Wallace, Jarrett take some laps around the new Daytona
Say this for ESPN: at least some of its employees are interested in knowing what the hell it's talking about.
Days after Tony Kornheiser shot his mouth off about NASCAR being "fixed," two other ESPN employees, fellas by the name of Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, took a few spins around Daytona International Speedway to, you know, understand what the track is actually like when they're commenting on it. Imagine that.
Yes, yes, it's a promotional gimmick more than anything else, but it underscores the fact that it's a good idea to know whereof you speak before getting too mouthy. Wallace and Jarrett drove for about 25 minutes together
"We've been talking to the drivers about how the new pavement feels, but there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself," said Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner. "They really did an incredible job. It's like you were used to driving on a bumpy dirt road and then they pave it and it's like a different road."
As the laps wound down, Wallace hammered Jarrett in the rear bumper, leading Jarrett to claim that Wallace cheated and had his rev limiter set higher. (No!)
"I know it's the same length around and the same width, but it seems wider because it's so smooth," Wallace said. "We used to run low, the middle, or the top and they would all be different, but they're the same now."
The video the pair shot will run during NASCAR Countdown this weekend prior to the Nationwide telecast at 1:15.
