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Fireworks and Mayhem at Daytona

An Opinion


July 11, 2012

By Chuck Abrams

Chuck Abrams


Well the 4th of July week sure provided plenty of fireworks in NASCAR.

First of all, Kurt Busch wins the nationwide race with a “heart and passion” speech in Victory Lane that really has convinced all of two people that he has hit bottom and gets what it is all about.

And of course, there was a big wreck coming to the checkers that saw Austin Dillon getting spun and crossing the line sideways.

Danica Patrick even led some laps but was taken out late in the race ruining her chance for a top 10 finish.

Then in the Sprint Cup Series, the fireworks started before the race when Sam Hornish, Jr. replaced A.J. Allmendinger after A.J. failed a random drug test after Kentucky. A.J. Allmendinger??? Seriously?? Penske is holding off on comments until his B test is done this week. We will probably know the outcome of that by the weekend.

In the meantime, Hornish will sub for A.J. until they can clear up what went wrong. He either had a bad test or he went Mayfield on us. NASCAR is not notified of the failed test until the medical team has a chance to confront the driver and hear what he has to say. Evidently his explanation, if he had one, was not satisfactory and NASCAR was notified and they then suspended him until this can be figured out.

Then there was the race. A big, long night of pack racing that was like a big long parade -- with wrecks. As unusually boring as this race was, the TV shots were incredible. You could see the cars coming off of the corners, being forced into the chute, jockeying around and bouncing all over the place at 200 mph. That was incredible, even if no one could pass.

There were some great moments of driving too, when Kurt Busch got loose by being “passionate” about where he put his car. The square peg did not fit into the round hole and sparks went flying. Several of the drivers involved somehow maintained control. It was the drivers behind this incident that got squirrely and started to spin out.

It wasn’t until much later when Denny Hamlin got a little “passionate” and Greg Biffle had a screw go loose in the final laps that we knew who was going to win. And his name wasn’t Matt Kenseth. The final restart saw Tony Stewart, who started in the back, pass the leaders like they were standing still waiting for the trophy. Once Smoke got past Kenseth and Biffle, Biffle lost his mind as well as control of his car and there was carnage. Again. And Smoke was in Victory Lane.

While I am happy for Smoke, and cementing his Chase hopes early this year, NASCAR needs to do something about this restrictor plate race package. The Daytona 500 was not as boring as this race was. The cars were able to pass a little bit easier. Now you can argue that Smoke must have been able to pass as he drove from the back to the front and that last pass was amazing, and you would be right. But for the majority of the night, positions were picked up on pit road or on restarts. The rest of the night the cars basically drove around in a big pack that, while it looked cool, was not much of a race. Heck, the Nationwide race was better than the Cup race.

Brian France said that they are looking at things to improve the racing product. I would highly recommend looking at the plate race package and getting that right before the next race at Daytona.

And lastly, who thought at this time of year there would be two drivers with three wins each. One of them named Tony Stewart and the other….Brad Keselowski?

Those are my thoughts, let me know yours!

Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.








Feel free to send Chuck your thoughts on this and other race topics at Insider Racing News.
You Can Read Other Articles By Chuck Abrams

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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