Rating the Coke Zero 400: 5 Stars *****

The Sprint Cup Series roared back into a drier and less flammable Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night and put on perhaps the best race of the season. The Fourth of July celebration in Daytona gets a 5 Star Rating.

Tony Stewart ran a clean race that was otherwise filled with drivers making those breathtaking moves that fans love when they race inches apart at 200 mph for hours on end. Sometimes those moves create big wrecks that stir the pot and get people talking about what should or should not have happened. Either way, it was exciting.

The first half of the race flew by with no cautions until lap 81 when Sam Hornish Jr., fresh off of an emergency trip to Daytona Beach to replace suspended A.J. Allmendinger in the #22 car, spun after a tire went down.

Yes, the first half of the race was as incident-free as many of the other races this season, but the two-wide, 200-mph pack is exciting regardless of the circumstances.

There weren’t many passes for the lead, but the race certainly had a tension level higher than most every other race this year outside of the Daytona 500, but it also created a don’t-move-from-your-seat-because-anything-could-happen feel that the tandem restrictor-plate races of the past couple of years simply didn’t produce until the end of the race.

The second half of the race, as is the case with many restrictor-plate races, is when the field went mad. Kurt Busch tried to force his way through a hold the size of a beach ball on lap 91 and created the first big wreck of the evening. That was followed by the traditional big wrecks as the laps wind down, including the insanity that gets unleashed when the flagman reaches for the checkered flag.

Stewart, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth crossed the line in front of a massive wreck that collected most of the front half of the field, creating an interesting finishing order that included Michael Waltrip in ninth and Bobby Labonte in 10^th.

Although Stewart won the race, Kenseth had the best car of the night. He and Greg Biffle have dominated the restrictor-plate races this year the way Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to during their days at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Kenseth could have won all three of the restrictor-plate races this season, but the crazy circumstances that surround those races don’t often reward the driver with the best car. In any case, Kenseth again extended his points lead to 25 over Earnhardt Jr. and is on his way to cruising to the Chase with the points lead.

It’s too bad Kenseth will leave at the end of the year because that group is clicking as well as it has since Robbie Reiser was atop the pit box for the “Killer Bees” in the first half of the 2000s.

As for Stewart, the Daytona win gives him three victories on the season and moves him up to fifth in the points standings. That #14 team might not be the most consistent team in the field, but it certainly has the power to be as good as anyone in the sport every given week. That will make Stewart a strong contender for the championship again this season.

Next up is New Hampshire, where Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman dominated a year ago. Newman won the pole and the race, and Stewart finished second. Lookout folks, those Stewart-Haas Racing cars have Hendrick Motorsports power, and those engines have won five of the last eight races, including the All-Star Race.

This could be a fun rest of the season between Hendrick power and Roush-Fenway Racing power if the Fords can keep up on the intermediate tracks.

Have a great week, everybody.

Bruton Smith attempts to fix a self-inflicted problem with Bristol

As with many changes in the world of NASCAR during the past decade, the 2007 reconfiguration of Bristol Motor Speedway turned out to be a flop.

The World’s Fastest Half-Mile and host of two of the most anticipated races of the Sprint Cup Series season went from the role model of all short tracks to a wanna-be speed track.

Instead of the one-groove, beat-and-bang racing that made the track famous, the reconfiguration turned the track into a short version of nearly half of the tracks on the NASCAR schedule. Drivers could suddenly run side-by-side lap after lap. That was unheard of prior to 2007. If a driver didn’t hold the bottom of the track, he got freight-trained and sent to the back.

Now, not all fans hate the new version of the track and not all fans loved the old version. Even back in Bristol’s glory days when races were nearly sold out years in advance, some people complained that it wasn’t “real racing” just as they complain that restrictor-plate racing isn’t “real racing.”

The same can be said for the two road courses on the schedule. Some people think NASCAR should add more to the schedule and others never want to see a stock car on a track that doesn’t exclusively have left turns. Whatever real racing is, some people don’t like anything that is different.

In any case, it looks like track owner Bruton Smith is going to finally do something Monday Morning Crew Chief suggested a year ago in this story and put Bristol back the way it was before the repave. Smith has said he will use $1 million to fix the track. What can $1 million do to change a track? Only Smith and his cohorts know the specifics of that, but it is sounding like the progressive banking has seen its last race.

