With rain steadily falling in Cincinnati the fireworks were tough to see—if not impossible. So, when the weather doesn’t cooperate I know the TV will. And, although the steady stream of fireworks watchers at the place we were kept giving those of us watching the race that all so familiar look, (NASCAR fans, you know what I’m talking about) we kept watching.
But, as it turns out, I only needed to watch about ten minutes of the race to find out all I needed to see. More on the first caution flag of the night a bit further down though. Daytona is a race of chance, a race where big wrecks often mar the race, and oftentimes a last lap pass for the win provides all the drama needed for TNT’s “Wide Open” coverage.
And, although the opinion pieces on restrictor plates are going to pop up once again, I’m just glad Kyle Busch was able to walk away from his car. I listened to the closing laps on MRN, but once I got home the VCR was whirring and I saw the lick Kyle took. Twice. Kasey Kahne may have to count himself (or his-self if you prefer Larry Mac’s version) lucky as well. The hit he put on the green #18 car was just as violent.
As Carl Edwards said just over two months ago, “I guess we’ll keep doing this until someone gets killed.” For more on the Firecracker 400 (aka the Coke Zero 400) please read on. More on the Brickyard 400 will come tomorrow.
1. “Smoke gets in your eyes”-Stewart’s second win signifies he’s the favorite to win the Cup this year
If I haven’t officially said it, I’ll say it now; Tony Stewart is going to win the Brickyard 400, and right now, it looks like no one will even come close to touching him in the points. Until the field is reset after Richmond, that is. Stewart’s second win of the year comes at the time when in 2005 he was just getting heated up on his way to a second Cup title.
The only man to win a Cup title under the old points system and under the new “Chase” system is also the last guy not named Jimmie Johnson to hoist the Cup in Homestead. As NASCAR fans we’ve seen this from “Smoke” before, and I think we’re all getting ready to watch the part-owner, all-driver take another stab at the title.
2. The “Big One” (or two) made a few changes to points
My favorite video game, NASCAR Thunder 2003 for the PS2, had a challenge mode where you had to complete various real life simulations. One was the “Big One” at Talladega from 2002. The MRN radio call that day involved the turn reporter saying, “Oh, here we go, here we go, cars spinning and crashing all over the place.”
But, as it turns out, I only needed to watch about ten minutes of the race to find out all I needed to see. More on the first caution flag of the night a bit further down though. Daytona is a race of chance, a race where big wrecks often mar the race, and oftentimes a last lap pass for the win provides all the drama needed for TNT’s “Wide Open” coverage.
And, although the opinion pieces on restrictor plates are going to pop up once again, I’m just glad Kyle Busch was able to walk away from his car. I listened to the closing laps on MRN, but once I got home the VCR was whirring and I saw the lick Kyle took. Twice. Kasey Kahne may have to count himself (or his-self if you prefer Larry Mac’s version) lucky as well. The hit he put on the green #18 car was just as violent.
As Carl Edwards said just over two months ago, “I guess we’ll keep doing this until someone gets killed.” For more on the Firecracker 400 (aka the Coke Zero 400) please read on. More on the Brickyard 400 will come tomorrow.
1. “Smoke gets in your eyes”-Stewart’s second win signifies he’s the favorite to win the Cup this year
If I haven’t officially said it, I’ll say it now; Tony Stewart is going to win the Brickyard 400, and right now, it looks like no one will even come close to touching him in the points. Until the field is reset after Richmond, that is. Stewart’s second win of the year comes at the time when in 2005 he was just getting heated up on his way to a second Cup title.
The only man to win a Cup title under the old points system and under the new “Chase” system is also the last guy not named Jimmie Johnson to hoist the Cup in Homestead. As NASCAR fans we’ve seen this from “Smoke” before, and I think we’re all getting ready to watch the part-owner, all-driver take another stab at the title.
2. The “Big One” (or two) made a few changes to points
My favorite video game, NASCAR Thunder 2003 for the PS2, had a challenge mode where you had to complete various real life simulations. One was the “Big One” at Talladega from 2002. The MRN radio call that day involved the turn reporter saying, “Oh, here we go, here we go, cars spinning and crashing all over the place.”
A gaggle of sheet metal and smoke normally takes place once or twice a race at restrictor plate tracks like DaytonaIt’s the nature of a restrictor plate track. The “Big One”—a large wreck so familiar at plate tracks that the name should be trademarked—was bound to take out a few good cars on Saturday evening. On lap 77, a 13 car incident, which started when Kasey Kahne got together with the #00 car of David Reutimann really could have affected the points tally.
All it did was move Reutimann further back in the amount of points he has to make up to get into 13th, from 12 points to 74 points. Clint Bowyer lost a spot in the standings to RCR teammate Jeff Burton, and Kahne actually moved up a spot because…
3. Mark Martin falls outside the Chase
…Mark Martin wrecked early in the race. It took all of 13 laps for the #5 car to fid the inside wall on the “Superstretch.” Martin took the blame for the incident. “Matt ran the top side there and got a run up off the corner, and I was trying to keep it down and leave us room and I just pinched him,” Martin said. “My front wheels were cut and it just didn't turn quite enough. It's really slick out there. It's my fault.”
Martin's car nearly escaped hitting anything, but seconds after this shot, his car touched the inside wall, crumpling the front hood and ending any shot Mark had at a good finish
Martin now sits 65 points behind Kahne in the standings, but there is very little to worry about if you’re a Mark Martin fan. At the next 8 tracks—races which will decide the final 12 drivers in the Chase for the Cup—Mark has an excellent record, and has run well at the tracks NASCAR is re-visiting. More on that later in the week or later this month.
4. Sadler and Smith have strong finishes at Daytona
Regan Smith has yet to not finish a race in his 51 race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. Elliot Sadler wishes every race the Cup Series ran was at Daytona. Sadler came home in 10th while Smith finished 12th.
These two gentlemen rarely run up front, and it’s been awhile since Sadler has visited Victory Lane. Regan Smith, if you’ll recall, had won the fall race at Talladega last season, but had the win revoked because of NASCAR’s ever so sketchy yellow line rule. Both ran well last night, kept their noses clean, and came out of Daytona with a shot of confidence.
Sadler (in the #19) has had an extremely good two races at Daytona this season
Also of note, Marcos Ambrose finished 6th, which means he did a great job of avoiding wrecks. He’s really made a name for himself this year in the Cup Series. At the halfway point in the season Ambrose has three top fives, five top tens and sits 18th in Cup points. He’s known for being a road course king, but two of those three top fives came at the last two restrictor plate events. Maybe Ambrose should become a restrictor plate track “ringer.”---------------------------------------------------
Well, I hope my incessant ramblings have shed some light on the race from yesterday evening. Tomorrow I’ll continue the countdown to Indy. Today is the three-week mark.
In just 21 days I hope to be on the track or in the garage area at Indianapolis, covering the second greatest race on the Cup schedule. I’m sure I’ll shed more light on why I believe this is so in the next three weeks. As always, thanks for reading, don’t forget to check back tomorrow, and enjoy your day!
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