Saturday at Daytona the NASCAR Nationwide Series went green with the season opener DRIVE4COPD 300. A bunch of Cup drivers were in the field and a few went into the field…
Among the “Cups” that had their Nationwide day shortened early were Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch.
However, the very real nature of the race, the day and the sport came in the run to the checkered flag. It started with an “out of the couch” moment at 5 laps to go wrecking the field and red lighting the rest.
The win under the sun and Florida heat went to Tony Stewart after a restart on the outside, getting taken over and chasing down inside the top 4 on a run to the finish. Regan Smith and Brad Keselowski touched and went loose out of the final turn and bunched up a melee of torn metal and battered fencing. The front of Kyle Larson’s #32 Chevy was left in the wall and fencing after going airborne in the mix, sending a wheel and brake assembly into the stands.
Stewart, in post race interviews, showed an almost complete disinterest in the win while almost tearful in concern for fans and other drivers. Other drivers showed real concern for fans as well through post race discussions. (more…)