DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Jimmie Johnson made Daytona history on Saturday night capturing the 55th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola and sweeping the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway in 2013.
Johnson is the first driver since NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison in 1982 to sweep the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 in the same season. Other drivers to have accomplished the sweep were Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (1968) and LeeRoy Yarbrough (1969).
“To do anything Bobby has done is pretty special,” Johnson said in Gatorade Victory Lane.
Johnson, driving the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, put on a dominating performance leading 94 of the 160 laps. He also mastered the late-race restarts and pulled away in the green-white-checkered finish to win his first Coke Zero 400 by a margin of .107 seconds.
“It’s tough to (dominate) at a plate track, especially with how tight the rules are,” Johnson said. “I think I showed strength early and a lot of guys were willing to work with me and kind of help me through situations, which was great. I don’t know if I really made a bad move tonight, so I’m pretty proud of that.”
Tony Stewart, the four-time defending champion of the Coke Zero 400, finished second while Kevin Harvick was third. Rounding out the top five were Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip.
From NASCAR
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