Subway Firecracker 250

Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Venue	Daytona International Speedway
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
Corporate sponsor	Subway Coca-Cola
First race	2002
Distance	250 miles (400 km)
Laps	100
Previous names	Stacker 2/GNC Live Well 250 (2002) Winn-Dixie 250 (2003) Winn-Dixie 250 presented by PepsiCo (2004–2007) Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (2008) Subway Jalapeño 250 (2009–2012)
Most wins (driver)	Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (3)
Most wins (team)	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Joe Gibbs Racing Richard Childress Racing (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (9)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Turns	4

The Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that is held at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled as a 250-mile (400 km) race, it has been held the night before the Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 during Independence Day weekend since 2002.

This is the final restrictor plate race of held each season for the Xfinity Series. Until 2006, there had been a different winner in each race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the first repeat winner when he won the 2006 event.

The 2010 running of the event marked the first of four races using the Nationwide Series version of the Car of Tomorrow, other three being at Michigan, Richmond (September), Charlotte (October).

Past winners

The following races have been lengthened because of overtime. Note that from 2004 through 2009, only one attempt was permitted. Starting in 2010 to 2015, a maximum of three attempts are permitted, But starting in 2016 overtime is tolerated.

• 2012 and 2013 252.5 miles (101 laps)
• 2007, 2009 and 2010: 255 miles (102 laps)
• 2006, 2014 and 2016: 257.5 miles (103 laps)
• 2005 and 2015: 260 miles (104 laps)
• 2008: 262.5 miles (105 laps)

Only one race has been rescheduled from its original date.

• 2007: Rescheduled from July 6 to July 7 at 9:00 morning because of rain.

Multiple winner (driver)

Multiple winners (teams)

Manufacturer wins

# Wins	Make	Years won
9	Chevrolet	2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015
3	Toyota	2008, 2011, 2013
2	Ford	2004, 2016
1	Pontiac	2002

Television broadcasters

In 2002, 2004 and 2006, the race was held on Fox. In 2003 and 2005, the race was held on TNT, In 2007–2014, the race was held on ABC and ESPN2. Starting in 2015, the race is being aired on NBCSN.

Notable moments

• 2003: Dale Earnhardt Jr. led all 100 laps en route to victory.
• 2004: First race in which the cars ran a roof spoiler. The last 10 laps involved several lead changes. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with 10 laps to go. With 3 laps remaining, Michael Waltrip and Jason Leffler passed Dale Jr., putting Waltrip in the lead. Leffler then went for the lead and the two cars raced nose-to-nose for over a lap before Waltrip cut in front of Leffler off Turn Two on the final lap; Leffler hit Waltrip and Waltrip's car spun into the inside wall. NASCAR kept the green flag out (there is often a caution flag when a crash occurs) as Dale challenged Leffler for the lead. Leffler swerved and Dale crashed into the wall in Turn Four, allowing Mike Wallace to pass everyone for the victory.
• 2010: Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a Chevrolet fielded by Richard Childress and numbered 3 to an unchallenged win. It was Junior's final time to drive the #3.
• 2011: With the new two-car tandem draft in effect, Kevin Harvick Incorporated swept the top four positions in qualifying. The lead changed a then-race record 35 times, primarily between Cup drivers Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer as well as Nationwide series regulars Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, and part-timer Danica Patrick. Eric McClure crashed hard after contact with teammate Mike Bliss, requiring a trip to the hospital. At the end of the race, a multi-car pileup ensued when Patrick, who'd slapped the Turn One wall on the final lap, made contact with Mike Wallace approaching the start-finish line, enabling Joey Logano and Kyle Busch to slip by and finish 1–2.^[1] It was a crash reminiscent of the controversial Ernie Irvan crash at the 1991 Winston 500.
• 2012: Kurt Busch, fired from Penske Racing the year before for several off-track incidents, stormed to the win in the most competitive Daytona race for NASCAR's second-tier touring series in any of its varied incarnations at the time (Late Model Sportsman, Busch Grand National, Nationwide Series). The lead changed a series track-record 42 times as on the final lap Busch roared past Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pushing him; Austin Dillon in Richard Childress' #3 raced into the fray pushed by Michael Annett in a Richard Petty #43; at the stripe Dillon got hit and spun through the trioval grass as Sadler tried for the win at the stripe; Dillon spun back into traffic and a huge crash ensued.^[2]
• 2015: NBC returned to NASCAR with the running of the Subway Firecracker 250 on NBCSN. There were two wrecks that happened, one with 16 laps to go and the other with 5 laps to go, brought out a red flag to ensue cleanup similar to the big one at the GEICO 500 at Talladega earlier that spring.

References