Unfortunately, NASCAR has caused or dealt with many changes in the past decade that many fans wish would be put back as they were previously.

Daytona International Speedway had to be repaved for the start of the 2011 season. The pothole during the 2010 Daytona 500 proved that. But, both the repaves at Daytona and Talladega produced two-car drafts that at times made for tame restrictor-plate racing, which was something many people didn’t think was possible.

All of a sudden the fans spoke out that they didn’t like the new drafting style and NASCAR worked to make the racing more like the old, big packs that made restrictor-plate races thrilling. Even then, most fans heard way more about how the cars cooling systems work than they ever cared to know. Plus Speedweeks felt like one huge test session because nobody knew how the races would look.

Fans also got NASCAR to remove the rear wing from the new Cars of Tomorrow and bring back the traditional spoiler. There have been several other examples throughout the decade of fans wanting a change to some aspect of the sport. NASCAR has addressed some, and left others such as the Chase format alone.

The sport has to change to some extent. That’s the way of the world, especially the car world. New cars come out every year with new innovations incorporated into the new model.

It is interesting, however, that most of the recent changes have been to return the racing back to how it was before a particular change was made. Even the 2013 Cup models are an attempt to return the look of the cars back to some semblance of the corresponding passenger car, as they were back in the day.

Now, whether Smith can bring back Bristol the way it used to be remains to be seen, but sometimes the best change is the one not made. That would saved several of the sport’s controversies during the last decade.

Rating the Daytona 500: 3 Stars ***

It’s finally over. The Daytona 500 that would never start turned into the Daytona 500 that refused to end. There was rain, there was fire and there was racing, but the whole extravaganza only gets a 3 Star Rating.

Nearly 36 hours after it was scheduled to begin, the Great American Race ended with Matt Kenseth celebrating in Victory Lane. Too bad it took so long to get there, but my oh my there was some crazy action in between.

The race was good, but the circumstances that surrounded the race also made it an endurance test for not only the drivers, but also the fans.

This was Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 win, but that was about the only part of the race that was not a historical first. Basically everything else associated with the race was something nobody had ever seen before.

First, rain forced NASCAR officials to push the race back to Monday. That had never happened in the 54-year history of the race. That turned this year’s 500 into Monday Night NASCAR after rain continued throughout the morning and afternoon Monday.

Second, Juan Pablo Montoya had one of the wildest freak accidents in the history of the sport. As he drove down the backstretch under caution to catch back up with the field, something in the back of the car broke and he slid up into a safety truck with a jet dryer full of 200 gallons of fuel. That spells disaster.

Thankfully, and miraculously, nobody was hurt in the accident, but both Montoya’s car and the safety truck burst into a fire ball upon impact. The fuel then spilled out of the jet engine and a raging fire ensued.

Also miraculously, safety workers were able to get the fire under control and had the whole mess cleaned up in slightly more than two hours.

After all of that, there was still some racing left, and for the most part it was good racing.

The pack racing returned this year and made for a great Speedweeks. Even if all of the other crazy stuff had not have happened, this would have been an exciting race. The drivers drove in a tight pack all night, there were the typical big restrictor-plate wrecks and another close finish.

Overall, the Daytona 500 was a success, which is amazing. Any lesser event would’ve disintegrated into a never-ending marathon that people wished was already over.

Don’t get me wrong, this was certainly a marathon. But, the action was great on the track and most of the seats at the track were full. The number of fans who stuck around to watch the race, even as it moved into the early hours of Monday morning, was amazing. Most tracks can barely fill half of its seats for a postponed race, but the Daytona International Speedway still had the electricity that can only be found at the Daytona 500.

Also, congratulations to Kenseth. This win puts him on an exclusive list with only eight other drivers who won multiple Daytona 500’s. He had one of the strongest cars all week and certainly deserved the win.

Now the Sprint Cup Series can finally pack up and head out to a place where it likely won’t have to worry about rain. The tough part will be getting the logistics worked out to get all of the equipment out to Phoenix International Raceway. Everybody will be at Phoenix on Friday; it will just be more stressful than normal to get there.

Another benefit to the delayed Daytona 500 is now only three days stand between now and the next time Cup cars are on the racetrack.

Hopefully fans got as much out of Speedweeks as they wanted. Whether or not they liked the race, they will at least have great stories to tell about this year’s wild Daytona 500 experience.

Have a great week, everybody.

