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  • Daytona 500 Square-Dance: Strategy Comes To The Forefront Of 500

    Daytona 500 Square-Dance: Strategy Comes To The Forefront Of 500

    This year’s Daytona 500 brought forth a whole new type of racing that fans have been trying to figure out whether if it is good or bad.

    On track, arguments have persuaded if fans like the way it looks and if they agree with the type of presence it has taken.

    Though beyond what is seen on track is the type of strategy that is needed to be employed for this form of racing to work, and that my friends is why this form of racing is interesting.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]If you listened to radios, you would have heard some interesting conversations between drivers, you’d be intrigued to the type of conversations that they were having.

    For example, when the caution came out early in the Daytona 500, Marcos Ambrose and David Ragan spoke of how they were going to get lined up on the restart.

    Ambrose: I’m with you, David.
    Ragan: 10-4, we’ll just stay up high here for a little while.

    Some of the conversations at time got kind of awkward as when Jeff Gordon worked with Kasey Kahne, he said, “We had a good first date.” Gordon’s spotter, Jeff Dickerson, added to the fray when Gordon got lined up with Bayne, saying, “True love never dies.” in reference to how they worked together during the Duel. One of the most awkward was during the Nationwide race with Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.

    Busch: Hey, hey, look whose back.
    Logano: I like you.
    Busch: I love you…..I’ll give you the outside to make the switch.

    Due to the amount of different driver conversations and trying to achieve the best conversation, drivers even had huge switch pads to where they could switch to their teammate’s channel, but also other driver’s channels. This act of drivers having to work together had some frustrated, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    “If I just had to worry about my own (stuff), I’d be leading or top three,” Earnhardt Jr. said on the radio at one point. “But you gotta have someone w/you all the f@#$ng time.”

    The frustration with the style of racing for Earnhardt Jr. also led to some more comments later on in the race.

    “I think everybody’s brains fried,” Earnhardt said. “They can’t hardly pay attention. This style of racing man, it’s tough on your head. Let’s sit back and kill some laps. I don’t want to be pushed in the s&#$. Just seems like guys should be more cool. If we can’t beat the leader, I don’t want to race three-wide for f@#$ing fourth. You’d think guys would be more cool. The race is at the end, man. They’re going to knock some more s@#$ out of the race. They’re going to hit the wall a little more.”

    This frustration brought forth drivers trying to work out how they would work together, hence the conversation that took place between Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis after Earnhardt’s comments.

    Kahne: So he (Earnhardt Jr.) just doesn’t want to be part of three-wide?
    Francis: Yeah, I think he’s just trying to be conservative there.

    In all, drivers were finding the need to find someone who was okay with their style of racing and didn’t mind being that partner. Earnhardt Jr. found that when he paired up with Tony Stewart.

    Earnhardt Jr.: I just wanna to stay outta the s@#$.
    Stewart: You read my mind, man.

    Even drivers that had been wrecked and we’re just trying to make laps found issues with finding that partner. Jeff Gordon was trying to ride around to log laps and gain positions when his partner Brian Vickers was not doing as he’d requested. Gordon came on the radio and said, “I’m tired of messing with the #83 if he keeps trying to push us too close to the pack I’m going to brake check him.”

    Sometimes, there’d be multiple drivers who had requests set forth to work with one another. Carl Edwards requested to dance with Kyle Busch; however Busch politely declined as Bayne had shown up first

    When communication was going well, it seemed to bring forth a certain chemistry that you normally don’t see. However, a failure communicate was not a good situation to have. One failure brought forth one of the wrecks during the day as David Reuitmann didn’t give Michael Waltrip a good enough warning before they approached a pack of cars.

    “Michael was pushing me and I don’t think I anticipated the guys in front of me and I don’t think I warned him quick enough,” Reuitmann said.

    The good thing about the quick communication is it allowed drivers to be able to quickly apologize to each other for accidents. After Juan Pablo Montoya spun, McMurray got on the radio to apologize.

    Montoya: I just kept getting loose.
    McMurray: Didn’t mean to spin you out, Juan. Sorry about that.
    Montoya: Don’t worry. No big deal.

    This communication also involved strategy in how to time the switch perfectly via making sure not to get your own motor hot, which brought forth communication through drivers and through the spotters. An example would be Montoya and McMurray trying to hook up correctly.

    Montoya: Dude, I tried so hard to back off
    McMurray: They kept getting on my outside and I just tried to get up to your bumper and they were there, Juan. It’s just so hard to get it.

    Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin also talked together about when to make the switch as when Hamlin pushing wasn’t working, Busch suggested, “Try to go by me. My (motor) is pretty cool. I’ll push you.”

    In the Nationwide race, Busch worked with Logano and also played giving him suggestions on how to make the switch better, saying, “Hey Joe, when we switch, drag the break a little more so slow the slowdown. When we get out there, I just hit a wall of air.”

    Then it involved the strategy of making sure to pit together, as shown through Steve LeTarte, Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief, passing on a message to Stewart.

    LeTarte: Hey Smoke, its Stevie. We’re going to get gas only if you can tell Darian.
    Stewart: All right, I’ll switch over.

    Beyond the drivers and crews, if you would have heard the spotters, at times they sounded like air traffic controllers with how they were working to make sure people didn’t wreck. This was needed as the driver who was pushing wasn’t able to see what was going on in front of the car he was pushing.

    “I’m driving blind,” Earnhardt Jr. told his spotter TJ Majors at one point. “I might as well not have any f@#$ing sight behind him. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”

    If you were up on the spotter’s stand with them, you would’ve seen how they were working to get partners to work with on track. It would’ve looked like a dance with how they were swinging between partners to pair up. As Brett Griffin, spotter for Jeff Burton said, “It’s like a square dace on the roof. Yellow comes out we scramble to find a new partner!”

    Even Majors made jokes with Earnhardt Jr. when he was trying to make a partnership between Earnhardt and Waltrip during the Nationwide race.

    Majors: I see Ty (Norris, spotter for Michael) up here. Got anything I can bribe him with?
    Earnhardt Jr.: I think I got a picture of him in drag somewhere.

    The strategy was so complex in how to run it that at lap 60, Steve LeTarte said over the radio, “We have not even run a 150-mile qualifying race yet. My head hurts.”

    In all, the race brought forth a new meaning to one of Darrell Waltrip’s favorite words – co-opetition. Now what is that? As Waltrip defines it, it is working with your competition for the benefit of yourself.

    Trevor Bayne did that best as he worked with Jeff Gordon on Thursday to learn the ways of drafting and many other different drivers on Sunday to stay up front and be there to win.

  • NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: Tailgate fun in the valley of the sun

    NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: Tailgate fun in the valley of the sun

    NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series will be bringing their high energy tailgate party for some fun in the valley of the sun this Friday night with the running of the Lucas Oil 150. That of course would be the Phoenix International Raceway, the one mile basically flat oval, where these high powered racing trucks always seem to shine.

