Daytona Drama for the Ages
Who needs soap operas, there was more drama in the Daytona 500 than Days of Our Lives and As the World Turns combined.
If the first race is any indication NASCAR fans are in for some interesting racing in 2012.
For starters it took 3 days to get the race in. Driver introductions were held on Sunday afternoon, and the race finished up around 1 AM Monday, Daytona time.
Burning down the track
For a while it looked like an underdog team that barely made the race might win by default. Dave Blaney, driving for independent team Tommy Baldwin Racing, held the lead for two hours during an extended red flag as the track burned and a few rain drops fell.
The fire erupted when Chevy driver Juan Pablo Montoya’s transmission failed under caution sending his No. 42 car crashing into a safety truck towing a helicopter engine and 200 gallons of class A jet fuel being used to blow debris from the racing surface.
Montoya climbed from the car as it burned on both ends, and the safety truck driver was helped from his truck and down from the steep banking just before the spilling jet fuel ignited. Both are okay.
A penalty for tweeting?
During the red flag Brad Keselowski started trending on Twitter and garnered over 100,000 new followers as he tweeted photos and updates from the track. If Super Bowl quarterback Eli Manning had done that he would have been fined by the NFL.
Dale Earnhardt Jr thinks there may be a penalty coming. “I heard he was in trouble for having a recording device in his car,” said Earnhardt. Who knew Keselowski was carrying his phone. Do they even have time to call or text during the race?
Who’s more popular now?
Danica Patrick was NASCAR’s most popular driver leading up to the 500; drawing bigger crowds than even Dale Earnhardt Jr. But on lap 2 Patrick was caught up in a 5 car crash that also sent 5 time champion Jimmie Johnson to the garage. “We waited 36 hours to wreck on lap one?” asked Kyle Busch during the caution period.
The race ended in a 2 lap green-white-checkered shootout that came down to Matt Kenseth beating Dale Earnhardt Jr to the finish line. It was Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 victory.
Junior likes night racing
Will the Daytona 500 become a permanent night race after this? One driver would approve of that. “Yeah, I’ll work, I’ll race any night you want to race,” said No. 88 driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“We were talking about it on the back straightaway. That was kind of fun actually, standing around on the back straightaway. It reminded me of Hickory when we’d race over there and they’d have a funeral and you’d have to stop and talk about the race or whatever, whatever you’d want to talk about,” said Junior/
But I don’t know, I mean, when you’re in the car you don’t think about what night it is, and you could just forget, really, to be honest. But whenever they want us to race, we’ll race.
What is your take on the race? Did you see any other dramatic moments, and have you ever seen anything like this?
Warning: Restrictor plate racing ahead
Photo courtesy NASCAR Media
Do you want to see two by two tandem racing in the Daytona 500 like you saw last year?
That is a question that Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III has been asking fans – and he says most people are telling him they definitely don’t want to see that style of racing again in 2012. According to Chitwood race fans expect to see the big pack style of racing at Daytona.
NASCAR has in fact made some changes to eliminate the 2 car breakaways. Spoilers have been adjusted and radiators have been reduced in size to make tandem racing more difficult.
Driver to driver radio communication has also been eliminated. In 2011’s Daytona 500 drivers had 20 to 30 other drivers radio frequencies dialed in so that they could talk to each other. Now the only communication allowed will be between the driver, crew chief and spotter. The spotter may only talk to his driver and may not spot for 2 drivers at the same time.
But Dale Earnhardt Jr says that NASCAR has not gone far enough if they really want to stop the practice. According to Junior if more changes are not mad this year’s race will look just like last years.
If fans leave Daytona unhappy it may be difficult for NASCAR to continue to hold their interest later in the season.
NASCAR learned a hard lesson in 2009 when it tried to enforce no bump drafting rules at Talladega. Fans were outraged at officials for telling drivers how to drive the car. Sometimes NASCAR does have a hard time figuring out what race fans want. According to my friend David Newton at ESPN when we had pack racing fans were calling for the pack to be broken up – and now that the pack is broken up they are calling for pack racing.
