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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25+ Fans Injured At The NASCAR Nationwide Series Daytona Race

The NASCAR Nationwide race from Daytona International Speedway was like the classic restrictor plate races used to be, with tight drafting packs, lots of lead changes and Tony Stewart winning the race.  But not without a misstep of an accident that not only involved the sport's participants, but also involved up to 28 fans from the front stretch stands at the track.

The pack was coming around the final corner, all closely knit together, one then the other trying to take advantage of the clean air and push draft between contenders.  Then Regan Smith made a blocking move on Brad Keselowski, sending Smith spinning,  Then the slowed car of Keselowski got pushed around spun into the outside wall.  Brad's car collected a few others, including Kyle Larson's car.  Kyle's car caught air and flew into the catch fence.  His motor and wheels torn off the car.  The catch fence caught the motor and one wheel, while the other wheel cleared the fence and per an "agent" of NB&P being in the stands above the scene, Leon reported that

"The motor and front end was just inside the breached gate in the catch fence. However, shrapnel exploded from the shredding of the front end and went everywhere!!"

Videos started hitting the web, but NASCAR was blocking them, to protect the victims and their families.  I watched one video taken from a few seats away from where the tire landed up in the stands.  The fans around that tire cleared a space and started to frantically wave for medical assistance, pointing to the space the tire landed on.

What race coverage videos we saw were of the actual incident from the ESPN coverage, and it was scary-ugly.  Drivers and fans alike were worried sick.  Tony Stewart's victory circle moment was somber, subdued and more worried for the fans than anything else.  As were all the drivers in their post-race interviews.

From that point on, almost all my news was via Twitter as media and fans started reporting what was being observed at the track.  The first reports started out with

"TV says someone going to hospital, NASCAR says "not that we've been told.""

Then Twitter had reports of multiple sirens being heard.  The numbers started to show up as to how many fans could be potentially injured.  Of course nothing that early was correct. Then the reports evolved from siren sounds to injured fans being taken away on backboards.   The tweets then evolved into news of helicopters landing on pit road.  Regardless of what was flying around on Twitter, there was a core of consistency as to a few critical injuries, and the numbers were being reported as 12 to 14 injured.

It wasn't until the official press conference held by NASCAR that 14 fans were treated on sight, and 14 were sent off site to different hospitals.  Per a Yahoo news piece,  there were 2 critical injuries,

"One of the critically injured fans suffered a "life-threatening" head injury and the other is a child according to a spokesman at Halifax Medical Center."

The latest bit of information was collected by The Frontstretch (My old haunt) was that 33 fans were hurt.

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NASCAR takes the utmost level of safety precautions when and where they can.  And yet, things like this happen.  And no matter what measures they try to effect, there will always be an outlier of an event that happens.  In this case, the car hitting the catch fence, hit it at the junction of the fence where an access gate exists, and the extra beams shaping the gateway seemed to have an adverse effect on the intent of the fence.

But who knew?  You can plan for what has happened to keep it from happening again, and then there's all the potential scenarios you can spend all day long trying to prepare for.  NASCAR said they will study the event and will decide what they need to do.

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yahoo.com

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The "Budweiser Duels" Sensationalized Race Coverage Appalled This Veteran Fan

Does this look like the "big one" to you?

When a network covers any kind of event, the coverage of that event has to take into account both the veteran and newbie fan.  In many cases, coverage of an event is laced with information for the veteran while the format of the coverage is geared towards the newbie fan who doesn't quite know that much and is brought on board by what the coverage presents.  All of it geared towards engaging and potentially exciting.  It's marketing and how TV works.

In this day and age, exciting or horrifying phrased words tend to get one's attention.  Or at least, if the information is presented in such a way to be horrifying, it can capture the focus of a TV fan rather easily.  As the saying might go, "Train wrecks or hot chicks gets attention."  Case in point... this is the era of "reality TV" or pretty people delivering the news, as on Fox News.

What's this got to do with the price of tea in China?  Not much, but this opinion piece is motivated by what I saw of the television coverage of the Budweiser Duels on SPEED, which is effectively, Fox.

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As any veteran fan knows, qualifying for the Daytona 500 is a combination of timed qualifying runs, seeding by the Duel qualifiers, and then falling back on either the qualifying run times, points or provisional scenarios.

