Feb 20
A brief mention of Sunday’s events is in order.
350 miles - boredom, boredom, boredom. Kurt Busch once again leads the most laps until he and Stewart crash.
After that, all kinds of things happen. It’s not just crashes, it’s potential history in the making. Mark Martin in his 23rd Daytona could win one. (Keep in mind that Kyle Bush wasn’t born when Martin made his first Daytona run in 1977.)
On the last lap, Kevin Harvick wins by a nose - 0.02 seconds to win the Daytona 500.
I haven’t nothing against Harvick, but I was upset. I really hope Mark Martin would win.
So now we have a place for NASCAR-related comments. Details, I’m sure, to ensue.
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Comments
7 Responses to “Daytona”
I’m having a hard time not typing in all caps on this one.
Martin got hosed! The rule put in place by NASCAR is that on a green/white/checker restart any caution ends the race.
No caution you say? Well, that’s the part that chaffs my bum. The problem was that there was no caution at all. Again, the rule is that the caution comes out immediately during a wreck and the field is frozen as they run.
Why was there no caution? Because NASCAR knows how lame a race finishing under caution is, and they dang sure didn’t want the Daytona 500 to end that way, so they instructed the flag dude not to throw the caution on the last lap no matter what.
OK, that’s all well and good, but remove the rule if that’s how you’re gonna play.
Got nothing at all against Harvick. He drove to win, and he won. No way he should’ve “let Mark win” as I’ve heard too many times. Point is, it should’ve been a moo point.
I’m not even saying this stuff as an angry Mark Martin fan. I like Mark just fine, but you know I was jonesin’ for Little E to win.
But, hey, it wasn’t all bad. Jimmie Johnson crashed…
Restrictor plate racing. Really dumb in my opinion. I watched some of the qualifying the week before. Couldn’t believe it. They just go out and drive two laps with the pedal all the way down. Yeah, that’s really challenging.
I watched bits of the race, including the finish. Really silly stuff. Without the crashes, it would be totally boring.
I remember when NASCAR really did use stock cars and there wasn’t any restrictions. People today don’t realize that in those days the cars were going around 200 mph. At least back then it was kind of interesting.
But, to be fair, all forms of road racing has it’s problems as well. Formula 1 has almost no passing. The divided open wheel series in the US has almost destroyed the sport. Oh for the good old days (showing my age).
Bobber: I’m with you on restrictor-plate racing. 41 of the 43 cars were on the lead lap for most of the race. They were all bunched together. Ugh.
Kurt: Yes, Martin was hosed. No caution for all that sheet metal flying?!?! Technically, they do throw the caution immediately after the checker, so the race officially ends on a caution. UGH!
But there is another big race going on this whole week. It started on Sunday. It’s called The Tour of California. The opening prologue on Sunday was quite exciting. Too bad it’s not on TV yet. Maybe next year.
As a car guy, I feel as though I ought to like NASCAR, but it doesn’t do any thing for me.
I too long for the day when the cars were actual stock cars, or at least they had to really look like them. This same anonymous blob with Ford/Chevy/Dodge/Toyota stickers on it is silly. So maybe they can’t put an actual Fusion vs. Monte Carlo vs. Charger vs. Camry out there, but let’s return to the old days of making the tube frame cars actually look like the production models. Same profile, same length, same shape, same wheel base and driver position. Add regulated wings and whatnot to keep them on the ground, but make them stock cars.
I dunno, maybe that wouldn’t work, but now it’s just a bunch of aerodynamic billboards. What fun is there in watching jelly bean shaped adds go round in circles?
I enjoyed the race, then again I watched it with my man. The crash at the end was a bit frightening. I wasn’t cheering for either driver so no big deal as to who won. My man is a Jr fan and I like Jeff. That’s right I like Jeff! They weren’t in it from the early on. We both agree that they should have thrown the flag making the ending different.