Daytona Int'l Speedway - Coke Zero 400
Jess
RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt
8. Dale Jr.
11. Brian
17. Martin
21. David
27. Michael
34. Casey (10 LD - accident)
What a race!!
It was interesting and a little depressing to watch Jon Wood head straight to the garage to make his car race-worthy (and also dropping him many laps down). I know why NASCAR likes impoud races for Daytona and Talladega but it really does mess around with the star cars and their balance of qualifying and racing setups. Poor AJ Allmendinger took a hard hit only twenty laps into the race because of a tire failure - likely due to an aggressive qualifying setup they were waiting until a caution came out to switch into race trim.
Dale Jr. didn't take the lead until right before that yellow was thrown, which was a little surprising. However, he would head the field for fifty-one laps in total during the night, receiving those ten bonus points for leading the most circuts.
Meanwhile in the #44 camp, David was happy with how his UPS machine was handling and didn't ask for any adjustments for the first two stops. After leading pit road the second time he reported that the engine was lugging when he would exit the stall (something I believe has happened to him before). It wasn't much of a concern at the time as far as I could tell. But things turned ugly when after restarting 9th, David couldn't hold his position and said that something was wrong with the engine - switching ignition boxes didn't help. He fell all the way to the back and lost the draft, then lost a cylinder and was black-flagged for not making minimum speed.
Ryan asked David to go straight to the garage but David suggested the crew check the plug wires on pit road first. That turned out to be the problem and in five laps the #44 was back on the track and the engine was humming away.
Elliott Sadler blew a tire some time later - David was the lucky dog! Four laps down. Soon after there was a multi-car accident including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman and David Gilliland (which Casey just barely missed!!
Unfortunately Brian got a piece of it since he ran into the back of the #31, but the Red Bull boys were able to fix the car) and David was now three laps down. By now things were starting to get a little more cheery over the radio. 
A few laps later another caution flew for Jamie McMurray's spin - two laps down - and then literally minutes later David was only one lap down when Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman took a ride.
David's caution to get back onto the lead lap sadly involved one of our drivers. Casey really had nowhere to go when the line started checking up and Jeff Burton spun yet again. He was hit in the rear bumper and made heavy contact with the wall.
Back in the running, David began to search for a way to the front. He was doing well when suddenly it all came to a halt with less than ten laps to go. Basically all hell broke loose - it's so hard to lay the blame on any one person at restrictor plate tracks because everyone is so jumbled and so close together. David was knocked sideways by Regan Smith, collidied with Denny Hamlin and went off-roading in the grass under turn 3. I'll admit I was very impressed with David's car control and how well he kept the #44 going straight, but he reported that the UPS Camry was badly hurt. His night of hope turned into a few more laps of survival.
Well, usually the last few laps at Daytona are ones of survival.
Using his amazing restrictor plate skills, Michael had sliced and diced his way to the top 10 and was looking to win the race. On the restart Jeff Gordon was tagged by Carl Edwards when he attempted a block, but he spun harmlessly off to the apron and NASCAR kept the race green (something they like to do in the last couple laps so the fans get a good finish). However, anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes knew something was going to give, since all the cars were pretty much trying to wreck! Like in slow motion I saw one hit go too far...Travis Kvapil hit Sam Hornish Jr. who hit Michael. That was all it took and cars were zipping everywhere! I was angry and frustrated that Michael got wrecked but that's the game at Daytona. Michael has been on the wrecked side and the winning side.
Here was when things got interesting. NASCAR "freezes" the field, but one has to maintain "reasonable" speed to keep his position. Other drivers were passing David under caution and Shawn was telling him to speed up so they wouldn't pass. Apparently Michael was doing the same thing and he was passed by many. What is reasonable speed? I don't really have an issue with the position Michael finished in because it was where I figured he'd be, but I wish NASCAR would be more specific with their definitions of a reasonable speed. Is it pit road speed (55 MPH at Daytona) or pace car / caution speed (around 70 MPH?). This was resolve much of the confusion that goes along with big wrecks, especially coming to the checkers.
NASCAR determined the winner by video (which TNT quickly brought up - that was impressive), and that winner was none other than Kyle Busch. The crowd booed, sore losers as they are, and some threw cans, redneck and stupid as they are. But when Kyle still got out to salute the fans (how cool is that?) there were plenty of cheers and those are the fans that matter.
