Daytona: Robert Huffman race notes

Hollywood Huffman dances to Daytona three-peat.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 10, 2003) - Robert Huffman of Claremont, N.C., nailed down a three-peat at Daytona. The Toyota driver carefully maneuvered his White House Apple Juice car through the early stages of the event.

"Our car was real good on gas mileage. With a little luck we hoped our strategy would work for us. We knew that a caution between lap 24 and 31 would fit into our pit window. No matter what, it was our plan to make one stop and then hope we could be in front at the end," Rob said.

The first caution came when Scott Weaver lost an engine. That was on lap 23 and the top twenty cars pitted for fuel. On the restart, Huffman was in seventh. Arlene Pittman crashed on lap 26 and several of the front runners pitted again to top off their tanks. As the positions shuffled, Huffman found himself sitting in the top spot.

The restart came on lap 37 and this proved to be a sign of things to come. All Huffman had to do was hold off the pack. On lap 42 Roger Moser got shuffled to the low side of the track and then someone drop kicked him into the infield grass. Huffman retained the lead as the field came under the third caution. Then the rain dance began. A light rain began and then let up. They brought the cars to pit road under the red flag. Track drying efforts got underway, but then the skies opened up. Huffman sat in his car and prayed. "I don't feel I would have won had we gone back under green. I have learned throughout my career how important it is to be in the right place at the right time. Today we were where we needed to be when it mattered the most."

Huffman now has four career victories at Daytona International Speedway, which ties him with Mike Swaim.

-rc-