    THE STORY BREAKDOWN

    The Lucas Oil 150 could turn out to be about redemption Friday night following last week’s wreck marred season opener at Daytona. A lot of the series’ prominent drivers and teams found themselves leaving Florida in somewhat of an early season hole in terms of points standings.

    Some of those season opening disappointments included drivers on the caliber of Ron Hornaday Jr, Todd Bodine, Travis Kvapil and Austin Dillon among others. Look for these drivers to seek points redemption, as well as their first win of 2011, this Friday night.

    On the other side of this issue is the fact that Daytona was very kind to the series’ newcomers who are in the process of launching their NASCAR careers. While Daytona race winner Michael Waltrip and runner up Elliott Sadler put on a stunning finish that had the fans out of their seats or on the edge of their couch cushions, they are not eligible for series championship points under the terms of some recent rule changes from NASCAR.

    That policy, which says drivers must officially declare which of NASCAR’s three national championships they’re racing for, has placed some young newcomers on top of the early season points standings. The new points system has placed young Clay Rogers, who finished third at Daytona, in first followed closely by Miguel Paludo.

    Meanwhile Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ricky Carmichael and James Buescher are tied for third. Making this even more exciting is the fact that the new championship points configuration shows a 12 point gap between the first ten drivers going into Friday night’s race.

    **********************

    It’s now apparent that NASCAR won’t be taking any action regarding the broken spoiler on Michael Waltrip’s Daytona winning race truck. When Waltrip came under the checkers the right side of the spoiler, on his Vision Aviation Racing Toyota, was virtually laying flat on the truck bed. NASCAR confiscated both ends of the spoiler and sent it to their North Carolina based Research and Development Center for official inspection.

    But the morning after the race Kerry Tharp, NASCAR Public Relations Spokesman, said Waltrip’s win will stand adding “the spoiler broke, it appeared to be the failure of a part. We’re going to look at it and make any determinations past that.” Nothing has been said of the matter past that point so it’s now assumed that no news is good news.

    *************

    On the topic of Vision Aviation Racing, VAR: how stoked are these guys after winning their first ever venture in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series? Originally based in Las Vegas, this operation late last year moved to the Mooreseville-North Carolina area to make a run at NASCAR’s Truck Series. Just prior to last Christmas came an announcement that the team had merged with Billy Ballew Motorsports and would now be known as VAR. From that point the race was on to get everyone and everything ready for last week’s season opener at Daytona.

    The original plan was to have Las Vegas drivers Justin Johnson and Dusty Davis in the cockpits of their Toyota Tundras. These are the same drivers who finished one-two last year in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at the California based Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. However, the process of official certification for them to drive on a NASCAR super speedway track could not be completed in time and that led VAR to place Michael Waltrip and Aric Almirola in their trucks for the season opener at Daytona. In turn, that move led to the team’s amazing accomplishment of scoring their first series win in their first series race. That’s one of those special moments in time that is rarely seen anymore.

    VAR drivers Johnson and Davis are scheduled to make their official series debut at Phoenix this Friday night. It’s a sure bet that VAR’s momentum is sky high going into the next race.

    **************

    THE RACE BREAKDOWN

    The Lucas Oil 150 is 150 laps/150 miles around the Phoenix International Raceway’s one mile oval.

    The track is always challenging because it’s so flat. Turns one and two are only banked 11 degrees while turns three and four are banked just nine degrees.

    The race has 41 entries vying for the 36 starting berths. 15 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning they do not have a guaranteed start in the race because they are presently outside of the top 25 in the series’ owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speed to make the race.

    The previous series’ race at Phoenix was won by Clint Bowyer last November driving a Chevrolet prepared by Kevin Harvick Inc. Bowyer will be present Friday night driving that same KHI truck, to defend his race win.

    The Lucas Oil 150 will be broadcast live by the SPEED Channel with the pre race show beginning at 730 pm eastern time.

  • Off to an Unlikely Start: Clay Rogers Leaves Daytona Point Leader of the Truck Series

    Off to an Unlikely Start: Clay Rogers Leaves Daytona Point Leader of the Truck Series

    Some watched Michael Waltrip celebrate in victory lane while remembering an old colleague, friend and boss. Others asked Elliott Sadler what he could have done differently coming to the finish line.

    Then there was Clay Rogers who stood back and watched it all, maybe the only one aware of the personal accomplishment he had just achieved. Rogers didn’t have people running towards him to ask him what he thought about the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

    Then again, most have never heard his name before.

    But heading into the second race of the Camping World Truck Series 2011 season Rogers will be in a position that everyone does know: point leader. It comes after a wild night in Daytona where the 31-year-old finished third behind Waltrip and Sadler.

    “To be honest with you, my heart just dropped when you said that,” Rogers chucked afterward.

    “I hadn’t even thought about that. Our plans coming into Daytona were not to compete in the full Truck Series schedule this year. We’ll have to talk to that man right there after tonight. But, you know, our team is a very small team. We’re based out of Cerro Gordo, North Carolina an hour on the other side of Rockingham. We’re definitely going to run the first five races and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

    The first five races, that’s it. Nothing beats getting off to quick start and earning your career best finish and being the point leader. Sure, it may only be for a week and Rogers won’t win the championship, but it doesn’t hurt in trying to gain attention.

    It might sound as though Rogers had an easy night, yet it was far from it. The driver of the No. 92 Action Gator Tire/Fleet Tire HQ.com Chevrolet for RBR Motorsports survived both problems on the track and in the pits.

    It started in qualifying; Rogers had to earn his way into the race on speed. Not having been locked in the field considering his never run a full season before. In fact, Rogers only has 21 career starts that span over four seasons.

    Once the race started, which would be one of attrition, Rogers didn’t look like a rookie. With six cautions for 24 laps as well as six different leaders – including Rogers – no one could exhale until the checkered flag flew.

    “Our truck shut off halfway down the back straightaway and again in the middle of turns three and four coming with one to go for that restart,” said Rogers.

    “We were trying to stretch mileage because I made a mistake on pit road and missed my pit stall. We were trying to overcome that. Stretch fuel miles a little bit. We were set up for qualifying. We were jetted a lot leaner than probably a large percentage of the field. We were getting better fuel mileage. I think we had enough fuel to get to the end. Riding around under caution on these high banks was making it run away from the pickup.”

     

    It was during that pit stop where Rogers received a penalty and had to restart at the back of the field. His fuel can got stuck in the truck and when Rogers left his pit stall so did the equipment, which is a no-no.

    Rogers though took it in stride and said the penalty actually saved him and turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. The reason? It put him right in front of Kyle Busch, who isn’t too shabby on the restrictor plate tracks.