Big brother Kurt finished well and ended his bad weekend on a good note.
Maybe this backup car is as good as his 500 car!
I also have to add that I adored TNT's Wide Open coverage. Love love LOVE!! Plus, some of the commercials (the extended RC Toyota cars, the Larry McReynolds Subway spot) were absolutely hysterical!
#44 Quotes of the Race
(Under caution in the process of getting his laps back)
David: "What do I gotta do here, do I shove these guys around...what do I do?"
Ryan: "Use long gears and be nice and smooth on the throttle here. Just try not to loose the main bulk of the draft and be real smart with the throttle and stuff. We'll see how it shakes out here...you gotta be aggressive the first little bit, get by the riff-raff, make sure you get up there with the good cars where you belong. We're four down now so if we get a couple more cautions, something crazy, we'll get back on the lead lap."
David: "Okay, so my role here is not shoving the 55 and the 00 around and trying to get up through there, is that what you're telling me?"
Ryan: "You just do whatever you gotta do so you can be in that big group. We don't want to lose the draft."
Shawn: "I don't think MW's car is that bad, David, I think he got back there with the wrong cars."
(And another one around ten minutes later, just because it's funny)
Shawn: "David, Carl said he was just trying to clean his grille, he didn't want you to get mad at him."
David: "10-4, it's cool, no worries."
Shawn: "That's what I told him, I said that David didn't say nothing so I guess it's okay."
(When they pitted Ryan had the crew fix some rear end damage)
Ryan: "When did we get that left rear damage?"
David: "Everyone started wrecking and I slowed down. Whoever was behind me just ran into us."
Ryan: "Okay, 10-4. I thought it was when the 99 cleaned off his grille...I was thinking he did a hell of a job! (laughs)"
POINT STANDINGS - updated 7/8/08 for Martin's 150 point penalty
1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Jr. -182
16. Brian -653 (-112 from the Chase)
17. Kurt -732
18. Martin -779 (*now -238 from the Chase...ouch. Also lost crew chief Bono and car chief for six weeks)
24. Casey -968
27. David -1090
29. Michael -1178
1. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt
8. Dale Jr.
11. Brian
17. Martin
21. David
27. Michael
34. Casey (10 LD - accident)
What a race!!
It was interesting and a little depressing to watch Jon Wood head straight to the garage to make his car race-worthy (and also dropping him many laps down). I know why NASCAR likes impoud races for Daytona and Talladega but it really does mess around with the star cars and their balance of qualifying and racing setups. Poor AJ Allmendinger took a hard hit only twenty laps into the race because of a tire failure - likely due to an aggressive qualifying setup they were waiting until a caution came out to switch into race trim.
Dale Jr. didn't take the lead until right before that yellow was thrown, which was a little surprising. However, he would head the field for fifty-one laps in total during the night, receiving those ten bonus points for leading the most circuts.
Meanwhile in the #44 camp, David was happy with how his UPS machine was handling and didn't ask for any adjustments for the first two stops. After leading pit road the second time he reported that the engine was lugging when he would exit the stall (something I believe has happened to him before). It wasn't much of a concern at the time as far as I could tell. But things turned ugly when after restarting 9th, David couldn't hold his position and said that something was wrong with the engine - switching ignition boxes didn't help. He fell all the way to the back and lost the draft, then lost a cylinder and was black-flagged for not making minimum speed.
Ryan asked David to go straight to the garage but David suggested the crew check the plug wires on pit road first. That turned out to be the problem and in five laps the #44 was back on the track and the engine was humming away.Elliott Sadler blew a tire some time later - David was the lucky dog! Four laps down. Soon after there was a multi-car accident including Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman and David Gilliland (which Casey just barely missed!!
Unfortunately Brian got a piece of it since he ran into the back of the #31, but the Red Bull boys were able to fix the car) and David was now three laps down. By now things were starting to get a little more cheery over the radio. A few laps later another caution flew for Jamie McMurray's spin - two laps down - and then literally minutes later David was only one lap down when Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman took a ride.David's caution to get back onto the lead lap sadly involved one of our drivers. Casey really had nowhere to go when the line started checking up and Jeff Burton spun yet again. He was hit in the rear bumper and made heavy contact with the wall.
