Oh, wow. On lap 2, we have had a major wreck. Jimmie Johnson spun into the wall. His car was then smashed by David Ragan. It also looks as though Danica Patrick and Trevor Bayne (last year's winner) suffered damage as well.
So if you were interested in Johnson, Patrick or Bayne -- and a lot of people were -- you've got to be really bummed.
OK, I'm back and they're under green. Here's the top 10 after 33 laps:
1. Denny Hamlin 2. Paul Menard 3. Regan Smith 4. Joey Logano 5. Jeff Burton 6. Marcos Ambrose 7. Martin Truex, Jr. 8. Greg Biffle 9. Jeff Gordon 10. Clint Bowyer
But everyone who's still running is bunched together pretty closely. Here are the cars that have been eliminated -- either literally or figuratively -- from the race:
Robby Gordon A.J. Allmendinger Trevor Bayne (defending champ) Danica Patrick Jimmie Johnson (5-time NASCAR champ) David Ragan Kurt Busch
1. Jeff Burton 2. Greg Biffle 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Paul Menard 5. Regan Smith 6. Joey Logano 7. Marcos Ambrose 8. Martin Truex, Jr. 9. Jeff Gordon 10. Clint Bowyer
1. Jeff Burton 2. Greg Biffle 3. Paul Menard 4. Regan Smith 5. Joey Logano 6. Marcos Ambrose 7. Denny Hamlin 8. Jeff Gordon 9. Martin Truex, Jr. 10. Clint Bowyer
Still under green, with everyone going in and out of the pits. Through 60 laps:
1. Tony Stewart 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Kasey Kahne 4. Dave Blaney 5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 6. Jeff Burton 7. Greg Biffle 8. Marcos Ambrose 9. Martin Truex, Jr. 10. Joey Logano
On the same principle that parents always make their kids use the bathroom on long car trips, a number of cars are using the caution to make quick pit stops.
Fox is in the middle of its "Crank It UP" feature, when the announcers fall silent and we are given only the sounds of the engines. If it were up to me, this is how Fox would show every race all the time.
Another caution. On lap 88, Terry Labonte is bumped and spins off into the infield. He does a great job of saving the car, and no one else was effective. Labonte's car is stuck in the wet grass.
The MRN guys blame Marcos Ambrose for bumping Labonte, who is now out of the grass and on his way to the pits. A hard break for Labonte, who was running 3d when he spun out.
1. Greg Biffle 2. Marcos Ambrose 3. Martin Truex, Jr. 4. Denny Hamlin 5. Kyle Busch 6. Kasey Kahne 7. Jeff Burton 8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 9. Tony Stewart 10. Matt Kenseth
Lap 92 and we're back under green. There's a $200,000 prize for leading at the halfway mark, so things should get frantic. I expect another caution very soon.
1. Denny Hamlin 2. Martin Truex, Jr. 3. Bobby Labonte 4. Tony Stewart 5. Greg Biffle 6. Jeff Burton 7. Mark Martin 8. Clint Bowyer 9. David Reutimann 10. Carl Edwards
Toyota's now running a commercial showing some really cool shots of life in Georgetown, Kentucky. Eric would have liked the part where they showed the Scott County football team during an early-morning practice.
1. Denny Hamlin 2. Greg Biffle 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Mark Martin 5. Jeff Burton 6. Tony Stewart 7. Regan Smith 8. Joey Logano 9. Aric Almirola 10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Eric, you should know that Joey Logano is driving for Joe Gibbs. Matthew will want to know that Aric Almirola is driving for Richard Petty.
I always wonder about their kids, and the couples always seem to be trying too hard -- like their therapist told them to work more on being affectionate.
Caution. On lap 157, David Stremme blows an engine. Danica Patrick, who must feel like I do when I'm on the Beltway, is forced to slam on her brakes to avoid another wreck.
Now everyone is back in the pits -- this could be the last pit stop of the race.
On the other hand, I like the AT&T 4G commercials with the annoying people who know everything 15 seconds before everyone else. They're like watching a mini sit-com.
Oh, my. This was extraordinary. NASCAR has jet dryers which are attached to trucks, and then the trucks drive around the track during cautions, allowing the dryers to dry off the track.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who drives the number 42 car, was rolling along the track during the caution, when his car suddenly spun, and he crashed into the dryer. His car exploded, and is completely destroyed. (Although he seems to have walked away from the wreck.)
