ShaniFaye

so the 49th Daytona 500 with all its controversies and cheating is in the books.

For me, as it was the 6th anniversary of Dale Sr's death it was a very hard one to watch, but watch it I did.

What a finish

after it was apparent Jr wasnt gonna finish much less win I was rooting for Martin (which is a 1st lol cause I cant stand Roush Racing).

Its very interesting that the man that got his chance because of Sr's death won his 1st 500 on the anniversary of his death. I am just thankful that he didnt do it in the Goodwrench car...My heart couldnt have stood it.

Do you think Nascar made the right call in not calling the caution with the last wreck and letting Martin and Harvick fight it out?

I do

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Telluride

I would first like to congratulate Elliott Sadler for finishing 6th. A top 10 finish is good in any race, but especially when you started 30th.

Elliott Sadler is my driver, but once it became apparent that he wasn't going to win the race I really wanted Mark Martin to win. But I'm happy for Keving Harvick, though. I'm just glad that none of the Toyota drivers won or even did particularly well in the race and that Tony Stewart had a crappy day, too.

All in all, I'd say that it was one of the best races I've seen in a long time.

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Borla

I will say that any Nascar fan that can should definitely get DirecTV's HotPass coverage.


Aside from the main feed of the race, you get six channels of additional coverage. Five of those channels are set up to cover specific drivers. This week one was for Junior, one for Stewart, one for Gordon, one for Johnson, and one for Waltrip.

Each of the five channels was tuned in to the driver's radio, plus had it's own set of commentators that were completely dialed in to everything going on with that team. You were able to hear constant chatter between the driver and crew chief and spotter, frequent interviews with team members, and even interviews with the drivers during cautions.

This week was a free preview, but I've already purchased the coverage for the rest of the season. Every week there will be five top drivers covered in the same format. It was really well done too.





As far as this weeks race...........I'm a Junior fan, so I was disappointed to see him knocked out by something completely out of his control. At the end I was rooting for Mark Martin to win, just because he is so incredibly classy, but I must say that if someone had to beat him, I guess Harvick would've been the one I would've picked of the guys who were left in contention at that point.

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dirtyrascal7

I enjoyed:

- The fact that neither Busch brother won.
- Watching Clint Bowyer finish upside-down and on fire (I don't have anything against him, but it was cool to watch).
- The intense, hard-fought last 45 laps... 3 and 4 wide almost the whole time was very cool.

I did not enjoy:

- Kelly Clarkson's pre-race show and Nicolas Cage's "Gentlemen, start your engines." Terrible.
- Watching all the drivers I root for taken out of the race.
- Fox's new 3D video game thing... the idea might be okay, but the execution was completely lame. I hope they don't use that very often.

I do think it was the right call to not yellow flag the race at the end... my understanding was that they yellow flagged it as soon as Harvick/Martin crossed, which makes sense to me because the wreck was behind them, so let those two race to the end and then freeze the rest of the field.

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laconic1

I also agree with the decision to not throw the caution. In my opinion if a wreck happens on the last lap in turn 2 or later they should keep it green to the end. Sucked that my driver, Matt Kenseth was in a position to get a top five with less than half a mile to go and he finished twenty-seventh, but that's restrictor plate racing. I also did not like the overdone prerace show.

DEI37

I agree with the timing of the last yellow. It could have affected the outcome, as Martin was in front of Harvick at the moment of the crash. Plus, the wreck being behind them, they were in no danger, and it didn't matter for the rest of the field. Plus, they were in a Green/White/Checker scenario anyways, and on the final lap. Who cares? If that would have been one lap prior, then the race should have been Martin's. It was a good race, I saw most of it, and didn't watch much of the prerace, which sounds like is a good thing.

