The two cars got together and spun. Puryear's car stalled and he lost a lap. He lost another lap in the pits and called it a day. Puryear, though, put on an exciting driving display. He passed more cars than any of the frontrunners and arguably had one of the best cars on the track.
Nobody can say.
Could've, would've, should've. While Puryear could have been very down about the whole deal, he took it in stride. We had a fast race car. We passed a bunch of cars. The only cars we didn't pass were Phil Warren and Rodney Sawyers.