Month: February 2015

Well then. That was Daytona.

Florida has been the focus of racing for over a month. From the ROLEX 24 to the Sprint Unlimited to the Budweiser Duels and the Daytona 500. The Camping World Truck Series and now XFINITY Series were thrown in as well.

The Camping World and XFINITY Series were not only the open for their seasons they played a role on race day for the “500”.

For those races, 19 year old Tyler Reddick took the win for the NCWTS NextEra Energy Resources 250. The XFINITY – Alert Today Florida 300 saw Rousch-Fenway young drivers Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher take the race win and runner up slot.

Of course it is common for Sprint Cup drivers to run in the other series. However, it was the other series’ drivers that found they had suddenly been given a ride in the Daytona 500. Oddly enough, they both found their rides in seats vacated by both of the Busch brothers.

Kurt Busch was forced out of the #41 Chevy due to allegations of domestic violence. Busch denies the claims but the courts have put the charges and ongoing restraining order on the books. NASCAR had little choice but put Busch on indefinite suspension. Team owners at Stewart-Haas had no choice either and had to either drop the #41 or find a driver with race weekend heating up. The driver in the #41 was Regan Smith, currently full time in the XFINITY Series with the #7 TaxSlayer.com Camaro with JR Motorsports. Smith has raced the Cup series previously and has a series win from Darlington.

Kyle Busch was put out of his Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Crispy M&Ms Toyota and into the hospital. Kyle was driving in the Alert Today Florida 300 (XFINITY) Saturday when a multi-car crash put him nose first at speed into one of the inner barriers. He was treated for fractured leg and foot injuries and criticisms are on concerning the situation of SAFER barriers not being in place in that area of the track. Matt Crafton, 2 time Camping World Series Champion, was called to fill the #18. While being a test driver for the Cup series he had never raced in the series. This Daytona 500 saw his first start in a car that was not built for him.

It is also noteworthy that Regan Smith was also caught in a crash in the same race that injured Kyle Busch which put his #7 car upside down in an airborne rollover back to the wheels only to be knocked around like a pinball…

So… Kurt Busch is suspended with legal trouble and XFINITY driver Regan Smith takes over. Kyle Busch is injured in the XFINITY race and Camping World driver Matt Crafton takes over. How long the Busch brothers are out is anybody’s guess. The courts can be slow and healing an injury is definitely slow.

Smith and Crafton started in the back regardless of the original qualifying order due to the driver changes. Regan Smith drove the #41 to a respectable 16th spot and Matt Crafton put the #18 over just 2 slots behind in 18th. When you consider both of them had no practice time in these cars and had no real time with the teams and crew and the cars were not built or set up with them in mind then top 20 finishes can be listed as phenomenal.

Joey Logano put Team Penske in Victory Lane with the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford. Logano made the front and held off a 3 wide charge in a green-white-checkered finish. Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick finished second and 2014 Daytona winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished third. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson filled out the top 5.

Jeff Gordon started on the pole to start the race and his announced final season. He was out front for a race high 87 laps but was caught up in a last lap mash up that put him back in the 33rd position.

Daytona began the season with driver drama and a batch of wrecked cars. Nobody wants their cars wrecked but that is a side effect of racing. NASCAR certainly could have begun the season without some of the domestic drama issues that only reinforce the negative on those that are critical of the sport to begin with.

The season is on. Possibly with a little more baggage than usual but sports in general have taken a hit in this respect.

The next batch of races get the season into rhythm with Atlanta, Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. Martinsville falls before Bristol this season with a side trip to Texas between them. Richmond, Talladega and Kansas get us into May and 2 weeks in Charlotte.

There is a lot going on with racing in the middle and the season has only just begun!

Thursday and the Bud Duels. The races between qualifying and the Daytona 500 to set the field behind the top two from the qualifying. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson caught those top two slots with Gordon on the pole. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the first Duel. Jimmie Johnson won the second. There were some crashes.

The second Bud Duel, however, is the one people are focused on from the incident with Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin. Likely it would have gone down as an instance of pack racing and down force and drafting and move on. The post race confrontation and exchange between Patrick and Hamlin has kept it alive in conversation.

Was the #10 loose already? Did Hamlin get too close in a spot on the track that had already created similar incidents? (Harvick / Logano – Sprint Unlimited) Would another driver have been able to keep the car on the track? Was it mere coincidence that the #11 and the #10 had already scraped up earlier in the week? Is Danica only there to add some estrogen interest to the sport?

It is another tangent of the drama that is Daytona. It should be noted that Danica drove the #10 from the back well into the top 10. The incident with the #11 put her in the back again with a damaged car and time running out and she still managed to get back to a 10th place finish and a mid pack start in the Daytona 500.

Does Danica Patrick have the skill set to run in Sprint Cup? Yes, and that skill set is growing and getting better. She has made mistakes but so has every other driver getting into a Sprint Cup car. Does she grab attention far beyond what any other driver would be getting in her position? Yes. Much more so. The only woman in the field is going to generate interest. There are other drivers with similar Cup histories that get hardly a mention. They have caused incidents and crashes and get some criticism for it but Danica seems to draw the finger for every thing that happens.

