Hello Nascar friends. Hope you are all having as good a holiday weekend as I have. I kinda let my homework and studies slide for a couple days which I dont do lightly, but it was worth it in the end. I just want to say that I am sorry I havent been following my regular schedule for articles, I really like to stick to it, but the summer has proven to be a real challenge for me with the biology class. Once I get past that at the end of this month, I hope to be able to get back to a more regular schedule for writing again.
Well we went to Daytona for the day and hung out and did all the usual cool stuff. I went to see my buddy John at Sprint and we did some stuff at the Hellman’s area and a few other places. We had a picture made of myself and my grandson Riley with Dale Jr, Mark Martin, and Brad Keselowski at a picnic table down in the camper area. They told us we should tell you guys that we actually did have a picnic down by the campers with those guys and that you guys should believe us 120 percent. Okay well maybe 90 percent but still. Just kidding. It is a pretty cool picture though and I am happy I was able to take my grandson there for some fun stuff before having to take him home.
I was looking forward to trying to stay for the race originally but my family had other plans in mind so we went to Daytona because quite frankly even if I dont have a ticket, its worth the trip to go hang out and do the sponsor stuff. Its always a good time. So thats what we did. After which we left to go his house for a family celebration and I couldnt say no to that.
So unfortunately I missed a great race with some really cool wrecks and man what a couple of wrecks they were!!! I am not even going to lie, the last lap crash was the best part of the whole race!! It definitely reminded me of that crazy last lap ride Carl Edwards took at Talladega. Only this time I was glad to see Kyle Busch having a bad day. I could not have been happier! Finally a little payback in my opinion. Congratulations to Tony Stewart on his second victory of the season and the 35th in his career. Even Ryan managed a 20th place finish after getting caught up earlier in the evening and sustaining some major damage to his car.
Well by all rights Tony did nothing wrong. However, Tony is not real happy with the way things played out. Racing incidents like this one happen more often than not and always at these tracks where we have the restrictor plate racing. With the high speeds that are achieved around the racetrack, these kinds of wrecks are going to continue to happen until they decide to make a few changes. Hopefully before someone really gets hurt. However happy I am that Kyle was the one who got wrecked out, it in no way implies that I would wish him physical harm. I dont ever like to hear that someone has been hurt or worse yet, killed in an on track accident. But Tony is not happy with the way he obtained his victory and was concerned that he may have caused it or something. I dont think so, like I said, at these tracks its just part of racing.
So most of the Hendrick drivers got caught up in different wrecks during the course of the race last night. Jeff Gordon got caught up early and I believe he finished on the lead lap in 28th. Dale Jr. got caught up in an accident early on as did Mark Martin. Jimmy Johnson was the only Hendricks driver to finish the race in good shape coming in for third as the wreck happened in front of him and landing in second position as they came across the line. Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the top five finishers for the Coke 01 400 this weekend. Now the way some finished had an effect on their standings in the top 12 for the chase. Here is the points breakdown.
Tony Stewart 2524 points leader
Jeff Gordon 2455 -69
Jimmy Johnson 2355 -169
Kurt Busch 2254 -270
Carl Edwards 2157 -367
Denny Hamlin 2132 -392
Ryan Newman 2127 -397
Kyle Busch 2108 -416
Greg Biffle 2106 -418
Matt Kenseth 2054 -470
Mark Martin 2052 -472
Juan Pablo Montoya 2049 -475
Well this is turning out to be a rather surprising season in some aspects. Dont count out those just outside the top 12 that may still be able to pass into 11th or 12th in points depending on how they run. Kasey Kahne and David Reutimann are the only two in my opinion that might be able to pull it off in the next week or so. But no matter what, they start over again anyway once the chase begins. Good luck to all the drivers within reach of the chase at this point.
Well despite the lifting of his suspension by a superior court, Jeremy Mayfield was unable to get things together in time for Daytona. However he and his wife wrote a letter to fans and released it thanking fans for their continued support during the most horrible two months of his life and that he hoped to be a presence on the track in the near future. Although this temporary injunction is in place and he is permitted to race, one has to wonder if these kinds of allegations will hurt his ability to have anyone deal with him on a professional basis. Other drivers such as Mark Martin have expressed that they have no problems racing with Jeremy and that most drivers echoed that sentiment. Regardless of what the court decides, Jeremy hasnt really been a threat on the Nascar series for several years now. I would probably call him mediocre at best and I dont mean that badly, I just dont think he ever really was a contender of any magnitude. At any rate, this is all far from over as the court still has to decide the fate of lawsuits pending on both sides, Jeremy filed suit then Nascar countersued. Stay tuned.
Well thats about it for now. Hope everyone has a great week following a great holiday weekend. Until then Nascar fans and friends, take care.
Vinny says
Sounds like you had a great time.
Nascar Dude says
cant believe you went to daytona and didnt go to the race. sounds like you had fun though
Lorri says
even if i dont have race tickets, i always go because you never know when you might get a chance to meet a driver or do some cool stuff. we have gone before when we had tickets for the big race and we won tickets to the nationwide race!! there is just sooo much stuff to do. We were on the speed channel in the audience while they were taping Raceday or which ever show that is that they always film live from each track. We won some cool stuff and hung out with some friends and had a great time. but that only goes for daytona, i wouldnt go to another track without tickets just to hang out and do stuff but daytona is only a short drive not even an hour from my house so we just go and have a good time for the day even if we dont attend the race, but i usually go. i havent missed one since 2006 and that was because my hubby was sick so that didnt count. I have gone to every race at daytona since 2007. and prior to that we had been going since 1999. so we have history daytona and i.