Daily NASCAR

In retrospect, it all turned on the morning of the Daytona 500. Up until that point, everything had been perfect. Since then, everything has gone awry.

It doesn’t mean that bad luck isn’t involved. It doesn’t meant that conditions won’t improve. They will. Two races do not a season make.

But … a lot has gone wrong since the Daytona 500 began. The first two race weekends have actually been full of potholes.

Remember those heady early-February days. Danica Patrick was widely praised even though finishing sixth in an ARCA race wasn’t really all that impressive. The qualifying races both ended in side-by-side finishes. Timothy Peters pulled off an upset in the Camping World Truck Series. Tony Stewart glazed to his fifth victory in the last six Nationwide Series openers. The front row for the 500 was Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., for gosh sakes.

It wasn’t as good as it seemed then, and it’s not as bad as it seems now.

Even though:

• Danica Patrick flopped when she had to race at a track where she couldn’t go wide open all the way around. That’s not a surprise. This transition is hard. No one should have been so optimistic in the first place.
   
• The biggest race of the season was run on Barrel Stave Road, a track normally used for logging.
   
• The best stock car racers in the world tried to run two laps without wrecking three times, and failed all three times. Exciting? Yes. Impressive? No.
   
• The second Sprint Cup race drew roughly the same crowd as a Tuesday night game at Dodger Stadium (by all reasonable estimates, that is, which exclude those published by NASCAR).

The Auto Club 500 was interesting, though most of it wasn’t all that exciting. But NASCAR, having delivered enough stocking stuffers to charm the heart of any starry-eyed kid, ending up feeling as if all the little brats were ungrateful. So what if the sparklers were duds? It’s the thought that counts, you little punks.

The Lords of NASCAR are feeling a bit surly these days. They reportedly confiscated the car of Dave Blaney after the race, issuing all sorts of "no one is safe" remarks while, by claiming possession of a struggling team’s car, they were likely eliminating any chance of that team being able to race (or, allegedly, "start and park") in Vegas. Hmm. Can you say "Carl Long"?

NASCAR, after opening the season with all sorts of "back to the good old days" story lines, now seems to equate "good old days" with those of ruthless authoritarian rule.

One can almost envision Don Brian (admittedly, this image doesn’t work) saying, "Dave, my son, you disappoint me."

Oh, OK. Maybe Brian Keith. Or Mr. French.

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Speedweeks at Daytona no doubt left us with thrilling finishes and things to talk about for weeks to come. From Danica Patrick to Asphalt-Gate to Jamie McMurray and Timothy Peters this is sure to be a year we won’t soon forget. Despite the issues with the track on Sunday the races for the Cup and Nationwide Series were really very good. Even the ARCA race (despite the usual wrecks) was quite good. All in all I was pleased with the weeks…except that is for one race.

For those of you who read the site often, you know what a big fan I am of the Truck Series. I firmly believe week in and week out it provides the best racing with the best personalities of all the three major series. Unfortunately I’ve got to say I was genuinely disappointed with Saturday’s race.

Don’t get me wrong, the last few laps were great and what a finish! It was good to see Timothy Peters muscle his way through at the end and win the race. It was also good to see Dennis Setzer and Johnny Benson run well in under-funded trucks.

That said the wrecks and inability to bump-draft made it difficult to watch.

Less than a lap into the race Austin Dillion got loose while trying to run down the middle and took out nine trucks. There were guys involved in that incident, Dillion included, I was looking forward to see race. So much for that.

Then, while being bump-drafted in separate incidents, Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday had their days ended. Apparently the bumpers and tailgates on the trucks don’t line up (I say facetiously). While I don’t recall it being quite this bad in the past, bump-drafting in the trucks has never been a good idea. It is a shame they aren’t able to do it (cough-NASCAR needs to look at this-cough).

Other incidents throughout the day cost even more guys their chance at the win.

Ultimately the race ended with just 14 trucks left on the lead lap. That’s pitiful. I understand there isn’t a lot you can do about the wrecks. There are a lot of young and inexperienced drivers out there and you just have a to deal that as it comes. The bump-drafting thing though is a separate issue. NASCAR seriously needs to think about addressing it.