When any veteran fan watched the Budweiser Duels, we know that these races will be seeding the starting field for the 500, with the top 15 (or 16) finishers of each race guaranteed a starting spot in the 500 field.  Anyone who has issues in these races and misses the guaranteed starting spot will then fall back on their times from the qualifying runs from Sunday or owners points from the previous season.  Veteran fans know that drivers like Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. are going to be in the 500, no matter what.

Yet while I was watching the SPEED Channel coverage of the duels, I was appalled at the verbiage being used during the race.

The words, phrases and supporting ticker images they projected were suggesting, no, correction, saying at times, that drivers like Dale Eanrhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and others were not getting into the Daytona 500.

What's worse, the language used to convey this information felt like it was crafted by sportscasting lawyers.  The verbiage was such that when the statements were made or qualifying status was shown, they did not outright say these drivers were not in the Daytona 500.  They technically were representing the information accurately.  But the sportscasting staff seemed to be intentionally omitting important information that would make a newbie fan less nervous about their favorite drivers.

Case in point, as the Duel with Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the early laps, the SPEED announcer pointed out that at the position in the race that he was in, that Dale Jr. "is not in the Daytona 500."  That was the exact phrase and no corrective or additional information was added beyond that.

When the wreck happened in the first Duel, the announcers called that incident with a few cars, "...the big one" and after that "big one," they were sure to make clear that  [paraphrased from memory]

"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."

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I was getting very frustrated because if I was a new fan, all I would have heard was that these huge, name drivers, were not getting into the Daytona 500.  At no time, immediately surrounding these statements, did they make note of the other scenarios that locks them into the 500.  That came much much later, after the Duels were over.

Technically, the announcers were recanting the spirit of the rules of the Duel races, so they were not inaccurate.  But anyone with any common sense would know that what they were delivering to the fans was half-truth information and they were letting the fans supposition their worries about these drivers into the equation.

To me, that's dirty sports announcing.  Not far off from reality TV or news articles being delivered by blondes with long legs.  As far as I can tell (guess), I presume that someone at the network has some hope these prematurely sensationalized statements would make it to the social networks in panic and spread these ugly half-truths.  Now that would get some serious interest on the D500 revved up.  The Duels might "trend." 

But I found this kind of reporting frustrating.  It was a slap to the veteran fans and it incorrectly sensationalized the moment, as the rules could be exactly stated, because technically, no, these teams were not going to "race into the 500 from this event."

Had they added a quickie, "Hey, but..." about the points and qualifying times from Sunday, well, that would have been responsible reporting. But they took no such measure during the race.  I have to believe this was intentional because it occurred multiple times over the course of both Duel qualifiers.

Hey, we're in the era of sensationalized reporting.  And this, my friends, is my suspicion why TV is having a hard time hanging on to long-term fans.  It's all about the fresh blood brought into the fold and engaging them, in any way possible.

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   NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces on Twitter & Facebook & G+.
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Some Images from Daytona International Speedway, Feb 2013

My buddy, Leon Hammack (http://workingonmyredneck.com/) sent me some pictures from Daytona to share with you guys, my readers... (Bruce is insanely jealous!).  So I posted them up on my website FB page photo album... which I believe you can access, even if you don't have a Facebook account... lemme know if it's otherwise than that... and I can fix that.

-Bruce

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Has the 2013 Daytona 500 Become Just Another Race?

Does That Look Like Your Typical Daytona Finish?

Here, I'm going to chat a bit about what I've seen so far and how this year, the Daytona 500 has a different feel to it.  And how almost any race run, it's the last few moments that define a race weekend's events.

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For The First Time in 20 Years, I'm Not Enthusiastic About The Daytona 500. 

Every year I've come to anticipate the outcome of the Daytona 500.  Every year, or every race on the Daytona International Raceway track surface had brought with it two things:

• Excitement to see the better drivers get to the front of the pack &
• The fickle fate of the push-draft and the effect it has on the final few laps of the race.

Drivers have always said how they hate the process of racing at Daytona and in restrictor plate racing and how it's more a crap shoot than skill.  Yet in just about every race, it is the more season drivers who usually manage to make it to the front and take the checkered flag.  Except in the case of Trevor Bayne, when the majority of the name drivers in that race had already been parked via wrecks and what not.

