Daytona 500

DAYTONA 500




DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA- February 24, 2013 will be remembered for many things: The first female to take the pole-position in Sprint Cup history. The driver’s names will be across the windshields. A new Generation-6 Race Car. A race one day after a extremely bad wreck, on the front-stretch. 28 fans were injured by flying debris. Many had serious injuries, and one had to undergo immediate surgery. NASCAR did very well dealing with the hurt fans, as the services came to their need very quickly. There is a twenty-two foot tall fence that keeps the fans separated from the cars on track. There are commonly over one-hundred thousand fans sitting on the front-stretch. In the last five laps, there were two wrecks that destroyed 25 cars out of the 40 that started the race. It continues to be a problem in the restrictor-plate races. All the drivers are going near or above 200mph, and they are all bumper to bumper within one second, from first to last place. If a driver makes a mistake near the front of the field, you end up with a terrible mess.

In other news, Tia Norfleet is young lady entering the sport. She has been licensed by NASCAR to drive. She is the first African-American to do so. Her father Bobby Norfleet was one of the first African-American drivers of the past. He was influenced by Wendell Scott, A former driver in NASCAR. If you have listened to CNN and HLN news, you heard them intentionally providing false information about the accident. They claim that the engine sailed into the stands, which is completely FALSE. If you were watching the race, or simply seen the replays, you can clearly see that one tire and the engine stayed at the fence, and did not go into the stands at all.

The 55th Daytona 500 had approximately 165, 000 fans attending. The Zach Brown Band played for the many fans before the race ceremonies started. During the 500, it was stated that twelve fans were hospitalized from yesterday’s accident, and five of those have been released from the hospital at this time.

The Pole Position was won by Rookie Danica Patrick (10) in her Stewart-Haas race car. She and Jeff Gordon (24) are the only two cars that broke 196 mph. Danica ran her lap in 45.817 sec. at 196.434 mph. Gordon ran his lap at 45.850 at 196.290 mph. She won the pole in her eleventh Sprint Cup Series start. She is the eleventh driver in consecutive attempts to get the Daytona pole. She is the first female to get a Sprint Cup Pole, and it comes in the biggest race of the season. This will be the 55th Daytona race. There have been 38 different drivers that have won the pole for Daytona. Hendrick and Gibbs engines appear to be the strongest through qualifying. The rest of the field will get set by the Budweiser Duels on Thursday. Danica has also set herself up to race as the first female in the “Sprint Unlimited” in 2014.

A very special paint scheme will be on Michael Waltrip’s race car. There will be a green and white car with a number 26, to remember the 20 Children and 6 adults killed in the horrific event that happened in Newtown, CT. As a fan, I found it fascinating that the cars are not really painted. There is a full-car sticker that gets connected to the body shell. There is no paint involved with the so called “Paint Scheme.” There can be donations provided to Newtown by texting Newtown to 80888. A few notable changes for this season are: Matt Kenseth leaving Roush Racing and driving for Joe Gibbs Racing this year. He will change car manufacturer as well, going from Ford to Toyota. Roger Penske also made the manufacturer change from Dodge, to Ford. This will be a big change for last year’s champion, Brad Keselowski.

On Thursday, the two 150 mile races were run. These races would determine the rest of the field starting spots. The first race was run with all the cars that finished qualifying in the odd position. The second race was run with all the cars that finished qualifying in the even positions. The first Duel was won by Kevin Harvick (29), and the second Duel was won by Kyle Busch (18). Harvick is now two for two in his “Speedweek” races. He will attempt a clean sweep, by winning the 500 on Sunday. They will now start in third and fourth position respectfully. The field has been set by these two races, and the Pole will stay Danica Patrick, as she finished the race without any injury to her race car. Jeff Gordon (24) had a few issues on pit road, causing him to be penalized for speeding on pit road.

In the Opening Ceremonies, Every driver was introduced by their starting positions. The Grand Marshal was James Franco, the star of the upcoming movie “The Great and Powerful Oz”. The command to start was done by Franco yelling “Drivers and Danica start your engines”. Rev. L. Ronald Durham provided the Invocation. Clay Cook sang the National Anthem. If Kevin Harvick can win the 500, he will be the first driver in Daytona history, to win all three events that are involved with Daytona’s Speed-Week. The rookie class this year includes Danica Patrick (10), Austin Dillon (33) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17).

Jeff Gordon (24) led the very first lap of the 200 laps that were scheduled. At the start of the race, thirty-seven cars were within two seconds. On lap fourteen, David Gilliland’s (38) car was down a cylinder. A plug wire was the cause of his troubles, and they fixed it for him. He was warned by NASCAR to speed it up, or get off the track. By lap eighteen, Michael Waltrip (26) and Trevor Bayne (21) lost the draft, after Bayne checked up in the corner after slipping. On lap twenty-two Gordon’s car began to over-heat due to plastic covering his grill. He reported temperatures were already over 240 degrees and still climbing.

