DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick kissed and made up NASCAR-style yesterday.
Both were invited to NASCAR's trailer to review film of the seven-car accident in Thursday's second 150-mile qualifying race – an event triggered when Harvick bump-drafted Johnson coming off the second turn to send the El Cajon native spinning.
"It's time to move forward and put everything behind us," said Johnson. "Talking it over with Kevin was not a pleasurable experience, but it was needed. It's time to look in a different direction and put this behind us."
Johnson said NASCAR affixed no blame for the accident. He also said the damage to his car was minor and that he will be able to start from the outside of the front row in tomorrow's Daytona 500 rather than going to the rear of the grid in his backup Chevrolet.
"It was probably good that we had our meeting," said Johnson. "We just went through everything, discussed the incident and made sure we put everything behind us."
Said Harvick: "Everything is good. We talked about everything and just realized everyone was racing hard and things happen."
Hamilton reigns
Defending NASCAR Craftsman Trucks champion Bobby Hamilton was declared the winner of the wild Florida Dodge Dealers 250 last night – after Jimmy Spencer had visited Victory Lane.
Spencer took the checkered flag ahead of Hamilton by the length of his Dodge's hood.
But Hamilton had actually nosed ahead of Spencer when the yellow flag came out in the first turn of the 100th and final lap. The field is frozen the instant the yellow is shown.
Hamilton had questioned the finish the moment Spencer was declared the winner.
"I wasn't accusing anyone," said Hamilton, who scored his first win at Daytona. "But when the yellow light came on, I was in front. I just sat down there in my pits and waited for the officials to sort it out."
Hamilton opened the 10th season of the truck series by becoming the first driver to win from the last spot on the 36-truck grid.
The yellow was triggered by the last of three multivehicle accidents that damaged or eliminated 21 drivers. Among the drivers involved in the first melee was Blossom Valley's Brandon Whitt, who eventually returned to the track and finished 28th.
"I could kind of see it coming," said Whitt of the eight-truck accident in which he became involved. Whitt had earlier crashed in practice.
"We went through two trucks this weekend," he said. "To have something like this happen breaks my heart."
Twice during the race, trucks – driven by Rick Crawford and Chad Chaffin – flipped completely, only to land on their tires and continue on.
Miscellany
"Front Row" Joe Nemechek won the pole for today's Hershey's Take 5 300 for Busch Series cars. Nemechek's Chevy ran a 2½-mile lap at 182.452 mph. The pole was Nemechek's fourth in a Busch Series race at Daytona and his 18th in the Busch Series. Kyle Busch was the second-fastest qualifier at 182.216 mph.
Mark Martin set an International Race of Champions series record by scoring his 12th career win in the 40-lap opener of the four-race season. Martin, a four-time IROC series champion, took the lead after an accident eliminated five of the 12 starters four laps from the finish.