So it's actually a "predictable" race. Predictable in how 8 to 20 cars will cross the finish line within .5 to 1 second of each other.  Predictable in how the name drivers (the seasoned talent) always manage to be up front at the finish.  But predictable is not counting what used to be those final moments of green flag racing.  And that was the bump draft, where a car can goose the gas with the excess horsepower they have from being in the draft, and push both of he and his lead drafting partner to the front.  It was all about the timing... and patience of everyone involved.  And it made for fun racing to watch for 480 miles, and intensely exciting, heart-stopping racing for those last 20 miles.

But this year, with the introduction of the new Gen-6 NASCAR race body, all that has changed.  In fact, it looks like it's changed the racing back to the old school days of racing where the better cars pull out front and the finishes will now have the stronger cars of the pack vying for the win.

That in itself, in most every other race, is pretty exciting, but this is not what Daytona has come to be known for.  And I worry the TV ratings could possibly demonstrate that.

In the exhibition race held last Sunday and the Budweiser Duel qualifying races run Thursday, what I saw was actual race plotting.  The high line seemed to work better throughout the race.  Slipping into the single file pack paid its dividends and bump drafting is now a thing of the past since pushing the car in front of you now results in getting them sideways.  Or having your aero messed up just enough, that the now shorter spoilers don't keep the cars on the track.

I've watched three races where the race leader made a few good, blocking moves, and kept the lead and won the race.  Unlike days of old, where half the pack could be contending to take the checkered flag, now, we can pretty much guess who might hold off and win the race, with 5 laps to go.  Much like any other race of the season.

Me, as exciting as it seemed, (barring the potential hazard to the drivers), always looked forward to how the restrictor plate races pan out.   This year, I think I know.

Congrats NASCAR, you did indeed eliminate the tandem draft.  And now all the fans should be pretty happy about... no, wait, from what I'm hearing, the fans are seeing the same thing I am.  And NASCAR is back to square one with the Daytona 500.

Or are they?

I retweeted journalist Jeff Gluck yesterday when he said, "Blah Sprint Unlimited. Blah Duels. Hope the Daytona 500 snaps the pattern with the Gen 6 car."

I'd like to think that the Daytona 500, with all 43 cars on the track proves me wrong.  I really do, because the excitement of those finishes was something I've always carried with me through the years.  But if this becomes just another track where the field is spread out and the leader can hold off the competition in the final lap, then this will become just another race.  At least, in as much as the racing is concerned.  (One which I think Kevin Harvick might have a handle on, since he won both the Unlimited and his Duel.)

No matter what, it's still the Great American Race, as hyped, and the Daytona 500 will define someone's career for the rest of racing history, pretty much as it's always done.  And we will be talking about it come Monday.

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The 2013 Sprint Unlimited - An Observation On The Push Draft or Lack Thereof?

The 2013 Sprint Unlimited has come and gone.  After three segments, Kevin Harvick managed a rather sedate looking race win.  But was sedate a one-time thing, a good thing or a bad thing?

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NASCAR has been working on appeasing fans ire about drafting at restrictor plate racing.  The modifications they've tried came down to tandem drafting practices over the last few seasons.  Fans were split over this.  Some hated it and some liked it.  Then they restricted radio chatter between drivers.  (Which I hate and think makes it a safety hazard.)

At first I wasn't a fan of the tandem draft and all the rules that NASCAR was laying down to manage the deed.  But over the last few seasons of racing, I started finding the excitement of six to eight cars, lined up in three or four rows, busting it out to cross the finish line first.  And underneath it all, I had recognized that in these mulit-column mad dashes, the driver that was pushing the guy in front of him was willingly sacrificing his potential win to get that other guy his win.

And despite the the tandems, we've had some intensely close finishes in the restrictor plate races.

Now the new Gen-6 car is also supposed to address some restrictor plate issues and I believe one of the issues was to break up the tandem drafting after having "fixed" the pack drafts.   One of the deals I noticed was that during SpeedWeeks practice, cars had issues pushing other cars.  The bumpers no longer matched up between brands.  Ask Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he wrecked another car trying to push draft!  So once a few folks realized this, everyone is pretty hesitant/respectful of pushing.