So why do the drivers insist on racing this way? The cars simply go faster in twos. Speeds topped 204 mph during winter testing at Daytona. If a race car driver can find a way to go faster they are going to go faster.
So do you like the tandem racing, or would you rather see Daytona pack racing? If you were in charge of NASCAR would you try to stop it? What would you do?
5 Reasons the Daytona 500 is Bigger than the Super Bowl
Photo credit: tequilamike
It is that time again. Super Bowl Sunday is coming up,followed closely by Daytona 500 Sunday. So which one do you think is the bigger deal? No question about it: the Daytona 500 is bigger that the Super Bowl. Here’s why:
1. People watch the Daytona 500 to see the action, the strategy and the competition. Not to see who has the best commercial. There is always a huge discussion following the Super Bowl about the ads. There are even awards for the best Super Bowl ads. When is the last time you heard a bunch of NASCAR fans talking more about their favorite commercials than their favorite drivers?
2. Race fans can actually buy a ticket to the Daytona 500. The average football fan would have a hard time getting a ticket to the Super Bowl if their favorite team was playing. Most of the tickets go to corporate sponsors and big businesses.
3. Around 100,000 People will attend the Super Bowl at Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, Texas this year. The Daytona 500 will easily attract 2 to 3 times that many race fans. If only 100,000 people showed up Daytona would look like a ghost town. Plenty of race fans will camp out at the track for 2 weeks just to see the race.
4. 43 teams will be battling to be the Daytona 500 Champion. And at least 25 of them have a legitimate shot to win it. Only 2 teams are playing in the Super Bowl.
5. Jamie McMurray won last year’s Daytona 500. I can’t remember who won last year’s Super Bowl. Can you?
People used to say the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of racing. Maybe we should start saying that the Super Bowl is the Daytona 500 of football.
Can you think of another reason why the Daytona 500 is bigger than the Super Bowl? Please post it in the comments below.
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James Hylton Enters Daytona 500
Why James Hylton is Not Too Old to Race in the Daytona 500
Photo courtesy EM Motorsports
James Hylton has been named the driver of the EM Motorsports Dodge in the 2009 Daytona 500.
I was listening to Dave Moody on Sirius today when someone called in and said James Hylton was too old to be racing. That it would be bad for NASCAR if ‘something’ happened to Hylton in the race.
What a load of bull.
If anyone has earned the right to drive in the Daytona 500 it is James Hylton.
In 1966 James Hylton was named NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year after competing in 41 races and posting 20 top 5 finishes, and 32 top 10′s.
At 74 years of age he is set to make start No. 602 of his Cup career.
The veteran driver was excited about returning to Daytona. “Christmas has come early for me,” said Hylton. “My main goals are to become the oldest competitor to ever run the Daytona 500 and of course, win the race.”
EM Motorsports is outside the top 35 in owner’s points, so Hylton will have to qualify his way into the field on speed, or race his way in during the Gatorade Dual qualifying races.
Team owner John Carter said he plans to “run a complete 2009 series with James Hylton” in the Sprint Cup series. The team will have to sign a major sponsor to make that happen – but a good run at Daytona could put James Hylton back behind the wheel in the Sprint Cup Series.
James Hylton has 601 starts in NASCAR’s Cup series. His last win was in the 1972 Talladega 500 where he led 106 laps in his 1971 Mercury. You can learn more about the driver at JamesHylton.com
Out of those 601 starts Hylton finished in the top 10 301 times – that’s over 50 % in the top 10! On top of that he has 140 top 5 finishes. Those are some pretty amazing stats. I was Impressed myself when I looked them up.
Hylton last raced at Daytona in the July, 2008 Nationwide race.
James Hylton, I wish you nothing but the best for the Daytona 500. I look forward to seeing you back on the track at Daytona.
What about you? Do you think James Hylton should race in the Daytona 500?