    The two went straight to the front of the field.

    “It was really an up-and-down night, to say the least,” Rogers said afterwards.

    “We weren’t a very good pusher. If we didn’t have somebody behind us, we really couldn’t go anywhere or even stay up in the pack the way we needed to. There were times in the race where Joey Coulter and a couple other guys, Michael Waltrip one time was pushing me pretty good, we could make headway then. We seemed to be a decent leader.”

    Rogers continued, “Kyle [Busch] said before the restart, ‘We’ll push you on this start.’ I knew if a hole opened up, I better go with it or he was going to go with somebody else. Luckily a hole opened up off of two and we carried a huge run off the back straightaway. That was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever been a part of. It was pretty wild.”

     

    As wild as the ‘Big One’ which came out with just four laps remaining.

    “At that point we didn’t have anybody behind us and had kind of fell away from the draft about 10 or 12 car lengths and had just picked up the 10 truck [Jennifer Jo Cobb] behind us,” he said.

    “That’s when all chaos broke loose there. We were fortunate to have enough time to get slowed down and pick our way through there. It was a couple close calls, especially with the 3 truck [Austin Dillon]. Almost centered him. Luckily, once again, there were several times tonight in our race that things that looked horrible, ended up benefitting us in the end. I guess luck played a large part in it as well.”

     

    Yes, Clay Rogers stood there and watched everyone else run off toward other drivers and potential stories. To some, including himself, he was just lucky. Sometimes though it’s better to be lucky than good. And if Rogers can continue to gain experience in the series he’ll end up being both one day.

    But for now, he’ll quietly enjoy being the CWTS point leader that no one knows.

  • Cindy Elliott Balances Life As Wife to Bill and Mom to Chase

    Cindy Elliott Balances Life As Wife to Bill and Mom to Chase

    Cindy Elliott is doing what she does best, balancing talking about her life with NASCAR champion husband Bill and up and coming driver son Chase, while getting some exercise by taking a quick walk around the motor home lot.

    “I don’t know that my life is any different than anyone else who has to balance life in general with work and being a mom,” Elliott said. “It’s just a balancing act and something we all do.”

    Elliott does have two primary keys that have helped her be successful in her juggling act as wife, mom, and the Elliott family’s social media director.

    “My tip for balancing is to stay as organized as you possibly can,” Elliott said. “I think organization and time management are key factors.”

    The Elliotts have been married for 18 years and are going into their 19th year of wedded bliss. They met when Cindy Elliott, then a photo editor, had do do a shoot with NASCAR’s past most popular driver ‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville’.

    “I was a photographer and photo editor for Scene and Illustrated back in the day,” Elliott said. “I had clients, Coca Cola and Budweiser, and Bill went to drive for Budweiser and he had to come to my studio to take pictures and so we met.”

    Chase Elliott is their only child together, however Bill Elliott has two grown daughters. One daughter Brittany, 19 years old is serving the country in the Air Force in New Mexico, and the other daughter Starr lives in Dawsonville and has a young daughter, Kennedy.

    “The grand parenting role is a lot of fun,” Elliott said. “I’m C C. It’s the first thing she called me so I guess that’s what all my grandkids will call me. You know how that happens, the first one gets to name you.”

    Elliott admits that racing was not her passion growing up and she most certainly did not know anything about it until she got more involved through her photo work.

    “I never liked racing,” Elliott said candidly. “Actually Don Grassman, who owns CIA photography, he and I worked together at the Northwest Florida Daily News. He asked me would I come help him.”

    “I knew nothing about racing,” Elliott continued. “In fact, they put me on pit road.  Something happened to Dale Earnhardt that day, his car broke or something, and they’re all screaming ‘Go to Earnhardt’s pit’ and I said, ‘You know guys, I don’t know who Earnhardt is’. What number is he and I’ll get to his pit as soon as I can.”

    “I really did like it after I got into it,” Elliott said.”I thought it was a lot of fun. When I was growing up, I thought we’re just watching a bunch of people go around in circles. But there’s a lot more than just going around in circles.”

    Elliott has definitely had to become fond of the sport with not only her husband but now their son Chase in the racing spotlight. Chase was signed this weekend by Hendrick Motor Sports, a great coup for the young up and coming driver.

    “I really enjoy what Chase is doing,” Elliott said.”Being around the people there, it’s just so down to earth and so fun and so family-oriented.”

    “I absolutely love watching these little kids racing around, watching them grow and develop,” Elliott continued. “Some of them are just really good little racers. Some of the races that we see are really good races too. I enjoy that a lot.”

    Like every mom, however, Cindy Elliott does indeed worry about her young son, knowing the dangers and vagaries of being behind the wheel of a race car.

    “I get worried because you just do,” Elliot said. “It’s just one of those motherly instincts.”

    “I’ve learned to trust in his ability more. He’s not crazy on the race track,” Elliott continued. “He’s very calculated in his moves. I’ve learned to trust his driving style, which really is a lot like Bill’s.”

    According to Cindy Elliott, Chase takes after his father in more ways than just on the track, which is fine with her.

    “His personality takes a lot after Bill’s personality, which I thank God for every day,” Elliott said.  “I’m a little more high strung than both of them. Chase is a good winner but he is also a gracious loser. He takes a lot of that after Bill.”

    One of the most interesting challenges is balancing where husband Bill is in his career and where her son is now in his.

    “Bill has accomplished much but he still has things to accomplish,” Elliott said. “He’s taken a lot of time with Chase and enjoys being there at the race tracks as much as I do.”

    “Bill will focus on what he has to do for whatever period that is. He will give his best effort and 100% to everything he can do for his career and to help Chase.”

    Cindy Elliott’s next balancing act will be managing the attention on her son Chase, with the signing to HMS, and on her husband Bill, who is racing this year for Phoenix Racing, in NASCAR’S premiere series.

    What is keeping her grounded now more than ever is how fortunate she is feeling to be in this special position.

    “We are very blessed,” Elliott said simply.

  • Daytona 500: Ragan’s Mishap Another Heartbreak on the Sport’s Biggest Stage

    Daytona 500: Ragan’s Mishap Another Heartbreak on the Sport’s Biggest Stage

    After a mentally draining day of missing multiple accidents and spins, you find yourself restarting on the front row of the sport’s biggest race with just two laps left. Every one of your fellow 42 competitors, including yourself, have dreamt of this scenario and the opportunity for racing immortality since childhood.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Such was the story for David Ragan on Sunday, the Roush Fenway driver who, owner Jack Roush elected to keep instead of Jamie McMurray- who won the the sport’s two biggest races the very next season.

    With his nerves a rightfully shaken, Ragan changed lanes on the restart before he crossed the starting line, and was sent to the rear of the field— a move which opened up the door for unknown driver Trevor Bayne to win in his second start in the series.