Hauler drivers face concerns after Daytona 500 delay

The unsung heroes of NASCAR teams each and every week, are about to have a very tough week ahead of them.


Every NASCAR fan care about the driver and a crew chief. It takes a special fan to pay attention to the pit crew. It takes a die-hard to care about the member in the worst shape after the Daytona 500 is finally in the books -- the hauler driver.


Depending the week and the tracks in question, a hauler driver could drive thousands of miles transporting cars to and from the track and the team facility.


This week, it's going to be even worse. After the Daytona 500 is complete, whether it's Monday night or Tuesday morning, it's going to be a long week for all of the hauler drivers.


When the race is over, the crew must pack up the car and take it back to the home-base in Mooresville, N. C., or about 504 miles away according to Google Maps. That's about an eight and a half hour drive.

After unloading all the Daytona equipment, teams must load equipment and cars for the race at Phoenix the following weekend. That can't be a quick process, I'll guess it would be about a three-hour event. So far, we are at a minimum 11 and a half hours from Daytona to ready to leave for Phoenix.

The drive from Moorseville to Phoenix International Raceway is a long one, 2,110 miles. Google Maps says it would take one day and nine hours, or 33 hours one way. That's puts us at a total of 44 and a half hours from Daytona to Phoenix not including sleep and rest stops. That's not going to be an easy trip for anybody.

"I just was looking at the schedule earlier today," Carl Edwards said. "We're not on the track till midday Friday or something.  Yeah, if we were to put this out until Tuesday, I think that would be real tough.


"But I'm sure it will be fine.  I mean, we've got guys, they can do it.  I know our Phoenix stuff is ready to go.  I think there might be an issue with some of the engines, especially with our FR-9s.  Have to ask Jack.  Doug Yates, the quantity, the amount of engines we had to have ready for these races, I'm sure they'll be running back and forth and turning things over."


That may be a simple transfer for teams as big as Roush, but the smaller teams may have issues.

Bobby Labonte of JTG Dougherty Racing is concerned for the hauler driver's safety.

"It's going to make a tough trip for the truck drivers more than anything else, leaving here, when we do leave here, to go home and make a swap," Labonte said. "How many hours will that take?  You have to make sure that you're planned well enough that your truck drivers can get there in the amount of time that's out there.  It's a long ways.  So we'll see."

The drivers have to be parked in the Phoenix infield by 5 a.m. Friday, moved from 5 p.m. Thursday, to get prepared for the weekend festivities. So if you see a NASCAR Hauler behind you this week, be sure to get out of the way and let them go. They are going to be in as much of a hurry as the NASCAR drivers will be at Daytona.

The calm before the Daytona storm

NASCAR fans waited all year for Speedweeks to begin in mid-February, and all of a sudden the final hours are counting down before the culmination of the greatest racing week of the year.

All of the preliminary events are over. The Budweiser Shootout, duel races, truck race, Nationwide race and multitude of practice sessions were often wild. But, now the massive Daytona International Speedway will go dark to prepare for its greatest day yet.

The drivers and teams have nothing left to do. They have prepared at the track for eight days, and several months at the shop before that. Now it is time to try and keep the anticipation of the biggest race of the year at bay as much as possible.

Even drivers who have participated in nearly every event throughout Speedweeks will take precautions to stay as calm as possible on this night. From defending Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart to Daytona 500 rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the drivers know this race means much more than everything else they have done so far during Speedweeks.

The 24 hours before the Daytona 500 are similar to both Christmas Eve and the night before the Super Bowl. There is electricity in the air that can only be felt in the final day before a big event.

Fans’ hearts have been turning more than 9,000 rpm’s for much of the last week. Now it is time to take a breath and gear up for the final big event of Speedweeks.

Overall, Speedweeks is one of the greatest times of the year in NASCAR. Sure, the final stretches of a close championship battle such as last year’s race between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards are exciting, but there is still the lingering feeling that everything will shut down once the race ends at Homestead.

Things are still fresh during Speedweeks. Fans have gotten a good look at all of the new teams and colors for the upcoming season, and they will finally be able to see those teams in a regular-season race.

There is still a bit of a letdown once the race and post-race festivities end because the nearly two-week long party is over, but the rest of the season still stretches out to provide a reason to look forward. That week between Daytona and Phoenix is a heck of a lot shorter than the time between Homestead and Daytona.

