Robert Huffman was looking to win his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona, after winning the previous three NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series races at the superspeedway.  After a strong qualifying effort, Robert started his Innovative Motorsports #12 Toyota Tundra in the eighth position and had carefully maneuvered the truck into third place when the caution flag dropped at lap 25.  After slowing down for the caution, as is required by NASCAR, Robert was hit from behind by a truck that did not slow down and, consequently, hit the outside wall crushing the front end of his Toyota Tundra and ending his hopes for a fourth consecutive victory at Daytona. 

After being checked out of the infield care center, Huffman had this to say, “I hate that this happened after all the hard work and long nights my team put into making this Toyota Tundra a legitimate contender to win Daytona.  The truck was great from the start of the week, and I can’t thank Rick Gay (crew chief), Gere Kennon, and the rest of my team enough for all of their hard work.  My sponsors, Toyota Racing Development and Whitehouse Apple Juice, have continued their sponsorship of me for 2004 and I hope to get them in victory lane again this year.  I am looking forward to Atlanta next month and showing just how good this team is.”