CHECKERED FLAG......Jamie McMurray has now won the last two restrictor plate races after nailing the Daytona 500 on Sunday. It was sweet vindication for J Mac after he was dumped by RFR last season. After finally getting sponsor approval, he returned to his first Cup team owner, Chip Ganassi. Since McMurray's original stint, Ganassi has merged and morphed his team into Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. So, this is how to get the Earnhardt name back in Victory Lane?
GREEN FLAGS.......Dale Earnhardt Jr charged to his best finish in years as he trailed McMurray across the finish line in second place. MWR drivers David Reutimann (5) and Martin Truex Jr (6) showed the boss how it was done. Clint Bowyer (4), Kevin Harvick (7), and Jeff Burton (11) had RCR in the mix all day. RFR's Greg Biffle (3), Matt Kenseth (8), and Carl Edwards (9) had their Fords up front all race long.
YELLOW FLAGS......Super team, HMS, had one car in the top 10. Jeff Gordon was 26th and Jimmie Johnson was 35th. Brad Keselowski brought out the first caution of 2010. It won't be his last.
RED FLAG.....A pot hole? NASCAR's season opener, and biggest event, was delayed twice for over an hour due to a pot hole in the racing groove. Lots of fans are blaming NASCAR, which owns the track. I have to defend them by saying, this was a fluke. There was really no maintenance or inspection which would have prevented this occurrence. Unseasonably frigid temps this winter, and heavy rains two days before the 500, led up to the break up. I mean, how many winters has it actually snowed in Daytona, Al Gore? This year, twice.
BLACK FLAG......Every single announcer on ESPN and SPEED TV this weekend. I know you think that Danica will raise the ratings and get you more money, but DO NOT even pretend that she has the slightest clue of how to drive a stock car. I can see self promoters like DW and Rusty Wallace trying to sell us on her skills, but Dale Jarrett, Mike Joy, and the rest should know better. Don't pee on my shoes and tell me it's raining.
Gene, good to have the View from the Flagstand back! And guess what? We may be getting rain this weekend!! As far as the track, you're right--unseasonably cold conditions (snow as far south as Pensacola) and heavy rains just before the race didn't help. Danica in a stock car will crash and burn (no pun intended).
ReplyDeleteGood perspective in the Daytona races. Sadly the pot hole issues did mar a great week ending show. Had NASCAR pepaved the track last year , we may not have seen the pot hole issues but considering the unseasonable weather, who knows.
ReplyDeleteDon't be too hard on the Fox and Speed announcers, They just wanted to give Danica a chance to get more exposure literaly and figuratively.
Gene, I was so sick of the Danicabeast that I was so thrilled when she was no longer on the track.
ReplyDeleteMy Black Flag goes to Stewart-Haas #14 team and driver. I knew on Wednesday that they were not going to have a great race. Why they didn't figure that out is beyond me. One thing they should look for, if Tony Stewart is not one of the top three on the practice speed sheet, he is not going to have a car that can win at the restrictor plate tracks. That has always been his emo.
Regardless of how he performed in the 150s. The practice sheets is the best key to determining if he has a car that can win.
But it certainly was nice to see Jamie MacMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have a great race.
Jon....Rain would probably help that race. One lap past halfway would be fine with me.
ReplyDeletePhoto...It has been 30+ years since the track was repaved... it definitely is time.
ReplyDeleteTsfan....If you don't have the fastest car, it just comes down to a lot of luck. Truex had not been up front all day, and he came within a caution flag of winning it. Having a fast car makes it easier though. J Mac's car was fast... Jr could not even make an attempt at passing him.
ReplyDeleteif they had that much rain, wouldn't it have made sense if someone said "gee, I wonder how the pavement is holding up since this isn't really normal for us" or is that asking too much you reckon? That's road engineering basics right there in my book, lol
ReplyDeleteSorry, Gene, but I had a blast during the halftime show. I stole yours and Ed's and Chris' material and retold it at work! Even my daughter laughed at us watching tar dry! I still say Victoria is a good girl and she inspired Junyer Sunday!lol
ReplyDeleteTez....The pavement could look normal before the race, and a few inches of the fill material directly beneath it could actually be hard, dry, and at full compaction and density. The constant pounding and pressure of the 3500 lb cars could create an action called "pumping". A suction like effect which pulls water up from the ground all the way up to the surface.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's ridiculous that the track has sat through 30+ Florida summers without a repaving job.
ATH...Vicky is a good girl. Jr Nation might want to wait a race or two before handing him the Cup trophy.
