Ultimate Speedway’s NASCAR Blog

Wow, I love it. In Ryan Newman’s weekly column over at Yahoo Sports, he starts out with this line:

This past weekend [at California] was a cluster all around…

Hey Ryan… I love the honesty!

I’ll be "on the road" this weekend, traveling out-of-state for a family gathering. It’s my niece’s first birthday party, so we couldn’t pass on that invitation. We don’t usually attend all of our niece’s and nephew’s birthday parties, but the first one is always special.

I’ll be catching the California Auto Club 500 on the radio in the car this Sunday. I’m really wishing I had SIRIUS Satellite Radioright about now, because I’m not sure what stations along my route will be carrying the race. I almost convinced my wife to let me get SIRIUS at Christmas… maybe next year.

So, will Matt Kenseth get yet another win at California? Will the Hendrick drivers turn things around? Will Toyota get it’s first win in Sprint Cup? As far as wins go, what about Ford or Chevy?

These are all great questions that I’m eager to see… err I mean hear… answered on Sunday.

Congratulations to Ryan Newman for winning the Daytona 500!

I have to hand it to Newman (and his teammate Kurt Busch for that matter). No one was picking any of the Penske drivers to win this race. Newman and Busch have always been great drivers, but they were taking a backseat to the Hendrick and Gibbs teams all week. So hat’s off to them for their one-two finish!

Here are a few of my Daytona 500 race observations:

1. We never got to see "the big one."
   Just admit it… one of the most exciting and anticipated aspects of restrictor plate racing is the "big one." You know, that big crash that can take out a dozen or so cars at once. Well we never got to see it last night. Sure there were plenty of wrecks, and even some wrecks that in previous years would have led to the "big one," but not last night. I guess the new CoT cars really are a lot safer to drive.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. "almost" had a great race.
   Despite the miscommunication on whether not to pit late in the race (hey Junior, you need to take the headsets away from some of the crew if they can’t shut up for your crew chief… I’m just saying), Junior had a chance to win the race or at least finish higher. Unfortunately, he chose to get in line behind Kyle Busch. Who can blame him? Kyle had the fastest car all night, but stumbled on that last restart, killing his and Junior’s chances.
3. The Hendrick team.
   Junior had a chance to win the race, while Gordon and Johnson had bad races. But that was mostly due to bad luck. Jeff Gordon was right up there running with the leaders the whole race until he had equipment failure that ultimately gave him a DNF. Jimmie Johnson was having an average race until he got loose and wrecked, but had he saved it, there’s no reason not to believe that he couldn’t have dialed in his car and made a run for the lead pack. Disappointing yes, but Hendrick still looks dominate, assuming they can leave the bad luck behind them.
4. Toyota showed up.
   Again, considering it’s only their second year in Sprint Cup, Toyota won the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide races, and Toyota drivers were in contention for the win last night. Look for big things from Toyota this year.
5. Look out for Dodge.
   I was watching ESPN’s post race coverage when they threw up a graphic that I hadn’t realized at first… Dodge cars had six of the top eight places, including first and second place. That’s a HUGE come back from the performance we saw from Dodge cars last season.
6. More on the "big one."
   Here’s my theory on why things panned out the way they did in yesterday’s race. First off, the CoT car has somewhat leveled the playing field this year, as other teams and manufacturers have adapted to it. Second, not having the "big one" allowed the mid-pack drivers who didn’t qualify well to dial in their cars and make a run for the lead. Seriously, not taking anything away from Ryan Newman, but in previous years, there’s a good chance he’s involved in a race ending crash at some point during the race. Since we didn’t have a the "big one" take out a good portion of the field, suddenly it wasn’t as important to qualify well and run out front from the first lap. You could have a car that didn’t qualify well but ran well for 500 miles and be in contention. We saw that last night.

Well that’s my thoughts from the 2008 Daytona 500 race. I welcome your feedback…

Tony Stewart repelled a strong challenge from teammate Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Camping World 300 Nationwide Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. (Source: NASCAR.COM)

I know Toyota was making strides at the end of the 2007 season, but with Joe Gibbs Racing on-board, expect to see great things from Toyota this year.

You may or may not like having Toyota in NASCAR, but one thing’s for sure–get ready, because we’re going to see Toyota cars in victory lane this season.

We might even see a Toyota in victory lane after tomorrow’s Daytona 500. It would be a huge milestone for Toyota in only their second year racing in the Sprint Cup series, and it might happen thanks to the talented stable of drivers their crews at Joe Gibbs Racing.

We’ll see what happens…

Dan Wetzel wrote a interesting article on the Daytona 500 titled "Everyone’s welcome."

Welcome to Daytona, the last blue collar stop on the nation’s major sporting tour.

I’ve been to almost every big sporting event in the country, most of them every year, and when it comes to accessibility for middle and working class people, there is nothing like this.

You have to hand it to NASCAR… no other sport allows fans to get so close to the action. Camping in the in-field… access to pit row… you have to love it.

The cost? Three tickets and an oversized parking spot for the week costs $900. That’s $300 each for a place to stay, a place to party and a place to watch the race that’s better than the actual grandstands. Allegedly, if you cook breakfast for the guards or slip them a cold one, getting extra people in is not a problem.

There just isn’t anything like this in any other sport.

No… there isn’t. I don’t know of any sport where you can get such a great value for the most important event of the season.

I found this really interesting…

Not far from the proletariat tent city of Turns 3 and 4 are rows of Prevost Coaches that can run up to $2 million.

The view of the race there isn’t much different than over here. And changes in tax base aside, the people aren’t either.

"They drink beer, too," said fan Kevin Astuto. "They’re as friendly to us as we are to them; it’s not like they look down on us as some dirtballs."

I never realized there were "millionaire club" folks camping the in-field of NASCAR races along with everyone else. You gotta love this sport!

NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It was founded by William "Bill" France, Sr. on Feb 21, 1948, and has since grown into a international phenomenon with races being broadcast in over 150 countries.

Last year, 17 of the top 20 most attended live sporting events were NASCAR races. It was the second highest rated sport on TV behind the NFL. There are over 75 million fans.

NASCAR has many different series (or circuits) of competition. The top series is the Sprint Cup, which has the best drivers and the most fans. The next series is the Nationwide, followed by the Craftsman Truck.

You can read more about NASCAR at Wikipedia, or at the official About NASCAR guide.

Hey everyone… Mack here. I just wanted to thank you for visiting the Ultimate Speedway blog. We’re going to cover all things NASCAR, from news and rumors, and everything in-between.

Remember to post a comment if you have something to say.

Also, make sure to visit the Ultimate Speedway store for all of your NASCAR related merchandise.

Thanks!