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ShaniFaye

How about the commercials!! I think my fav had to be the Jr one for Bud hehehe "Crazy Mutant Desert Guys"

the Napa one with the "chip" was good too, just something funny about Dale Jarrett asking about Hip Hop

The nextel ones kind of annoyed me

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Deltona Couple

Actually Shani, Harvick didn't just get his break with Dale Sr's death. RCR racing was already in contract negotiation to start Harvick as a replacement for Mike Skinner at the end of Skinner's 2001 contract. That is why Childress was able to get Harvick so fast, he was already planned to be Dale's teamate!

I also enjoyed the race. Even though I think it would have been nice for Mark Martin to get his forst victory, I am glad they let the two of them race for the finish. I am already hearing it on other boards and people saying that Martin was cheated of his victory, and it is driving me NUTS! lol.

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Brewmaniac

Right call, absolutely!

I hoped Mark could win it at the end. I am happy for Harvick though. I too was rooting for Jr. it's funny I really didn't like his father he was a cocky a-hole, I had tremendous respect for his accomplishments but I didn't like him. I was really sad when he died though. Jr. is much more humble and I feel bad he and Teresa are at odds. I hope they can work something out!

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blade02

I'm an avid Roush/Ford fan, mostly because of Mark Martin. So seeing him in a Chevy is kind of difficult. But when the Roush's got knocked out, I was pulling for Martin.

Its also funny how the wrecks sort things out with rookie David Ragan being the top finishing Roush after spending almost all day in the back of the pack.

Lastly, I was glad that the Toyotas didn't finish anywhere near the top. Something is just not right about them being in NASCAR. Especially when you consider how they "developed" their motors. (pretty much Toyota didn't have a push-rod v-8, so they got to mix n match the dimensions that make the distinctions between Ford, Chevy, and Dodge engines, and make an engine using the best specs from each US manufacturer)

Deltona Couple

Blade, toyota actually does have their own engine. I thought that was the one that they had been using. I may be wrong. I think though that it is pretty Ironic that Toyota is built in the good ole' USA, but the Montecarlo is built in Canada, the Ford's Fusion is built in Mexico, and isn't the Charger built somewhere else too?...lol. Still I will always root for GM.

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blade02

Toyota does have their own engine, but the way I described it above is how they designed it. Atleast thats what an issue of Race Car Engineering says. Any who I could be wrong about it, and if I am, it still won't change the fact that I'll enjoy seeing them do poorly, because I have a feeling I won't get to enjoy it much after this season.

warrrreagl

Grancey and I were in the car during most of the Daytona race, so we listened to it on Sirius. Sirius now has one channel devoted strictly to race coverage, and about a dozen channels at racetime switch over to let you hear driver-crew conversations. Pretty cool, right?

So I started the afternoon by tuning into Kyle Petty. Suddenly, BOOM he's out of the race. So I switch to Jeff Burton, who's about 10th when I switch. Suddenly BOOM he's back at 35th. So I switch to Kasey Kahne, who drops like a rock. Get the picture? Do you want to guess who I was listening to when Tony Stewart crashed and when Mark Martin got edged out at the flag?

They shouldn't let me anywhere near another NASCAR event.

On a related note, I started switching some of our childhood home-movies from VCR to DVD this weekend (they were originally taken on 8mm and then converted about 10 years ago). A particular batch was taken in 1959 and suddenly I was looking at my father and a bunch of other guys sitting in the stands at Daytona watching them open the infield gates and eventually watching the race. After a little figuring, that must have been the 2nd Daytona 500, right?

Cool as shit film!

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ngdawg

Next year is the 50th anniversary, if I heard right, of the Daytona 500, so they were watching the 2nd(?)...cool stuff-you should stick that on Youtube
I had to tape the race and have yet to watch it, but I listened to it on MRN on the way to work and the last 5 minutes at break(makes note to request opening day off next year). I don't like Harvick and was so excited hearing Martin being up front, until...even the announcers were saying, "where did Harvick come from???"
On the pc, I have Nascar Trackpass and listen to the driver's scanners-that's priceless.
The yellow was dropped as soon as could be, but the way it was explained was, that since the pile up was by turn 4, there was no danger to anyone upfront as they crossed the finish line; had the wreck been at turns 1 or 2, the outcome would have been different. Poor Mark...always a bridesmaid, never the bride, in 23 starts at Daytona.
Bristol both times this year!!!! I can't wait!!(Kry, where's my jacket????)

