Daytona 500 marred by pothole, ends in exciting fashion

Boy, that was an exciting race. When the cars were actually racing, that is.

Two separate breaks for a pothole in the pavement during Sunday’s Daytona 500 made the race last longer than six hours, and turned NASCAR’s big day into a debacle tantamount to the 2008 Brickyard 400.

Except this was more unbearable because I had to listen to drivers talk about their cars getting messed up from it (Jimmie Johnson) and NASCAR officials tell me that everything was ok (Brian France).

In the end the finish was somewhat dramatic with Jamie McMurray snatching the win in front of NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jamie McMurray’s departure from Roush Fenway Racing was his best fortune on Sunday. He used his new ride to rocket to the front during the final laps and take the biggest win of his career.

Somehow there was no traditional big one, but when we needed drama we turned to the asphalt falling apart in between turns one and two. Lots of fans were unhappy, and at least one or two writers gave us their heated opinions today.

Jeff Gluck, writer for sbnation.com and Twitter extraordinaire, wrote, “And unless they repave the track, officials are setting themselves up to return to the Daytona 500 next year and just hope - or pray - the surface holds up for another year. There needs to be more urgency than that. NASCAR can’t afford to take too many hits, and if you thought there was a firestorm of reaction to Sunday’s black hole, just wait until it happens again.”

Gluck’s feelings were reiterated by David Caraviello of NASCAR.com. He wrote, “It was difficult to find anyone outside of a driver suit who wasn’t prepared to label the Daytona 500 as a disaster. And who could argue with them?”

When NASCAR needed to show it could weather last season’s mediocre TV ratings and scarce sponsorship, it fell apart at the seams, quite literally. Let’s hope we don’t have another weather issue at California like we saw in 2008. Two bad weather related issues in a row would kill any momentum that the sport had going for it.

A funny note to cap off this weekend of racing to note how big Danica Patrick has become, even though I may not enjoy her popularity as a driver, I think this story shows how important she may be to opening some eyes to NASCAR. As I was filming the UC Bearcat offensive and defensive linemen lifting this morning, I heard one of them say to the group, “Hey, did you guys see that Danica Patrick wrecked this weekend?”

My jaw hit the ground.

Maybe there are a few more NASCAR fans on the team than I first thought. And I know for certain I converted at least one person to the best sport in America. Maybe my contagious passion for NASCAR is paying dividends? Maybe...