February 10, 2010
By Chuck Abrams
And the 2010 Budweiser Shootout ran too.
In case no one noticed, a little thing called the Budweiser Shootout ran on Saturday after a wild ARCA/ReMax race at Daytona.
Nothing against the ARCA drivers, since Frank Kimmel and Bobby Gerhart are among the best drivers out there, but there is a reason it is only 80 laps. There are a lot of drivers that ran out of talent in the first 10 laps.
But once the viewer suffered through the usual ARCA Antics, we were rewarded with a decent race and saw Bobby G win another Daytona 200. That is six wins at Daytona for Gerhart. Check out his interview on SpeedFreaks here...Speed Freaks - Gerhart Owns Daytona
An early crash took out Leilani Munter and Milka Duno leaving Danica Patrick, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jill George and youngster Alli Owens as the remaining female drivers in the field.
George got caught up in another early accident and the rest of the women in the race finished without further incident. Except for Danica. She got spun out but made a great save and finished in 6th place, thereby cementing her start in the Nationwide race this weekend. Gerhart will also attempt to qualify for the Nationwide race.
Danica did herself and JR Motorsports proud by running well and not making a spectacle of herself. She left that to the media and they did enough of that on their own.
In the other race that night, the Cup boys lined up and ran for some cash. Derrike Cope did the expected, parking his ride early to save himself as much cash as he could. Hey, it takes money to run these cars around the track!
The new drafting procedures seem to have some of the drivers a bit confused as evidenced by the number of wrecked cars. Kurt Busch whipping through the wet grass provided some awesome slow-mo footage of grass flying up through his engine compartment.
Dale Jr. drifted back through the race and complained of a loose racecar –- to anyone’s surprise? He finished in 11th place but remember, a late accident took out about six cars that could have finished in front of him. But he is on the front row for the 500, so maybe it was just an issue with his back up car. A front row start is great, but you have to perform during the race.
Kevin Harvick won the Bud Shootout, under caution, but looked strong for most of the race. Harvick will have to qualify his way into the 500 in the Twin races on Thursday, but if this run was anything for us to watch for, his Daytona 500 run could be a good one. And then he will disappear for the rest of the season. Just kidding. He is on a contract run this year.
The Roushkateers ran well all race long and Kasey Kahne seemed happy with his new Ford ride. Carl Edwards looked like the driver to beat but an accident ended his high hopes, as it did for Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
Former Roushkateer McMurray ran very well in his new blue bowtie car, but then he usually does run pretty well at Daytona. Maybe his change of employer will help him reclaim some of his lost glory. At least for a few races.
And how sweet was it to see Ken Schrader racing again? While he did not light the world on fire, he ran well and looked like he could contend.
Have a great time watching the Gatorade Twins and the Daytona 500.
For a look at some “expert” Top 20 picks, visit Race Talk Radio
Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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