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Deltona Couple

This was the 49th annual Daytona 500 at the Daytona track. The first Daytona 500 at the track was in 1959, so they might have been at the very first one! Keep that video! Any takers (no cheating!) on who won the first Daytona 500?

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catback

I understand the way they dropped the caution because the spectators would enjoy it that way but I don't agree with the call or it's timing, because it goes against the purpose as I understand it which is when the caution flag drops the field is frozen so no driver has to even dare to race for position which is dangerous for the drivers although spectators love it.

Also the commentators were saying (before the last caution) that if a caution came out during the "overtime" the race would end at that moment with the field position frozen, I say this because I thought the caution didn't come out until the race was finished but after it finished the commentators said the race finished on a caution so when was the flagged dropped before the checker or after and if after then why have martin and harvick racing for position to the finish and not letting anyone else...kinda low ball and unfair if you ask me.

As for me I was rooting for mark martin, he's not roush anymore for you anti-roushers, in those final laps--he deserved the win, he's been the most patient and has more than paid his dues...As far as harvick that last lap was impressive but maybe a little too impressive to me something seems up when a car a few car lengths back passes a fleet of cars, that have the pedal to the metal, with such speed that they look like they are standing still and then on top of that do it with no drafting partner through half of it.

If mark is in a position to win I'm always rooting for him.

whatd

This was the first Daytona 500 that I actually watched all the way through. Im a Formula 1 fan and watched the race to see how Juan Pablo Montoya do. He had a very poor weekend over starting at qualifying and he even ended up over shooting his pit stop during the race which put him a lap down. It was a really exiting race though and the finish was amazing.

blade02

At one point in the race they said his car was very tight. I kind of chuckled at the irony of a Formula One driver having trouble turning "just left".

Deltona Couple

OK guys, this is the lowdown from Darrel Waltrip's own mouth. Nascar officials stated that they initially saw no severe problems with the accident, and all the cars were low, on the infield or the lower portion of the track, so they held off the yellow flag to allow the race to finish under green. the second that Clint Boyer's car turned onto it's roof, Nascar threw the caution, because the track was deemed unsafe at that point. By this time, Harvick and Martin had just reached the finish line. Nobody can ever be happy with the results. If it was Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr, or any other driver people would still complain about the finish, if it was any of the other drivers and Nascar threw the caution at the moment the wreck happened, letting Martin win, then the fans for the OTHER driver would complain. Face it, not everyone can be happy about the results for every race. Nascar and the officials try to do the best they can to have the fans get a good RACE finish. It is the nature of the beast.

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ngdawg

Well, I know because I'd looked up why they're calling next year the '50th anniversary', but what they mean is the 50th running. Hint: Family

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ngdawg

OK...two mile tracks are boring....or maybe it's two mile tracks with no restrictor plate....most entertaining part was Kenseth breaking his tranny after doing his donuts
Poor, poor Jr.....I hope DEI gets their shit together in two weeks.
Best scanner moment: Stewart on his penalty, 'This is fucking BULLSHIT!'
No, Tony, getting 4 tires with 6 laps to go was.

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Deltona Couple

I agree Ngdawg, I personally don't care much for the "cookie cutter" 2 mile tracks. I love the superspeedways, and the short tracks, with the road courses adding an interesting twist. It was pretty hilarious watching Kenseth break his trans though! DEI needs to get their engine builders together and figure out WTF...lol.
Being a Kevin Harvick fan, seeing him have that flat tire after the extended red flag sucked though! I think they said he cut it on a piece of debris from the wreck. Kinda sucked because he was reeling in Kenseth and had atleast a SHOT at making it two in a row. Oh well, there is always VEGAS BABY!...

