Oh yea, so the beloved sitcom line, “Hello, Newman,” will be out on full force for a good portion of this week because unofficially (wow, instant bloggage!), Ryan Newman, with drafting help from teammate Kurt Busch, has won the 50th running of the Daytona 500, a race that was predicted (by me) to have been basically a Chevy and Toyota show. Only one Chevy took a top 10 spot, and the sole Bowtie chauffer was that of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 9th. Six Dodges, Two Toyotas, and one Ford (Greg Biffle) filled the top ten finishers of the 500.
Almost the forgotten nameplate in Speedweeks, Dodge has come through when it truly counts in Sprint Cup racing, and the South Bend, Indiana native has captured the Great American Race, which is also car owner Roger Penske’s first 500 win. It looked to be all Smoke for the finish, but it seems like the current car makes being in the lead before a restart an undesirable position as the lame duck “soon-to-be” passed driver.
As far as my predictions go…well, it’s safe to say that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans around the NASCAR world are probably going to hate on Tony Eury Jr.’s call to stay out not once, not twice, not three times, but four times. Claiming it’d help Jr’s track position, would a pitstop (even just for gas) really have hurt the 88’s chances of winning the race if he pitted (with everyone else)? Racing mind games or not, Eury Jr. will have the wrath of Dale Jr fans’ voices ringing in his head, going from the lead to a 9th place finish.
Tony Stewart and Reed Sorenson did finish in the top 5 – however, they finished in an order different from my predictions, as both drivers finished 3rd and 5th respectively (unofficially). And oh yea, as for Jeff Gordon, mechanical setbacks and tire blistering relegated the DuPont Chevy to a dismal 39th finish, his lowest finishing position in the Daytona 500 since 2001, when he got collected in the Big One that took out 1/3 of that year’s field.
Super runs and finishes by Elliott Sadler, Robby Gordon and Bobby Labonte, who came home respectively in 6th, 8th and 11th place. Can we hype up the Dodge Charger program now? Hopefully, we’ll see some manufacturer parity.
If you heard a collective sigh of relief, it’s probably from traditionalist NASCAR fans that did not see that “damn” Japanese manufacturer win the Great American Race. Seriously people, I really don’t understand the animosity of a foreign manufacturer winning in NASCAR – but I’ll save this argument for a future entry on here. In short, I’ll just say that NASCAR needs these personalities if you want to have some controversy, some attention to the sport that could make racing (and ratings) better not just in America, but around the world.
More to come later on…but congratulations to Ryan Newman. This is his first win in three years! What a way to break a dryspell from the winner’s circle! It was only a matter of time before the driver dubbed “Rocket Man” would return to Victory Lane, having knocked on the door several times during the last ten races of the 2007 season…oh wait, I mean, the Chase.
I’ll chime in more about the Daytona 500 later on – let us know what you think of today’s Daytona 500!
- Rob
P.S. Proof that my title is right, Yahoo! Sports’ NASCAR page has followed suit on my predicted headline…and they won’t be the only one!
