Rain wreaked havoc on the Coke Zero 400 July 4th weekend in Daytona. What should have been a Saturday night race turned into a rain-shortened Sunday afternoon race. Biffle had a special patriotic 3M Stars & Stripes theme to his No. 16 Ford and even led the race for a total of nine laps before being involved in a wreck on lap 98. Biffle’s long-standing DNF streak came to an end as the race ended on lap 112 for rain while the No. 16 was still in the garage for repairs, leaving Biffle with a 29th-place finish.
“That is close quarters racing,” said Biffle. “David Ragan gave me a big push and then Kasey (Kahne) got up and went to the middle and ran into the back of the No. 13 car and slowed way up and I hit the back of the No. 5. We weren’t lined up. He moved down for some reason when he hit the No. 13 or something. It was just a chain reaction. You just never know when the cars slowdown that quick and I had a shove from the 34 from behind and you can’t react that fast unfortunately.”
Greg Biffle started the Coke Zero 400 from the 10th position after rain shortened qualifying to just one session. Biffle had a fast No. 16 3M Stars & Stripes Ford and wasted no time drafting his way into the top five. The first big superspeedway wreck of the day unfolded on lap 20, Biffle ducked down pit road to avoid the melee and after the field returned to green he was back in the top five.
Just over 50 laps in Biffle took the lead and held that position two different times for a total of nine laps before settling into the top 10. The No. 34 of David Ragan was pushing Biffle down the back stretch on lap 98 when the No. 5 of Kasey Kahne briefly got out of line. With the cars not being in line, the No. 5 got spun sideways resulting in a wreck that collected many competitors including Biffle.
The 3M team went to the garage for repairs, but on lap 112 the caution came out for rain, which turned into a red flag for rain and ultimately ended the race. The No. 16 3M Stars & Stripes Ford was almost ready to return to the track and keep Biffle’s stretch of not collecting any DNF’s. The rain shortened race left Biffle with his first DNF since 2011 and a 29th-place finish in the Coke Zero 400.
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