As the teams learned that the noses of cars don't match up to back bumpers of some of the cars, this became a totally different game.  And in the Sprint Unlimited, I believe we saw the result of the Gen-6 car and the design efforts to modify the draft.

Normally, my blood pressure cranks up in the last few laps of any restrictor plate race as cars start to jockey for that best spot to be in for that final turn towards the finish line.  In Saturday night's race, there were a few attempts at jockeying for that spot, but nothing too major.  Then the pack came around the corner and it looked like the drivers were very respectful of the hazards of the push and jockeying and there wasn't much competition for Kevin Harvick's lead.

In fact, unlike most restrictor plate race finishes, they were spaced out crossing the line.  It was a seriously sedate run for the checkered flag.

Now whether this was a result of Harvick having a strong hold on the lead, or that the other cars were worried about what would come of any attempts at pushing past Harvick, I don't know yet.  We'll see what comes of the Duel qualifier races later this week.  I'm quietly worried this is what we'll see in the Duels and the 500.  But by the end of next Sunday, we'll know for sure what's up.

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Gotta love the quotes between Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress after he won the race but was stuck on the front stretch after taking the checkered flag:

Kevin:  "I broke it!"

Childress:  "I know, I don't care."

That was great to hear.  (In what would seem to be Fox's "eaves dropping" in-car microphones!)

The 2013 Sprint Unlimited - The New In-Car Camera Look?

If you watched NASCAR's 2013 Sprint Unlimited race, there were a few things fans might have seen in the race.  For one thing, I was wondering if you had noticed the new in-car camera angles?  At least I think I saw a new, unique camera angle that I liked from the telecast.

It's one thing for announcers to tell you how steep the track surface is in any particular turn.  And to also see the cars on the banked turns from an outside perspective, like the network cameras stationed at opportunistic spots in the turns.  But to see just how much of an angle from inside the car is something else altogether different and eye-opening!

During the Sprint Unlimited race, the in-car cams are now mounted in such a way that the camera retains it's position in relation to the outside horizon!  What I mean is that when the car enters a corner, like at Daytona, the camera stays level and does not tilt with the car and you watch the interior of the car tilt, in relation to the world outside the car.

This new camera angle demonstrates the amount of banking the cars are actually on during the race.  And it was very apparent during the Sprint Unlimited.

I know that there are many TV race fans out there that aren't fond of the in-car camera.  I'm sure this new angle will have their attention for at least a few moments.  I myself appreciate the in-car camera angle.  If you're attentive enough, you can watch for a few things in the in-car camera view.  One is how much the car is dancing around on the track at the time of the shot.  You can also see the cars around the car you're in and watch this dance between sheet metal.  It's not evident in camera angles from outside the car how jumpy the cars could be, but the in-car shows some details you won't notice from outside the car.  The other perspective is how busy the driver is inside that car wrangling the steering wheel, even while on the straight-away stretches.  At least for me, that's what I look at and can appreciate.

Regardless of your perspective, this will be a new angle for a few moments for some, while others will revel in this new look.  At least there's something to look for in the Daytona 500.

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Danica Patrick Sets A New Record Grabbing the Daytona 500 Pole

Again, NASCAR fans are once again sitting in the seat of history.  Regardless of what we like, we watched Jimmie Johnson win 5 Sprint Cup titles in a row, and even across different car models.  And today during the front row qualifying for the 2013 Daytona 500, fans got another bit of history when Danica Patrick, in her second time in the race ever, grabbed the pole position for the Great American Race.  This pole also meant she was the first woman to win a pole position in any of the top NASCAR series.

This is perfect press for the media frenzy that is Danica Patrick.  It's the perfect storm of attention on the sport.  If you think about it, aside from what criticism one might have, these are exciting times for everyone.  NASCAR fans, Danica fans, Stewart-Haas Racing, Daytona International Speedway...  well, and even "stenica" is probably celebrating tonight!  LOL.
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Check out the NASCAR press release on the issue

 Danica Patrick Becomes First Female Pole Winner In NASCAR Sprint Cup History
Rookie Wins The Coors Light Pole For The Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17, 2013) – Danica Patrick made NASCAR history today during Coors Light Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, becoming the first female driver to win a pole at NASCAR's top level – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

During qualifying for the sport's marquee event, Patrick turned a lap of 196.434 mph (45.817 seconds), giving her the first starting position for next Sunday's Daytona 500 (1 p.m. on FOX, FOX Deportes, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio). It was the fastest Daytona 500 pole-winning speed since 1990.