As I said I was thrilled with the ending (who wasn’t?), but what came before it kind of stunk. Unfortunately the Truck Series race was far from the highlight of the weeks and weekend (for me at least).

Luckily Atlanta’s only two weeks away.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Daytona Int’l Speedway, Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After a top-10 taste of stock car racing over the weekend, Danica Patrick has decided to accelerate her learning curve and will enter Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Patrick announced her decision Monday, two days after finishing sixth at Daytona in an 80-lap race in the ARCA Series, which is an entry-level, training series for many drivers. The Nationwide Series is NASCAR’s version of Triple-A baseball and a significant step up.

“Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process,” Patrick said, “but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do.

“The ARCA race was a blast and I’m not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing.”

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And awayyyyy we go: The ARCA wreck ballet included this one by Bryan Silas, 11, Mikey Kile, 25, and Frank Kimmel, 44, spinning through turn four the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International on February 6 2010.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It may not unsafe, but it’s fair to say that the racing this year is going to be more dangerous.

NASCAR officials have loosened the reins. They have upped the ante. They have damned the torpedoes in order to let the drivers go full steam ahead.

Not that this had anything to do with NASCAR, but what caused me to ponder this subject was the Automobile Club of America (ARCA) race in which Danica Patrick made her NASCAR debut. The Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 - which could have been run with the aforementioned "slick mist" coating the pavement - went almost seven laps before a wreck - no, that’s not the word; conflagration, maybe; or riot; or, simply, mess - enveloped the back straight of Daytona International Speedway in what seemed a never-ending string of crumpling metal and spewing smoke.

It looked as if the cars weren’t equipped with brakes. On television, Darrell Waltrip said, "Those last three or four cars shouldn’t have been in that crash."

Imagine the Keystone Kops at 180 mph. Or … Ricky Bobby.

Thankfully, Ms. Patrick was in front of a crash that looked as if it ingloriously snipped off the final third of the field.

ARCA is always an extreme example. This is a race where the sponsors set the tone. Among the sponsors on Saturday were Rip It Energy Fuel, PowerTrac Machinery, Monster Energy, ElectrifyingCareers.com, Anti-Monkey Butt Powder and, last but not least, the Drug Testing Centers of America.

But enough about ARCA.

NASCAR has backed off the control freakiness of recent times. The openings in the restrictor plates are larger. The "aerodynamic package" has been loosened and is scheduled to be loosened still more whenever the teams trade in their wings for spoilers. It’ll be a "spoilsport" again. (Drum roll, please.)

The name could be "Dr. Strangerub: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Draft."

Racing is starting to be about going fast again. For better or worse.

Mark Martin isn’t just the oldest pole winner in Daytona 500 history. He is the fastest Daytona pole winner (191.188 mph) in more than a decade. Joe Nemechek qualified at 194.860 mph before the July race in 1999.

Back to the frontier racing of ARCA. A chill went down my spine when a Dodge driven by Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa, hit the fourth-turn wall at an angle harsher than the one that killed Dale Earnhardt nine years ago.

No. Please.

George climbed out of the car. Whew. Turns out she is, in addition to a race-car driver, a chiropractor. That’s solid career planning.

What was left of Jill George’s car after smashing into the wall of Turn 4. (photo: Ovalscream)

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The start of the 2010 season is finally upon us and you know what that means? It’s time for racing! This first week in Daytona brought us the Bud Shootout, Cup Qualifying and the ARCA race (otherwise known as Danica’s debut). On Saturday Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. put their Hendrick cars on the front row for next Sunday’s Daytona 500. The remainder of the field will be decided during Thursday’s Gatorade Duels. And finally Danica Patrick made her much anticipated debut in a wreck-infested Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, finishing seventh. This is the NASCAR week that was January 31 to February 6, 2010.

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To All The PR People Out There

**Remember if you have a NASCAR blog or website and would like a recent article you wrote featured in this section email me and you could be part of next week’s NASCAR Week That Was. Please only send stuff you have written.**

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