ReplyDeleteThe view from the flagstand looks purty darn good from here! Did I not call Cupcake as the darkhorse! Woot! Now if I had only picked him in the trifecta....
ReplyDeleteI don't get how Daytona's surface is any different than the tracks in the north that do get snow/rain/sun?
If you weren't paying close attention it almost sounded like their was a ho on the track this weekend! =P
Don't wish Fontana to be ended early...I want my monies worth, every dang boring lap!
Kristen...I think the main thing is they don't repave it as often because of not having the track deteriorate from freezing water in the cracks. Also, I believe most of the tracks way up north have a sealant on the asphalt that Daytona didn't think they needed.... until that dreaded Global Warming this winter...LOL.
ReplyDeleteI had Jamie on my fantasy team, along with Smoke and Harvick (with AJ of course).... and still couldn't crack the top ten in our league...WTH?
yes, I know all that, Gene, lol
ReplyDeleteDidn't they have issues with Fontana the other year as well? Too much rain and the join lines began seeping....I'd imagine that despite being on opposite sides of the country, there might be a little correlation in terms of climate (just swap hurricanes for earthquakes, lol). So, sorry, but I have to put the blame squarely on whoever owns the track as it seems they have no common sense when it comes to engineering.
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ReplyDeleteof course, perhaps I should point out that I'm in the process of writing a pavement plan for my employer...that could be why I'm saying all these things, lol
ReplyDeleteCupcake wins! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteThe pothole was a fluke. Still, it has been over 30 years since they paved it. Had to start breaking up sometime, eh?
I usually pee in my cornflakes....
Our league is very competitive apparently! I managed to crack the top 10 but thought I would be winning! LOL You didnt have Junior that was your mistake!
ReplyDeleteNice first View of the season, extra good humor. I do have to credit ESPN for finally kicking Jerry Punch out of the booth and putting in Marty Reid. That may help them a little...
ReplyDeleteTez....Part of Daytona's problems come from the technology used to build the track in 1959. The fill material for the banked turns was excavated from the infield. I doubt it would be considered suitable fill today.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR has probably been putting off the repave at DIS because they don't want to spend the money to do it right. lol
Most of the drivers now say they don't want the track to be totally repaved. That it would be like Talladega if they repave it.
Moseby...Cupcake! It's good to see a nice guy finish first... every now and then.
ReplyDeleteCornflakes? I thought it was Wheaties?
KLV...If I had Jr on my team, he wouldn't have finished 2nd....just to spite me!
ReplyDeleteWe do have a strong league. I was top-10, with the same drivers, in my other league.
Gonger...Thanks. Marty Reid is a slight upgrade. It would have been even better to bring back Allen Bestwick.
ReplyDeleteIt's Fruit Loops!
ReplyDeleteGreat Flagstand Gene with a great start to the season. What a race !
ReplyDeleteWay cool for Jamie nail the biggest race. We needed that.
I read that it is going to cost $20 mill to repave the track. If the drivers are concerned about losing the tracks character it will not take long for those blistering hot Florida Summers to fix it up.
You know the old school stuff is coming. Dover and Bristol lost quite abit of personality when they were paved in concrete. What to do ....
California Dreamin next week
Rick...That was a great race! If they were all like that, it would be sooo sweet!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it seemed like it made Bristol and Dover a lot easier to drive. Still remember Harry Gant smoking his right rear, lap after lap, through the asphalt turns in Dover.
Nice recap. Marty Reid is fine, but I agree putting Bestwick back in the booth would be the best. I still can't figure out why NBC ever put him in the pits and Weber upstairs.
ReplyDeleteJM...I think Bestwick pissed them off when he broke his leg playing hockey. They sent Weber in to sub, and Bestwick has been banished to the pits ever since.
ReplyDeleteI know where you been,,, What was odd was Dale Jr didn't even try to shake up Jamie. I know he didn't have the push to pass or even catch him but Jamie didn't know that and Dale just followed. Go high or low to make Jamie move high or low and maybe lose some speed.
ReplyDeleteFound out that It's true that SKY TV won't be showing the races live, Just highlites on Monday and how much of the race won't know till next Monday.. Bummer big time....
Cheers
J-Dogg....Where have YOU been???
ReplyDeleteJr couldn't get close enough to Jamie to shake him up. He never could get within 20' of Jamie's back bumper on that last lap.
I'll try and find a web site for you.... they show every NFL game FREE, and all kinds of other sports around the world... a lot of soccer and cricket. They probably show the races live. I'll find it and let you know.