Patrick shattered the previous record for top starting spot by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Janet Guthrie previously held the mark, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

The previous best starting position for a female in the Daytona 500 was 18th by Janet Guthrie in 1980.

This is Patrick's second NASCAR pole, also winning the Coors Light Pole for the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona last season. The only other female to win a NASCAR national series pole was Shawna Robinson in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994.

Already a NASCAR record holder, Patrick set the mark of best finish by a female driver in NASCAR national series history when she finished fourth in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011. She finished 10th in the final 2012 NASCAR Nationwide points standings, the top finish by a female in NASCAR national series history.

Patrick, who is running for the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, is the first rookie to win the Daytona 500 pole since Jimmie Johnson in 2002.

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2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductions

The NASCAR Hall of Fame added five new names to what I call "The forever halls of honorably remembered," and those being Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace & Leonard Wood.

I know that each year, many, many fans are disappointed when other names are not added to the enshrined halls of respect (OK, I just gave it a second nickname), but I'm sure your favorite, one day, will be on the wall.

There are many who deserve to be enshrined and they will.  But the process that NASCAR has chosen, limits it to just five persons being included in any one year, with specific requirements for nominations.  But in time, they will be.

For the moment though, let's look at who was included and enjoy their moments with them.

via press release

Eras Mesh During 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Baker, Owens, Thomas, Wallace and Wood Officially Enshrined

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2013) – Five legends of stock car auto racing were enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., tonight during the Induction Ceremony held in the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention. Four were NASCAR pioneers, building the sport during its formative years; the other ushered it into modern times and its exploding popularity.

Combined, they make the fourth class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It's a group with talents that run the gamut necessary for NASCAR excellence: Unparalleled driving skills; team unifying and talent evaluating ownership prowess; a brilliant mechanical mind.

Here are the five new members, a group that pushes the total number of NASCAR Hall of Famers to 20.

Buck Baker – a two-time NASCAR premier series champion in 1956-57, the first to ever win back-to-back titles in NASCAR's top level. Cotton Owens – a master of two crafts, that of driver and owner. Herb Thomas – the first driver to win multiple championships in NASCAR's premier series. Rusty Wallace –  the 1989 NASCAR premier series champion and a 55-time race winner. Leonard Wood – legendary engine builder, mechanic and crew chief for the Wood Brothers.

Baker, a 46-time winner, joined the ranks of NASCAR royalty after becoming the first driver to capture consecutive championships in NASCAR's premier series. He earned his first championship driving cars for legendary owner Carl Kiekhaefer; he won his second driving his own cars. Baker passed his immense driving talent to his son Buddy, who himself won 19 times in the premier series. Buddy Baker inducted his father during tonight's ceremony.

"Buck always made an impression on people, good or bad," said widow Susan Baker, who accepted the induction on Baker's behalf. Buck Baker passed away in 2002. "If you ever met him, you never forgot him. It was never boring being married to Buck, either. He could make me laugh like no one else could, and he had that same effect on others."

Owens joins Junior Johnson as NASCAR Hall of Famers who excelled as both driver and owner. The Union, S.C., native won nine times as a driver in NASCAR's premier series, and won more than 100 more races in NASCAR's Modified division. The latter feat earned him the moniker of "King of the Modifieds." He wore the crown in the NASCAR premier series as an owner in 1966, winning the championship with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson.

"I know this is a biased opinion, but in our family's book, there was no better racer than Cotton Owens," said Kyle Davis, Owens' grandson, who accepted the induction on his grandfather's behalf. Owens passes away last year. "My grandfather was one of the most humble, most loyal and hardest working men I've ever met. He took great pride in the fact that he could build a race car from the ground up … engine, chassis, transmission, you name it … drive it to the race track and then drive it to Victory Lane. He was a wizard at both turning wrenches and behind the wheel."

