It's been awhile, in fact the last time I blogged Danica/Ricky was the hot story. Now we have a race under our belts and much to discuss and review.
Danica Wins Pole
She arrived in Daytona fast, and she stayed fast. While she finished lower than where she was at the start of the final lap, Danica Patrick proved she could stay up front at Daytona. She put NASCAR on the front page of virtually every newspaper in the country. If anybody has a hard time understanding why GoDaddy.com remains her sponsor needs only to look back at the week before the Daytona 500, and during the race. They receive more value associating themselves with Patrick because of the curiosity of what she brings to racing.
Most impressive is the fact while some drivers found themselves wrecking every time they rolled a new car out during Speedweeks, Danica kept her Sprint Cup car damage free unlike a year ago when she was caught up in a wreck a race.
Now while a great finish does not translate to guaranteed success the rest of the year, it does start her year off with a strong bit of confidence. Especially with a pair of NASCAR champions saying her moves toward the end of the 500 were the right ones. Unfortunately her first run on a track outside of Daytona has her starting near the end of the pack Sunday in Phoenix.
Looks Good, Races Like....
The overwhelming view from a variety of fans, and non-fans alike was the racing was boring. Anybody who entered last Sunday expecting the racing to be down and dirty with wrecks every 50 laps failed to pay attention during Speedweeks. The Sprint Unlimited gave us our first insight as to what we would see in the Daytona 500. The Budweiser Duels confirmed that. And while many thought the drivers were just being cautious in the Duels to save their cars for Sunday are correct, it's that same thinking that leads to the racing we saw on Sunday. Among several factors many teams I believe may have held back a little in some cases to keep their cars intact for the finish, and even then just to keep the cars intact period.
As well I think the majority of the reason we saw the one line, follow the leader racing we saw was the fact that no one knew if they dropped to the bottom of the race track to make a move, would they have drafting help come down and work with them. Many feared if they dropped down, no one would come with, and instead as they fell back to the back of the line, the car directly behind them would pick up a free spot.
I've also heard some fellow Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans query as to why he waited so long to make his move. Obviously those fans did not have Junior's in-car radio. Junior and Spotter TJ Majors were planning and scheming for much of the last quarter of the race how they would gain spots on the track. At times Junior would send Majors off to talk with other spotters hoping to gain an ally to go to the bottom and make a move. Finally he got one in Mark Martin and almost won his second Daytona 500.
In the end I viewed the race much like an Olympic 3200m run where the runners get off to a good start and kind of race each other just to get in line. Then draft off one another for much of the race with the leader changing several times to change the lead draft. Then in the final lap everyone kicks it in and we have our action.
To me it was a good race because I enjoy seeing strategies play out on the track. Be it on pit road, or on the track. Seeing Jimmie Johnson overtake Brad Keselowski right before a caution, Junior's move at the end, mechanical failures for a pair of Joe Gibbs guys, and wondering if the last one standing was next. Unfortunately some fans call the racing boring if we don't have guys beating and banging from the drop of the green, and cars wrecking everywhere on the final lap in mass chaos. The last few years Daytona, and Talladega have been difficult to watch because I'm on edge scared that something bad could happen at any moment to the drivers, and teams I follow. While one team I follow took collateral damage from the Kasey Kahne wreck, at no point did I feel like anything could happen at the drop of a hat.
Bottom line, it was the first race with the Gen 6 car, it came with teams still trying to get parts to build more Gen-6 cars, as well as a day after one of the darker days for NASCAR. I don't anticipate the super speedway races remaining like this as time goes on. I also don't see it being perfected before they go to Talladega. What I do expect is small changes to gradually make the racing better.
The Wreck
What happened on the last lap of the Nationwide Series race is a black eye for the sport. Not from NASCAR fans, but outsiders who have a misunderstanding of NASCAR. It is unfortunate that we had fans hurt. But the catch fence did its job, it kept Kyle Larson's car out of the stands. It is a bad deal that parts made it into the grandstands. I've heard callers on SiriusXM Speedway with Dave Moody, and Angie Skinner give every possible solution they can think of. But Kyle Petty may have given the best solution, without giving one. Saying that NASCAR will diligently look at what happened, and will study everything from the fence to the car.
What may upset fans however is NASCAR taking their time with this. I believe many fans will want a solution soon, and that's just not the way to go. You wouldn't want a contractor coming into your house to fix something so quick that it's a bad job. NASCAR would rather hear the fans complain they aren't reacting fast enough, than react so fast and have something else happen that could have been prevented and have bigger problems.
Another situation that has come of the accident is the injured individuals hiring a Daytona lawyer to represent them. The first reaction is to think these fans are setting up the option to drop a lawsuit on NASCAR. My hope is their intentions are to have legal representation in place to ensure what, and how NASCAR compensates them is fair. I have sat in seats in the relative same location at Texas Motor Speedway, and sat in those seats not long after the incident at Talladega with Carl Edwards. I knew while at TMS the likelihood of a situation like that is remote at best, it was still a possibility. Yet knowing the possibilities I still took on the liability of having those seats. While the hope is we never see another fan injured from parts coming off of a wrecked car, the fan has the option of where to sit, and should always understand the possible consequences no matter how remote they may be.
But to continue that thought one only look as far as baseball. A sport where sitting in the lower level of a stadium along the first and third base lines always means you are in harms way of a baseball, and in some cases a bat. It is easy to contend that attending a baseball game may be less safe than a NASCAR race based on that premise. And that's something to build on. Not that this is an incident that always happens, but one that is a once in so many year situation versus other sports.
Then there is Tony Stewart who won the race. But the way he came down pit road and began to get out of his car you would have thought someone else won. But instead it was as if he wanted no part of celebrating due to what had happened. While Smoke has had his run-ins with NASCAR, and probably has his fair share of non-fans he may have proved why he can be, and should be among the more likable drivers on the circuit. Following the Daytona 500 he made his way over to Halifax Medical Center to visit the injured fans who remained in the hospital. Understandably he initially wanted to keep his visit private, however when news of his visit broke Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed it.
So all of that said we have our first week of the NASCAR season in the books. Because it's Daytona we still have no idea how this season will shape up.
