Competitor Accident Leads to Disappointing Finish for Owens at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 7, 2009) – After a promising start, the Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway came to a premature end for Alli Owens and the No. 19 ElectrifyingCareers.com team. The Daytona Beach, Fla. native was bumped from behind in Turn 3, causing Owens to lose control of her car. The No. 19 Toyota spun into the outside retaining wall, causing extensive damage to the vehicle. Owens was unable to return to the race and was forced to settle for a 40th-place finish.
The event started on a positive note for Owens. Owens piloted her Toyota Camry to a second-place starting position for the race. Owens remained in second-place through lap 14, when the first caution flag waved. Owens was shuffled back to fifth-place on the ensuing restart, but still hanging strong with the leaders. On lap 29, The No. 51 car tagged the rear bumper of the ElectrifyingCareers.com car in Turn 3. The No. 19 car crashed into the outside wall and was damaged beyond repair. Unable to re-enter the race, Owens was relegated to a 40th-place finish.
"It was a classic case of drivers getting too excited too early in the run," said Owens after the event. "I got hit hard going into Turn 3, my car got loose, spun and that was it. I did my best to keep it off the wall, but there was nothing I could do to save it. Me, Joey (Logano) and Justin (Lofton) worked together for the first phase of the race. We were bump drafting, but knew the limits, so we never had any problems. The driver behind me was too aggressive and cost us a great car.
"No doubt this is a disappointing finish, but it's great to see the potential the ElectrifyingCareers.com team showed. We made a statement this week. Things didn't turn out how we wanted, but if we keep working as hard as we did for this race, a win won't be too far behind."
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