NASCAR: Daytona 500: Recap

The 50th Running of the Dayton 500 ended up a lot better than it seemed it was going to. After the offseason of anticipation. The build up of all the driver and team switches. Not to mention the influx of all the open wheel drivers. I couldn't wait to see how things would play out when they dropped the green flag. It turned out I would have to wait a little longer than that.

As they rolled off to start the race, I immediately found changes I liked and changes I didn't. Rather than introduce the drivers row by row, each driver was pictured stating their name and where they are from. Kind of a cool thing they picked up from their football broadcasts. Cool to see guys take pride in their home towns. Though I do not look forward to the drivers modifying it the way football players do. I definitely could pass on Fox's other new addition. They have the new Gopher Cam which is set down into the track. It is an annoying view that provides nothing to the race view.

One of the heavily covered aspects was the fact that it is the 5oth anniversary of the race. Michael Waltrip managed to improve drastically over last years race. Last year he was penalized for a fuel additive coasting him 100 points. This year will start he started a little by leading a lap to get 5 points. He also rolled gold wheels for the first run of the race that were pulled at the first pit stop, they will be auctioned for charity.

For the first half of the race it seemed that this might be shaping up to be a very dull repeat of last season. While the Gibbs and Hendrick racing teams were running one through four through much of the first half. About the only interesting aspect of that is the fact that the Gibbs team is now running Toyotas. As that was happening I couldn't help but wonder what NASCAR would think of a foreign nameplate winning the Anniversary edition of a sport that has always been American. Those thoughts only get stronger as Kyle Busch continued to be the strongest car in the field.

All of this started to get a lot more interesting with 40 laps to go. Around that time Hendricks flag ship man Jeff Gordon went out of the race with suspension issues. Dropping that team to Jimmie Johnson, newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other(Casey Mears). Then Roush Fenway's team took a nice hit when David Ragan slid up the track, for no reason at all, at least that's how it appeared to me. On his way up he managed to take out Mr. Roboto, Matt Kenseth.

Once we got recovered from that caution we got rolling again... briefly. Just a few laps later last years Champion Jimmie Johnson got loose in the middle of the pack and took out himself and Martin Truex Jr. This ended up being a huge blow to teammate Earnhardt on two fronts. Not only had he know lost an ally in the ever important drafting game , that Daytona has become with restrictor plates. He also didn't pit, just as he hadn't on the previous caution. While the last move was strategy, this one came about because to many guys were chatting on the Radio, and Crew Chief Tony Eury, Jr. couldn't get on to tell Junior in time.

So then we got rolling again... briefly (Are you picking up a trend here). At this point we got to enjoy my least favorite aspect of NASCAR. The "Who is Juan Pablo Problem Montoya Going to Wreck This Week" game. This weeks lucky winner, Clint Boyer. Boyer, who happened to be leading at the time, ended up spinning off the track and into the infield. On the bright side he didn't end the race on his roof and on fire like he did last year.

Now with 14 laps to go we get things started for the final time... Almost final. As the green flag dropped everyone abandoned Juan Problem and he dropped like a stone. Then as they were coming through the turn Dave Blainey slid up track in front of Montoya and went into the wall. It is possible that Kevin Harvick made a brilliant move by slightly nudging Blainey, in a much more intelligent way than Montoya had done a few laps earlier(Disclosure, Harvick is my favorite driver and I can't stand Montoya) So to the caution we go.

Now to the Green-White-Checker. It turns out we will be going for the final time now for sure. In a bit of crafty driving Ryan Newman managed to work around Tony Stewart which put them about equal but then Newmans teammate Kurt Busch came in from behind and pushed both of them across the finish for a first time 1-2 finish for team owner Richard Penske.

To get my next post "Car of Tomorrow Backfiring" along with all my other posts Subscribe to the my RSS feed

NASCAR: Gatorade Duel

The Gatorade Duel's are easily the most interesting play in format in sports. Basically it is two 50 lap heats(pre-races). The top two drivers, in each of the two duels, that weren't already in the Daytona 500 based on their finish last season, get a spot in the big race on Sunday. For those of you that don't follow NASCAR. Think of it as being given the football on the 40 with four downs to score. Except instead of winning the game, you win a spot in the Superbowl. It is about that intense and surely that important to the drivers.

In the first Duel Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race in what was relatively clean, wreck free racing. By virtue of the win he will start off the Daytona 500 in the second row. He'll be behind his teammate Jimmie Johnson, as well as Michael Waltrip. Those two earned their spots by posting the two fastest times in the qualifying sessions earlier this week.

Waltrip didn't end up winning the second Duel which he started from the pole position. He did however play a fairly large role. As it became clear throughout the course of the race that his teammate Dale Jarrett, who was racing to get into his final Daytona 500, was not getting any help from back in the pack. Waltrip and third team David Reutimann both dropped back to get Jarrett into one of the top two transfer spots. A position that would move him into the race on Sunday. With the qualifying times of Waltrip and Reutimann, along with Jarrett's finish in the Race. That puts all 3 into the fray for Sunday.

After the race as I watched film of Earnhardt jr, passing former teammate Martin Truex. i can't help by wonder what Theresa Earnhardt thinks of Jr. Now that he has left her and the company his father started. He is enjoying the fruits of Hendrick equipment, having won the Budweiser Shootout last weekend and winning the first Duel this week. While Theresa has never been very public, and even less so since trouble started flaring between Jr and herself. I can't wait to hear some reaction from her the next time someone pins her down for an interview.

This will be the first full season for the new Car of Tomorrow. After using it occasionally last season it is the standard all this year and for the forseable future. As he stood in the winners circle, Jr. was asked what he thought of the new car. While he tried to toe the NASCAR line, by saying "it must have looked good on TV" You could see him trying to fight it back before he let out "It's a handfull, it's like racing one of the older cars". From a guy who definately tries to say the right things. NASCAR has to feel like that was quite a criticism. Not that they care. But I would just love to hear what the Intimidator would have had to say about a car the took handling back 15-20 years.

The Second Duel was won by Denny Hamlin. He was pushed to the front by teammate Tony Stewart, who he had just left to get in front of Jeff Gordon. While it initially looked like Hamlin had hung Stewart out to dry by going with Gordon, when I looked back it seemed like if he didn't Gordon and the inside group would have blown by them. Apparently Stewart agreed based on the Valentines day lovey radio talk between Stewart and Hamlin moments after crossing the finish.

One of the interesting notes was that Brian Vickers who spun through the dirt and grass early on was able to recover and make it into one of the transfer spots in the first duel. I think even more than the driving talent, which was certainly on display. I was impressed by the growth of how he handled himself. He is a guy who previously would have let that early miscue ruin the race for him. Instead he has apparently gained the experience required to keep his composure, and focus on the task at hand enough to overcome a minor setback.

Quote of the Day has to go to Vickers teammate, AJ Allmendinger. When he was asked about the fact he missed out on qualifying for the race, he responded with "It's just one of thirty-six races" Yeah and the Superbowl is just one of nineteen games. I really think that everydriver who doesn't qualify for Daytona should be forced to say that just see if any of them can make it sound convincing. Allmendinger sure didn't.