As the gates close and the lights go off at the track Saturday evening, there will be an aura that surrounds the speedway. The next time the sun comes up, one of the greatest days of the year will be upon us.

By Sunday morning folks will wake up knowing that a great gift sits beneath the figurative Christmas tree in the form of a 500-mile race that is like no other.

They will put on their favorite driver’s gear and head to the track or turn on the television to be taken on a ride they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Get ready; it’s almost time for The Great American Race.

Duel race #2 shockingly goes caution-free

The second duel race Thursday may have been the tamer of the two qualifying races for the Daytona 500, but it also included something not seen in NASCAR in seven years.

It had a flagman who didn't wave the yellow flag once during the race's entire 60 laps.

Before Thursday, NASCAR hadn’t had a caution-free race of any kind since the second duel race in 2004, which was only 125 miles compared to the current 150-mile length.

After Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout, many people said the Sprint Cup Series cars are too unstable to run competitively without wrecking, but of course that was after just one race and a few practice sessions.

However, the drivers apparently can race under the current restrictor-plate rules package without wrecking. They proved it in the second duel race Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

The shootout had four wrecks and the first duel race had two more hard wrecks, but nobody dropped out of the second duel race because of a wreck.

In fact, winner Matt Kenseth set a record for the fastest duel race in history at 194.175 mph.

Caution-free races are always going to be an extremely rare breed because so many things can happen during a race, but I had begun to think they were extinct.

Instead, the second duel race proved that at least a qualifying race, which is supposed to be one of the wildest races of the season, can go green from start to finish.

The last points-paying race to never see a yellow flag was the October 2002 race at Talladega won by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Several factors go into having a complete race uninterrupted by a yellow flag. First and most obviously, the drivers need to run a clean race and not cause any wrecks.

Second, the cars must avoid mechanical or tire problems that could put fluid on the track or put a car in the wall.

Third, NASCAR officials must not throw the caution flag for debris on the racetrack.

Unfortunately, many of the long green-flag runs are cut short because of debris cautions.

The longest stretch between cautions in recent years was the 201 consecutive green-flag laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June 2010. The longest green-flag stretch to start a race was at Auto Club Speedway last year when the first caution didn’t come out until lap 75.

However, both of those green-flag runs ended because of debris on the track.

NASCAR did a better job last year in terms of throwing fewer debris cautions, especially cautions for debris that television cameras can’t find on the track. Officials even held a meeting with reporters before Speedweeks where they addressed the issue of debris cautions.

"First off, if you're going to have a debris caution, you'd better have debris, right?" said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition. "That's starters. I mean, we don't randomly call something."

Speedweeks 2012 have started well without a single debris caution. Hopefully that continues for the rest of the weekend.

Granted, Thursday’s caution-free duel race was only 60 laps and had only a 24-car field, but maybe, just maybe, a full points-paying race without a caution is still possible in NASCAR.

NASCAR need not change current restrictor-plate rules package

Once Talladega Superspeedway received new asphalt in 2006 and Daytona International Speedway got a fresh surface for 2011, the style of racing at the two tracks changed dramatically, and not necissarily for the better.

Gone were the 30-car packs that had drivers lined up three-wide six or more rows deep. Instead, drivers learned they could push the car in front of them and gain as much as 10 mph.

That lesson quickly did away with the packs and created restrictor-plate races that were at times downright tame until the end of the race. Nearly every two-car draft race ended in a photo finish, but that was about the only thrilling part of the race.

NASCAR fans quickly expressed their displeasure with the new style of restrictor-plate racing, and NASCAR officials went to work to phase out the two-car draft and bring back the large packs.

Well, they certainly accomplished that.

Through a myriad of changes to the cars, NASCAR teams came to Daytona for Speedweeks this year with a rules package that nearly eliminated the two-car draft. The large pack was back on display Saturday night, and my of my it was intense.

The only potential problem with the current restrictor-plate racing package is the vulnerability to large wrecks. The Budweiser Shootout had three crashes that involved six or more cars, two cars caught fire and Jeff Gordon flipped up onto his roof.

Those incidents started grumblings throughout the sport that maybe the new pack style of racing is no good either. Those grumblings, however, should be discarded.

I understand the safety issues. NASCAR doesn’t want to have huge wrecks that could potentially hurt drivers. Any reasonable fan should feel the same way. However, the Budweiser Shootout won by Kyle Busch on Saturday night was the most exciting restrictor-plate race start-to-finish since the 2007 Daytona 500 when Kevin Harvick edged out Mark Martin for the win.

