Sunday, February 15, 2009

Matt Kenseth, Jack Roush Racing Backup Car to Win First Daytona 500, But…


Somehow a rain-shortened victory doesn’t seem quite as sweet as when fiery competitors are going at it side by side going for the win down to the last lap as the races the last two years, but when the season ends in Homestead, Florida next November it will count as a win and 190 points regardless.

There were some disappointing moments in today’s race. With Brian Vickers in the #82 Red Bull Toyota and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88 Amp Chevrolet) were a lap down, in a poorly executed dual, Vickers attempted to block Earnhardt who then in turn tried to move Vickers out of the way causing “the big one” that took Kyle Busch out of the race. No matter how one scrutinizes this scene, Junior's decision making at best was questionable.

Winning the race gets a big monkey off Kenseth’s back who failed to win a single race last year racing well enough to make the chase but looking weak in the final ten weeks of the season. It is also a well-deserved victory for the Roush/Fenway team. While winning in virtually every imaginable circumstance, restrictor plate wins have been rare, and the Daytona 500 Harley Earle trophy elusive despite fielding some of NASCAR’s most productive teams in the last 23 years.

Elliot Sadler surely deserves much credit for his fifth place finish having led most laps between the big wreck and Kenseth’s move to take the lead. Sadler was being pushed out of his ride as a result of the Petty/Gillett/Evernham merger to place A.J. Allmendinger in his ride. Putting that behind him, Sadler gave up a spot to advance Allmendinger in their 125 race to assure him a starting spot in the race. Allendinger finished third and Reed Sorensen 9th while Casey Kahne finished deep in the field toward the tail end of the lead lap. These results find this new merged operation looking strong in the first race of the year.

Rounding out the top five were two Childress teammates, Kevin Harvick in a backup car finished second and Clint Bowyer for the new #33 Cheerios Chevy finished fourth. Roush placed another car in the top ten with David Regan finishing 6th with his new UPS sponsorship. Michael Waltrip continues to improve from a disastrous debut for Toyota two years ago in the 7th spot. Tony Stewart finished in 8th for his new team in his backup car. Stewart was the highest finisher for Hendricks horsepower. Sorenson and Kurt Busch rounded out the top ten. Pole-sitter, Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th and David Reutimann showed more strength for Michael Waltrip racing in 12th. Jeff Gordon was the top Hendricks Motor Sports finisher in 13th.

Last year’s champ, Jimmie Johnson, had a terrible ride today finishing next to last on the lead lap in 30th position. Mark Martin could only master a 16th place finish boasting he had plenty left if the rain delay would have ended. Rousch teammates from last year’s chase, Carl Edwards finished in 18th and Greg Biffle finished in 20th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got off to the kind of start that was exactly the kind of performance he needed to avoid to overcome the kind of problems that put him low in the chase last year. Looking strong early in the race, Junior fumbled on pit row failing to get his car within the white lines for his pit stall resulting in a penalty that put him a lap down. Rightly or wrongly, many fans will see his moves as responsible for today’s big wreck. Momentary lapses and mistakes destroyed Junior’s season in 2008 as the year got into the money rounds that really count from the late summer until the end of the year.

A mishap among rookies, Scott Speed and Joey Logano wrecked the #20 Home Depot Joe Gibbs Toyota finishing in dead last. Kyle Busch finished in 41st being the worst victim of the “big one,” making opening day a disaster for Joe Gibbs Racing with Denny Hamlin their top ride in 26th spot.

Ryan Newman, last year’s winner, finished a frustrating trip to Daytona in a 3rd car buried in 36th place.

We identified five crucial factors to watch for in determining the outcome of the Daytona 500. Our first factor, the weather proved to be the most significant as did our fear of “The Big One.” Backup cars proved not to hinder the top two finishers. There were some tire problems, but nothing out of the usual though bad rubber helped contribute to a bad day for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson leading to our final consideration, Hendricks horsepower which did not show up strong in today’s event.

The big stories from this year’s 51st running of the Daytona 500. Congratulations are due Matt Kenseth and Jack Roush for their first Daytona 500 win. One can hardly say that Ford showed restrictor plate dominance however. The strong showing of the new Richard Petty Racing team will make this year’s chase for the chase a much more contentious field beyond the big four who have dominated the chase so dominantly in years past. Also, Michael Waltrip’s team with both cars in the top 12 shows them ready to compete as true racers not just trying to hang on to secure a spot in the top 35 to be locked into the field. the final story, of course, is the miserable finish for Joe Gibbs, but given Kyle Busch led the most laps until his accident, they’ll be back in short order.

The Sprint Cup caravan travels the distance of I-10 to Fontana, California next week where the field will face much more typical competition, the kind of racing all teams must master to have hopes of the ultimate trophy, the championship trophy in Homestead with Thanksgiving right around the corner and the NFL chase for the playoffs well underway.

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