    After the race Ragan said, “It will take a long time for us to get over this…it will be a hard lesson to learn”, while being interview on TV. Opportunities such as the one before him late in the race on Sunday were Ragan’s shot to prove he belongs in the Sprint Cup Series amid consistent dismissal rumors that have plagued him since his series debut in 2007 at Martinsville—where he caused multiple accidents and was described as “a dart without feathers,” by fellow competitor Tony Stewart.

    Late race heartbreakers, such as Ragan’s, are not a new story during the Daytona 500. During the 2002 running of the Great American Race, Sterling Marlin found himself leading during a red-flag situation in the closing laps. However, he exited the car and attempted to repair his right-front fender— a move that had him sent to the rear of the field on the following restart. Marlin’s mistake allowed Ward Burton to wind up in victory lane in a surprising finish.

    Twelve years earlier, Dale Earnhardt cut a tire in the final laps of the 1990 Daytona 500 after dominating much of the race, which allowed the virtually unknown driver Derrike Cope to capture his first career win at the sport’s biggest event of the year.

    David Ragan’s late race mistake on Sunday can be added to the list of driver’s who have come so very close to etching their name in history, but wound up taking the long trip back to North Carolina wondering what might have been.

    On the other side, great things can come from such a devastating defeat- like Dale Earnhardt, who won the 1990 Sprint Cup (then Winston Cup) championship after his team hung the shredded tire from the Daytona 500 on the wall as motivation, and finally won the big race eight years later.

    It’s often been said that you must learn how to lose before you can win, and it will be interesting to see if Sunday’s mistake will provide the extra fire that David Ragan needs to get that elusive first career victory in the Sprint Cup Series.

    For the latest NASCAR news and information, follow Kyle on Twitter: @KyleBrandtSM.

  • Popular Win or Not, Daytona 500 Champion Trevor Bayne Still Had His Worries

    Popular Win or Not, Daytona 500 Champion Trevor Bayne Still Had His Worries

    After the realization finally hit Trevor Bayne that he had won the Daytona 500 he became worried.

    Not about how he was going to celebrate or about losing his No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center machine for a year to the Daytona USA museum. No, Bayne was worried about how his victory was going to be received around the NASCAR world.

    “You know, I can’t thank them [drivers and fans] enough,” Bayne said on Tuesday.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]“I was kind of worried at first because they might think I’m a punk 20-year-old kid that came in to steal their thunder. So to see the driver support has been huge to me, they’ve all taken to me very well and helped me out.

    Bayne is anything from a punk kid. In fact, he’s become quite the celebrity in the last three days from more than just winning the biggest race of the NASCAR season. He’s humble, intelligent and very well spoken and even does charity work where he will be donating his winnings.

    It’s only natural he’s become a hit with the fans and drivers.

    Congratulations have poured in from all over. Messages that seem to have become a theme this week are how fans were pulling for him to win the race – even though they aren’t fans of his – and how they are still excited about it a few days later.

    So, how did this happen?

    As the laps wound down Sunday afternoon and the favorites started to drop like flies, Bayne found himself at the front of the field. No, it wasn’t just luck, all during Speedweeks the young man found himself sitting in a very fast race car and also had the endorsement of veteran drivers like Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Carl Edwards among those who wanted to work with him.

    Bayne credited those drivers with making it possible for him to win the race. Saying he wouldn’t have been there without them. Everything was set up for a memorable day.

    Fans suddenly found themselves rooting for a driver that was competing in only his second career Sprint Cup Series race. A driver who had turned 20-years-old the day before, he wasn’t supposed to be in the Daytona 500 and certainly not in a position to win it.

    When Bayne crossed the finish line though, reaction seemed to be the same from both himself and nearly everyone else: are you kidding me?

    The win was a huge accomplishment on many fronts. Not only was it Bayne’s first career win in any of NASCAR’s top series, he became the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500 and the seventh to win his first career race in the Daytona 500.

    He delivered the 600th win for Ford and was the first win for Wood Brothers since 2001.

    They hadn’t been to victory lane in the Daytona 500 since 1976 when David Pearson was able to drive his damaged car across the finish line to beat Richard Petty. It had been a long time coming for everyone involved Sunday.

    Yet, forget winning for himself, Bayne can’t stop talking about his team.

    “I think a lot of guys like to see that that Wood Brothers car back in victory lane,” he said on the way to the airport to fly to San Francisco, the next stop on his media tour.

    “That’s a big part of NASCAR history and the Wood Brothers is one of the greatest families in NASCAR and they deserve it.”

    It’s a feel good story all around. Everyone seems to have left Daytona happy, crazy to believe but there hasn’t been much moaning and groaning after the first race of the season. At least not about who the winner was.

    If you listen to Bayne he’ll tell you it’s for many reasons. Reasons such as the team he was driving for or even who his crew chief is. Donnie Wingo, a veteran in the NASCAR garage has accomplished a lot in his personal career.

    He’s worked with drivers at Roush-Fenway Racing and at Ganassi before replacing David Hyder at the Wood Brothers. Wingo in fact seems to have the winning touch.  In 2007 he was the crew chief for Juan Pablo Montoya when he won his first career race at Infineon.

    In 2009 he brought Jamie McMurray back to victory at Talladega. McMurray hadn’t won a race since pulling off an upset victory in 2002.

    Bayne couldn’t help but chuckle when talking about Wingo.

    “Donnie Wingo is my crew chief and everybody loves him,” he said.

    “So, we’ve got a good group around us that everybody’s really pumped for and I think it’s well deserved for the Wood Brothers and I’m just glad that I was fortunate enough to get them back to victory lane.”

    Maybe Bayne is still trying to wrap his head around it all. But for at least one day in February Bayne accomplished something that has never been done before. He had everyone cheering for one driver over all the others.

    As long as that happens, Bayne shouldn’t have any concern about what his image and reputation are.

  • Dale Earnhardt: His Death, The Aftermath and the Tributes

    Dale Earnhardt: His Death, The Aftermath and the Tributes

    Time is supposed to help you heal, though still till this day ten years later, I still feel sadness when I think of Dale Earnhardt. Maybe I don’t cry as hard, or maybe I don’t even cry at all, though I still feel the sadness.

    [media-credit name=”By Darryl Moran” align=”alignright” width=”274″][/media-credit]The last few laps of the 2001 Daytona 500, I was cheering for Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Dale Earnhardt to finish one-two-three. Part of that run at the end seemed strange to me and as many have said, it seemed strange to them as Earnhardt, known for being offensive and making daring moves to win, was in protection mode for his team cars. Ty Norris, who was vice president at DEI and spotter for Dale Jr. at the time, tells the tale of that in how he, Chuck Joyce and Danny Culler were working together.