There is simply nothing as intense as a three-wide pack of racecars filling up the track at speeds near or above 200 mph.

Nearly every wreck in the shootout was caused by a driver pushing another car on the left side of the bumper. That caused the front car to spin out.

We don’t need rule changes to fix that. The drivers simply don’t need to push the car in front of them.

People screamed for years and years before NASCAR used the Car of Tomorrow at Daytona in 2008 that drivers shouldn’t bump draft because it could spin out the car in front. The bumpers on the cars didn’t line up on the old car models, and drivers used the bump draft sparingly. Now they just need to go back to that approach.

If they want to push, great, they just have to be very careful with it and choose their opportunities wisely.

NASCAR did a great job with the current rules package for Speedweeks. This is as close to the old style of restrictor-plate racing the sport has seen in years, and the racing in the shootout was even more exciting than the old days.

In the days of the old pack racing, the front 10 to 15 drivers would eventually get lined up on the bottom and run single-file for a portion of the race. A pass for the lead was an incredibly difficult proposition.

Nobody got lined up single-file for more than two or three consecutive laps in the shootout and drivers were able to make passes all around the racetrack.

Although this might be heresy to some people, the current restrictor-plate rules package might produce the most exciting plate racing ever.

NASCAR officials worked hard to create the perfect mix of rules to create exciting racing. Here’s hoping they don’t succumb to pressure to try and fix a problem that no longer exists.

Kyle Busch’s shootout win may have been greatest restrictor-plate race performance ever

Forty-eight laps through Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch sat in Turn 2 facing the infield grass.

For most drivers, that view means they have wrecked, or are well on their way to wrecking. At a restrictor-plate track such as Daytona that usually means their race is over and they will get a free trip to the infield care center.

But Kyle Busch isn’t like most drivers.

While sparks flew from the back of his #18 car as if he had dropped a full bag of M&M’s, Busch manhandled his car through the turn, back up onto the track and back in contention.

Then he did it again in Turn 4 on lap 74, although all of the other nearby drivers wrecked to bring out a caution.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series didn’t even have a full race in the books, and Busch already locked up the title for the two best saves of the 2012 season.

However, Busch didn’t stop there.

Despite damage on the front of the car as a result of the wrecks, Busch hooked up with Tony Stewart on the final lap to push to the front. He then pulled out to the high side coming out of Turn 4 and passed Stewart to win the race by the closest margin in Budweiser Shootout history.

NASCAR has raced with restrictor plates for nearly 25 years, and we have seen other incredible performances from legends in the sport. But, Busch’s effort at Daytona on Saturday night might have been the greatest ever.

Sure, drivers such as David Pearson, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and even Tony Stewart have won their fair share of incredible races at Daytona and Talladega.

Pearson won the 1976 Daytona 500 by crossing the finish line with a torn up car after he and Richard Petty crashed coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap of the race.

Elliott came back from two laps down to win the 1985 spring race at Talladega Superspeedway without the aid of a caution flag.

However, both of those were before NASCAR began using restrictor plates in 1888.

Earnhardt’s finest come-from-behind moment happened at Talladega in the fall of 2000 when he came from 18th place in the final four laps to win his final race.

Stewart drove through the grass through Turn 1, jumped back up on the track and went on to win the 2005 Nationwide race at Daytona. But, he only had one wild ride that day. Busch had two Saturday night.

There have surely been other great performances at restrictor-plate throughout the years. But none of them had to overcome as many setbacks, and none of them won by such a close margin.

Busch should have wrecked twice, but he held onto the car both times, had damage to the front of his car because of his two incredible saves and then won the race by the closest of margins.

Even Busch’s competitors recognized the talent he displayed in the shootout.

“There's a lot of guys that wouldn't have caught that,” second-place finisher Tony Stewart said. “I'm sitting there and the green is still out. I'm going, 'Man, that's the coolest save I've seen in a long time.'"

"That was awesome!" Jimmie Johnson said over the radio after Busch's first save.

Many people love to hate Busch for one reason or another. Some of that hatred is justified by his actions such as the incident at Texas Motor Speedway in November when Busch intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr., who was in contention for the truck series championship.

Even with all of that baggage, Busch’s performance Saturday night has to stand out as one of the greatest performances the sport has seen.