Meanwhile, the wrecked dryer spilled huge amounts of jet fuel onto the track. Almost immediately, that fuel caught on fire, and enormous columns of flame shot into the sky. A wave of NASCAR emergency types showed up and poured enormous volumes of fire extinguisher onto the jet dryer and the burning fuel. After several minutes, they finally put out the fire. But there is no telling how much damage has been done to the track, and I have no idea when the race will re-start.
The MRN folks, who have seen every NASCAR race for the past several decades, unanimously agree that they have never seen anything like this.
MRN tells us that Leonard Wood (of the Wood Brothers) has never seen anything like this.
MRN is just doing a great job. They are outstanding. I would trust them to cover anything -- presidential elections, 9/11, the Super Bowl -- I guarantee you they would be better than the type of coverage we normally get.
They are interviewing the Landon Cassill crew chief, who didn't even have a car until the beginning of February. He is giddy with joy, because he could be looking at a second-place finish.
MRN is interviewing Juan Pablo Montoya, who appears to be fine -- if somewhat stunned. The car simply spun on him, and he slammed into the jet dryer by accident.
NASCAR now has a huge team of guys trying to clear the track and repair everything. Because this happened on a turn, the workers are having to climb up and down the steep banking as they work.
Now they're using huge boxes of Tide detergent, and they are using the Tide to clean the damaged part of the track in some way. What a great advertisement for Tide.
Dave Blaney is from Hartford, Ohio. He is 49 years old, and he has never won a Winston Cup race -- or whatever the top NASCAR series is called these days -- in 397 starts.
It looks like a huge crowd has stayed around to watch the first Daytona 500 ever to take place in prime time.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR continues to tie itself more closely to Toyota, as we have a Camry serving as the pace car. That'll be popular with the fans.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's the green flag and we're off!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. On lap 2, we have had a major wreck. Jimmie Johnson spun into the wall. His car was then smashed by David Ragan. It also looks as though Danica Patrick and Trevor Bayne (last year's winner) suffered damage as well.
ReplyDeleteSo if you were interested in Johnson, Patrick or Bayne -- and a lot of people were -- you've got to be really bummed.
Kurt Busch was also involved in that wreck.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, we're running under caution. You'll probably be reading that sentence a lot.
The folks on MRN (the Motor Racing Network) report that Danica Patrick will likely stay in the race, but that she will no longer be competitive.
ReplyDeleteThe wreck was apparently caused by Elliot Sadler, who bumped Johnson from behind.
ReplyDeleteOh, well, we can still see Danica Patrick on those GoDaddy.com commercials. There's one running now.
ReplyDeleteI'm off to get dinner. Will update later.
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm back and they're under green. Here's the top 10 after 33 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Denny Hamlin
2. Paul Menard
3. Regan Smith
4. Joey Logano
5. Jeff Burton
6. Marcos Ambrose
7. Martin Truex, Jr.
8. Greg Biffle
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Clint Bowyer
But everyone who's still running is bunched together pretty closely. Here are the cars that have been eliminated -- either literally or figuratively -- from the race:
Robby Gordon
A.J. Allmendinger
Trevor Bayne (defending champ)
Danica Patrick
Jimmie Johnson (5-time NASCAR champ)
David Ragan
Kurt Busch
Trevor Bayne has returned to the track, but he's now 34 laps behind.
ReplyDeleteAfter 43 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Jeff Burton
2. Greg Biffle
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Paul Menard
5. Regan Smith
6. Joey Logano
7. Marcos Ambrose
8. Martin Truex, Jr.
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Clint Bowyer
NASCAR's new marketing slogan, by the way, is "NASCAR: Everything Else Is Just a Game."
ReplyDeleteIt's not bad, although it seems too defensive for my taste.
Still under green. After 52 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Jeff Burton
2. Greg Biffle
3. Paul Menard
4. Regan Smith
5. Joey Logano
6. Marcos Ambrose
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Jeff Gordon
9. Martin Truex, Jr.
10. Clint Bowyer
OK, after 54 laps folks are starting to come into the pits. Things could be scrambled for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Jeff Burton win, as he is a native of South Boston, Virginia.
ReplyDeleteStill under green, with everyone going in and out of the pits. Through 60 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Tony Stewart
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Dave Blaney
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
6. Jeff Burton
7. Greg Biffle
8. Marcos Ambrose
9. Martin Truex, Jr.
10. Joey Logano
In lap 64, they've pulled out the caution flag because of debris on the track. Now the cars are going really slowly and no one is passing anyone.
