2014 Coke Zero 400
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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| Date | July 6, 2014 | ||
| Official name | Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02 km) |
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| Distance | 112 laps, 280 mi (450.62 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Weather | Partly cloudy with temperatures up to 83 °F (28 °C); wind out of the south at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 130.014 mph (209.237 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Front Row Motorsports | ||
| Time | 45.153 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Laps | 36 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TNT & MRN | ||
| Announcers |
Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty (Television) Joe Moore and Barney Hall (Booth) Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Jeff Striegle (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio) |
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| Nielsen Ratings | 2.4/5 4.0 Million viewers |
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The 2014 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was scheduled to be held on July 5, 2014 but was pushed to July 6, 2014, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 112 laps, it was the 18th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Aric Almirola was leading when the race was called for rain and scored his first career win. Brian Vickers was second, while Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, and top rookie Austin Dillon rounded out the top five. Behind Dillon, the top rookies of the race were Alex Bowman in 13th, and Michael Annett in 21st.
In what was an absolutely dominating performance from Team Penske, Brad Keselowski led 199 of the 267 laps to win the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. He described his car as "awesome" and that his crew did a "great job".
Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. The backstretch, which has a length of 3,000 ft (910 m), has minimal banking that is used for drainage.Jimmie Johnson was the defending race winner from the 2013 event.
Following the Daytona 500 in February, 2,400 ft (730 m) of additional SAFER barriers were added to the circuit, in order to improve safety. The additional barriers were added from the exit of turn four, through the tri-oval and to the entrance of turn one; this left only the super stretch outside walls with concrete barriers. "We're always looking at ways to enhance our safety and it is a priority for us," said Lenny Santiago, senior director of public relations for Daytona International Speedway. "Whenever we have an incident on track, we always take a look in consultation with NASCAR, the University of Nebraska and other experts that are a part of the Motorsports Technology Group and take their recommendations. In consultation with them, we made sure we added additional safer barriers to these areas."
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