Rating the Daytona 500: 4 Stars ****

An interesting day in Daytona kicked off the 2010 season. While the racing was very good, the unfortunate breaks during the day to fix holes in the track kept this from being an epic 500. Therefore, the Great American Race gets a 4 Star Rating.

A huge congratulations should go out to Jamie McMurray. What an emotional victory for him. Coming off a sub-par run in the Roush #26, he went back to what is now Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and won the biggest race of them all. It’s easy to forget that McMurray was a regular Chase contender during his days in the #42 in his first run with Chip Ganassi because the drought at Roush from 2006 to last year’s Talladega fall race was so bad. Now, McMurray is on top of the sport and it is great to see a driver so thrilled to win the Daytona 500. I said earlier this week that it was great to see the emotion from the drivers during the Duel races, and McMurray’s excitement after winning the race was priceless. It is fun to see someone accomplish something so great and be so excited about it afterward.

As for the rest of the race, there was pretty good racing throughout, and not one debris caution. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for California next week, but no debris cautions during Speedweeks for the Sprint Cup Series. It was certainly nice to have the race start earlier, and what a beautiful day it was. They could not have asked for anything more. A perfect blue sky with no clouds made this feel like a classic race. And it would have been had the pothole not developed in turn two.

Just once can we have a Daytona 500 without any interruptions? Last year it was rain, this year it was track damage caused by too much rain. I’m not going to blame the track, NASCAR or anybody for that matter; it is just unfortunate that the hole developed during the big race. Why couldn’t this have happened the day before? It still would have screwed up the Nationwide or truck race, but unless Danica’s car was hurt by it, not nearly as many people would have been so upset.

Before we go, a few other drivers should be congratulated on good runs.

With Richard Petty Motorsports merging with Yates and moving to Ford, it looked like the organization was headed down a path of inconsistency and constant turnover. However, on Sunday A.J. Allmendinger was leading the Daytona 500. Yes, it was early and yes, he wrecked later in the race, but he had a good car and his charge to the front was as strong as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s run on the final lap, plus it was cool to see the #43 out front at Daytona.

Next, Earnhardt Jr. gave McMurray a run for his money on the last lap of the race. Whether you are a fan or a hater, your heart had to be in your throat as you saw Jr. pull down from the top line and slice his way up to second on the backstretch. I disagree with those who say he may have won if there was one more lap, but it was reminiscent of his father’s final win at Talladega in 2000 when he came from 18^th to the lead in the final five laps.

So, the big letdown begins. California is next week. Man, Rockingham was (and is) such a good track, even if it did rain every other year. Anyway, it will be interesting to see who unloads well out west because we will really find out who has the power under the hood without the restrictor plates. Have a great week!