Granted, it was an exhibition race, but Busch went through more in the 75 laps that make up the shootout than most drivers endure in a full 500-mile race.

Rather Busch’s win goes down as the most impressive restrictor-plate victory or not, the 2012 Budweiser Shootout should be remembered as one of Busch’s best performances ever.

Rating the Budweiser Shootout: 5 Stars *****

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season opened in grand fashion with a 200 mph high-flying act that included bumps, flips and a photo finish. The 2012 Budweiser Shootout gets a no-brainer of a 5 Star Rating.

What a race, folks. NASCAR officials, drivers and fans have been wringing their hands all offseason about what type of racing would be on display once Speedweeks began at Daytona International Speedway.

Well, I think all of that worry can now be channeled into great excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead for the rest of the week.

This race had just about everything that makes race fans sit on the edge of their seat for an entire race. It even had a pretty exciting photo finish to cap off the night.

Race fans wanted the large restrictor-plate racing packs to return to Daytona and Talladega superspeedway racing. The Bud Shootout sure provided that. Nobody could hook up in a two-car draft and pull away from the crowd. The three-wide swarm of cars that is one of the most adrenaline-spiking sights in all of sports was back.

When drivers put on a show like they did Saturday night, the number of laps remaining hardly seems to matter. There’s almost no time to look to the top of the television screen to see how much of the race is left because the action is so intense on the track.

For those who like big wrecks, those are back too. Some people will say all wrecks are a bad thing. That’s fair. No reasonable person wants to see even their most hated driver get hurt. But, those wrecks make highlight shows for a reason, and boy did we have some big ones Saturday night.

Jeff Gordon had the most spectacular crash of the evening as his car slid out of Turn 4 on on the driver’s side window and then flipped three times before settling completely upside down.

Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip also had scary adventures when their cars caught on fire during one of the big wrecks. Thankfully, everybody came out of the race unhurt.

Even with all that went on in those wild 82 laps, Kyle Busch stole the show.

Busch’s #18 car was completely sideways on two separate occasions and yet he never spun out. Both times he made ridiculous saves to keep from crashing. Sparks showered the track and the front of the car crinkled, but Busch miraculously held on to the car to stay in contention.

Not only did he stay in contention, but he went on to win the race.

Not only did he win the race, but he did so in spectacular fashion by inching out Tony Stewart at the finish line by .013 seconds, the closest finish in Budweiser Shootout history.

A photo finish is like a walk-off homerun in baseball. It is simply the most exciting thing that can happen at the end of an event.

The best part of all of this is that the shootout is only the first Cup race of Speedweeks. There are still three other Cup races, a Nationwide race and a truck race that could very well be just as exciting.

Oh boy, strap in for one heck of a week. The Budweiser Shootout was great, and if NASCAR doesn’t change any rules the rest of Speedweeks is shaping up to be just as good.

#48 team’s rule infraction par for the course at Speedweeks

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was less than 24 hours old and NASCAR officials already had a controversy on their hands.

Jimmie Johnson and his #48 Hendrick Motorsports team showed up at Daytona International Speedway with pieces of the car that didn’t quite fit with NASCAR regulations.

The Lowe’s Chevrolet had a “C post” on the car that NASCAR deemed to be outside of the rules, and it would’ve given the car an aerodynamic advantage.

The C post is the piece of metal that runs across the top of the passenger window down to the trunk lid. NASCAR said the C post on Johnson’s car was rounded too much.

The team had to change the C posts on the car and NASCAR will likely announce any penalties in the days following the Daytona 500.

However, this type of issue should not be a shocking development during Speedweeks.

Sure, this gives fans who don’t like Johnson, Knaus or the entire #48 team another chance to shout from the mountaintops that the team is full of cheaters. However, plenty of seasons start with some sort of controversy.

The #48 team had a similar situation happen in 2006, and NASCAR sent crew chief Chad Knaus home for the rest of Speedweeks. It didn't matter, though. Johnson still went on to win the Daytona 500.

Michael Waltrip Racing also got busted for having rocket fuel in its cars during the team’s first Speedweeks in 2007.

More often than not, one story quickly dominates headlines during Speedweeks, and Johnson’s issue is just this year’s version.

While it’s nice to say anyone who works on the edges of the rule book should have it thrown at them when they go too far, but pushing the envelope is a crew chief’s job.

