This week, the Crappafoni Pictures crew brings you this week's hi-def The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, complete with strawberry-flavored Cupcakes. Enjoy!
THE GOOD
Jamie McMurray: as the race winner, he gets first billing. He had a good car throughout Speedweeks, and it showed late in the race. Congratulations to Cupcake on his first Daytona 500 win! Welcome to the Bowtie Brigade!
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: where did he come from? From a marginal top 10 finish to second in less than 2 laps! He did lead a few laps early in the race. Had there been one more lap, Jr might have won his second 500. I think this result bodes well for the 88 team now and in the foreseeable future.
Kevin Harvick: he had a stout car, and led the most laps, but guessed wrong on a late restart. He stayed inside when he should have gone outside to block. But from his perspective, he was stronger inside. What hurt him was the second long delay for seepage on the track.
Clint Bowyer: he was strong throughout. He led late in the race and looked like he was going to get his first 500 win. But he faded while McMurray got stronger.
David Reutimann: what a rally by the native of nearby Zephyrhills, FL! He looked dead in the water at the start of the race. But kudos to the 00 crew for getting the car stronger and adjusting to the track conditions.
Greg Biffle: he looked to be in position to win his first 500, and the first 500 for Jack Roush, his car owner. But McMurray made a GREAT move to pass Biff shortly after the final restart. Still, a third place finish is nothing to sneeze at.
Honorable Mention: Martin Truex, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton.
THE BAD
The track itself: there were two long red-flag delays for seepage. Jimmie Johnson ran over a pothole on the track, contributing to his tire issues. Johnson would later go behind the wall due to rear axle issues. The track was softened due to unusually heavy rains for this time of year. This time of year is usually dry in Florida. Plus the colder than normal temperatures contributed to the track's unusually poor condition.
Marcos Ambrose: he was hardly heard from in this race or throughout Speedweeks. Even when he retired from the race due to car issues, hardly a mention. He'll bounce back, he's too good a driver not to.
THE UGLY
The delays: there were two red-flag delays totaling nearly three hours. There was very little rhythm to the second half of the race, as the two delays occurred then. I have two solutions: 1) improve the drainage system; 2) failing that, repave the track so that water can wick away from the track.
Those are my nominees for the race. Feel free to come in with yours!
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14 comments:
Jon, great to see the GBU back this season. It's fun for us to compare our own picks against yours. So....
Ambrose had mechanical issues, not really his fault. Plus, the frickin track deserves the Bad category all to itself.
Re: Dale Jr having one more lap.... he already had 8 more...lol. If the race had ended as scheduled, where would he have finished?
Jon - Good analysis, as usual. I do somewhat disagree with the Nascar version of why the track cracked up. Tracks in Pocono, Michigan, Indy, Chicago, Iowa, New Hampshire etc all have SNOW, not just rain, and cold weather. Some sit under a snowbank for months - freezing and refreezing the whole time. Those tracks don't come apart on a whim. I think there is something bigger going on here - like track upkeep is not as great as it could be.
It's good to be reading your stuff again Jon.
I didn't see any of the race (me and Jack were to busy doing some racing of our own), but it's darn good to read what you guys have to say about it.
Well I called Cupcake as the darkhorse on Gene's blog so was thrilled to see him dating Vicky!
Was really impressed with Pat Tryson and Martin Truex for entirely new team with new manufacturer for both of them that was really impressive run.
I agree with Annette - that analysis of why the track fell apart doesnt hold water and completely unacceptable that potholes ruined our biggest race...
I'm still waiting for either Brian or Mike to call me....
Anyway, I agree that Marcos was nonexistant the entire speedweeks really. Odd when you think he topped a practice and wound up third in another. Kahne actually said he'd be a pretty good darkhorse since he was fast in duel 2. Considering that his car was just as good as Martin's and David's, you'd have to think that had the motor held together, he might have been mixing it up at the end as well.
Fantastic for Jamie and Dale (I may not be a big fan but considering the amount of public pressure this guy has, that was a big result), masive thumbs down for the track (obviously...pretty sure we all made our thoughts clear on that during the chat, lol) and can't wait to see how Montoya responds now his teammate has a win on the board.
Gene, that's true on all counts. Perhaps I could have put Marcos in the Ugly category. I've heard several commentators advocate repaving the entire track. Talladega did it a few years ago.
Annette, good insight re track upkeep. Someone at Daytona ought to be fired over this. Yes, there were heavy rains. And yes, the drainage system could be a whole lot better.
Aero, thanks. Glad to see you're back!
Kristen, it was great to see Cupcake visiting Vicky! I was impressed with the Truex-Tryson combo; look for them to do great things this year. Hopefully the track will be paved and the drainage system improved before next year's 500.
Tez, I was surprised that Marcos was a nonfactor, especially since he's done well at superspeedways in the past. Hopefully he'll be a factor at Fontana.
THE GOOD....Today at work, I've repeated all the funny stuff said on the chat blog during the halftime show and laughed all over again, telling it! Like "watching tar dry" and "Carl's baby is now in 2nd grade!" and Digger caused the hole in the track!LOL
EXCELLENT! Thank you. Our RCR drivers will do great this year. Take care and stay safe. I hope to be back next week. I've missed you all. vol/Bobbie
Bev, how did they react?
Bobbie, thanks! They're off to a good start, that's for sure! Hopefully they'll keep it up at Fontana!
This whole week at Daytona was great albet the track pot holes.
I have been saying the track needed repaving for two years now ( last re paved in 78?). Had they done this recently we may not have had to wait for repairs. That issue really put a damper on the race and might well have altered the end race results.
Nice GBU as always. Junior's problem was that he just couldn't catch McMurray. I'm not even sure if he could with one more lap...
Photogr, the potholes did put a damper on an otherwise great Speedweeks. I had heard on the Fox broadcast that the track was going to be repaved after the July race.
Gonger, thanks. What cannot be overlooked was that McMurray had an excellent Speedweeks. He was strong in his qualifying race and was strong in practice sessions. But Jr was shot out of a cannon on that final lap!
Nice GBU Jon,, The cars seem to be bottoming out alot more this race and could have helped tear up the track in it's weeken state. RCR seem to have it back and I am sure that makes you happy and Happy Harvick as well...
Cheers
F2, thanks. Hopefully RCR can continue its success at Fontana, a track they haven't done particuarly well at.
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