The jubilation of making the starting field for the Coca Cola 600 was diminished by an engine failure during the first 65 laps of the 400-lap event for Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Team. After starting the race in 23rd place, Jarrett and company were competitive and running in the top 20 when an engine failure relegated the team to a 40th-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Jarrett started the race from 23rd and although he dropped to 35th within the first five laps, he had a car on which the handling was favorable during the course of a long, green-flag run. By lap 25, Jarrett was back in the top 30 and tracking down the next five cars when the first caution of the night waved.
It was during the second caution that Jarrett sustained slight damage to the UPS Toyota. A tire came apart on Jimmie Johnson's #48 car and caused a multi-car accident that Jarrett had avoided until the #7 car of Robby Gordon came along and clipped the right side of the UPS Toyota. The damage was minimal and the UPS Team was poised for at least a run in the top 20 when just 10 laps later the engine let go on the UPS Toyota as the field resumed green-flag racing.
"We've had trouble with our transmissions all year," said a dejected Jarrett. "It's frustrating and disappointing because we had a pretty good race car and given everything that happened here pretty early were in a good position to do well tonight."
The event featured a first-time winner with Casey Mears stretching his fuel mileage to outlast the entire field in the Coca-Cola 600. Mears is competing in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports which has dominated the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.
Despite retiring from the event in 41st place due to an early accident, Jeff Gordon continues to lead the point standings by a margin of 132 points over his teammate Jimmie Johnson.
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series travels to Dover International Speedway for its next event and to begin the "summer swing" portion of the 2007 schedule. The race is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. EDT start next Sunday. FOX will provide live television coverage of the race beginning at 1 p.m. EDT.
