Daytona 500 Race Review

Daytona International Speedway -- 02/15/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Feb 15 2009 9:35pm

When an event gets to be as ginormus as the Daytona 500, it sometimes becomes an unwilling victim of its own success.

The problem NASCAR faces is trying to put on a race that will rise to the level of the history and hype connected with such an iconic event -- the so-called Super Bowl of NASCAR.

This year's Daytona 500, I'm afraid, did not live up to the task. Rather than being remembered for a nail-biting, down-to-the-wire, mad dash for the checkers, it ended under a red flag for rain, with Matt Kenseth declared the winner, and with some racing incidents that will be the subject of controversy for a long time to come.

One of the biggest controversies, in fact, was how quickly NASCAR made the call to call the race. Many fans believe that, as this was the Daytona 500, every attempt should have been made to restart the race if at all possible. Even if it couldn't have been restarted, perhaps NASCAR could have waited a little longer before throwing in the (rain) towel.

Kenseth, who had passed Elliott Sadler for the lead shortly before the rain began, was declared the winner on lap 152 of the scheduled 200 laps, having led just seven of those laps himself. He started the race 39th after going to a back-up car toward the latter part of the week, but said the change turned out to be a blessing in disguise. `I wasn't happy with my 500 car,` said Kenseth. `I ended up getting wrecked in the 150s anyway. As soon as we unloaded this car, it drove much, much better.`

The race got underway on a green racing surface after rain yesterday washed away the rubber, prompting NASCAR to schedule a competition yellow at 25 laps for crew chiefs to check things over. The starting front row, Martin Truex and Mark Martin, each led one lap before Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 3, where he stayed intermittently for the next 88 laps -- by far the dominant car in the field.

Busch was the overall lap leader with 88; Elliott Sadler with 24, Tony Stewart with 15, and Jeff Gordon with 14 were the only other double-digit lap leaders.

Though Kyle Busch clearly had the dominant car, he was one of ten victims of big wreck on lap 125 when the lapped cars of Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled each other to be the first car a lap down, putting one of them in position to receive the lucky dog pass. Earnhardt Jr., already under the weather physically, had made two mistakes on pit road earlier in the race, missing his pit box on one stop and overshooting it on another.

In the lap 125 incident, Earnhardt had a run on Vickers, who pulled down to block, forcing Jr. below the double yellow line. When Earnhardt came back up onto the track, he hooked Vickers' bumper, triggering the crash that collected nine cars behind him as well as Vickers -- including Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed and Carl Edwards.

The incident immediately triggered even more controversy, as a very similar wreck in Saturday's Nationwide race resulted in a five-lap rough driving penalty for Jason Leffler, who was in the same position in the NWS wreck as Earnhardt Jr. was in the 500. Though Earnhardt was not penalized by NASCAR, neither was he awarded the lucky dog pass because he caused the wreck that triggered the caution.

The race restarted on lap 133, but only went another 19 laps before the red flag for rain. Elliott Sadler had the lead from before the Earnhardt-Vickers wreck until he was passed by Matt Kenseth on lap 146, with drafting help from Kevin Harvick. Kenseth held the lead until the race was red flagged and eventually called for rain.

Harvick finished 2nd behind Kenseth, followed by AJ Allmendinger (3rd, in his first Daytona 500), Clint Bowyer (4th) and Elliott Sadler (5th).

Rounding out the top 10 were David Ragan, Michael Waltrip (the only Toyota in the top 10), Tony Stewart, Reed Sorenson, and Kurt Busch.

Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. finished 11th, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was scored 27th.

Tony Stewart was the only finisher among the top 10 who also qualified in the top 10, though he started at the rear of the field after going to a back-up car following a practice crash on Saturday.

This was Jack Roush's first Daytona 500 victory. The highest-finishing Hendrick car was Jeff Gordon at 13th, while the highest-finishing Joe Gibbs car was Denny Hamlin at 26th.

Gibbs Racing rookie Joey Logano was involved in Lap 82 accident and finished in last place.

