Daytona 500 Lineup is set
Daytona 500 Lineup is set
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
In the end, despite being put on notice by NASCAR no one was penalized for bump drafting and all but 15 drivers went home happy.
The green flag fell on the first Gatorade Duel at 3:23 after a 60 minute rain delay as Daytona 500 polesitter Jeff Burton led the way.
At first the field tiptoed around the track, almost as if they were afraid to mix it up after a stern warning from Mike Helton in the drivers meeting earlier in the day.
Helton had outlined to the drivers the new bump drafting policy and added that NASCAR wasn’t simply concerned about the bump drafting in a single line, but side-by-side contact as well.
“We want to curb the aggressive driving that has been causing the problem, “ Helton said.
NASCAR has set up zones around the track at Daytona International Speedway where they were keeping a close eye on the drivers. In addition to the most obvious zones in the corners, Helton added that the front tri-oval would be watched at as well.
Helton also said that NASCAR would still be watching all the drivers over the entire track, but would pay special attention to these areas. Helton stressed that NASCAR hoped the drivers would police themselves and curb aggressive driving.
The field for the first race seemed to heed the warnings and stayed two by two for nearly ten laps before Paul Menard began to dance out of line and tried to make his way forward. Dale Earnhardt Junior began to make his presence known shortly after and he began too began to creep forward.
Tony Stewart took over the point from Jeff Burton on lap 13 as Paul Menard lost the draft and began to fall back. Dale Junior’s aggressive march towards the front began to fade as his handling began to go away.
Hermie Sadler dropped out with overheating problems on lap 15. Sadler is guaranteed a starting spot so his crew decided to park the car rather than risk an engine failure.
The first caution came out on lap 26 when Paul Menard’s right front tire blew in the tri-oval. His chances for making the 500 took a big hit when he hit the wall after the tire blew. Dale Earnhardt Junior began to complain of a loose condition and began to fall back.
"The car was awesome for a long time, then it started to get tight, really, really tight,” Menard said.
“Then we just lost the draft. I don't know if we had a slow leak but we ended up blowing the right front tire going through the tri-oval. I guess that is just the way it goes.”
A furious round of pit stops ensued during the caution with Elliott Sadler taking over the point.
Not long after that, rain again dampened the race and the caution followed by a red flag on lap 32.
After a short ten minute break the field took the green flag in lap 36, with Elliot Sadler in the lead.
After the rain period, the pack s seemed to get more aggressive and the practice of bump drafting began to show itself as the battle began for the final transfer spots.
Three car wide racing began for the first time of the day. Jimmie Johnson caused alarm as he slipped down the track and nearly wiped out.
“We had a great pit stop that got us some more track position, “Johnson said. “We just need to go back and get a little bit better. We need some more front grip in the car but all in all a lot of a excitement and a good practice run for this team in Chad's absence."
Chad Chaffin and Mike Skinner and Kevin LePage battled for the final transfer spot during the last ten laps, while Elliott Sadler held fast to the lead.
Chaffin fell back with about 4 to go telling his crew that he felt a tire going down. A lap later Chaffin’s tire blew and he slammed into the wall at the end of the tire-oval.
When the caution flew with two laps to go, a wild melee ensued as the field came to the line. A piece of metal left over from Chaffin’s wreck caused the front-runners to slow quickly, Earnhardt Junior, fifth at the time, dove up the track to avoid the debris and almost got into the 17 of Matt Kenseth, there was no contact but both cars slowed dramatically causing the field behind them to check up; cars slid into each other, with Sterling Marlin suffering the worst damage. The damage was severe enough to force the team to a backup car for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“We just looked over to switch the oil cooler fan off, there was debris or something on the track and when I looked up, everyone was stopped, “Marlin said. “I hit the brakes and started sliding but I just couldn't get stopped. These speedway cars just don't have the brakes there, so I guess I will take the blame for it. “
The caution set up a green white-checkered finish. Sadler held the lead as the field took the final green flag. The battle for the final transfer spots came down to Derrick Cope and Mike Skinner and Bill Elliott. Elliott raced his way in beating Skinner while both Skinner and Cope will go home.
