Okay, there is no secret that you all know I am a NASCAR fan. Some of you will even say that is an understatement and say that I am a HUGE NASCAR fan. Quite frankly, you all would be right. I am a huge NASCAR fan. I cannot deny that.
Last Sunday, February 15th, was the start of the 2009 NASCAR Nextel Cup series with, of course, the Daytona 500. I was ready. More than ready. As always, a couple of weeks before the start of the NASCAR season, I always become antsy. It’s just natural with me.
I did the normal things I do before any race ever starts. Read, write, watch television and do whatever I feel like doing. Then I sit down at the beginning to watch the pre-race show and finally hear the national anthem, and I am in the zone. However, last week, last Sunday, I was ready, but I was not at all impressed with the Daytona 500 this year. Of course, it started out fine and that was good. But one of, if not driver I hate most, was in the lead most of the time. To say it sucked would be an understatement. How much of Kyle Busch can I take? Not much. I didn’t change the channel though.
Then finally, Dale Jr. took the lead, if only for one lap. Tony Stewart helped him get the lead and then took the lead himself. It was short lived for Dale Jr., but it was five extra bonus points for him for leading a lap. Thereafter, it went downhill for him.
You all know I am a Dale Jr. fan. So when he has a bad day, I feel for him. And did he have a bad 2009 Daytona 500. He missed his pit stall on pit road under a caution and had to go back around the track to pit. It messed him up. But he did find his way back to the front of the field and was doing very very well. Until another caution came out. When he pitted then, NASCAR officials said he pitted outside of the white line in the pit box with his right front tire and officials held him for one lap. Honestly, it was about an inch on the white line and I do believe NASCAR was at fault for penalizing him. He couldn’t do anything then. It was their word against his. That was not the end of it though. Once he was back on the track, he was the first car a lap down. He was on the inside lane like he was supposed to be. He wanted to get his lap back. And he did with virtue of a caution. The only problem, he was involved in making the caution happen.
It was not his fault though. I REPEAT, IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT!! On that restart, I question one thing? Why was Juan Montoya and Brian Vickers on the outside lane? I know they were a lap down. So it was said. The only reason they could have been up there was because they were on the tail end of the lead lap. Brian Vickers pushed Montoya out front and tried to pass him. Dale Jr. had a run on Vickers and then all hell broke loose. Dale Jr. went low to try and pass Vickers and Vickers came down to block, forcing Jr. below the yellow line. Jr. came back up on the track, but clipped Vickers and the melee ensued.
They all tried to blame it on Dale Jr. Frankly, Brian Vickers is the one to blame. He came down to block, which is something you are supposed to do, but he did it forcefully. Dale Jr. did the only thing he could do to keep being legal on the track. He went back up and in the process, nudged Vickers. It was a natural reaction. But, of course, other drivers had there say about it.
I won’t dwell on what happened because you all know what I naturally think. However, I do want to bring up another issue here.
Not long after that caution, it started to rain. With 48 laps left in the 2009 Daytona 500, it was red flagged because of the rain. NASCAR put the jet dryers out and proceeded to dry the track, but not ten minutes later, they were calling the race and making Matt Kenseth the winner. I have nothing against Matt Kenseth. I like him. But I do have a bone to pick about how NASCAR handled calling the race after only ten minutes.
NASCAR said they would not have enough time to dry the track and get it back to race conditions once the rain stopped. I say, they have lights at Daytona now. They could have made more of an effort to dry the track and get it running again. There was only 48 laps left. It could have been done.
But no, NASCAR was more concerned about the time constraint. I could understand that, a little. But we are fans. We would have stayed. We wanted to see the Daytona 500 run to the end. Furthermore, it would have been maybe, 10:00PM or 10:30PM on the east coast when they got it started back. That would mean 7:00PM or 7:30PM on the west coast. What about those fans that live out there? There was enough time for them to see the end of the Daytona 500.
