I’ve seen fire and
I’ve seen rain… and just about everything else at this point.
Last night, Darrell Waltrip was right on the money when he
said we would be seeing something never seen before in NASCAR. But who
would have thought it would involve a jet dryer, some Tide, a twitpic, and a couple
forklifts… amongst other things?
Approximately 36 hours after it was originally slated to
start due to rain, the 54th Daytona 500 ended with Matt Kenseth capturing
his second victory in the Great American Race, and first with new sponsor Best
Buy on the hood of his #17 Ford Fusion. The unintentional debut of “Monday Night NASCAR” caught the
attention of millions of people across the country, with some dubbing it the second
coming of the 1979 event; a race that helped propel the sport into the
powerhouse it is today.
One of the biggest surprises of the night didn’t include
those who were up front at the end of the race, but of those whose night ended
virtually before it began. Several big names were taken out of contention after
a crash on just the second lap of the 200-lap event. After a nudge from Elliott
Sadler, five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson slammed head-first
into the outside wall, collecting David Ragan, Kurt Busch, defending 500 winner
Trevor Bayne, and rookie-sensation Danica Patrick, who made her series debut
Monday night. Busch, Patrick, and Bayne were able to continue after lengthy
repairs, which put them several laps down and out of the running for the win.
Later on in the race, three-time Daytona 500 champ Jeff Gordon lost an engine
and his hopes for a fourth victory.
Perhaps the most bizarre moment came under caution on lap 159 when Juan
Pablo Montoya lost control of his #42 Target Chevy and slammed into the back of
a pickup truck equipped with a jet dryer, demolishing Montoya’s car and setting
the truck ablaze. The winner of both the Indianapolis 500 and Grand Prix of
Monaco complained of a vibration earlier in the race and was trying to diagnose
the problem when something snapped in the rear-end, sending him barreling into
the dryer. Both Montoya and truck driver Duane Barnes escaped serious injury,
even though Barnes was sent to nearby Halifax Medical Center for further
evaluation. The incident caused a red-flagged delay of over two hours while
track crews worked to clean up the mess caused by the fire and almost 200
gallons of spilled diesel fuel.
During the delay, Brad Keselowski used his iPhone to snap a picture
of the view from his car and tweet it, which created a viral reaction and gained
him over 110,000 new followers in just over a few hours. Why he had his phone
in his car is a mystery, but it provided much-needed entertainment to many of
the drivers during the cleanup process. However, one can only wonder who the
Penske driver was tweeting to at the time of his crash on lap 185… just kidding
Brad!
Monday night proved that there is always a first time for
everything. It was the first time in the history that the Daytona 500 was postponed
to Monday because of rain, not to mention it was held in primetime, another
first for the sport. It was also the first time since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did
it in 2004 when the winner of a Gatorade Duel race went on to win the 500.
Let’s not forget the jet dryer incident, Twittergate, Danica Mania, the death
of the two-car tango, and an almost-win for an underdog in Dave Blaney. There
probably won’t be a race this crazy for years to come… but one should never say never.
It is hard to write about a race that leaves you at a loss
for words, let alone pick out contenders for “Checkers and Wreckers”. After a
few hours of sleep and a healthy dose of caffeine, I think I’ve nailed down my
picks…
Checkers: Without
a doubt this goes out to everyone
involved in getting in the entire 200-lap race. Between NASCAR’s decision to
hold the race on Monday night, to the staff at Daytona International Speedway
for cleaning up the track as quickly and efficiently as possible, to FOX and
all the media who stuck around to cover the action for countless hours, and
to all the fans who chugged coffee and stayed up to see the exciting finish,
this turned out to be one of the best Daytona 500s in history.
We will be talking about this one for years and years to
come.
Wreckers: It only
takes “Juan” person to make headlines, am I right? Juan Pablo Montoya has won
just about everything in racing, except a big stock car race. But last night he
went down in a blaze of glory, taking a jet dryer and a couple hundred gallons
of diesel fuel with him. I guess if you can’t win the race you might as well
steal the show… Here’s to hoping JPM can finally find some luck in 2012.
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Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR
Track workers clean Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway after a mechanical failure to Juan Pablo Montoya's car caused it to slideinto a track dryer.
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