Disjointed Conversations

Junior seems like a nice enough guy. He came across as an ordinary guy in the NASCAR 360 program last year. Well, as ordinary as a guy who made 20 million dollars last year, and is a media superstar can be. I just have to believe, that if his dad was not who his dad was, and if his dad hadn't died the way he did, Junior would just not be that popular a driver. Last year was a breakout year for him, winning 6 races in 36 starts, and overall he has 15 wins in 184 starts through yesterday. 15 wins may not sound like a lot, but in the world of NASCAR that is pretty good. But, these are certainly not superstar numbers. Jimmie Johnson driver of the number 48 Lowes Chevy has won 14 races in 112 starts, Ryan Newman driver of the number 12 Alltel Dodge has 11 wins in 116 starts. Both of these drivers have a higher win percentage of Junior. The only downside for these two guys is, is that Johnson is stuck with the ultimate ass kisser Chad Knaus as a crew chief, and Newman comes across as being as exciting as wood off the track. Though Junior is not exactly Mr. Excitement on camera. Johnson and Newman are far superior drivers to Junior, but they do not have a fan base anywhere near what Junior does. When was the last time you saw a car driving around with a 12 or 48 sticker on it? Maybe it's because Junior drives for Budweiser - America's beer. I don't know. What I do know, is that the pandemonium that Junior generates is getting a little tiresome to those of us who are not his fans.

So, yesterday, I had a house full of NASCAR fans, and we watched our “Superbowl”. And, like most superbowls, it was a pretty boring game..uh..race. The guys that where going to run upfront for the entire race broke free from the main pack very early on, formed there own freight train, and pretty much stayed upfront for the entire race. Tony Stewart was dominating for most of the race. Michael Waltrip looked to have the faster car and was making his move, but with 40 laps to go blew an engine. I really thought Waltrip would pull it off, but it was not to be. Martin had a very fast car, once it got going, but a lot of late lap cautions including the omnipresent big one at lap 189 meant a lot of restarts.

When your car needs a couple of laps to really get going, restarts are going to kill you. But Martin finished 6th, and I am happy about that; but how great would it have been for him to win in his final Daytona 500 start. At lap 198, Kasey Kahne peels the right side of his car off by driving against the wall, and leave a debris field all over the track. This guarantees a green-white-checkered finish to the Daytona 500. When the green flag dropped Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch fought there way to the front. Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart got together and they quickly fell backwards. Kurt Busch somehow, somewhere finds 50 extra horses, and pushes Gordon ahead of everyone else, and at lap 202 Gordon take the white flag with Busch glued to his back bumper, and it becomes a 2 car 1 lap shootout. Busch tried his best, but Gordon held him off and at lap 203 took the checkered flag. With Junior in third, Scott Riggs in fourth, Johnson in fifth, and Martin in sixth. Tony Stewart finished seventh and was clearly upset about it, as he smacked his car into Johnson's after they passed the start finish line.

Overall, the last 30 to 40 laps where exciting, but the rest of the race, not to much. Restrictor plate racing on super speedways is not exactly the most exciting show. But, more importantly, NASCAR is back, and for that I am happy. If it is a Sunday, and you need me, I'll be home watching the race, so please don't call till after it is over.