NASCAR driver Regan Smith, who heads the Denver-based Furniture Row team’s No. 78 car, wrote a diary exclusively for The Denver Post leading up to the Daytona 500. Today he writes about Sunday’s race, in which he finished seventh.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Remember Saturday when I said there are five million things that can keep you from winning the Daytona 500 and only one that lets you do it? That’s what happened to me and the Furniture Row Racing team Sunday in the Daytona 500, the biggest race of the NASCAR season.
We spent all day in the battle for the lead, and I led seven laps. I was leading with fewer than three laps to go when one of those five million things jumped up and bit us. Coming down the backstretch, we were in a group and I was trying to hook back up with Kurt Busch, my drafting partner all day long.
The next thing I knew, I was sideways with a whole bunch of cars around me.
I’m not really sure what happened. I saw Kurt get off me a little bit there, and the product of what we’re doing is you have to check up to let your partner get back to you. I think he got pushed too, and I just got hammered really hard there and turned sideways. I couldn’t do anything about it.
I had a really good chance to win this race today. When you can see the lead with five to go and then you’re in the lead . . . It’s a disappointing day. It’s life, and we go on to Phoenix and focus on the rest of the season.
When you’re racing two-by- two at these speeds with 42 other cars around you, it’s just going to happen. That (the accident) was nobody’s fault back there. I don’t blame anybody. I was trying to get back to my partner, and it just didn’t work out.
Despite what happened, we had a very good points day. We led laps, so that means we get a bonus point, and we leave Florida with 38 points. That means we’re top 10 in points. It’s also the first top-10 finish for Furniture Row Racing and the first top-10 for me, so there’s a silver lining.
The Furniture Row Chevrolet was good today, and as I said earlier in the week, the Daytona 500 is the first of 36 races that determine the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. I’m really excited that we ran so well here, and I’m also excited for the races that are coming up.