Herb Thomas was one of NASCAR's first superstars thanks to his premier series championships in 1951 and 1953. Becoming the first driver to win multiple championships, Thomas laid the groundwork for a record-setting career. His 48 victories in 228 starts translates to a winning percentage of 21.05 percent, a NASCAR premier series record.

Thomas' son Joel accepted the induction on his behalf.

"I truly believe this is the greatest honor a driver could receive," Joel Thomas said. Herb Thomas passed away in 2000. "My father would have been very honored and humbled in receiving this recognition. ... Thank you all for helping him reach his dreams. Thank you to all of his fans for cheering him on and keeping his memories alive."

Ninth on the all-time premier series wins list, Rusty Wallace enjoyed one of the most successful careers in modern-day NASCAR. Wallace won the 1989 premier series championship a season after finishing second in the final points standings. For 16 consecutive seasons, from 1986-2001, Wallace scored at least one win per season. That's tied for the third-longest streak in history.

"I look out in this crowd and I see some of the biggest stars in history," said an emotional Wallace. "I am humbled that I'm standing up here, and I just can't thank everybody enough for selecting me to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame."

Leonard Wood again joins his brother Glen, this time in the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Glen was inducted last year). Leonard served as chief mechanic for the Wood Brothers his entire career, winning a total of 94 races with some of biggest names in NASCAR history including brother Glen, Marvin Panch, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough.

"It's certainly a high honor to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, especially right behind my brother, Glen, and two of our former drivers, David [Pearson] and Cale [Yarborough]," Wood said. "Glen and I always did things together, we learned together and we won together."

Each of the five inductees had an inductor who officially welcomed them into the hall. The inductors for the five inductees: Herb Thomas was inducted by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett; Cotton Owens was inducted by his former driver NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson; Leonard Wood was inducted by his nephew and Wood Brothers co-owner Eddie Wood; Buck Baker was inducted by his son Buddy Baker; Rusty Wallace was inducted by his son Greg Wallace.

Active drivers introduced each inductee video during tonight's program. The list of drivers who participated: Carl Edwards for Herb Thomas; Mark Martin for Cotton Owens; Jeff Gordon for Buck Baker; Brad Keselowski for Rusty Wallace; and Trevor Bayne for Leonard Wood.

Prior to tonight's Induction Ceremony was the presentation of the inaugural Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence, awarded to namesakes Ken Squier and Barney Hall.

Squier, co-founder of Motor Racing Network, is perhaps best-known for his work during the 1979 Daytona 500, a milestone moment for the entire sport, as Squier's voice on CBS welcomed millions to the first live flag-to-flag coverage of "The Great American Race" – a moniker he coined.

Squier proceeded to call races for CBS and TBS until 1997 before shifting to the studio as host for NASCAR broadcasts until 2000. Squier continues to enlighten NASCAR fans to this day, mostly through special appearances on SPEED.

Hall began his career in the 1950s working at local radio stations in North Carolina and served as Bristol Motor Speedway's first public address announcer when the track opened. He called his first Daytona 500 in 1960, and has missed only three broadcasts in the 54-year history of The Great American Race. He joined MRN as an original announcer at the network's inception in 1970, first as a turn announcer and then moving to the booth in the late 1970s where he has been a fixture ever since at race tracks from coast to coast. 

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series, three international series and GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series, both known for competition on road courses. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be The Sprint Unlimited at Daytona on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. on FOX. For more information, visit www.nascar.com and follow NASCAR at www.facebook.com/NASCAR and Twitter: @NASCAR.

About NASCAR Hall of Fame

Conveniently located in uptown Charlotte, N.C., the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, opened May 11, 2010 and includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, 278-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop and NASCAR Media Group-operated broadcast studio. The venue is opened 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. seven days a week and has an attached parking garage on Brevard Street. The five-acre site also includes a privately developed 19-story office tower and 102,000- square-foot expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center, highlighted by a 40,000 square-foot ballroom. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is owned by the City of Charlotte, licensed by NASCAR and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. www.NASCARHall.com.

NASCAR Slams The 'Start and Park' Teams in The Wallet

In a very surprising move from the head offices of NASCAR, news on the street is indicating that NASCAR will redistribute the prize money from the last five spots of a race field to the rest of the field.  This new financial re-balancing act is aimed at eliminating 'start and park' teams, and will be making it less profitable for those kinds of teams to run races.

