The Daytona 500 Weekend

As much as my heart was hurting for Casey Mears, I couldn't help but look forward to race weekend. Anything can happen at Daytona!

Dale Jr. and Brian were running the Nationwide race and both had a good chance of winning, although Tony Stewart was the obvious favorite, since he's won the past three winter races here. I was also cheering for Trevor Bayne in the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine - he's proven that he's quite the talent and I wouldn't rule him out anywhere! Still, as much talent and skill at restrictor plate tracks as some of these drivers have, wrecks can start anywhere, anytime, and that makes races at Daytona and Talladega nerve-wracking.

It didn't take long for the first disaster to strike, when Mike Bliss got into Trevor and ended his day. I try not to become enraged about this kind of thing, but when someone literally wipes another guy (and several more who got caught up in the wreck) out after less than ten laps it's very frustrating! Trevor was visibly angry during his interview, but I was pleasantly surprised when he held his composure and kept any fury to himself. No use in making enemies now, I guess - let the driving do the talking instead.

For some time things were fairly quiet until another substantial crash occurred on Lap 69, collecting quite a few cars, including Danica Patrick. ESPN immediately focused almost completely on her - irritating, since other cars were involved too - and began making all these excuses for her since she didn't miss the wreck. Drivers get swept up in restrictor plate wrecks all the time, so why does Danica get special attention? It was just a racing incident and any race fan could see her chances of getting through it were slim. She was just another unlucky driver.

The last big wreck exploded on Lap 93 when Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski touched near the front of the pack. All of a sudden Dale Jr.'s car was flipped over! I held my breath, as any car on its roof is an unnatural sight, and cringed when other cars slammed into it. The #88 see-sawed from hood to spoiler a few times as it absorbed the energy of being hit by other competitors before it was tossed into the grass, flipping back on its wheels as it slowed to a halt. Junior was fine, but his ride was not.

No one was able to work together to make a run at Tony Stewart, so he drove to another victory without any trouble. Bummer.

I was hoping for better on Sunday. Unfortunately David's radio was full of static and I couldn't understand him most of the time. He didn't have a phenomenal car but hung on in a decent position much of the day. Martin, on the other hand, led three exhilarating laps - it was so awesome to see the NAPA car up front at Daytona!

Then there was the hole. Embarrassing. Annoying. Should not have happened.

Thankfully, as night floated in and the lights turned on, the racing heated up and took my mind off the deteriorating track. Sometimes green-white-checkers are boring at restrictor plate tracks, but the front-runners were to prove me wrong. During NASCAR's second attempt at finishing the Daytona 500 under green, David slipped in behind Dale Jr. and gave him the shove of his life. Junior shot forward like a rocket, settling behind leader Jamie McMurray. I was about dying, hoping that David could follow, but sadly he couldn't stay with the #88. Without a car behind him, Junior didn't have the momentum to make the pass for the win, so McMurray came home with the trophy. Not that I minded...McMurray burst into tears and could hardly talk for crying. A very "aaaaw" moment!

Both David and Martin earned finishes in the top-6, which is simply wonderful. I was disappointed that Michael only scored 18th, but he's already saying this may not be his last 500 so he could have a chance to better himself. Brian and Kurt had decent days, though not as good as they would have liked. Finally, Marcos was relegated to 41st after a blown engine. Max Papis also lost a motor, which is a bit concerning since they both come from TRD.

On to California! Not my favorite track, but maybe good things will happen in sunny Cali.

Regal Lips

Oregano strikes a pose while showing off his hanging bottom lip and booger-birthmark.
(Photo taken 26 MAY 2009)

The Gatorade Duels -- Triumph and Heartbreak

The Duels. I love the name and the images it conjures up. Sword-fighting knights, gun-slinging cowboys! And, if you're a NASCAR fan, stock car-wrestling drivers!

Michael Waltrip wanted to give the Daytona 500 one more shot. NAPA signed on for the race and because Martin Truex Jr. has his points he needed to race his way in. On qualifying day he failed to lock in, so he would have to either be one of the two highest finishing go-or-go-home cars in his Duel, or be very lucky and have either Scott Speed or Bobby Labonte be one of the two highest finishing GOGH cars in their Duel to lock Michael in based on his single-car qualifying time. Confused? You should be...I have to re-remember this stuff every year!

To complicate things, I was also cheering for Casey Mears, racing for the new Keyed-Up Motorsports team. If Michael didn't race in, Casey would be competition.

Of course things didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. During practice earlier in the week Michael had cut a tire and nearly wrecked - it happened again during the Duel, but this time he sailed off the track and struck the inside retaining wall. My heart sank and I held back tears. Now it was up to Scott Speed and Bobby Labonte in the second Duel to race hard. They frankly didn't owe Michael anything and could risk severely damaging their own cars if they put themselves in a risky position.

Casey was impressive all race long, especially for a new, underfunded team. All the GOGH cars were in close proximity, which made things very tense. The locked-in cars changed almost every lap! Michael watched the ordeal go down in FOX's booth, and we watched him watch.

At the last minute, Paul Menard got loose and began to back up. Casey - who was behind Menard - had nowhere to go but back as well, and it completely killed any chance he had at making the show. At the same time, Scott Speed powered forward and when the checkers flew he was the second highest GOGH finisher. Michael was locked in!!

It was cause for celebration and I smiled, laughed, and again held back tears (Michael didn't even try to hide his joy!). But my heart broke for Casey. He only has six races signed with Keyed-Up, and making the 500 would have been huge for him and his team.

