrictor-plate racing. Every time we leave these restrictor-plate tracks, there's questions about how we can keep from having the big wreck and things like that.

"You just can't."

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