Quoting NASCAR president Mike Helton at an event in Detroit, "We moved prize money higher in the purse, so if someone's intent is solely to run a lap or two and park, the revenue stream shrinks."

The move will be taking $4k from each of the spots from 39th through 43rd and redistributing it.  So finishing in those positions no longer has the allure of what cash there was in previous years.  According to TMS president Eddie Gossage, 'start and park' teams mustered up $17 million in prize funds in 2012.

Apparently he doesn't like the little guy having a shot at the big ranks.

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What this means is multi-fold (in my mind):

Is The Small Guy Done?

No longer will the small guy who thinks they might have a chance, have a financial chance to be competitive if they can't make enough to come back or make it worth their while.

Albeit, I don't think I've ever seen a start and park give anyone a run for their money, but if they do well enough to keep on going, that gives them some form of a chance to improve.

I'd hate to see this kind of rule had been in place when Rick Hendrick or Richard Childress were trying to get into NASCAR, back in the day.

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Does This Favor the Big Money Teams?

If you think you were sick of Jimmie Johnson, get used to it.  Now if start and parks can't swing a shot at cashing, will they actually have incentive to even try?  No, but the teams with the money will be able to survive and thrive and not be hindered by one (or five) less teams on the track.

NASCAR says they "want to produce an exciting and competitive racing atmosphere for our teams and our fans, and we think the revised distribution provides a better balance."  And I feel like I've just been buttered up with one of those useless, polictically balanced statements from a politician.

I don't get how moving prize money from the last five spots of a field is going to make the top-20 teams that we are already watching, creates any more of an exciting race atmosphere.

Hell, 'start and parks' are vapor in the wind after a few laps.

Let me ask this:

Sure, some folk might not like 'start and parks,' I get that.  But has a struggling race team ever diluted your race experience?  Have they ever gotten in the way of the top-20 teams in any sort of regular fashion?  Or are you too distracted by when all the teams settle in for the middle of a race to pace it out and see how things unfold?

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Will Fields Shrink?

With less money in those last five spots, who is going to compete for spots that don't pay?  Seriously?  Because of this, I am concerned we'll be seeing starting fields of less than 43 teams this season.

Is this what NASCAR wants?  Smaller number of cars on the track?  Did Bruton Smith have this in mind when he called 'start and park' teams a "disgrace to the sport" last week?  Is this NASCAR buckling yet again to Smith?  NASCAR says no, but the timing seems interesting at best.

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Where Does Any Team Come From?

Someone has to start somewhere and even though these starting opportunities seemed a bit more lucrative, I'm not sure how a struggling team will break into NASCAR Cup competition if they don't get enough funds to do so.

If NASCAR has to do something (And I'm not sure why this is really happening), then why don't they put a "minimum laps" cap on race fields?  Instead of pulling money out from under potential competitive teams, force them to run a specific percentage of laps.  And if they willingly pull out, fine them.

Now, because they'll be losing tire money or pit-crew money, they'll have even fewer laps to be able to run.

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If the start fields so end up shrinking, suddenly NASCAR will be looking somewhat like another real victim of the economy.

Sure, regular fans know what's up, but the happen-stance fan won't.  And along with moonshiner images, the regular Joe out there might just think that.

Now, if a legitimate top-35 team has a first lap issue (remember Jimmie Johnson in the Daytona 500 being taken out in the first lap?), they'll also be shouldering the burden of coming in last and taking that small financial burp along with it.  (I know... it won't happen that often, but every now and then, it does.)

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So do 'start and park' haters feel vindicated to some degree?  Do you think making it harder to survive in the sport for upstarts is one of the answers to this situation?  Do you like the idea that when you have only 35 to 40 cars making a field, that most of those cars will be on the track longer as the back two-thirds of the field gets lapped, as always any way?

I've never had any real issues with the struggling team.  And some name-brand teams have ended up in those spots... I've watched Bill Davis Racing use up start and park spots, as has Tommy Baldwin Racing too.

Well, we'll see how this pans out throughout the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup race season.  Maybe they're on to something and maybe this won't be the impact I'm worried it might be.

Time, in all matters, is the telling factor!