I hate stuff like that, where the elation you feel for one person is dampened by the sadness you feel for another. But this is NASCAR. It's a lot like life.

The overwhelming tension is calmed for now, as I wait for NASCAR Live to air on TV (though I'll likely be greeted with an image of the pouring rain in Florida). The Duels, unlike the Shootout, promised some exciting racing in the 500 - how about those two side-by-side finishes? Wow! Michael will have to deal with a backup car and David will likely be wanting some improvements made to his #00, since it didn't seem all that sporty in the Duel. I'm looking forward to Sunday!

Money Over Talent

I've been a Kelly Bires fan for a while now and was beyond thrilled when Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed him to JR Motorsports starting this season! I knew that when Kelly finally got into a solid, stable ride he would shine. Then things started to fall apart.

Two words: Danica Patrick.

To be completely honest, I don't care for Danica much. I don't have a problem using sexiness to promote yourself in this type of business, but posing nearly naked in a clearly sexual way is simply unprofessional, in my opinion. I guess some women don't mind, but I'd rather have people know me for other reasons than how I look in lingerie. So when everyone started talking about her racing in Nationwide for JRM I was a bit fearful. When she was entered in the ARCA race at Daytona I was even more afraid.

When she said it was her decision to race in the N'Wide Daytona race, I knew Kelly was done for.

In reality, Dale Jr. took Kelly's ride (the #88) at Daytona - I think this is unfair, no matter what kind of sponsorship agreements he had with Hellmen's. JRM's second car, the #7, was available for Kelly and it was assumed before Danica popped up that he would be driving that car. JRM made it clear that they weren't willing to put their own money into fielding a third entry for either Kelly or Danica. Basically, it was only a matter of time before it was announced Danica would replace Kelly at Daytona, particularly after she did well in the ARCA race.

I'm very disappointed in this decision. Kelly, as JRM's only full-time driver, should be the first priority. I understand Danica brings in money and a rather nauseating amount of media attention, but it's absolutely ridiculous that JRM's full-time driver won't have much of a chance at competing for the Nationwide championship this year. Worse, now Dale Jr. said Kelly probably won't be racing more than half the season anyway because of a lack of sponsorship. This may be reading between the lines too much, but I take that to mean Kelly is just a placeholder. I love Dale Jr., but this is not the way to run a respectable race team. Does loyalty mean nothing?

I can't even ask if talent means anything because more and more it doesn't. I know, I know, NAPA has stuck with Michael Waltrip even though he hasn't won in four years, so I should shut up. But at least Michael has stuck around in NASCAR his entire life, sacrificed more than most could ever imagine and built a team from the ground up that has strengthened the competition. Danica posed on some cars in her underwear and seductively unzips her driver's suit in commercials.

I'm harsh - though not as harsh as some! - but I want to make it clear I don't hate Danica, or really even dislike her to a great degree. I don't hope for her failure. It's just frustrating that she consciously pushed Kelly out of racing at Daytona, something that he's been clearly looking forward to for months.

Kelly, keep your chin up. You'll prove you should have been the #88 all along.

Daytona Speedweeks and the Bud Shootout

Every NASCAR fan eagerly awaits the coming of Speedweeks, whether the off-season is a time you cherish (wow, I can do stuff on the weekends now!) or a time you agonize (uhg, I miss racing!). There is excitement for a brand new season where anything can happen; the slate is wiped clean. It doesn't take long for storylines to run rampant, though.

Michael Waltrip, my longtime favorite driver, is now cutting back to a part-time schedule. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I'll miss him terribly and it makes me sad because racing is such a huge passion of his and he didn't get to accomplish all he'd hoped for. But on the other hand, he couldn't keep up with his teammates, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose (I think most Michael Waltrip Racing fans consider Marcos a teammate). Michael stated at the beginning of last year that he would step back if he couldn't compete, and he held true to his word. I respect that greatly.

Now Martin Truex Jr. is in Michael's old ride, flying the same familiar NAPA colors. Honestly I was thrilled when he signed with MWR, as Martin has been one of my favorites since he started driving for Chance 2 several years ago. He was unhappy at DEI/EGR and ended up following the many former DEI employees to MWR. Michael gave him the #56 - which I think is wonderful since I love identity - and welcomed him with open arms.

Instead of keeping the #55 that he's driven for four years, Michael switched to the #51. I was upset about this at first and had suspicions that it was because he could be racing Billy Ballew's #51 truck in the Camping World Truck Series. I also felt like my #55 gear was useless - and I don't have much money for treats anymore. But Michael later stated that the #51 is to honor his time with Dale Earnhardt, so my irritation turned to understanding.

Because of some rule changes over the off-season, Michael became eligible for the Bud Shootout, and I was excited! Unfortunately, I didn't feel like the Shootout was all it was hyped up to be, especially since the practices were so wild. The drivers certainly didn't take many risks and Michael was in the back of the field despite having a good car (he did say he was having a hard time getting anywhere). Michael spun out by himself once but saved it. It wasn't meant to be, however, as late in the race Ryan Newman plowed into him on the backstretch. The end result was a wrecked NAPA Toyota and a furious Michael. Not much was made of this rather blatant act by Newman...and that was aggravating. Kevin Harvick won with no challengers under caution. Kind of an anticlimax.

But what can you do but move on! Hopefully the rest of the action leading up to the Daytona 500 will be better.