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User	Comment
2nd Place	I think Earnhardt should have been penalized for causing nine cars to crash in this race. These drivers need to learn to drive safe and not take chances with their lives, and the lives of others.
FastEddie	I never bet much on the first races because there is no track record for me to base a educated bet on. I did place a small Jeff Gordon in this race and we see how that went. lol
DentedFender	I was really disappointed with this race. The weather was horrible and Nascar should have put it on hold before even starting the race. And your right it is a star event and I think this is why they did not cancel it quicker than they did.
goJJgo	You know, I think Nascar is the only sport that puts it`s star event at the beginning of the season instead of at the end. Daytona is usually one of the biggest races of the year so in any other sport it would be at the end of the season.
Elgar	No oddly I never betted this one I had a feeling before hand and at first thinking I was just sick that passed, then after I got better it still felt the same when I thought about it so I ended up keeping my money that time at least.
racefan	Just curious after nascarrocks post...did anyone bet on Kenseth for this race? Do you think he will continue to do well in this new season?
martys	Earnhardt Jr. is one of my favorite drivers but he was in the wrong on this one and should have been penalized. I am just glad no one got hurt.
nascarrocks	I think Kenseth was a very lucky man because I don`t think he would have been the winner if the race had not been called.
racefan	I wish they hadn`t been so quick to call this one but I understand they want everyone to be safe. I am glad I didn`t bet on this one.
Racegirl	This one was pretty disappointing this year. I always look forward to Daytona but it was just not a great show this time, oh well there is always next year.
Cal	No matter what I think we need to remember that no one can control the weather and if that were the case why do we hear about rain dances but not stop rain dances? Just something to think about there.
littlebit	What a disappointment this year`s race was. I usually look forward to Daytona but I think it was a poor decision not to postpone the race. Earnhardt screwed up, pure and simple, but it might have been different had it played out completely.
roadrunner	The crash was due to trying to get back into the race without the loss of a lap without going cross the lines - pure and simple. They can blame it on the tires but that is just baloney.
nsb	All the races this weekend were great racing except the sprint cup,
brian	kyle busch should of won the race, but thanks to jr who was already a lap down , jr ruined the short race, not the superbowl of nascar this year , boring waste of time
pemz	i`m so sick of all the jr excuses, he was way in the wrong and should of been penalized,if it was anybody else they would of,and if it was gordon the fans would have gone crazy and starting throwing stuff again, jr is not his daddy and with the rain it was probably the worst 500 i`ve seen
bamaboy525	rain had nothing to do with any crashes yesterday. nascar will not allow running in the rain.
spinout	You`re going to see the disappointing race blamed on the tires but maybe it should have been postponed? I do believe the tires may have had something to do with it but I don`t think it`s the entire reason for the crashing.
maddox8	At least they aren`t on the sand doing a rally race. I can`t believe NASCAR veterans JJ and Carl Edwards got included in the car crash.
navigator07	Driving in a wet road due to rain will cause accident. It`s unpleasant to watch the drivers race in the rain followed by car wrecking incident.
Cheryl Simmons	What happened to Dale Earnhardt is a good example of why people should not be driving 150+ MPH in the freaking rain. Wrecks happen, people could have got hurt. Bush should have won this one.
Harold Mayes	I`m pretty surprised that Dale Earnhardt had such a poor showing in the 500 myself. He is like one of the legends of Nascar and it looked like he was one of the Noobs yesterday.
Daniel Wallace	I`m surprised that Dale Earnhardt only made 27th place. he is a dang good driver and should have done better than that. I wonder what his issues were yesterday? Probably didn`t want to wreck his car. lol
the_champ	First, the car testing was not allowed, now NASCAR still allow drivers to race on the track while raining. What`s going on with NASCAR lately? Some drivers involved in the wreck must be hurt.
Kevin	This was a pretty good race even with Nascar cutting it short on us. Joey was doing some smooth driving on that slick track.
FunDriv3	So rookie driver Joey Logano made a remarkable racing history again in the Daytona 500? And the rain caused the wreck incident maybe because of slippery road track.
Casey Hillman	I`ve read the article and the comments here and I have to say I agree with all of you and have this to add: I have been driving for twenty years now and find it difficult to drive in rain at 35 - 50 MPH, I can`t imagine how difficult it would be to drive at the speeds these drivers do in the conditions that were there yesterday. Pretty irresponsible of Nascar in my opinion.
Ben Smith	Nascar is starting badly this year with some poor decisions all around. Their ideas that lead to the huge crashes last week and now running such a huge race knowing there was a good chance that it would have to be called. Shame on you Nascar for making a decision based on profit motive and not common sense!
TeslaHopeful	I would have been really disappointed if I had paid for a ticket to this event. Nascar really should have held off until the race could be ran properly.
MasterModder	I figured the rain would put a gray pale over the race this year when I heard about how bad the weather was going to be yesterday.