Daytona Observations
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Thoughts, observations and some questions following Sunday's qualifying for the Daytona 500 and the rain-delayed Bud Shootout:
After Denny Hamlin's performance in Sunday's Bud Shootout – and looking back at several of his runs from last season – I'll be the first to peel the yellow tape that designates his rookie status off his rear bumper.
Ironically, Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford were just looking to gain the respect of the rest of the field in the Shootout. That was until Hamlin told Ford that his car seemed to be handling better than the competition. At that point, Ford let Hamlin run his own race – and it was a smart race that he ran.
It was a lucky break for race fans that the Shootout was delayed until Sunday afternoon. Had it been run late Saturday night after the rain, most folks on the East Coast might have gone to bed early and missed a real barnburner.
Hamlin's rookie victory was nearly overshadowed by Tony Stewart's comments about bump drafting. Stewart was very emotional in the postrace press conference and used language that caught everyone's attention.
"It was out of control," he said.
After referencing a televised Dale Earnhardt tribute he had watched earlier in the day, Stewart said, "Five years from now we're probably going to have to do another tribute to another driver because we're going to kill somebody from Wednesday to Sunday. It could be me or Dale Jr. or anybody out there."
When asked if there was anything he learned from the Shootout, he said, "Yeah, I learned to look at my life insurance policy today or on Monday as soon as I can get the office open."
That's real straight talk from NASCAR's straightest shooter.
After the Shootout, Stewart had a meeting with NASCAR officials to express his concern about the bump drafting. Attending the meeting were president Mike Helton, Nextel Cup series director John Darby, vice president of competition Robin Pemberton and director of research and development Gary Nelson.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a somewhat different take on the bump draft debate.
"It's a necessary evil, is what it is," he said. "You can't race restrictor plate racing without doing it."
And don't let Junior's 39th-fastest performance in qualifying fool you. He'll be right there in the thick of things come race day, and I expect he'll win his Gatorade Duel.
How serious is Richard Childress about this season? After qualifying all three of his cars – Jeff Burton (first), rookie Clint Bowyer (seventh) and Kevin Harvick (13th) – in the top of the field, I'd say he's very serious.
"I spent time at a couple of shops and I knew we need to get things turned around and get going," he said. "I made a lot of decisions for change."
Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip's qualifying effort wasn't very fast (he was 46th). But he's a lock for the 500 after acquiring the assets of the former No. 77 Jasper Racing team. Waltrip's performance during the Shootout was reminiscent of the DEI-era Waltrip (he briefly led the race); expect him to be in the thick of things come race day.
Robby Gordon, who missed the field for last year's 500, was 23rd in qualifying. He's also the fourth fastest outside of the top 35 in points. He'll need a stellar performance in the Gatorade Duel on Thursday to make it into the show on Sunday.
Restrictor plate qualifying has got to be racing's worst show. Sunday's session took nearly four hours to qualify 58 cars. I still think qualifying for restrictor plate races should be done in groups of 12 cars, with each car having to run a minimum of four laps and a maximum of 12. A driver's best lap time would be used as his qualifier.
There are so many different qualifying scenarios that it takes a degree in quantum physics or nanotechnology to figure out who will make it into the Daytona 500 – even after Thursday's Gatorade Duels.
Bobby Labonte had the No. 43 car on the pole for the first half of qualifying. I thought he had gotten the legendary "call." It would have been an incredible storyline.
Earnhardt Jr. said the Daytona race track is in bad condition and that the bottom line is too bumpy. Maybe that's why he's usually driving the high line. With race speeds above 190 mph for an entire lap at the restrictor plate tracks, officials at Talladega are repaving that track this year. Could Daytona be next?
How can a car pass pre-qualifying inspection and then fail inspection after running just three laps on the race track?
It's good to know some things will never change. When Jeff Gordon came into the pits during the Shootout with his car smoking, the crowd cheered wildly.
Maybe a part of the secret behind Hamlin's rapid success is that he and Earnhardt Jr. are best of friends.
NBC's national telecast of qualifying ended at 3 p.m. ET so that the network could broadcast Olympic speed skating – which was on tape delay. It shouldn't surprise anyone that NBC Sports' top brass have already turned their backs on NASCAR even before the first race of the season. To be honest, I knew they were finished with NASCAR last spring. After all, they have the Olympics!
Postscript
It seems as though my Observations column has attracted a lot of fans over the past season. So much so, that some other outlets have taken to using the name and format and calling it their own. That's OK. Thanks for the compliment.
