February 27, 2012
By Brenda Benedict
Disappointment is a description of everyone attending the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
Plans are being made to hold the race on Monday at noon, EST. The race never got further than opening ceremonies after a steady rain fell for the entire afternoon.
NASCAR finally made the decision to delay the race about 5 PM local time.
This is the first Daytona 500 to be postponed. There have been eight previous races where the race has been delayed or shortened but it has never been postponed to Monday before. The Great American Race was shortened because of rain in 1965, 1966, 2003 and 2009. It was run under yellow because of rain in 1963, 1979, 1992. In 1995 the race was red flagged for almost 2 hours but eventually was finished after the rain passed.
Joey Logano, the No. 20 Home Depot driver for Joe Gibbs Racing talked about the effect of the rain delay on the Daytona 500. Logano feels that the rain won’t affect the track too much. “It’s not a big handling race track, so it shouldn’t change much.”
That feeling was echoed by Carl Edwards as well. “The only thing is that the rain will make the track a little more abrasive to start.”
Edwards went on to speak of the difficulty will be maintaining a focus for all involved in the race. “This is one of the toughest things for us drivers. It’s now who can really stay focused. That’s not just the drivers, that’s the pit crews, the crew chiefs, everyone, the officials.”
Greg Biffle is itching to get racing. “Knowing that we have a good car, starting on the front row of the Daytona 500 and I feel like we can win this race. There’s just so much anxiety. I’ve watched all the programming leading up to this with all the interviews and then to just put it on hold makes it tough for a driver because there’s all kinds of adrenaline, and then have to try to sleep tonight.”
Bobby Labonte feels that the delay may actually help his chances in the race. “I went through a spell, every time we had a race that was delayed for hours -- or a day -- it seemed I won. This is all right by me if it turns out the same. I’ll be fine with that,” he joked.
The Great American Race is the capstone of NASCAR’s year even though it is the first race of the year. The postponement will have a major effect on the number of fans available to attend and watch the race.
Dave Rogers, crew chief for the No. 18, M&M’s Toyota for Kyle Busch was optimistic about Monday. “Hopefully, Mother Nature will cooperate and we’ll get the Daytona 500 in tomorrow afternoon.”
There are fans all over the country that feel the same way.
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