The "Daytona 500 Week:" So What Did You Think?

To be honest, casual fans might have only caught the Daytona 500, but to long-time fans, the Daytona 500 culminates a multi-day event of grand showmanship as the teams of NASCAR tackle Daytona Beach's famous racing surface for the coveted title to be named the winner and have their name added to the Harley J. Earl trophy.

This year, their was much more media scrutiny of The Great American Race than some years for several reasons, some good, some not so good.  That being the "Gen-6" car, tricky TV marketing, Danica Patrick, and that horrible accident on Saturday that involved fans.

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This year, NASCAR rebranded their history when they introduced the "Gen-6" car.  The successor to the COT (Car of the Tomorrow), which is now so yesterday, the Gen-6 car was introduced to the racing series to address the premise of making the cars look more like their street counterparts.  This is part of the marketing lure of the sport.  Sources suggest this was something Chevy wanted or that they might have left the sport.  (For what that's worth.)

The COT was more of a box (or brick) and had decals on it to help it seem like its street version.

With the Gen-6 car, many fans were asking, "What?, where's the other 5 "gens?""  And it turns out that NASCAR went back and divided up their racing history and called this the 6th generation of NASCAR race car.

Richard Petty has been quoted to saying, "I guess they had to call it something besides the Car of the Future, because that didn't work too good."  That, referring to the COT reference.

Amongst the changes were camber rules associated with this new car, a taller spoiler that will help maintain downforce numbers between the three brands fairly even and a smaller or lower minimum weight (from 3,450 to 3,300 pounds) were all changes to help modify now the car handles.

The Bump Draft Has Been Killed in NASCAR

But one of the side-effects of the new car was how they handled at restrictor plate races.  It turns out that the front and back bumpers don't match up and bump-drafting became a thing of the past when this new car came on the track.  So during all the Sprint Cup Series race and practice sessions over the last few weeks, you could not help but notice that there will no longer be any last second passes for the checkered flag.  All the races were won by the guy... oops, sorry, driver, that had control of the front spot for the last several laps.

In a way, the new car has put a new spin on race tactics.

Until this year, the man... driver leading the race was in the worse possible spot coming to the checkered flag at the race's end.  But no so any more.  Kevin Harvick won two events being the leader for the last several laps.  Kyle Busch won his sanctioned event being out front, and Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500 be leading it for several laps up to the finish.  (Which means that JJ has won in every rendition of car he's driven.)

I don't think winning a race by using the draft is gone... but the drivers need to figure out how best to use the draft in a way that won't wreck anyone.

For now, with the drafting factor gone, the race finish was less than stellar.  It felt more like any other 2-mile oval race finish.

But in a way, maybe that's not a bad thing.  (More on that later)

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"Accurately Misleading" Race Coverage

Though I touched on it in a previous note, I was not pleased with the wording of the race coverage of the Budweiser Duel qualifying races by the Fox/Speed telecast team.

I don't blame the announcers, and to a lesser degree, I don't blame the network.  They're doing what they have to, to generate TV ratings.  So some of the blame goes to the fans who make these kinds of practices a worthwhile practice.  (Like I've always said, most any effort is a team effort)

Example:  When an accident takes out Carl Edwards, the exact reporting terms used were,

"If the drivers had minded their p's and q's, they would have raced their way into the Daytona 500.  But as it stands now, that won't happen and they aren't in the 500."

Is not inaccurate, per the exact rules of the race.  But it's misleading for new fans to think that Carl Edwards was not in the 500.  And they did this a number of times, especially when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the back of the pack.  Shame on thee!

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Danica Patrick Set All Kinds of Records

Danica Patrick brought her own brand of attention and subset of fans with her, as she enters the Sprint Cup Series as a full-time participant driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, heralded by Tony Stewart.

Patrick took a swing at the development series and then the Nationwide Series of NASCAR with mediocre results.  Had she been any other driver, no one would have paid much attention to her in either previous series attempts.  But this is Danica Patrick and she's formatted a unique and healthy brand image that is hard to ignore.

Many don't expect her to have an exceptional season in the Cup series.  She's shown that in the Nationwide, she could muster a top-10 position in points, where normally season Cup drivers dominate.  But her brand makes her hard to ignore, so she's here in the premiere series of the sport.  But...

Boy did she make a splash coming into the Cup Series.

Danica Patrick became the first female pole-sitter in the history of the sport when she won the pole position for the Daytona 500.  She led the race under green and became only the 13th person ever to have led both the Daytona and Indy 500's.  And she held her place within the top-10 all day long.

Danica Patrick did well in that bright green Sprint Cup beast of hers.  At this restrictor plate race.  The real test is about to be presented when the Cup series hits Phoenix next weekend.  And subsequent races from there on out.

Will she hold her own in good equipment, or flounder like she did in her previous Cup outings?  Time will tell there.

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The Horrible Accident Involving Patrons

Up until Saturday, I was pretty miffed with how the new car squelched the drafting and excitement that can be the final few laps of any restrictor plate race.  But then, after that terrible crash that involved around 30 spectators, I wasn't so vocal about the drafting scenario.

Right now as it stands, with the bump drafting minimized, I don't think we'll ever see another wreck like that or Carl Edwards' flying wreck from Talladega that also involved about 8 spectators.

But I still suspect fans will murmur about the lack of excitement, compared to the races of old.

But then again, someone will always complain about any aspect of any new change or established system.  The trick is the right balance to keep the noise to a minimum.

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So all in all, it was good to see the NASCAR back in full swing.  I missed it during the off-season.  What did you like or dislike from the race, weekend or week leading up to the D500?

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