ReplyDeleteOn the same principle that parents always make their kids use the bathroom on long car trips, a number of cars are using the caution to make quick pit stops.
ReplyDeleteDanica Patrick is returning to the action. She is only 63 laps behind.
ReplyDeleteBack under green. After 70 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Greg Biffle
2. Marcos Ambrose
3. Kyle Busch
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Joey Logano
6. Jeff Burton
7. David Reutimann
8. Elliott Sadler
9. Martin Truex, Jr.
10. Terry Labonte
MRN reports that rain is on the way. Apparently it's about 35 miles away for now.
ReplyDeleteStill green. Through 80 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Martin Truex, Jr.
2. Greg Biffle
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Marcos Ambrose
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Kyle Busch
7. Mark Martin
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Brad Keselowski
Caution. On lap 81, Jeff Gordon's engine has apparently blown. There was a burst of fire, and he slowed dramatically. But no one else was effective.
ReplyDeleteNow everyone is zipping in and out of the pits.
A rough night for Hendrick Motorsports, as Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have both had terrible luck.
On lap 86, the green flag comes out, and we're racin' again.
ReplyDeleteFox is in the middle of its "Crank It UP" feature, when the announcers fall silent and we are given only the sounds of the engines. If it were up to me, this is how Fox would show every race all the time.
ReplyDeleteDec. 20, 1980.
DeleteLap 88: "Crank It UP" ends, and I return to the MRN.
ReplyDeleteAnother caution. On lap 88, Terry Labonte is bumped and spins off into the infield. He does a great job of saving the car, and no one else was effective. Labonte's car is stuck in the wet grass.
ReplyDeleteThe MRN guys blame Marcos Ambrose for bumping Labonte, who is now out of the grass and on his way to the pits. A hard break for Labonte, who was running 3d when he spun out.
ReplyDeleteStill under caution. After 90 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Greg Biffle
2. Marcos Ambrose
3. Martin Truex, Jr.
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kasey Kahne
7. Jeff Burton
8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
9. Tony Stewart
10. Matt Kenseth
Lap 92 and we're back under green. There's a $200,000 prize for leading at the halfway mark, so things should get frantic. I expect another caution very soon.
ReplyDeleteThere is not another quick caution. After some excellent racing, Martin Truex, Jr. of New Jersey takes the $200,000 for leading at the halfway point.
ReplyDeleteStill under green. After 103 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex, Jr.
3. Bobby Labonte
4. Tony Stewart
5. Greg Biffle
6. Jeff Burton
7. Mark Martin
8. Clint Bowyer
9. David Reutimann
10. Carl Edwards
Still under green. After 113 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex, Jr.
3. Greg Biffle
4. Jeff Burton
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Aric Almirola
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Brad Keselowski
9. Marcos Ambrose
10. Joey Logano
Through 117 laps, Denny Hamlin has led 40 laps, Greg Biffle has led 35 laps, Jeff Burton has led 24 laps, and Martin Truex, Jr. has led 8 laps.
ReplyDeleteStill under green. Through 120 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Denny Hamlin
2. Martin Truex, Jr.
3. Greg Biffle
4. Jeff Burton
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Aric Almirola
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Marcos Ambrose
9. Mark Martin
10. Regan Smith
On lap 128, Clint Bowyer has run out of fuel and has stopped dead on turn 3. So we're back under caution.
ReplyDeleteNow a tow truck has appeared to get Clint Bowyer. The whole thing looks about as humiliating as it sounds.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, everyone else is going in and out of the pits.
Under caution. Through lap 130:
ReplyDelete1. Greg Biffle
2. Aric Almirola
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Casey Mears
5. David Stremme
6. Brad Keselowski
7. David Gilliland
8. Marcos Ambrose
9. Kyle Busch
10. Jamie McMurray
Lap 132 -- 68 laps to go, and we're back under green.
ReplyDeleteToyota's now running a commercial showing some really cool shots of life in Georgetown, Kentucky. Eric would have liked the part where they showed the Scott County football team during an early-morning practice.
