Trucks start the wrecking early at Daytona Speedway

If you're the type who tunes into NASCAR races to see the wrecks, you got your money's worth Friday night at the truck race, with not just one, but two! Two! TWO Big Ones! Let's go to the videotape, first with Travis Kvapil setting off a 15-car debacle:

Then, with only a few laps remaining in the race, the gang was running three wide when ...

By the end of the race, only a half-dozen hadn't sustained damage, and two of those belonged to Elliott Sadler and eventual winner Michael Waltrip. If this holds up, expect to see some serious carnage come Sunday afternoon.

Related: Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler

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Tony Stewart clips Clint Bowyer at finish for Nationwide Daytona win

Thanks to a push from Landon Cassill on the last lap, Tony Stewart beat Clint Bowyer by 0.007 seconds to win the Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway Saturday afternoon.

That's about a foot or two, by the way.

The win was Stewart's third straight win in the Nationwide season-opener and his sixth in the last seven years. That's a pretty incredible accomplishment, especially given the unpredictability of restrictor-plate racing.

Stewart's pass was a pretty incredible accomplishment too. He pushed Cassill to the front after the two started outside the top 10 with six laps to go, and the two swapped positions on the penultimate lap, and that swap looked momentarily like it would derail the momentum that the cars had gained.

However, going into turn one on the final lap, Kyle Busch, who was paired with Joey Logano on the outside, pushed Logano a little too hard, sending Logano into the wall. The caution wasn't thrown, and that allowed Stewart and Cassill to catch up to Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. stuck to Bowyer's bumper as the two entered the trioval on the last lap and Stewart and Cassill went high. Bowyer went to block Stewart's charge, but Stewart stayed in the gas and nudged ahead just before the finish line.

Bowyer and Stewart -- both driving at Daytona for Kevin Harvick's race team -- had been drafting buddies most of the day, but got separated after the final caution when Stewart had to pit for a flat right rear tire.

Four of Stewart's six victories in this race have come with KHI, while the other two have come with Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.

Related: , Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch

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Tony Stewart clips Clint Bowyer at finish for Nationwide Daytona win

Thanks to a push from Landon Cassill on the last lap, Tony Stewart beat Clint Bowyer by 0.007 seconds to win the Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway Saturday afternoon.

That's about a foot or two, by the way.

The win was Stewart's third straight win in the Nationwide season-opener and his sixth in the last seven years. That's a pretty incredible accomplishment, especially given the unpredictability of restrictor-plate racing.

Stewart's pass was a pretty incredible accomplishment too. He pushed Cassill to the front after the two started outside the top 10 with six laps to go, and the two swapped positions on the penultimate lap, and that swap looked momentarily like it would derail the momentum that the cars had gained.

However, going into turn one on the final lap, Kyle Busch, who was paired with Joey Logano on the outside, pushed Logano a little too hard, sending Logano into the wall. The caution wasn't thrown, and that allowed Stewart and Cassill to catch up to Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr. stuck to Bowyer's bumper as the two entered the trioval on the last lap and Stewart and Cassill went high. Bowyer went to block Stewart's charge, but Stewart stayed in the gas and nudged ahead just before the finish line.

Bowyer and Stewart -- both driving at Daytona for Kevin Harvick's race team -- had been drafting buddies most of the day, but got separated after the final caution when Stewart had to pit for a flat right rear tire.

Four of Stewart's six victories in this race have come with KHI, while the other two have come with Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.

Related: , Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch

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Wallace, Jarrett take some laps around the new Daytona

Say this for ESPN: at least some of its employees are interested in knowing what the hell it's talking about.

Days after Tony Kornheiser shot his mouth off about NASCAR being "fixed," two other ESPN employees, fellas by the name of Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, took a few spins around Daytona International Speedway to, you know, understand what the track is actually like when they're commenting on it. Imagine that.

Yes, yes, it's a promotional gimmick more than anything else, but it underscores the fact that it's a good idea to know whereof you speak before getting too mouthy. Wallace and Jarrett drove for about 25 minutes together

"We've been talking to the drivers about how the new pavement feels, but there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself," said Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner. "They really did an incredible job. It's like you were used to driving on a bumpy dirt road and then they pave it and it's like a different road."

As the laps wound down, Wallace hammered Jarrett in the rear bumper, leading Jarrett to claim that Wallace cheated and had his rev limiter set higher. (No!)

"I know it's the same length around and the same width, but it seems wider because it's so smooth," Wallace said. "We used to run low, the middle, or the top and they would all be different, but they're the same now."

The video the pair shot will run during NASCAR Countdown this weekend prior to the Nationwide telecast at 1:15. 

Related:

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