Daytona 500

12:39 PM
Road to Daytona is on. Since there's not much hype here, this is actually a pretty decent show.

1:00 PM
DW in Victory Lane 20 years ago was one of the great moments in the sport. "This is the Daytona 500, isn't it? Don't tell me it isn't."

1:03 PM
I heard there was an 80% chance of rain today. I don't see how Chris Myers can say we're going to be Ok. Don't worry though, my 5 year old son just said that it wasn't raining in Daytona, so we're good.


1:05 PM
If the cars are bouncing more this year, I hope somebody tells us why, though I'm not expecting they will.


1:14 PM
DW: People say you have to lose one to win one. I say you have to lose one to learn how to win one.

Oh, well, if that's the case then... um... wait... what's the difference? Does DW not realize that that's pretty much what the phrase "lose one to win one means"? This reminds me of what DW said a week after the 2001 Daytona 500.

DW: I've always said legacy is what you leave behind.

Well, that's good DW, because that's a) the definition of legacy and b) pretty much what everybody else says too.


1:20 PM
*rolls eyes at Keith Urban pretending to know or care about racing*


1:23 PM
Myers mentions Urban's married to Nicole Kidman. Oh, that's nice, because... wait a minute... who cares?


1:24 PM
Adventures of Digger
Episode 1
A lesson in sheer stupidity
I can feel IQ points draining out of my brain as I watch this garbage.

This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen on any pre-game/pre-race show.


1:31 PM
Keith Urban's little mini-concert is on and I hit the mute button. Aah, blessed silence emanates from the TV.


1:50 PM
If you don't know, Scott Speed raced in F1 the last couple of years and was able to accomplish absolutely nothing except get fired for fighting with his boss. Granted, the team was the Red Bull team, which is a new team and new teams in F1 aren't any good, but there's a possibility that he may have more ego than talent. We'll see what he does in Cup to know for sure.


1:54 PM
Sentimental favorite. If Earnhardt doesn't win, I want Mark Martin to win.


2:22 PM
Another "look-at-me" national anthem.


2:38 PM
Now, that "Understand the race" piece was interesting. I hope Larry comes back to that throughout the race.


2:42 PM
Mark Martin got off to a bad start. Make a note for later in the race on restarts.


2:44 PM
Larry McReynolds better be careful saying ask.com. Sounded enough like something else that my 10 year old asked me what Larry said. I don't even want to know what might be at the site Larry's talking about.


2:46 PM
Wow. Harvick found him a groove in the middle that's working. Let's make a note of that.


2:49 PM
Larry saying that they've only had issues with the right side tires is like me saying I only had a problem with my right hand. I'm right-handed, so that would be a big issue for me.


2:53 PM
Kyle Busch is worried about track position at lap 10? Seems a little early to be that concerned about track position.


3:06 PM
Can somebody explain how the double-yellow line helps anybody? I don't see how it makes a difference.


3:06 PM
Mike, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough didn't wreck because of the angle they had going into turn 3. They wrecked because Donnie ran Cale down into the grass and Cale got into him trying to get back on the track.


3:08 PM
Hahaha! I didn't see the Polamalu commercial at the Super Bowl. Very funny.


3:12 PM
Man, look at the #18 car just pull away from Earnhardt in turn 2. Evidently, nobody in the booth noticed it, though it would be a perfect opportunity to tell us how great Kyle Busch is. What I'd love to know is, if he's presumably got his foot to the floor, how he does that.


3:12 PM
Larry Mac: You know what else the fans love?

My answer: Announcers shutting up?

Cranking it up was Larry's answer. Larry and I were both right on this one, though my answer was on a more long-term basis.


3:20 PM
Nice side draft move from Kyle Busch.


3:22 PM
swaim's prediction is looking pretty good.


3:22 PM
*sad sigh* DW's starting to go into Kyle Busch Lovefest Mode.


3:28 PM
Here we go, Tony Stewart is on the bumper of Earnhardt. What do you want to bet that they'll say he's with his restrictor plate "buddy"?


3:31 PM
There it is. I didn't think they were going to bring it up, but they did.


3:37 PM
I don't get it. How do you miss your pit stall? Where is Earnhardt's head at?


3:54 PM
Jeff Gordon loves clean air. As opposed to everybody else who doesn't love clean air, I guess.


3:58 PM
Logano wrecks and Mike Joy says he'd been doing so well. He'd been doing so well? 27th is so well? When did running 27th mean that you're running "so well"? It looked to me like he was in over his head and had no business being in that car. I didn't comment on it at the time, but do you remember the shot early in the broadcast where Fox showed Logano driving his car and Kyle Busch driving the same car? Logano was sawing on the wheel and Busch was driving it nice and easy, almost one-handed. It's far too early to say that they rushed putting Logano in that car, but the verdict after 1 race is that he was in over his head.


4:12 PM
ask.com trivia: Lake Lloyd was created because that's where the dirt came from to make the high bankings.


4:27 PM
About time they show the weather since they've been talking about it. It only took 3.5 hours to show us that yes, there is weather to be concerned about.


4:38 PM
Ridiculous. What in the world is wrong with the 88 team? When the official tells you to move the car, you move the car! I just don't understand.


4:44 PM
Earnhardt wreck: I don't really get DW and Larry going overboard on Earnhardt here. Vickers blocked him and the 88's momentum was going to carry him into the grass. He saved the car and bumped Vickers. He's supposed to back off and go back to the end of the line?

There are times where blocking is a really bad idea and when someone gets a big run on you like Earnhardt did, the best thing to do is just let him go. Otherwise, you wind up getting wrecked.


5:03 PM
Well, Brian, of course it's Earnhardt's fault. It couldn't possibly be yours from trying to block him like that.


5:06 PM
Looks like all the cautions started quite a few laps earlier than I thought they would.


5:22 PM
ask.com trivia: Closest finish in Daytona 500 history was the 2007 race.


5:25 PM
Jeff Hammond, the voice of reason, stating that the Earnhardt/Vickers wreck was about the fact that it's the Daytona 500 they're racing for.


5:37 PM
Loved the interview with Earnhardt. That boy's got him some fire in his belly.

We had to leave for church at this point.

While at church, I checked my phone to see if they started the race and saw that they called it.

What a letdown.

Incidentally, the parallel I mentioned in my 1979 Daytona 500 recap held true, it was just with Matt Kenseth and not Jeff Gordon.

 

Yeah, yeah, Kenseth. That's the ticket! :laugh:

No doubt. You can't read too much into 1 race, especially Daytona, but I don't have a good feeling about his immediate future in Cup racing. I feel like Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota have thrown a babe to the wolves. That split shot of him driving his car and Kyle Busch driving the same car was very telling. I'm curious whether they made any change to the car between the time Logano drove and Kyle drove. If not, those pictures suggest that Logano is in over his head and needed at least 1 year of Nationwide racing before they put him in a Cup car.

It's neither more nor less annoying. I mocked Digger last year and while I can't say I'm looking forward to mocking him because it means he'll be on my TV, I am looking forward to mocking him just the same.

You mean it's more annoying than anything Tim McCarver or Joe Morgan has said? :laugh:

Thanks!

Well, I don't think you can say that anybody who gets blocked allows himself to be pushed. The alternative to not being pushed down there is to just continue to go straight and turn the guy who's trying to block you.