I have long said that NASCAR needs to reevaluate some of their decisions. But I am not an official. Just a fan. A fan of thousands, that enjoy the need for speed. I am upset, but I am a true fan, so I will continue watching. It’s in my blood.
Last Sunday, February 15th, was the start of the 2009 NASCAR Nextel Cup series with, of course, the Daytona 500. I was ready. More than ready. As always, a couple of weeks before the start of the NASCAR season, I always become antsy. It’s just natural with me.
I did the normal things I do before any race ever starts. Read, write, watch television and do whatever I feel like doing. Then I sit down at the beginning to watch the pre-race show and finally hear the national anthem, and I am in the zone. However, last week, last Sunday, I was ready, but I was not at all impressed with the Daytona 500 this year. Of course, it started out fine and that was good. But one of, if not driver I hate most, was in the lead most of the time. To say it sucked would be an understatement. How much of Kyle Busch can I take? Not much. I didn’t change the channel though.
Then finally, Dale Jr. took the lead, if only for one lap. Tony Stewart helped him get the lead and then took the lead himself. It was short lived for Dale Jr., but it was five extra bonus points for him for leading a lap. Thereafter, it went downhill for him.
You all know I am a Dale Jr. fan. So when he has a bad day, I feel for him. And did he have a bad 2009 Daytona 500. He missed his pit stall on pit road under a caution and had to go back around the track to pit. It messed him up. But he did find his way back to the front of the field and was doing very very well. Until another caution came out. When he pitted then, NASCAR officials said he pitted outside of the white line in the pit box with his right front tire and officials held him for one lap. Honestly, it was about an inch on the white line and I do believe NASCAR was at fault for penalizing him. He couldn’t do anything then. It was their word against his. That was not the end of it though. Once he was back on the track, he was the first car a lap down. He was on the inside lane like he was supposed to be. He wanted to get his lap back. And he did with virtue of a caution. The only problem, he was involved in making the caution happen.
It was not his fault though. I REPEAT, IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT!! On that restart, I question one thing? Why was Juan Montoya and Brian Vickers on the outside lane? I know they were a lap down. So it was said. The only reason they could have been up there was because they were on the tail end of the lead lap. Brian Vickers pushed Montoya out front and tried to pass him. Dale Jr. had a run on Vickers and then all hell broke loose. Dale Jr. went low to try and pass Vickers and Vickers came down to block, forcing Jr. below the yellow line. Jr. came back up on the track, but clipped Vickers and the melee ensued.
They all tried to blame it on Dale Jr. Frankly, Brian Vickers is the one to blame. He came down to block, which is something you are supposed to do, but he did it forcefully. Dale Jr. did the only thing he could do to keep being legal on the track. He went back up and in the process, nudged Vickers. It was a natural reaction. But, of course, other drivers had there say about it.
I won’t dwell on what happened because you all know what I naturally think. However, I do want to bring up another issue here.
Not long after that caution, it started to rain. With 48 laps left in the 2009 Daytona 500, it was red flagged because of the rain. NASCAR put the jet dryers out and proceeded to dry the track, but not ten minutes later, they were calling the race and making Matt Kenseth the winner. I have nothing against Matt Kenseth. I like him. But I do have a bone to pick about how NASCAR handled calling the race after only ten minutes.
NASCAR said they would not have enough time to dry the track and get it back to race conditions once the rain stopped. I say, they have lights at Daytona now. They could have made more of an effort to dry the track and get it running again. There was only 48 laps left. It could have been done.
But no, NASCAR was more concerned about the time constraint. I could understand that, a little. But we are fans. We would have stayed. We wanted to see the Daytona 500 run to the end. Furthermore, it would have been maybe, 10:00PM or 10:30PM on the east coast when they got it started back. That would mean 7:00PM or 7:30PM on the west coast. What about those fans that live out there? There was enough time for them to see the end of the Daytona 500.
I have long said that NASCAR needs to reevaluate some of their decisions. But I am not an official. Just a fan. A fan of thousands, that enjoy the need for speed. I am upset, but I am a true fan, so I will continue watching. It’s in my blood.
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