ReplyDeleteStill under green. Through lap 140:
ReplyDelete1. Denny Hamlin
2. Greg Biffle
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Mark Martin
5. Jeff Burton
6. Tony Stewart
7. Regan Smith
8. Joey Logano
9. Aric Almirola
10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Eric, you should know that Joey Logano is driving for Joe Gibbs. Matthew will want to know that Aric Almirola is driving for Richard Petty.
I just find these Cialis commercials -- and I see a lot of them, because they're all over middle-aged guy TV shows -- to be extremely depressing.
ReplyDeleteI think they look fantastic!
DeleteI always wonder about their kids, and the couples always seem to be trying too hard -- like their therapist told them to work more on being affectionate.
DeleteIf their stinking kids hadn't been so horrible, they wouldn't need the therapist.
DeleteStill under green. Through 151 laps:
ReplyDelete1. Matt Kenseth
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (!)
3. Greg Biffle
4. Casey Mears
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Joey Logano
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Jamie McMurray
9. Jeff Burton
10. Denny Hamlin
Something has happened to Hamlin's car. It was the best car all night, but Hamlin complains that it feels "darty" now.
Caution. On lap 157, David Stremme blows an engine. Danica Patrick, who must feel like I do when I'm on the Beltway, is forced to slam on her brakes to avoid another wreck.
ReplyDeleteNow everyone is back in the pits -- this could be the last pit stop of the race.
On the other hand, I like the AT&T 4G commercials with the annoying people who know everything 15 seconds before everyone else. They're like watching a mini sit-com.
ReplyDeleteI like those, too.
DeleteOh, my. This was extraordinary. NASCAR has jet dryers which are attached to trucks, and then the trucks drive around the track during cautions, allowing the dryers to dry off the track.
ReplyDeleteJuan Pablo Montoya, who drives the number 42 car, was rolling along the track during the caution, when his car suddenly spun, and he crashed into the dryer. His car exploded, and is completely destroyed. (Although he seems to have walked away from the wreck.)
Meanwhile, the wrecked dryer spilled huge amounts of jet fuel onto the track. Almost immediately, that fuel caught on fire, and enormous columns of flame shot into the sky. A wave of NASCAR emergency types showed up and poured enormous volumes of fire extinguisher onto the jet dryer and the burning fuel. After several minutes, they finally put out the fire. But there is no telling how much damage has been done to the track, and I have no idea when the race will re-start.
The MRN folks, who have seen every NASCAR race for the past several decades, unanimously agree that they have never seen anything like this.
We're under the red flag. Through 160 laps, the field is very scrambled because everyone was in and out of the pits when the track caught fire:
ReplyDelete1. Dave Blaney
2. Landon Cassill
3. Tony Raines
4. David Gilliland
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
7. Casey Mears
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Greg Biffle
10. Jamie McMurray
Meanwhile, the rain is closing in.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would send everyone home and finish the race tomorrow morning, but I have no idea what NASCAR will do.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real shame, because this had actually been an excellent race.
The MRN people are absolutely stunned. They just keep saying that they've never seen anything like this.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, no one is blaming Montoya. It seems clear that something happened to his car.
All over the country, those NASCAR fans who also enjoy reading disaster books are watching every second of this coverage.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they may just end up awarding the race to Dave Blaney. What a mess.
ReplyDeleteMRN tells us that Leonard Wood (of the Wood Brothers) has never seen anything like this.
ReplyDeleteMRN is just doing a great job. They are outstanding. I would trust them to cover anything -- presidential elections, 9/11, the Super Bowl -- I guarantee you they would be better than the type of coverage we normally get.
They are interviewing the Landon Cassill crew chief, who didn't even have a car until the beginning of February. He is giddy with joy, because he could be looking at a second-place finish.
ReplyDeleteMRN is interviewing Juan Pablo Montoya, who appears to be fine -- if somewhat stunned. The car simply spun on him, and he slammed into the jet dryer by accident.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR now has a huge team of guys trying to clear the track and repair everything. Because this happened on a turn, the workers are having to climb up and down the steep banking as they work.
ReplyDeleteNow they're using huge boxes of Tide detergent, and they are using the Tide to clean the damaged part of the track in some way. What a great advertisement for Tide.
ReplyDeleteThe President of Daytona International Speedway tells MRN that they believe the race can re-start in about 30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteDave Blaney is from Hartford, Ohio. He is 49 years old, and he has never won a Winston Cup race -- or whatever the top NASCAR series is called these days -- in 397 starts.
ReplyDelete