If you're reading this
then there's a pretty good chance that you know that last weekend kicked
off the unofficial NASCAR season with qualifying for the front row of the
Daytona 500 and the running of the Busch Clash.
After a 13 week layoff, qualifying and the Clash always get my heart pumping
again. Lots of new paint jobs and driver changes to learn. And there's
usually some idiot getting caught trying to get away with something. (i.e.
Ricky Rudd and his hydraulic trunk lid from 1996)
Qualifying was a bit of a surprise. The word was that the Fords were going
to be the cars to beat. Turns out we end up with an all Bowtie front row.
Sorry DW you'll have to find something else to complain about this year.
So it's going to be Skinner and Grissom leading them down to the green
this coming Sunday, although they're not exactly household names I don't
know any race fans who are terribly surprised. Skinner has Richard Childress
behind him, and Grissom has Larry Hedrick. Both of those men know how to
get around Daytona, and they proved it. As for driver skill, well, let's
not forget that Loy Allen has sat on the pole for the Daytona 500 in 1993.
Not that these guys don't have a great deal of potential, but I don't think
this accomplishment proves much, except that they both have good teams
and crews.
On to the real excitement of the weekend, The Clash. I think the Fords
really demonstrated the fact that they're gonna be tough on Sunday. Now
you're thinking, "What is he talking about? I watched the race and
Chevy took both segments!" Let me explain, In the first segment, Mark
Martin had his Ford poised for the win on the last lap, but Terry Labonte
slammed the door with authority (and in fact Mark hit him pretty hard)
to hold him off for the win.
In the second segment we only saw two cars who were able to actually pass.
Mark Martin went from 13th to 6th and Rusty Wallace took his Ford from
12th to 2nd. Everybody else pretty much finished where they started.
Passing (and the lack thereof) was the real story this weekend. After the
race Dale Earnhardt had some very discouraging words about the prospect
of seeing good competitive racing this coming week. "When you got
nose-to-tail all you could do was ride," said Earnhardt.
"You couldn't pass. It looks like it is going to be the same for the
125-mile qualifying races and in the Daytona 500. It's not going to be
good." (source: my memory with help from Nascar Online - http://www.nascar.com)
Hopefully he's wrong, I don't want to watch a 500 mile game of follow the
leader where the only passing is done on pit road.
Other comments about the Clash.
Hey, Mark Martin, they're called TEAMmates because you're supposed to team
up when you can. Mark Martin left his teammate Jeff Burton high and dry
without a drafting partner when he dove low in behind Ernie Irvan early
in the second segment. I don't think Mark really wanted Jeff added to the
Rousch Racing stable last year. I've never seen him hook up with Jeff the
way you regularly see him hook up with Ted Musgrave.
And Ernie Irvan, if you keep it up you'll be standing up in the drivers
meeting apologizing to your fellow drivers again like you had to do in
1991. He looked like the Swervin' Irvan from his Kodak days. I thought
he was really being a jerk out there and I DON'T look forward to seeing
him leaving a trail of hospitalized drivers behind him. Aggressive is one
thing, he was flat out dangerous.
Well, it's time to get to it, last week was the warm up, this week it all
begins. I'm excited. I hope you are too. Like Benny Parsons said on RPM2Nite
"This is the only time of the year that you have 60 guys tied for
the points lead." The possibilities are endless.
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