“Man, this is a great feeling,” Sadler said. “Tommy (Tommy Baldwin, his crew chief) and the guys have been pumped up so much coming back down here.
We were shut out last year and Tommy came on board and it gave us a new outlook on racing and new ideas about things. To get Ford Fusion’s first win in NASCAR is great and something I will always remember.”
Ford driver Carl Edwards seemed to sum it up best when it was all over, that the bump drafting and all the worry about it seemed to be for naught.
“Everybody did a good job,” Edwards said. “I think it went pretty well. I think if it goes like that for the 500 it’ll be okay. I’m telling you, no matter what anybody says or tries to say or mandates, those last laps of the Daytona 500 are going to be exciting.”
Dale Earnhardt Junior seemed to echo that comment and that as he had predicted cooler heads prevailed.
“Yeah, I knew it would be (calmer),” he said. “I mean, that Budweiser Shootout is a different deal. I don’t know why everybody was so surprised and making a big deal about it.
We don’t race like idiots all the time; just when you put up a couple hundred grand up for grabs and make it a quick one. This was a typical qualifying race – a lot calmer, a lot more relaxed. That’s the way it’s always been. No big deal.”
The racing seemed more intense from the start of the second race as Jeff Gordon led the way as the sun finally made an appearance. The packs diced with Gordon leading.
The first caution came out when Joe Nemechek blew an engine on lap 28.
Three Roush teammates were on Gordon’s bumper as the field took the green flag. Jamie McMurray in his first race with his new team, closely followed by Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.
The Roush trio held the line behind Gordon ready to gang up on the Hendrick. Motorsports driver.
Soon there was a five car breakaway while at mid pack the war for the transfer spot intensified. Scott Riggs, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil and Mike Wallace dueled for the final spot while the pack in front continued heading away.
With 12 to go, the lead pack began to break up as the battle for the lead started.
Kevin Harvick, who looked strong and even led for a time, began to fade.
"I thought it would be better than that, but it wasn't,” Harvick said. “We were good on the short runs, but bad on the long runs. We've got to do a little more work on it tomorrow and Saturday to be ready for Sunday."
Michael Waltrip appeared in fourth as he joined the battle for the top five in his new Bill Davis Racing ride.
Wallace, Riggs and Dave Blaney were mixing it up for the transfer spot back in the pack when Blaney spun and brought out the caution with ten to go.
Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip elected to stay out, while most of the back markers elected to pit. Scott Riggs saw his chances to make the 500 perhaps fade when his pit stop soured when his car dropped off the jack.
The green came out with 6 to go.
Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray began to climb towards to the front passing Mike Wallace and marching towards the front.
J.J. Yeley spun coming out of turn four sending Travis Kvapil down the pit lane a t full speed and bringing out the caution and setting up the second green white checkered flag finish of the day.
Jeff Gordon led the way to the green flag. Further back in the field, Robby Gordon battled with Reed Sorenson.
Mike Wallace beat Scott Riggs for the final transfer spot, ahead of them; Robby Gordon also transferred his way into the Daytona 500.
For winner Jeff Gordon, his strong showing doesn’t mean you can cal him a favorite.
“Well, I don't know how you can just pick one guy, “Gordon said. “You know, this is restrictor plate racing. There's strong cars out here. I felt like the 38 was really strong in that first race. You know, I know that Tony and Junior and Jimmie and those guys who weren't in our race are going to be strong among a lot of other guys.”
When the dust settled and the rain finally stopped, the field for the 48th running of the Daytona 500 was set.
Perhaps the biggest story of the have and have nots, is Kirk Shelmerdine who raced his way into the field using two full time employees and a thrown together pit crew.
The tears in his eyes as he got out of his car, told the story; he’s one of the lucky ones, he’ll take the green flag Sunday afternoon while fifteen others won’, including Evernham Motorsports driver Scott Riggs. Others include, Kenny Wallace, Scott Wimmer, Mike Skinner, Derrick Cope and Paul Menard.
