Ultimate Speedway’s NASCAR Blog

My daughter was sick most of last week, and then I caught it from her. So that’s why I haven’t been posting lately. There’s a lot of great NASCAR news this week, especially the drivers’ opinions about the Goodyear tire used in Atlanta.

 Tony Stewart’s take on the Goodyear tire used in Atlanta:

“That was the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career. Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap.”

Jeff Gordon’s take on the tires:

“I felt like I was going to crash every single lap… There is just no reason for this. This car, this tire, at this race track, was just terrible.”

Goodyear’s response:

“Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not happy.”

All I can say is: “wow.”

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…