January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Five lessons from Daytona
What was learned from the last two weeks of racing
Five lessons from Daytona
Five things we learned from the 2010 Speedweeks:
1 Expect the unexpected. It seems every season the media roll into Daytona Beach with general ideas of who will be favourites to win the season's first race and the championship. Sometimes those two picks are one and the same. This season, like many others, produced a surprise winner in Jamie McMurray, whose victory may force some to rethink their favourites for the title.
There were indications in the 150-mile qualifying races that McMurray had a fast car, but he had never really shined after a much-publicized move to Roush Fenway Racing four years ago, and there were questions as to how McMurray's reunion with former team owner Chip Ganassi would play out. Those questions have been laid to rest, at least for now.
2 Something usually goes wrong. More times than not, something pops up during Speedweeks to send media, fans, NASCAR officials, drivers - or all of them - into a panic or frenzy. NASCAR, of course, strives to have its season opener and biggest race come off without a hitch. This season, NASCAR appeared to be headed in the right direction with competitive racing on the track and a media fervour over the arrival of IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick to the Nationwide Series.
Motor Racing Network announcers were first to alert the world to this year's problem when during a caution, 120 laps into Sunday's race, they announced the arrival of a hole in the track in Turn 2. That's happened before, of course, but this time cold weather in Florida prevented a quick fix. The hole caused two stoppages in the race totalling more than two hours and put a big black mark on an otherwise stellar series opening weekend.
3 NASCAR's fortunes still tied to Junior's. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s charge from 22 to second over the final 20 laps of Sunday's 500 showed one thing: Even in the worst of disasters, a possible Earnhardt victory can erase bad memories, at least temporarily. While many fans left during the two-plus hours of delays to fix the track, and the racing lasted nearly 61/2 hours, much of that was forgotten as Earnhardt tried desperately to charge to the lead on the final lap.
While even an Earnhardt win may have not have been enough to totally absolve NASCAR of the track problems, the buzz surrounding his electrifying performance continues to illustrate his power over the sport.
4 Hendrick engines have
competition. Hendrick Motorsports may still produce the best horsepower in NASCAR but Sunday's 500 showed Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines are a viable competitor. Of course, Juan Pablo Montoya's performance in 2009 was backed by ECR Engines' power. On Sunday, four drivers in the top 10 - including the race winner - had ECR engines under the hood, the most of any engine provider.
5 Don't read too much into
the start of the season. In the past three seasons, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500. None went on to win the championship, not even Kenseth who opened up the 2009 season with back-to-back wins at Daytona and Auto Club Speedway. In fact, Kenseth didn't even make the Chase last season.
The bottom line? Rather than focus on wins, keep and eye on teams that can back up a top-10 finish with another this week. Even with all the changes in NASCAR of late, consistency still wins championships.[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.