Lap 26 was the first caution, for debris in corner three. Joe Nemechek (87) was the “Lucky Dog,” getting back on the lead lap. Gordon has led every lap to this point. After a majority of the field changed only two tires, Gordon was able to get off pit road first. They restarted the race on lap 31. Jimmie Johnson (48) took the lead.

The second caution flew after Kyle Busch (18) spun Kasey Kahne (5) out, coming through the Tri-oval. That started a pile-up that took out Kahne, Harvick (29), Stewart (14), Keselowski (2), McMurray (1), Mears (13) and Montoya (42). All the cars received heavy damage from a poor move made by Busch. He responded by telling his team “My Bad”. On lap 37 Jimmie Johnson led the field back to green. Matt Kenseth (20) took the lead at lap 38. On lap 52, Kenseth stated that he felt a tire loose on the right side of the car. Teammate Denny Hamlin (11) was also feeling a vibration in his race car. By lap 64, he was reporting that the worst of the vibration had gone away.

On lap 70, the first car to make a green flag stop was completed by Austin Dillon (33). A pit road penalty happened to Aric Almirola (43), as he was speeding. Kyle Busch had issues on pit road. He came off track in second place, and fell to thirty-first when his car fell off the jack. The tires had already been taken off, so the car fell all the way to the pavement. After the pit stops were made, Hamlin was the new leader, and teammate Busch was 14.5 seconds behind him.

Caution came out on lap 85 for debris again. Most cars only took a little fuel and they went right back out on track. The leader at the re-start was Michael Waltrip (26) in his special paint scheme for Newtown, CT. Michael led four laps of this race, and is a two-time 500 winner. Danica Patrick took the lead on lap 90, as they came back to the start/finish line after the re-start. This made NASCAR history, as she was the very first woman to lead the Daytona 500 under green flag conditions. Matt Kenseth led the race at mid-point. 100 laps were completed in just about ninety minutes. Davey Allison was the last driver to lead the race at half-way and win, some twenty years ago. Near lap 110, teammates McMurray and Montoya returned to the track after the early wreck. On lap 120, Tony Stewart returned to the track. Patrick re-took the lead at lap 126. Kevin Harvick returned to the track at this point too. After all the stops were made, Kenseth was the leader once again.

Caution four came out when Trevor Bayne (21) ran into the back of Brad Keselowski (2). Keselowski was able to keep going, but a wreck ensued behind him. Dillon (33), Ragan (34), T. Labonte (32), Stenhouse Jr. (17), Gilliland (38) and Edwards (99) were all involved. This was Edward’s fourth car wrecked, in Speed-Weeks at Daytona. He said “This has been the worst Speed-Weeks that I have ever had.” At the same time those involved in the wreck were going to pit road, Joey Lagono (22) was also on pit road with issues involving his fuel cell.

The re-start was on lap 145. Toyota had taken over at the front of the field. Kenseth started having heavy smoke from the front end on lap 150. He would have to take his car off track. They found that he had a transmission fail. The top thirteen cars broke away from the rest of the field. On lap 152, Kyle Busch pulled off track as his car started blowing smoke from the exhaust pipes. They found that his engine had failed. Both of these teammates were in the top three spots, leaving teammate Denny Hamlin leading the race. Kenseth led the most laps at 86.

On lap 173, the last pit stop was made by the field under green. On lap 175, another Toyota started having an engine failure begin. Martin Truex Jr. (56) was the next Toyota to have failures. On lap 177, the fifth caution flew when Jeff Burton (31) hit the wall very hard. It appeared that the tire blew or something broke under the car. The leader on the re-start was Brad Keselowski, on lap 181.

Caution six came out when debris was seen in turn two, with nine laps remaining. This was the third of the six cautions that were called for debris on track. The re-start came with only six laps left. Jimmie Johnson led the lap when they came back to the start/finish line. Jimmie Johnson (48) won the 500 for the second time, in his 400th start. This was Hendrick’s seventh “Great American Race” victory. Crew Chief Chad Knaus got his very first 500 win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) came in second. The rest of the top ten were: Mark Martin (55), Brad Keselowski (2), Ryan Newman (39), Greg Biffle (16), Regan Smith (51), Danica Patrick (10), Michael McDowell (98) and J.J. Yeley (36).

On the last lap, on the back-stretch, another wreck between Travis Kvapil (93), Paul Menard (27) and Jeff Gordon (24) happened without a yellow flag coming out. This was Mark martin’s twenty-ninth run at the 500, and a third place finish was very welcome by Martin.

Danica Patrick made history by sitting on the pole. She made history by leading a lap under green flag conditions and she finished in the top ten. No female has done that either. Janet Guthrie finished in eleventh in 1980, after she led five laps under yellow flag conditions.

The next race will be at Phoenix, next Sunday at 2:30 pm on Fox.