“Did you see the ‘big one’ at the race yesterday?”
“Yeah… It was Danica’s fault…”
“Why…?”
“She was there…”

Concerning the post race “conversation” with Hamlin…  Yes, her frustration with essentially having to race into the race and having previous damage from proximity to the #11 put her temper on the edge. Any other driver in that position would have had similar words.

Or, because of her gender, would we expect her to throw on an apron, go back to the Go Daddy trailer, make a batch of chocolate chip cookies and invite Hamlin over for “female trouble” apologies with ice cream?
It’s Daytona. Tempers and pressure are up. The first points race of the season puts everyone in a pack at 200mph.

Oh… In case you haven’t noticed with all of the #10 vs #11 talk, some guy named Kurt Busch has been suspended because of some domestic incident with a woman.

Apparently, women are evil. Stay away from them.

The Daytona 500 is set and ready to roll Sunday. If you do have a woman around I suppose you better put her in the kitchen now to start getting the food ready for the “watch party”. Just keep an eye out for the “evil”…

Well now… That’s an interesting thing. Jeff Gordon, who has announced his retirement following this season, has landed the pole for his final Daytona 500. Despite the weird qualifying with the cat and mouse wait and see and go style Gordon and the #24 rolled on with Johnson in the #48 to go for spots 1 and 2 for the opening points race of the season.
The “500” has seen interesting starts in recent years. Gordon announces retirement and is on pole for 2015. In 2014 the #3 is back with Austin Dillon and he grabs the pole. In 2013 Danica Patrick takes the pole for her first full time season. Interesting.
The 2015 season is officially one week away but we still have the Budweiser Duels Thursday evening to set the rest of the field. Let’s go!

The Sprint Unlimited. It opens the NASCAR season and opens the door into a view, even if just a glimpse, of where stock car racing used to be. The “Unlimited” is a race to the finish for a win and a purse which, compared to current season points racing, leaves little regard to the method of getting there. It is closer to racing the way it used to be.
Show up with a car. Race, push, pass, shove… Get to the front… Make the checkers… The mirror is for looking at the loosers and maybe, just maybe, to see if the car you scraped is making a run for your bumper.
Modern points racing throws more into the mix. The rules of play have been turned into a joyous read for attorneys which outline every detail down to the fraction of the inch and the micro weight of a push rod. The driving has become a strategic play of fuel, tires and protection of the aerodynamics. The show has become homegenized for mass consumption and in doing so has left some of the soul in the garage.
Sounds a bit harsh…  Rewind.
The Sprint Unlimited did not disappoint in terms of drama. There was a lot of speed, lots of crashes, near misses and a restart shuffle that put Matt Kenseth on the checkers. There was even a fight… Sort of.
In the midst of Speed Week, Fox Sports has shown a documentary showcasing the 1979 Daytona 500. It was mix of personality and luck that introduced NASCAR racing to a large portion of the country that had largely ignored it. It was a reach forward to show the unitiated what the sport was all about. It was a move to show the respected masses that rednecks and grease monkeys can fit into the wide world of sports.
It worked. Speed, crashes, drama…  There was even a fight. The sport was given a kick of horsepower into the public eye and it took hold and grew.
Times, however, change. People begin to talk about safety, fairness, sportsmanship, waste. At the height of this growth, the same race that spawned it put the breaks on with the death of one of the most popular drivers on the track during the race. The world of NASCAR, and auto racing in general, was thrust into a microscope of detail over driver safety. Other events threw safety back at pit wall. Later, profile deaths in other racing series brought more focus to safety. Car design, seat and harness design, helmets, driving suits, fuel tanks, engines, aerodynamics… It all changed.
It changed to the point the only difference between the cars was a manufacturer sticker and the color. It changed into a race of technique behind the wheel and finesse of strategy. It became, to be honest, a little boring. Fan attendance and attention began to waver.
The question to retain fun and excitement for the fan while keeping the drivers safe has continued to change the sport to the current season. The cars have been changed. The format has changed. From qualifying to the points system to the garage and pit road the sport has become a river of change. The fight to keep the track safe while also maintaining the fans has become a tightrope of balance.
There are those who remember “the good ole’ days” and say it has been ruined and lost forever. However, it is also important to note the sport, as it was with that first green to checkered airing of the Daytona 500, still exists in much the same way. Advances of machinery and safety aside, the racing is much as it was and has been. To find it all you need to do is pack for the short drive to your local weekender race track where the drivers still have day jobs and the cars are built in the garage across the street.
NASCAR, Sprint, Xfinity and Camping World are the higher levels of the sport and with it come the stardom, fame and draw of the big ticket that only comes around in person, at best, one or two times a year. The organizers are constantly in a state of finding what they need to keep that show worthy of the hype. Sometimes they miss the mark and sometimes they hit a winning combination. With the world we live in and what they offer within the rules they have to operate in it is doubtful, criticize all you want, they could do much better. Give them a huge nod for continuing to look and find ways to involve you in the process.
For those who do criticize and moan and say it is done and over I would say this. Pick yourself up and go to that track down the road. There are racetracks all over struggling to fill seats with cheap tickets and great racing that is, as much as is possible, as it was. It is where it all started and your support can keep it that way. Go when “Cup” is in the area to see your big stars but if you yearn for the “good ole’ days” of racing go to the next weekend show at your local small track.
Get the best of what was and what is. Quit your bitchin’ and go racin’!