Back in the running, David began to search for a way to the front. He was doing well when suddenly it all came to a halt with less than ten laps to go. Basically all hell broke loose - it's so hard to lay the blame on any one person at restrictor plate tracks because everyone is so jumbled and so close together. David was knocked sideways by Regan Smith, collidied with Denny Hamlin and went off-roading in the grass under turn 3. I'll admit I was very impressed with David's car control and how well he kept the #44 going straight, but he reported that the UPS Camry was badly hurt.
His night of hope turned into a few more laps of survival.Well, usually the last few laps at Daytona are ones of survival.
Using his amazing restrictor plate skills, Michael had sliced and diced his way to the top 10 and was looking to win the race. On the restart Jeff Gordon was tagged by Carl Edwards when he attempted a block, but he spun harmlessly off to the apron and NASCAR kept the race green (something they like to do in the last couple laps so the fans get a good finish). However, anyone with a brain and a pair of eyes knew something was going to give, since all the cars were pretty much trying to wreck! Like in slow motion I saw one hit go too far...Travis Kvapil hit Sam Hornish Jr. who hit Michael. That was all it took and cars were zipping everywhere! I was angry and frustrated that Michael got wrecked but that's the game at Daytona. Michael has been on the wrecked side and the winning side.
Here was when things got interesting. NASCAR "freezes" the field, but one has to maintain "reasonable" speed to keep his position. Other drivers were passing David under caution and Shawn was telling him to speed up so they wouldn't pass. Apparently Michael was doing the same thing and he was passed by many. What is reasonable speed? I don't really have an issue with the position Michael finished in because it was where I figured he'd be, but I wish NASCAR would be more specific with their definitions of a reasonable speed. Is it pit road speed (55 MPH at Daytona) or pace car / caution speed (around 70 MPH?). This was resolve much of the confusion that goes along with big wrecks, especially coming to the checkers.
NASCAR determined the winner by video (which TNT quickly brought up - that was impressive), and that winner was none other than Kyle Busch. The crowd booed, sore losers as they are, and some threw cans, redneck and stupid as they are. But when Kyle still got out to salute the fans (how cool is that?) there were plenty of cheers and those are the fans that matter.
Big brother Kurt finished well and ended his bad weekend on a good note.
Maybe this backup car is as good as his 500 car!I also have to add that I adored TNT's Wide Open coverage. Love love LOVE!! Plus, some of the commercials (the extended RC Toyota cars, the Larry McReynolds Subway spot) were absolutely hysterical!
#44 Quotes of the Race
(Under caution in the process of getting his laps back)
David: "What do I gotta do here, do I shove these guys around...what do I do?"
Ryan: "Use long gears and be nice and smooth on the throttle here. Just try not to loose the main bulk of the draft and be real smart with the throttle and stuff. We'll see how it shakes out here...you gotta be aggressive the first little bit, get by the riff-raff, make sure you get up there with the good cars where you belong. We're four down now so if we get a couple more cautions, something crazy, we'll get back on the lead lap."
David: "Okay, so my role here is not shoving the 55 and the 00 around and trying to get up through there, is that what you're telling me?"
Ryan: "You just do whatever you gotta do so you can be in that big group. We don't want to lose the draft."
Shawn: "I don't think MW's car is that bad, David, I think he got back there with the wrong cars."
(And another one around ten minutes later, just because it's funny
)Shawn: "David, Carl said he was just trying to clean his grille, he didn't want you to get mad at him."
David: "10-4, it's cool, no worries."
Shawn: "That's what I told him, I said that David didn't say nothing so I guess it's okay."
(When they pitted Ryan had the crew fix some rear end damage)
Ryan: "When did we get that left rear damage?"
David: "Everyone started wrecking and I slowed down. Whoever was behind me just ran into us."
Ryan: "Okay, 10-4. I thought it was when the 99 cleaned off his grille...I was thinking he did a hell of a job! (laughs)"
POINT STANDINGS - updated 7/8/08 for Martin's 150 point penalty
1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Jr. -182
16. Brian -653 (-112 from the Chase)
17. Kurt -732
18. Martin -779 (*now -238 from the Chase...ouch. Also lost crew chief Bono and car chief for six weeks)
24. Casey -968
27. David -1090
29. Michael -1178
