Friday Flashback: 2007 Daytona 500

It’s my favorite quote, and it was delivered by a man who nine months earlier had one of the biggest NASCAR dreams stolen from him.

“Impatience is a real hard thing to deal with and to work with. Impatience is waste of time. It’s a diversion. If you’re impatient, you’re worrying about things you can’t control,” he said. “If you stay focused on the things that you can control and accept the fact that it may take a little more time than you wish it would, then you keep your eye on the target.”

In February of 2007 Mark Martin took to the wheel of the No. 01 Chevy for Ginn Racing, a new, part-time gig for the veteran driver, who decided it was time to step away from the grind of a full-time schedule, and spend more time with his family.

Little did he know that in his first race with his new team he’d find himself with a chance to notch the biggest win in his Cup career.

In his 23rd Daytona 500, Mark Martin took the white flag as the leader. Never had Martin led this late in the sport’s biggest race. As it turns out, it was the last lap he’d lead in the race.

With a giant push from Matt Kenseth on the Daytona backstretch, Kevin Harvick’s yellow No. 29 darted around the outside groove, challenging NASCAR’s perennial bridesmaid for the win. As Martin and Harvick both charged toward the checkers, mayhem ensued behind them.

Kyle Busch’s No. 5 got sideways as he tried to push Martin to a historic Daytona win, and a multi-car incident ensued. The yellow flag was not thrown, and in the closest (and most controversial) Daytona 500 finish to date, Kevin Harvick beat Mark Martin to the line by .02 seconds.

“I thought they were going to throw the yellow flag, they were wrecking behind us … That’s just the way things go. I wanted to drive a fast car and they gave me that,” Martin said after the race.

Harvick became NASCAR’s No. 1 villain at that time. Oddly enough, he was driving the car that nine years earlier was the sentimental favorite to win the Daytona 500.

In 1998 Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his first, and only, Daytona 500. Teams and crew members lined Daytona’s pit road, high-fiving and congratulating Earnhardt on the win that he claimed “took that monkey off his back.” Harvick, who took over driving the Richard Childress Racing car after Earnhardt died in 2001, would celebrate in Victory Lane that night.

“I knew I was going to be the bad guy at the end with Mark leading,” Harvick said. “But we kept the pedal down and hoped for the best.”

Mark Martin and his fans would be left to wonder how else NASCAR would find a way to keep the Batesville, Ark. Native out of victory lane in the sport’s “Super Bowl.”

After the race ended, replay after replay was shown. You can decide for yourself who you thought won the race (view a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZOltYjYk4E) even though NASCAR determined Harvick as the winner.

It took 90 minutes for NASCAR to release their reasoning for not throwing the caution flag when many fans and media members thought it should have been thrown. “When the 07 [driven by Clint Bowyer] got sideways on track, the yellow came out at that time,” said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. “The 29 [Harvick] was ahead of the 01 [Martin] at that time and declared the winner taking the checkered flag.”

An article published on MSNBC.com later that week said, “Every incident proved it’s past time for NASCAR to have a very clear rule book. Otherwise everything will always be arbitrary…”

The ’07 Daytona 500 was voted by fans as the second greatest Daytona 500 in the history of “The Great American Race,” second only to the 1998 race. For Mark Martin fans, it could have easily been the No. 1 Mark Martin win of all-time, but instead it once again proved why Mark Martin is the consummate man.

When other drivers would have gotten out and pitched a fit, Mark Martin stood on pit road, leaned against his car, and put a huge smile on his face. He was just excited to have had the opportunity to be there.

There are just 37 days until the 2011 version of the Daytona 500, and if it’s anything like the 2007 race, I might need some medication to control my heart. Check back in the next five weeks for more Daytona “Friday Flashbacks” and other NASCAR news and notes. I may also have to re-visit this race and give my thoughts on it again (as I did in 2009: http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/1-day-til-daytona-nuts-and-bolts.html).

Until then, have a good extended weekend and enjoy your day off on Monday (if you indeed have the day off, and I assume most of you do). Thanks for checking in.