    “I was spotting for Junior and the whole time, Michael’s spotter Chuck (Joyce) and I and Danny Culler, who was spotting for Dale, were coordinating,” Norris told the Hampton Roads. “We were talking and discussing.

    “I remember coordinating everything that was going on just a little bit. Dale kept telling Danny to tell us to stay in line. Danny kept telling me that Dale was not trying to pass. Every time he would sneak down, Dale Jr. would get nervous and he was just basically was trying to hold everybody else off and just be those three guys racing for the win. A lot of people say that Dale spent the entire race blocking for Dale Jr. and Michael and it certainly looked that way. I think he just wanted to come down to the last lap where those three guys could compete for the win. I’m not so sure if Dale had the run, he would probably have tried to pass them, but, at the same time, he was trying to do all the right things to make sure that it was just those three (and he was also trying to get air on the front of his car).”

    It is something that strangely bugs me even to this day with how he changed his nature of driving in that race and what in a sense happened later on. Part of it, if you thought about, was the discovery that working as a team can help towards winning restrictor plate races and maybe he was the first to discover the concept, like many other parts of restrictor plate racing.

    As the two Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (now Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing) cars headed through three and four, I knew it’d be one-two and Waltrip would win. Then the wreck happened in turn four, but I thought he’d be okay. We’d seen him walk away from terrible wrecks before.

    Darrell Waltrip’s words of calling those final laps with, “Mikey, you got him, you got him. Mikey!” still ring in my head to this day. Those words looked to be the strongest Daytona 500 winning call since Ned Jarrett in 1993. This was a big moment for Michael Waltrip as it was the first win of Cup series career – his first win in 462 starts.

    Downplaying everything about, though, was the emotion of the words, “I hope Dale is okay. He’ll be okay, right?” Those words tied a knot in my stomach even at the age of 10. You could feel his own worry overcome his professionalism as a broadcaster.

    Played in front of the cameras and the eyes of the media, Waltrip went forward with his celebration as he was unaware of the severity of the accident. He only found out through his friend and the other driver involved in the accident, Ken Schrader.

    “I grab him and I said, ‘Can you believe this Schrader?’” Waltrip said. “I’m smiling and I’m happy. All of a sudden he says something to me and I go, ‘What?’

    “What he said was, ‘It was not good.’ And I said, ‘What’s not good?’ And he said, ‘Dale. It’s not good.’ And then he just said, ‘I love you’ and walked off.”

    The news started to slowly sink into victory lane, one step at a time.

    “I knew something was wrong because there was no Earnhardt in Victory LaneThere was no Dale Jr., there was no Teresa [Earnhardt, Dale’s wife], there was no Dale,” Ty Norris, who was vice president of DEI at the time, said. “They were all there and I couldn’t understand why they weren’t in victory lane. And so I kind of turned away and got the champion’s trophy and we had our picture taken with that and I remember being interviewed there saying, ‘This isn’t right. This is Dale’s trophy, not mine, but I’ll hold it up.’

    “And then I turned around and saw Schrader walk into victory lane and I saw Michael’s face change. … I remember when I saw his face change and I asked him what Schrader said and he said, ‘It’s not good.’

    “‘Not good’ is he’s mad because he broke a leg or something.”

    Though following the victory lane celebrations, Norris was made aware of the news as NASCAR officials called him to the trailer to tell him what had happened.

    As for the fans finding out, everybody probably recalls Mike Helton’s announcement next when he says, “We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.” I instantly broke down into tears as my emotions took over. How could one of my heroes die? Heroes aren’t supposed to die!

    The next coming weeks and months proved to be trying, yet hopeful. For many fans, it was hard to watch a race due to sadness, though certain particular races helped in the method of getting through those times.

    The first race after Daytona was at Rockingham. The Sunday they were supposed to race, it rained, symbolizing everybody’s sadness. In a way, I saw it as maybe the rain was the racing gods crying with us, understanding our pain, though trying to signify it beyond our understanding. Maybe that was why there was a cloud in the shape of three above Dale Earnhardt Incorporated the Monday after the Daytona 500.

    So the race ran Monday and the first laps once they got started caused more emotional turmoil due to Dale Jr.’s wreck. He was already suffering from the pain of loss. How could he suffer more?

    “When I saw it, it made me almost vomit,” Norris said. “I couldn’t believe what I just saw. When he got hooked and turned into the wall, it just gave me the flashback to the week before.

    “You thought that car that wrecked at Rockingham was black with a three on it and not red with an eight. It was pretty eerie.”

    Though thinking back to that now, maybe it was to let him be done and be able to go home to his family and spend the time he needed with them. Heart ache is best dealt with in the arms of those you love, so allowing him to be with them maybe eased the pain a little.

    As Norris tells it, they could’ve fixed the car, but chose not to.

    “I think after that happened, they probably could have worked to fix that car, but they just wanted to get home,” Norris says. “Junior didn’t want to get in the car. It was just pack it up, let’s go. I remember that vividly because I could just not believe the similarities.”

    Earnhardt Jr. spoke of the wreck during the media tour this year, saying it didn’t matter as, “It didn’t break my heart any worse than it was already broken. I couldn’t feel any worse than I was feeling.”

    Earnhardt said he only went to Rockingham because he felt it was his responsibility to go.

    “After (the accident), I never wanted to see another racetrack or race car again,” he said. “But after about a week, I got to thinking: ‘What else am I going to do? My dad gave me this opportunity; I’d be foolish not to (keep going).’”

    However, the most significant moment that many remember to this day was the ending and the winner. Steve Park came from a couple seconds behind in the closing laps to pass Bobby Labonte near the end and win the race for everybody at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. This race helped to ease the pain. It allowed not only the fans, but those Dale Earnhardt Incorporated employees to work through healing together.

    Ty Norris said during The Day special on SPEED that after Earnhardt’s death,, they told the employees that they could go home if they wanted to be with their families the day after. To his surprise, not a single person left as they all wanted to be there for each other and their way to work through it was to go to Rockingham and do their best.

    The healing, in Norris’ opinion, began with that win and what happened that evening at DEI.

    “We had a tradition [after wins] that we would raise the checkered flag,” Norris said. “So the checkered flag had to be at [half-staff] all week after the 500 win for obvious reasons. When we won that [Rockingham] race on Monday [delayed from Sunday because of rain], all the employees went out to the flagstand and [we] raised the checkered flag all the way to the top and everyone just cried.

    “You felt like you were going to be OK as a race team. You have to deal with the life part, but the race team, we felt like we were going to be OK.”

    The following weekend they headed to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in which Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag. When you looked at it on the surface, it looked just like another win, though looking back now, it was significant for the entire picture. Earnhardt was always thought of as an everyman while Gordon was the new-generation, like a celebrity type. It was that opposite that had fans reacting bringing forth the feud between them. Las Vegas seemed to be the perfect place out of all places for a celebrity-type win, considering the glamor and glitz that Vegas is known for.