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
In the end, despite being put on notice by NASCAR no one was penalized for bump drafting and all but 15 drivers went home happy.
The green flag fell on the first Gatorade Duel at 3:23 after a 60 minute rain delay as Daytona 500 polesitter Jeff Burton led the way.
At first the field tiptoed around the track, almost as if they were afraid to mix it up after a stern warning from Mike Helton in the drivers meeting earlier in the day.
Helton had outlined to the drivers the new bump drafting policy and added that NASCAR wasn’t simply concerned about the bump drafting in a single line, but side-by-side contact as well.
“We want to curb the aggressive driving that has been causing the problem, “ Helton said.
NASCAR has set up zones around the track at Daytona International Speedway where they were keeping a close eye on the drivers. In addition to the most obvious zones in the corners, Helton added that the front tri-oval would be watched at as well.
Helton also said that NASCAR would still be watching all the drivers over the entire track, but would pay special attention to these areas. Helton stressed that NASCAR hoped the drivers would police themselves and curb aggressive driving.
The field for the first race seemed to heed the warnings and stayed two by two for nearly ten laps before Paul Menard began to dance out of line and tried to make his way forward. Dale Earnhardt Junior began to make his presence known shortly after and he began too began to creep forward.
Tony Stewart took over the point from Jeff Burton on lap 13 as Paul Menard lost the draft and began to fall back. Dale Junior’s aggressive march towards the front began to fade as his handling began to go away.
Hermie Sadler dropped out with overheating problems on lap 15. Sadler is guaranteed a starting spot so his crew decided to park the car rather than risk an engine failure.
The first caution came out on lap 26 when Paul Menard’s right front tire blew in the tri-oval. His chances for making the 500 took a big hit when he hit the wall after the tire blew. Dale Earnhardt Junior began to complain of a loose condition and began to fall back.
"The car was awesome for a long time, then it started to get tight, really, really tight,” Menard said.
“Then we just lost the draft. I don't know if we had a slow leak but we ended up blowing the right front tire going through the tri-oval. I guess that is just the way it goes.”
A furious round of pit stops ensued during the caution with Elliott Sadler taking over the point.
Not long after that, rain again dampened the race and the caution followed by a red flag on lap 32.
After a short ten minute break the field took the green flag in lap 36, with Elliot Sadler in the lead.
After the rain period, the pack s seemed to get more aggressive and the practice of bump drafting began to show itself as the battle began for the final transfer spots.
Three car wide racing began for the first time of the day. Jimmie Johnson caused alarm as he slipped down the track and nearly wiped out.
“We had a great pit stop that got us some more track position, “Johnson said. “We just need to go back and get a little bit better. We need some more front grip in the car but all in all a lot of a excitement and a good practice run for this team in Chad's absence."
Chad Chaffin and Mike Skinner and Kevin LePage battled for the final transfer spot during the last ten laps, while Elliott Sadler held fast to the lead.
Chaffin fell back with about 4 to go telling his crew that he felt a tire going down. A lap later Chaffin’s tire blew and he slammed into the wall at the end of the tire-oval.
When the caution flew with two laps to go, a wild melee ensued as the field came to the line. A piece of metal left over from Chaffin’s wreck caused the front-runners to slow quickly, Earnhardt Junior, fifth at the time, dove up the track to avoid the debris and almost got into the 17 of Matt Kenseth, there was no contact but both cars slowed dramatically causing the field behind them to check up; cars slid into each other, with Sterling Marlin suffering the worst damage. The damage was severe enough to force the team to a backup car for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“We just looked over to switch the oil cooler fan off, there was debris or something on the track and when I looked up, everyone was stopped, “Marlin said. “I hit the brakes and started sliding but I just couldn't get stopped. These speedway cars just don't have the brakes there, so I guess I will take the blame for it. “
The caution set up a green white-checkered finish. Sadler held the lead as the field took the final green flag. The battle for the final transfer spots came down to Derrick Cope and Mike Skinner and Bill Elliott. Elliott raced his way in beating Skinner while both Skinner and Cope will go home.
