Not a lot of team loyalty on display among the frontrunners. Hamlin is really something. All he had to do was stick with the 18 and they cruise to a 1-2 finish, but he breaks off and ends up something like fifth. I hate the thought of him mentoring Logano. Some pretty amazing stories among the backmarkers trying to race their way into the field.
Just a quick FYI for those who prefer to skip the 90 minute pre-race crap ... The broadcast begins at 2:00 PM, but the actual Green Flag drop is scheduled for around 3:45 PM. - Spydertrader
Kenseth wins Rain Shortened Race <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2306066>
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Probably worst Daytona 500 in history. "Winning" driver led one lap. Race stopped little over halfway. Jr Nation cowering in shame after nightmare day for perennial most popular driver. Question: Should blocking be banned? As I recall, it is illegal in IRL. I have never liked it. It is very dangerous at a plate race because blocking invites getting rearended, which leads, as it did yesterday, to a big wreck that takes out cars that had nothing to do with the original incident.
Did everyone forget how Vickers won his first race? Talladega. Johnson and Junior racing for the win with Vickers running third. Vickers attempts to pass Junior. Junior comes down to block Vickers and Vickers punts Junior into Johnson removing both (Junior and Johnson) from contention. Vickers wins. Live by the chrome horn; die by the chrome horn, I say. Blocking should most defintiely stay legal. Of course, if the guy being blocked punts your slow ass car out of the way, you should have expected it - especially if you once did the same thing to him. Still, the race did suck by any measure. Maybe if NASCAR had started the race at a normal time (like when they used to start races at 12:30 / 1:00 PM Eastern), they could have finished the damn race before the rain arrived. - Spydertrader
The problem with punting the guy doing the blocking is that it ruins the day of another dozen cars that were minding their own business. I believe it is illegal in IRL, and they have some great battles. NASCAR will never change it. Part of their "tradition," meaning not invented here equals bad idea. I agree about the starting time. Even DW agreed it was a bad idea done to put the finish on prime time TV. At least they could put the correct starting time on the Tv schedule. Two hours of country music and mindless interviews should be separately labelled. NASCAR badly needs this to be a special season because of the economic problems leading potential sponsors to keep their checkbooks in their pockets. So after a disastrous Daytona, they go to the California snoozefest, with probably a third of the seats empty. I just hope someone doesn't win on a fuel economy run.
I have no plans to even tune in for next week's race. I might set the DVR to record it - on the off chance (slim to none, and slim has left town) that something interesting develops. I can always watch after I return from NYC next week. - Spydertrader