    After that, the healing process eased for the Richard Childress Racing bunch as Harvick beat Gordon barely to the line at Atlanta, just like Earnhardt beat Labonte the year before. It allowed the Richard Childress Racing bunch to see they could continue on, as the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team had seen at Rockingham. When Richard Childress Racing rolled out the No. 29 car, I applauded them for bringing out a new number and going with white instead of black due to how the emotions were at that time.

    The course of actions may not have happened as it played out as Childress was thinking of shutting down operations after the accident.

    “Probably all the way up to Tuesday (after the accident),” Childress told the Hampton Roads. “Sunday night. Definitely. My wife and I talked about it. Monday, I talked about it and I thought about a lot of things. Tuesday, I was out on the dock by myself at Bill France Jr.’s house and some thoughts came back from an old hunting trip and I knew i had to (continue).”

    During a hunting trip to New Mexico, Childress and Earnhardt were guiding horses up a mountain when Childress’ slipped, almost killing Childress.

    “We got back to camp that night,” Childress said. “Having a cocktail around the fireplace that night, I said, “Dale, you know if I got killed on that mountain, you would have to race Phoenix (the next race). We looked at each other and he said, “If it ever happens to me, you better run.”

    Through all this, though, I was still looking towards Earnhardt Jr. to have his moment where everybody knew it’d be okay for him. That started to come out at Texas, where he won the pole and finished eighth, though the moment that everybody still recalls as big today is the 2001 Pepsi 400.

    When it came to returning to Daytona, emotions were high as everybody fought with their memories of the February race and with what happened. As the race went on, I watched him dominate and take control, leading the pack like his dad.

    Then came those final seven laps where he sat back in sixth, make or break time as I called it at the moment. Everybody pretty much now knows how this ended as he did make it through the pack, and scored the victory with Alan Bestwick’s call, “Coming from sixth to first in the closing laps using lessons learned from his father to score the victory.”

    It was also where we saw the biggest of emotions come out with what Alan Bestwick called, “Storybook ending.” Michael and Dale Jr. hugged in the infield, symbolizing that they’d both be okay and that they could celebrate this together, like they had wanted to in February. Benny Parsons words in saying, “He went to perfect place. There was no other place he could’ve went to.” Those words fit perfect at that moment as he was right, it was the right place for all the emotions to come together. As Waltrip spoke of during The Day special, it was a win of redemption and a win that signified to him that through it all, it’d be okay. Earnhardt’s win at Daytona is what started it for him.

    As this year marks the 10th anniversary of Earnhardt’s death, maybe as a group the fans can begin to move forward and not bring forth the amount of focus that it gets. If it is possible, maybe the fans can begin to transition to new stars as everything got put down during Speedweeks.

  • Speed Weeks: A War of Attrition

    Speed Weeks: A War of Attrition

    Well the long awaited start to the season is in the history books. The racing was long hard and not overly exciting at times. History did indeed repeat itself. But not the history folks believed would repeat.

    The Bud Shootout left most fans feeling disappointed and flat. The two car tandems were not fun to watch. Although NASCAR and the broadcast partners touted more lead changes and one of the closest finishes in the history of the race.  The truth is the numbers are skewed. When cars have to run in pairs and have to switch places every 4 – 6 laps the number of lead changes is going to go up.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit]NASCAR assured a record number of lead changes in the top two series by making sure the tandems could not run for long periods of time. They made sure the cars would over heat if they did. In order to avoid blowing an engine they had to change up which would increase the number of lead changes recorded but the number is artificially skewed. You would have to divide the number by 2 to get an actual number of changes.

    The race had an exciting conclusion but the only real racing occurred with 25 laps to go. The only problem with that, the race was 75 laps long. Which made the first 50 a time to scratch one’s head and say exactly what is this we are watching?

    Take nothing away from Kurt Busch. He figured out how to work the situation to his benefit and he got Regan Smith to go along for the ride. Ryan Newman was in the worst place he could possibly be on the last lap he was leading coming to the checkers. Denny Hamlin choose to go below the yellow line and throw away both cars chances of beating the Busch and Smith tandem and then claim it was for the purpose of avoiding a wreck. Of course the next day it was because he was forced down there and had already taken the lead when he did it or so he thought. The controversy attempt did not work this time around and most simply ignored the attempt including race winner Kurt Busch. The big controversy was yet to come. But we wouldn’t see it until later in the week.

    Qualifying was a series of surprises from the 88 on the pole to young Trevor Bayne in the top ten. But when the smoke cleared it was once again an all Hendrick front row with Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon on the front row.

    Could it be? Was it possible? Could Junior really have a chance to win the 500 yet again and on the anniversary of his father’s death? It looked for all the world as though that was the scenario playing out in front of us. The 88 was fast. It was slick and scary fast. Dale Jr had that swagger back and a confidence in his voice and demeanor that had been gone too long. It appeared that the man once referred to as NASCAR’s Legacy, The Pied Piper of Daytona was back. But fate was not done yet.

    On Wednesday, Dale Jr and the team had decided they didn’t want to practice. They had a fast car. They were comfortable and they were confident. But NASCAR would have none of it. They were required to take the car out and practice in order to enter the Gatorade Duels. It didn’t take long for disaster to strike after the several hours of rain delay.

    A group of cars led by Robby Gordon and David Gilliland slide up in front of 5 time series champion Jimmie Johnson and his team mate Dale Jr. The 48, running at speed had to check up to keep from running over the slower cars. The pushing 88 checked up and steered away from his team mate just as Kasey Kahne gave the 56 of Martin Truex Jr a shove, right into the back of the 88. Around they went into the inside wall and through the grass.

    The pole sitting car was destroyed. The Amp Energy Team immediately unloaded the back up with the assurances that it was just as good as the primary. Well not quite but really close. The 88 would start in the rear of the duels and the 500. He was one of only two cars that had actually qualified.

    It didn’t matter what Dale Jr did in that race on Thursday he was going to start in the back. He could win by 2 laps and he would still start the Daytona 500 from the back. So why take the chance with the back up car. Rumors flew he wouldn’t run it. He would run it and he would start and park it. He would run it but he would run it in the back. NASCAR immediately made the statement that the 88 HAD to run the Duel. He was obligated by entry blank to run the Duel if he failed to start the duel he would not be allowed to run the 500 at all.

    The rules for the Duels came under fire. With the changes NASCAR had mandated to the cooling system after the Shootout the field had already seen 4 engine changes due to heat damage or failure. There were 3 back up cars in the field because of the tandem racing. Speeds were still over 205 mph. Common sense should rule the day. But this is NASCAR and the only common sense that counts is the common cents that governs the profit ratios. Suddenly the cost containment concerns were out the window. It was not a secret that TV ratings and ticket sales for the Duels on Thursday were at risk if that 88 didn’t start the race. And the growing price of the junk yard was no longer an issue.

