Sunday, February 14, 1999
Allen's 16th his best finish at Daytona
Earns $29,350 despite running backup car
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — All things considered, it wasn't a bad weekend for Lockland native Glenn Allen Jr.
Allen finished 16th ($29,350) in the NASCAR Busch series' NAPA Auto Parts 300 on Saturday, marking his best finish in four years at Daytona. He previously had not finished above 30th.
But it could have been better for Allen's No. 38 Barbasol-sponsored car.
“We had a top-five car, but then we got wrecked Friday,” he said.
Allen drove a Ford on Saturday. He had planned to run a Ford in all Busch races in 1999 with the exception of running a Chevrolet at Daytona and Talladega, but went to his backup car when his Chevy was damaged in a practice session late Friday afternoon.
“A car blew a tire in front of us, and that got us into the wall,” Allen said.
Allen joined six others drivers in backup cars, all of whom had to go to the back of the field on the parade lap before the start. He qualified 34th in the original 43-car field.
“This is my best finish here, so I'm looking forward to bigger things now,” Allen said.
Allen, 28, was the Busch series' rookie of the year in 1996. He finished a career-high 11th in last year's season race, and aspires to Winston Cup within a few years. He now lives near his race shop in North Carolina.
JEFF JEFF JEFF: Gordon, who engenders a similar mix of applause and boos that greeted Dale Earnhardt when the latter dominated NASCAR, continues to shrug off the negatives.
“That's why sometimes I seem to smile more when they get loud,” he said. But, observers say the booing is becoming less pronounced, and Gordon has noticed.
“I think consistency has a lot to do with it,” he said. “If you're a contender week in and week out, you earn a lot of respect.”
FAVRE YOUR ENGINES: Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre was grand marshal for the Busch race Saturday, and is honorary starter for the Daytona 500 today.
Favre is part owner of Dale Jarrett's Busch series team, with Kenny Irwin as the driver.
“This is my first race, and I'm already finding out how big this whole NASCAR circuit is,” Favre said Saturday. “Growing up in Mississippi I always thought football was No. 1, but when people found out I was starting the Daytona 500, no one wanted to talk about Super Bowls or how we were going to do next year. They wanted to talk about how I could get them tickets to get in the pits.”
Favre put his own spin on the starter's command Saturday, which is traditionally, “Gentlemen, start your engines.”
Favre took the PA microphone and bellowed, “Gentlemen, let's get it on!”
The crowd, of course, roared approval as the engines fired.
SERIOUS DOUGH: When Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, he collected a huge payoff for those days — $19,050. Today's winner will get a minimum of $1.1 million from a record purse of $8 million.
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