Daytona Int’l Speedway - Daytona 500

Jess

RESULTS
1. Ryan Newman
2. Kurt
9. Dale Jr.
12. Brian
16. DJ
18. David
20. Martin
29. Michael
35. Casey

The Daytona 500. Finally!

Prerace festivities kicked things off with a wonderful concert by various artists (all fully clothed and appropriately clothed, thank goodness, for we've had some rather frightening outfits by a couple of the female artists in the past few years). Brooks and Dunn has been one of my favorite country duos for a long time so I was very excited to see them on stage and they did a great job. I love watching all the cool things they do on the frontstretch grass and really liked the way they pulled out the 50th running banner and had all the old-school cars on parade. Every year makes me wish I was down there!

At long length the race became the main focus and the green flag flew over a field of forty-three drivers hungry to call themselves a 2008 Daytona 500 champion. To my absolute glee, Michael began to power his way past polesitter Jimmie Johnson and he can say for the rest of the season that he was the first driver to lead a lap for a points race in 2008! It was very sweet to see him flex his muscles like he did and show off those pretty gold wheels.

While the cars remained bunched up it was exciting but soon the field spread out, whether it was from handling issues, caution regarding the possible tire problem or just caution in general. Daytona is getting more and more like that; when there are long green flag runs everyone gets single-file and plays follow-the-leader. Couple that with some green-flag pit stops and they got even more spaced out. Not a whole lot of fun for the viewer – and I'd imagine not for the drivers, either – but it does make the race go faster.

After the first caution for debris flew the action was ready to pick up. Brian had a tire go down after the race restarted and pitted, eventually going a lap down but keeping up with the draft and putting himself in position for the free pass. Kurt and Junior also had a close call on the backstretch when Kurt had to swerve, clipping the grass, to avoid the 88. That was exciting!

Another green-flag pit stop came to pass, scattering the pack once again and leaving Kurt with a speeding penalty, putting him way back in the running order. At one point all three MWR cars hooked up and they got some air time, which was nice. Michael got a little more attention for MWR when during his pit stop after the Lap 150 debris caution he slid through his stall, coming close to smacking into a bunch of spectators standing in the garage entrance. A risky place to watch the race! Kurt had more problems as well, overshooting his pit stall and being forced to come all the way back around to visit pit lane again! Could things go crazier for him?!

The first accident of the day occurred on Lap 161, when David Ragan slammed into teammate Matt Kenseth, putting them both out of the race. From the clip that was played on FOX from Kenseth's radio he was none too happy about things either – I don't think I've ever heard him yell like that!

Everyone pitted again except for Dale Jr., who expected to make it to the end. Tony Eury Jr. is a smart crew chief but I can't say I thought it was the best move to make since his tires would be a lot less fresh than the other drivers'. When the green flew again he struggled to keep the lead until the second wreck of the day exploded a few laps later.

Jimmie Johnson got loose and then was helped around by Sam Hornish Jr. (which wouldn't be the last bonehead move he would make that evening). In the chaos that ensued David just barely squeaked by and poor Michael – who was just moving up – ran into the back of Denny Hamlin. The damage to the nose of the 55 would ruin his chances of a good finish. Martin also spun with Johnson and would unfortunately never recover from that, although the car didn't seem to be hurt too badly.

Once again every car came to pit road except Dale Jr. Well, okay, at least he's consistent!

Green again, but not for long. Dale Jr. got shuffled back by Clint Bowyer, who couldn't revel in the glory of being the leader for more than a moment before Juan Montoya plowed into the back of him and sent him spinning!

What they say about cautions breeding cautions rang true for the end of the 500; two laps after the green Dave Blaney got jumbled up behind Montoya and then tagged by Kevin Harvick, which shot him into the wall and killed his car. This is just the story of Blaney's life! Run well all day only to have something stupid happen!

For Casey it was looking to be a great night and I was hoping for an opportunity to see him go for the checkers. But that went all up in smoke and sparks after the next green flag when he tried to slide up into the high line, hesitated and then slid up again: right into Tony Stewart's bumper. The 5 creamed the wall. I was so upset but couldn't be mad at anyone because he wasn't clear and shouldn't have been told he was, and the spotters have a hard time seeing on the frontstretch. My heart just broke for Casey and the entire team.

With only three laps left the race restarted again and things got very wild very quickly! Stewart was leading and I honestly didn't want him to win, mostly because I'd like to keep that first Toyota victory up for grabs a little longer! Meanwhile back in 12th, David and the Dream Machine crew were looking good…until the white flag. Sam Hornish had been riding behind him for a few laps and at that moment decided to show his true colors by ducking underneath the 00 and smacking into the side of the car, getting David loose and sending him on a free-fall. That just figures! David fell all the way back to 18th, behind teammate DJ, while Hornish can now bask in the praise of the media for being a "great driver". Interestingly enough, according to Carl Edwards, Hornish isn't exactly making too many friends with anyone: "…we had a deal where we got caught up with the 77 car and slowed us way down."

Back up front, the other Penske boys teamed up and aimed to give Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 victory, not to mention his first restrictor plate win. Ryan Newman pulled up in front of Kurt on the backstretch and the 2 shot the 12 out of a canon! They blasted by Tony Stewart like he was standing still! By now Danni and I were screaming and generally going crazy, cheering on the pair of blue Dodges. It didn't bother me at all that Kurt finished 2nd because I've been waiting for the Penske boys to finally get their luck together and hook up at the end of an RP race, and I knew that Kurt was going to be really happy for Newman.

The 12 crew, joined by Newman's family, went ballistic. Newman slowed on the frontstretch and did some sweet smoky burnouts for the fans before heading into Victory Lane. I was happy to see Krissie Newman wearing comfy-looking jeans and a hoodie – now that's my type of NASCAR wife!

When Kurt was interviewed I knew he'd have a lot to say about Penske Racing and that Newman is a good teammate, but I was actually shocked to see how emotional he got. It really accentuated how important Penske's organization has been not only to Kurt the driver but Kurt the person. In the short run a 500 win would be awesome for Kurt – but in the long run he solidified the trust between the 2 and the 12.

Looking at the running order, I was surprised to see that Brian finished 12th. Where did he come from? What a great points day for the 83 team!

Going back to David, whose radio I've listened to since last season, I was again very pleased with the communication between he and Ryan Pemberton. What a team! I'm going to try and pick one quote from every race that I thought was funny, inspiring or whatever and write it down.

During the first yellow flag pit stops on Lap 80 Ryan asked David to stop short in his box with the nose of the car pointed out. Apparently this didn't happen and David was really frustrated about it, claiming he was screwing up all the pit stops. Ryan kept telling him that it was all good and then said to remain calm. As an afterthought he added, "If we don't remain calm I'm gonna start throwing some chairs or something in here." Go Ryan! His confidence and humor is great for David; I'd like to have him on my side if I ever got into a bad spot!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Ryan Newman
2. Kurt -15
8. Dale Jr. -47
12. Brian -63
16. DJ -75
17. David -81
19. Martin -87
27. Michael -109
35. Casey -132

*UPDATE (Wednesday, 20 February): Due to Robby Gordon's penalty (the loss of 100 driver and owner points), all our boys that finished behind Dale Jr. get bumped up one spot!