    The duels saw more wrecks and a repeat of the Shootout in race one. The race was long with a few highlights and shining spots namely the consistency of a one car team from Denver Colorado with Ragan Smith at the wheel. Once again the young driver pushed past series champion Kurt Busch to the checkers. Smith showed the composure and the instincts of a wily veteran at speeds that made many cringe.

    The second duel offered prophetic foreshadowing of the 500 when 4 time champion and winner of the 500 Jeff Gordon teamed up with 19 year old rookie Trevor Bayne who was piloting a historical Woods Brothers Ford. Their speed and Bayne’s consistency was not only surprising but refreshing. A car in the race not on points bought by a car owner. A ride earned through hard work and talent. And a driver with the humility to watch learn and emulate the master’s of the draft. It was only a last lap misfortune that ruined the young man’s day. But still there was a message there this rookie was not going to go quietly. He was going to be a factor in the race and he wasn’t afraid.

    Friday, brought a beautiful day with little practice from the 500 field. But the NNS and the CWTS were out in full force. The truck series would start under the lights in its season opener but missing from the field for the first time in 7 years was past champion Mike Skinner.

    Due to an error on the entry blank Skinner was not afforded the past champion’s provisional and his time did not put him in the race.

    The pole went to Austin Dillon driver of the number 3 Bass Pro Shop Chevy. The race was nose to tail for most of the race. It wasn’t until there were 35 laps to go that the racing began.

    The last 25 laps saw a race of attrition with only 6 trucks on the final restart that were had not been in a wreck or did not have serious damage. The final restart saw a determined Michael Waltrip take the lead out of 4 to take the checkers 10 years to the day after his first career win in that tragic running of the Daytona 500 that claimed the life of 7 time champion Dale Earnhardt. Waltrips truck was a tribute to his friend and car owner from that race carrying his number from that day and the NAPA sponsorship on the hood.

    A very emotional Waltrip had a hard time explaining what the victory meant to him. Joined in victory lane by his daughter Macy, it was clear that Michael wanted to pay tribute to the life of a friend and mentor and then spend a few quiet moments with his daughter in victory lane.

    He was not given that respect. Pit Reporter Jamie Little continued to badger Waltrip in victory lane and put the veteran’s emotions on display as though they were entertainment fodder for the race. Her search for TV time in victory lane proved to be distasteful and disrespectful to Michael Waltrip his team and his memory of his friend.

    The first race of the weekend in the books it was time for the second tier series to take the center stage on Saturday morning. With an all JR Motorsports second row, Jr Nation’s hopes were high. Would Dale Jr draft with Danica? Would he push her to the front? Would she push him to the front? It didn’t take long to find the answer. At the drop of the green Earnhardt Jr would set his Hellman’s Chevrolet to the front without Danica Patrick.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]Patrick’s radio was filled with whining and complaining that no one would draft with her. Yet when she did get a partner willing to take a chance on her in Clint Bowyer who was driving the KHI number 33, when it came time to switch she raced for him for the position. Bowyer needing air to cool the car backed away from her and picked up another dancing partner. Patrick whined that she would do what needed to be done she “didn’t know how to push but she would try.” It was clear even amongst the boredom of the middle part of the race that she had lead her last lap and she lead it thanks to the partner she didn’t not want to give up a position to for the sake of the two car tango.

    The entire first and middle part of the race was dubbed by past Daytona winner and series Champion Dale Jarrett, as “synchronized racing.” Featuring two car drafts that more resembled horse and cart racing than automobiles, which combined with a very poor broadcast whose camera work once again showed that ESPN is no longer the leader in motorsports coverage made for a long afternoon for TV viewers.

    The broadcast team attempted to direct the camera team to the action with Brad Daughtery saying all the real racing action is from 12th on back. Still what we watched was 3 pair of cars who lead the pack around and around the 2.5 mile track.

    It wasn’t until the final 25 laps that we actually saw racing as we know it. The exciting finish was close. The contenders fierce in their determination to take the win, but it would be Tony Stewart in the closest finish in series history at a super speedway.

    It is important to add here that the finishes for all of the races thus far in speed weeks were close ones. The competition in the final laps was incredible. But in almost every single case the race was actually not a lot longer than a Saturday night race at your local track. With the go time being 25 to 35 laps to go, the real issue with that remains the length of the entire race.

    The 500 now loomed large but the teams had not met their final obstacle from NASCAR as of yet. NASCAR announced shortly before the beginning of the NNS race that it had changed the grill opening for the Sprint Cup Cars by a half inch. Allowing them 3 inches of air intake instead of 2.5 inches, the move was made in response to the obvious over heating and engine failures that had been seen in the week preceding the 500. This change was announced less than 24 hours before the green flag was to fly.

    The Daytona 500 began under conditions that were hotter than the rest of speed weeks. 43 beautiful, fast works of art and technology were led to the green flag exactly on time by three awesome tributes in the form of the Transformers cars of Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr. and Juan Puablo Montoya. Team engineers and crew chiefs uttered a sigh of relief. It was time to race. Time to deal with the obstacles that they made a living dealing with every single week of the 36 week season no more changes, no more chances just time to go racing for the Harley J. Earl trophy.

    The first blown engine was quick to appear when on lap 10 J.J. Yeley’s engine let go. Very shortly after on lap 20 one of the major surprises of the day would occur when Kevin Harvick’s Budweiser Chevrolet also had an engine let go. The war of attrition had begun. But the lap 29 17 car wreck that would take out 2 of the HMS cars and damage a third and damage the Roush teams chances severely. That incident would contribute heavily to the rising totals of the million dollar junk yard that is always seen at Talladega and Daytona.

    The two car tango was again the order of the day with NASCAR bragging about record amounts of lead changes, cautions, and close front runners. Again numbers that did not allow for the switching of lead cars to allow for the over heating of the pushing car. Although we did see some brief multi car drafts they quickly broke down into 2 car drafts.

    Wrecks, Spins, Blown Engines were fairly evenly spaced throughout the event keeping the monotony broke up. But the real truth is that the quality of racing did not improve with the super bowl of NASCAR. What did improve was the honesty of the broadcast. Larry McReynolds relaying Tony Stewart’s comment of being white knuckled and holding his breath. Dale Jr’s comment of this racing sucks to his crew chief who agreed with him.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignleft” width=”281″][/media-credit]The feel good story of the year however, was the winner of the race. 20 year old rookie Trevor Bayne in only his second Sprint Cup start won the Daytona 500 for the Wood Brothers. The car a replica of David Pearson’s Daytona winning car and carrying the Hall of fame inductee’s name on the side sparked memories of when real men raced for 500 miles in real cars and what won on Sunday sold on Monday. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer kid or a nicer group of people. Miracles do happen and dreams do come true if you believe and Trevor Bayne will always remember the day his came true at Daytona.

