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.
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.