“Man, this is a great feeling,” Sadler said. “Tommy (Tommy Baldwin, his crew chief) and the guys have been pumped up so much coming back down here.
We were shut out last year and Tommy came on board and it gave us a new outlook on racing and new ideas about things. To get Ford Fusion’s first win in NASCAR is great and something I will always remember.”
Ford driver Carl Edwards seemed to sum it up best when it was all over, that the bump drafting and all the worry about it seemed to be for naught.
“Everybody did a good job,” Edwards said. “I think it went pretty well. I think if it goes like that for the 500 it’ll be okay. I’m telling you, no matter what anybody says or tries to say or mandates, those last laps of the Daytona 500 are going to be exciting.”
Dale Earnhardt Junior seemed to echo that comment and that as he had predicted cooler heads prevailed.
“Yeah, I knew it would be (calmer),” he said. “I mean, that Budweiser Shootout is a different deal. I don’t know why everybody was so surprised and making a big deal about it.
We don’t race like idiots all the time; just when you put up a couple hundred grand up for grabs and make it a quick one. This was a typical qualifying race – a lot calmer, a lot more relaxed. That’s the way it’s always been. No big deal.”
The racing seemed more intense from the start of the second race as Jeff Gordon led the way as the sun finally made an appearance. The packs diced with Gordon leading.
The first caution came out when Joe Nemechek blew an engine on lap 28.
Three Roush teammates were on Gordon’s bumper as the field took the green flag. Jamie McMurray in his first race with his new team, closely followed by Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.
The Roush trio held the line behind Gordon ready to gang up on the Hendrick. Motorsports driver.
Soon there was a five car breakaway while at mid pack the war for the transfer spot intensified. Scott Riggs, Robby Gordon, Travis Kvapil and Mike Wallace dueled for the final spot while the pack in front continued heading away.
With 12 to go, the lead pack began to break up as the battle for the lead started.
Kevin Harvick, who looked strong and even led for a time, began to fade.
"I thought it would be better than that, but it wasn't,” Harvick said. “We were good on the short runs, but bad on the long runs. We've got to do a little more work on it tomorrow and Saturday to be ready for Sunday."
Michael Waltrip appeared in fourth as he joined the battle for the top five in his new Bill Davis Racing ride.
Wallace, Riggs and Dave Blaney were mixing it up for the transfer spot back in the pack when Blaney spun and brought out the caution with ten to go.
Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip elected to stay out, while most of the back markers elected to pit. Scott Riggs saw his chances to make the 500 perhaps fade when his pit stop soured when his car dropped off the jack.
The green came out with 6 to go.
Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray began to climb towards to the front passing Mike Wallace and marching towards the front.
J.J. Yeley spun coming out of turn four sending Travis Kvapil down the pit lane a t full speed and bringing out the caution and setting up the second green white checkered flag finish of the day.
Jeff Gordon led the way to the green flag. Further back in the field, Robby Gordon battled with Reed Sorenson.
Mike Wallace beat Scott Riggs for the final transfer spot, ahead of them; Robby Gordon also transferred his way into the Daytona 500.
For winner Jeff Gordon, his strong showing doesn’t mean you can cal him a favorite.
“Well, I don't know how you can just pick one guy, “Gordon said. “You know, this is restrictor plate racing. There's strong cars out here. I felt like the 38 was really strong in that first race. You know, I know that Tony and Junior and Jimmie and those guys who weren't in our race are going to be strong among a lot of other guys.”
When the dust settled and the rain finally stopped, the field for the 48th running of the Daytona 500 was set.
Perhaps the biggest story of the have and have nots, is Kirk Shelmerdine who raced his way into the field using two full time employees and a thrown together pit crew.
The tears in his eyes as he got out of his car, told the story; he’s one of the lucky ones, he’ll take the green flag Sunday afternoon while fifteen others won’, including Evernham Motorsports driver Scott Riggs. Others include, Kenny Wallace, Scott Wimmer, Mike Skinner, Derrick Cope and Paul Menard.
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
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