    There were high points in speed weeks. Dale Jr won the pole. He ran good in the Nationwide race and he ran well being in the top ten most of the day and leading on multiple occasions until being taken out in a wreck 6 laps from the end of the 500. He and crew chief Steve Letarte proved who they are and what they are made of. They gave Jr. Nation something to be proud of and to look forward too.

    Stewart Haas Racing was the strongest of all multiple car teams with both cars making it to the end. Even though Ryan Newman was also taken out in the same wreck as Earnhardt Jr which was caused when Robby Gordon attempted to re enter the track from the apron into a line of cars at speed.

    Hendrick Motorsports showed their strength and dominance through out speed weeks with the front row and 4 cars and drivers that were pumped and primed and would undoubtedly have been a threat had they not been victims of circumstances.

    Ford is back on track. For all the worshippers of the blue oval the long drought is over. Ford is once again a force to be contended with.

    And finally, we have said our goodbyes, we have celebrated the life of one of the greatest heroes our sport will ever have, a man that continues to influence and change our sport and its fans even today 10 years after his passing. Now the time has come to move on. As his son put it, it’s time to go on with life. He will never be forgotten. But at last 10 years later perhaps the media can allow him to rest in peace and allow his son a measure of peace as well.

    ~~~~~ *** ~~~~~

    Congratulations to Kurt Busch and the Penske team on their Bud Shootout win and their Gatorade Duel win. Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports on their front row positions. To Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing on their victory in the Second Gatorade Duel race. To Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing on his moving truck series win. And to Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick Inc on his repeat performance in the Nationwide Series. And of course to Trevor Bayne and the Woods Brothers on their return to victory lane in the Daytona 500.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Danica Patrick NASCAR Nationwide Season Begins on a High Note

    Danica Patrick NASCAR Nationwide Season Begins on a High Note

    Danicamania is back!  JR Motorsports driver Danica Patrick started from a career-best qualifying position of fourth, and earned a career-best finish of 14th at the Drive4COPD 300 on Saturday.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]Patrick managed to maintain a Top 10 position without a tandem drafting partner for the first quarter of the race.  She finally found a drafting partner in Clint Bowyer.  He propelled her past four cars to take the race lead on lap 31, making her the first woman to ever lead a NASCAR lap at Daytona. 

    When Bowyer’s engine became hot, Patrick bobbled her car and was unable to reconnect.  She then slipped to ninth place.  Bowyer, slipping even further to 18th, blamed Patrick’s spotter for poor communication.  Patrick admits that she wasn’t sure how to make pushing others work all that well yet.

    In a spectacular finish, Tony Stewart went on to win the race by a narrow seven one thousands of a second margin over Bowyer.

    Patrick, a lap down, was quite pleased with her first Top 15 finish.  “It was a good experience, there was a lot to learn and I did learn a lot,” she said.

    Car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., praised her run by saying ” I think she was just doing whatever she felt was necessary to get to the end of the race and see if she had a shot.  I think she did a good job.”

    Patrick is scheduled to run a limited 14 race schedule for 2011.  Her next race will be at Phoenix Motor Speedway

  • The Wood Brothers – Last of a Breed and Winning Again

    The Wood Brothers – Last of a Breed and Winning Again

    The 2011 edition of the Daytona 500 was flawed. No one will deny that, but the result was sheer joy. It was uplifting to see the Wood family in victory lane once again. And they were all there—Leonard and Glen and their sons Len and Eddie. What a tribute to a true family organization.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”188″][/media-credit]Most of the teams in NASCAR, especially the successful ones are owned by some millionaire who wants to dabble in this sport. I don’t count Jack Roush or Richard Childress in this group. Those guys started at the bottom and worked their way up, but how many true family organizations are there? The Woods are one of the few left and it was gratifying to see them in their rightful place—victory lane.

    Many expected that one of the powerful Chevrolet’s of Hendrick Motorsports or Richard Childress Racing would win the whole week, but it wasn’t to be. Childress cars only won a qualifying race all week. Hendrick had two cars on the front row for the 500, but nothing else to show for all the hoopla that surrounded them all week. You just can’t predict who is going to win one of these things at Daytona or Talladega. I’ve said many times that four times a year anyone can win, and that’s not taking anything away from Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers. They had a fast car and an amazingly mature driver for his age and it all came together.

    The Wood Brothers are the oldest surviving team still operating in Sprint Cup. They started out in a tiny shop in Stuart, Virginia, just a little bit east of Martinsville. For years they stayed in their little shop where victories by such dignitaries as Marvin Paunch, Tiny Lund, Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, David Pearson, Neil Bonnett, Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, and Elliott Sadler made them legends in the sport. Until today, the last victory the Woods had enjoyed was in 2001 with Sadler driving at Bristol Motor Speedway. Though the team has 98 victories, the last nine years had given them no victories. They faced a low point in 2008 when for the first time as an organized team; they did not make the field for the Daytona 500. It was then that they decided things had to change.

    Because of limited sponsorship, the reduced their schedule to 13-15 races a year. In the early days, they usually didn’t run for championships, but not they had to quit running all the races for financial reasons. Still, that was getting them nowhere. Late in 2010, Eddie Wood went to Jack Roush and they formed an alliance. Roush-Yates was already supplying engines for the team, but now Roush-Fenway would supply cars to them, much like they do for Richard Petty Motorsports. The change in fortunes for the Woods was almost immediate.

    The first race was last year’s second Texas race, and the driver was a 19-year old driver named Trevor Bayne that Roush-Fenway had signed. Bill Elliott had been piloting the cars, but Bayne was the driver for that day. Bayne finished 17th on the lead lap. In the off-season, the Woods decided to give Bayne a chance at Daytona and the rest is history. The Wood Brothers Ford was fast with Bayne qualifying fourth. He was a star in the making and proved it with his Daytona 500 win.

    So, for a day, all was right with the world. In the beginning of this sport, men and their families built race cars and came to the track chasing a dream. For a little while, the big tycoons who pretty much run this sport with their multi-million dollar drivers took a back seat to the Wood Brothers. It’s a shame that even if Bayne decides to change his declaration for which series he’s running for the championship (he had declared he was running for the Nationwide Series championship because the Woods were only planning 17 races this year), he will get no points for today’s race and the win will not be considered, but a rule is a rule I suppose. Let’s hope he smokes the field again and again this year and the 43 points he lost will only be an afterthought. That is, if someone steps up to the plate and offers the Woods a sponsorship deal for the remaining 19 races. Wouldn’t that be just perfect?