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ngdawg

Three or four years ago, when I really got into following NASCAR, I did not like Harvick. He was an ass and a dirty driver who blamed everyone else for his rotten disposition. But, like Stewart two years ago(who was told by Home Depot to straighten his jerkdom out or get lost), he's losing the jerk aspect. It's hard to tell if his stellar showing last year in Busch and good record in Nextel Cup did the change or the change allowed the performance...but I don't 'can't stand the asshole' currently. He's cleaned up the dirty trickery and is a force to be reckoned with on both fronts now. As, it would appear right now, is Mark Martin

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laconic1

It will be interesting to see what happens when they roll into Bristol if Mark Martin is still the point leader. That will be a true test to see if Mark really is ready to hang it up, walking away from a potential championship.

I'm kind of interested to see what people think about Toyota. I work with a bunch of people who want Toyota to dominate Cup racing and win all the races, and I have a bunch of racing friends who genuinely hate Toyota with a passion, and cheer when a Toyota misses the race or crashes. I'm in the middle. I respect Toyota's right to race in Cup, and I appreciate that they do employ a lot of Americans (I would be one of those if I hadn't choked on a job interview with them a few years ago). At the same time other than Dave Blaney in Cup, and Johnny Benson in the trucks I really don't like any of their drivers. Especially Mikey and Jarrett.

ngdawg

I liked Darryl's little aside to Roush's adamancy against Toyota being in NASCAR-Toyota Camry is the only fully-built in the US car on the circuit.

Bristol!!!! Can't wait! It'll be my third trip to that race-the town's population triples during race week And the local Walmart looks like NASCAR central.
Just hope no one tries running me off the road because of the #55 on the back window

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Deltona Couple

LOL, be careful Ngdawg, nascar fans can get pretty crazy durring race time...Did you hear about the guy who got shot after the Daytona 500 this year? (Not related directly to the race, more the traffic jam after!) Toyota has a good shot at working well. But even the concept that they would win every race is impossible. No manufacturer has EVER swept the season since Nascar's inception. I give them about 2 years to get the kinks worked out to see if they will be a dominating force. Not being biased here because I love Chevy, but GM has been the dominating manufacturer for MANY years. Good luck to the drivers I like, and safe driving to ALL!

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ngdawg

This will be Jr.'s final season with the company his dad started. Negotiations were not fruitful; it's been reported that Jr was seeking a 51% share, effectively overtaking his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt and her partner, John Menard.
Teresa Earnhardt's statement:
Full Story
I'm thinkin, nope. DEI has been woefully behind the other contending teams, not investing in making the #8 or #1 cars serious contenders. DEI will be an afterthought.
Richard Childress has been waiting like a leopard in the bush for this moment and Jr would do well to sign up with them. Hope he takes Truex with him.

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Craven Morehead

kind of lost in the news with Little E leaving DEI, this is a rather intersting story.

http://www.thatsracin.com/149/story/4203.html

laconic1

Well the season has one race left, and it will be either Jimmie or Jeffy. Ick, I don't care for either one of them, although I do think that it's not right if Jeffy doesn't get the championship. Historically Jeffy has never been a strong finisher while Jimmie is. I can't stand this chase format. Honestly I'm losing my interest in NASCAR, between the Chase, the top 35 b.s. and the Past Champion provisional b.s. I watch qualifying anxiously because I know a guy that works on the Furniture Row team based in Denver that Nemechek drives for. If Reutimann's engine hadn't have blown on his qualifying lap and he qualified on time Nemechek would have missed the race by .004 seconds, while Bill Elliott would have made the race with a lap .499 seconds slower than Nemechek! I respect the veterans and people that helped build the sport, but I think it is retarded to drag someone who is not at the top of their game out so he can fill the field based on his accomplishments 20 years ago.

Ilow

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