DAYTONA 500

Thats the first time ive seen the Daytona 500, and i have to say i really enjoyed it, particularly the last 100 laps, poor old mark Martin, i think he got a slighly bum deal, what with the yellow not being thrown when everyone was crashing and he still had the lead.
But overall that was a great Daytona to choose as my first.I guess it was on over here because of Montoya participating, not unlike the Mansell years in CART when it was easy to catch the race here in the U.K.
These days im not even sure where to look to catch a champ car race in the U.K.
P.s. any one got a link to Clint Bowyer's crash because it was all happening at the end, they didnt really cover the incident on TV here , they just showed the car sliding on its roof.

 

Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. If that had been the finish from "Talladega Nights" everybody had said, well it's just a movie. Here life was stranger and cooler than fiction.

 

I just think the argument was the actual rules of NASCAR, and did they follow them as the are written?

 

It is easy to see why Montoya would be frustrated. He had his car hooked up in qualifying, had mechanical problems in the 150, and then had handling problems during the 500. I think he did a good job to finish 19th and keep the car out of all the trouble during that race.

JPM will win be a race winner this season, for certain.

 

I really love to watch NASCAR's superspeedway races, especially Daytona. It seems like every year it never fails where there's a dramatic, tense shootout to the finish. Anyone who criticizes the sport as "just driving and turning left" can't possibly watch the incar footage of these guys bouncing around through the banking, inches apart, going 190 with the setting sun glaring through the windshield and say it's not racing. No true racing fan could fail to feel the intensity of a situation like that.

 

+1 - First NASCAR race I watched start to finish - great entertainment!

 

+1

Imagine Kimi in the Ferrari, Alonso in the McLaren, and JPM partnered with HK in the Renault...

 

That's a no-brainer -- easily 50% of the F1 teams are hopelessly uncompetitive. NASCAR is a much tougher environment for any driver to excel.

 

Realisticly there are only two drivers who will contend for the WDC this year, Alonso and Kimi. There are pretenders but longshots at best.

In NASCAR there are easily a dozen drivers at a minimum who are legitimate threats to win the Nextel Cup. A more reasonable wager would be will JPM win Rookie of the year, will he win a race this season, and/or will he make the final 12 in the race for the cup? Those are more interesting questions.

Personal I feel the first two are a definite and the third a possibility but much less certain.

 

the history of stock car racing is long and storied...one of the best cheaters of all time was jr. johnson. my good friend tiger tom pistone had told me that "we all cheated but junior was the best".

good stuff!!!

 

while not a NASCAR nor oval racing fan, I have to admit that was one hell of a race! I thought the colors did a great job too.

 

Didnt get to see the race but saw clips on Speed afterwards.

Real big of JPM to blame his crew crief for his inability to put the car into reverse properly. Cultivating those relationships early in the season. So very wise.
I think he's just holding back. After all he WAS a F1 winner and thus one of the elite.
Racin against Cooter and company should be a cake walk.
He's just settin them boys up. Clever fellow.

 

I was wondering when that was coming... JPM may be a great driver but wielding a 3500 lb monster around is not easy. "Cooter and company" is not how I view the new NASCAR. I think if you put the entire 2007 driver line-up in a picture, it would look like a cover of GQ magazine. Even "Boss Hog" would be impressed with the revenue generated by NASCAR.

 

that's something you can clearly see during the race from any in car camera- rush hour bumper to bumper josttling at close to 200mph.

JPM is still JPM-a whining cry baby. I had thought he might have changed going to NASCAR, nope.

 

Honeslty the only 2 races I see JPM having even a chance of winning this year are Infineon and Watgin's Glen. Even there though, hustling a huge car like that around isnt going to help him, so hes not in for a cakewalk anywhere. Theres even a good chance he wont get rookie of the year this year either.

 

I wish him the best. I hope he wins 10 championships and makes a billion dollars. Just as long as he never comes back to F1 and I never have to watch him again! Good luck JPM and glad you're gone...

 

By definite, do you mean "a definite possibility," or "definitely going to happen?"

If it's the latter, I hate to break it to you, but I don't see him winning RotY. Ganassi hasn't been *truly* competitive, week-in, week-out, for several years. By competitive, I mean a threat to win any given week like the Hendrick and Roush cars. This year looks to be that way for Richard Childress Racing (RCR).

Another thing not in JPMs favor is the fact that there are two rookies already garnering all the media attention - David Gilliland, the 500 pole sitter, and that feller who slid acrosst the finish line on his roof....

 

Really? Who do you know on the team? The folks I know who work for the NASCAR team all like having him around and find him easy to deal with.

 

Sorry. I meant a definite possibility, obviously. Everything is speculation until the chequered flag drops.

Just about every racing publication agrees with me on the first two, including a significant number of current NASCAR drivers, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon among them. I am a JPM fan and am obviously talking my position, but I figure the experts are in a better position to assess his chances and, since they agree with me, I am comfortable with my assertion.

 

Chris:

Don't bother arguing with him, you'll have better luck getting a sensible response from a soap dish. If JPM was the divisive whiner that phil seems to think he is, then Ganassi would hardly have hired him back.