Some of the best crew chiefs in the history in the sport occasionally go too far in their innovations.

For example, Ray Evernham built a car for Jeff Gordon in the 1997 Winston all-star race that absolutely dominated the event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The car didn’t officially break any rules, but NASCAR told Evernham he couldn’t run that car again.

Does that mean Evernham cheated for that race? No, he was just the most innovative, and best, crew chief of his time.

Chad Knaus is the same way. NASCAR and team officials said the #48 car likely would’ve passed inspection and fit the templates. The problem was the areas between the template points that NASCAR said was the problem.

Generally, these types of issues happen during Speedweeks because teams have an entire offseason to optimize their Daytona 500 car.

A new season is also the first time teams work with the current year’s rules and car models. Even though NASCAR mandates nearly every part of a car these days, there is always going to be a breaking in period at the beginning of the season.

If something like the #48 team’s issue comes up in a few weeks there might be a more severe reaction, but Speedweeks is similar to the first round of golf for a year. The teams have to work out some the kinks.

However, these issues give people plenty to talk about during Speedweeks, and they usually set the stage for quite an interesting year.

If the first day was any indication, there will be plenty of topics to debate throughout this season.

NASCAR New Year’s Day approaches

The calendar might already say 2012, but for NASCAR fans the year might as well not start until the third week of February.

That’s when the eyes of the NASCAR world turn to Daytona Beach, Fla., to celebrate the coming of a new racing season.

There will be parties, concerts and television specials, but most importantly there will be race cars circling the greatest speedway ever built at 200 mph.

Oh, I get chills just thinking about it.

Practice for the Budweiser Shootout will begin Friday to kick off Speedweeks, followed by the 75-lap race Saturday night and qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Sometimes when we anticipate something so much it feels kind of weird when it actually happens. That’s often how the beginning of Speedweeks feels.

NASCAR has one of the shortest offseasons of any sport, but those 97 days between Homestead and Daytona are always feel like the longest days of the year.

Now, less than a week from now we will no longer have to dream about what Kasey Kahne will look like in his brand new #5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevy or what style of racing drivers will use at Daytona this year. The lights will be on and the cars will shine as they flash by the start/finish line to kick off a satisfyingly full 2012 racing season.

This weekend also marks the last weekend without a Sprint Cup Series race until April. NASCAR pushed the start of the season back one week this year to eliminate the early off week at the beginning of the season.

That should make the start of the season even better because there won’t be an interruption until Easter. In past years it was frustrating to wait all offseason for racing and then have an off week after only three races.

Even if it was a dreary winter without much joy, at least there will be a race for the next six weeks in a row.

By that time leaves will be on the trees throughout the country and many neighborhoods will be filled with the sound of lawnmowers on Saturday morning.

Until then, let the wonderfully green grass of the Daytona International Speedway tri-oval and the palm trees in the background fill your television set for the next two weeks.

Speedweeks at Daytona always feels like the first step in the push toward spring, and there is going to be nothing better to start that push than having a full field of drivers start their engines next Saturday night.

Regardless of what the weather says, get ready to say goodbye to winter and hello to the beginning of a long stretch of exciting Sunday afternoons.

Welcome to the real beginning of 2012.

NASCAR gets close to Daytona package during test, but won’t do away with two-car draft

NASCAR and the Sprint Cup Series teams got down to business for three days this week to hammer out what style of restrictor-plate racing we will see this year.

Teams hit the high banks Thursday at Daytona International Speedway and went straight to the now-common two-car draft. Speeds reached 202 mph, and it looked a lot like what we have seen the past couple of years.

NASCAR came back Friday with a larger restrictor plate and more rules designed to make it tougher to do the two-car draft. Speeds reached 206 mph during two-car drafting runs with the larger plate, but we also finally saw a session of three-wide pack racing.

As Saturday rolled around, NASCAR brought back the smaller restrictor plate and a few more rules related to air flow into the engine. The top speeds in the two-car draft reached 201 mph, but it looked like drivers had a difficult time staying hooked together for multiple laps.

Before the test started, everybody talked about how NASCAR wanted to eliminate the two-car drafts and bring back the huge packs. Well, it turns out the leaders at NASCAR don’t want to completely eliminate the two-car draft, but rather make it difficult enough so drivers only use it sparingly.

The sport got closer to a workable rules package for Speedweeks, but it could have gotten closer to taking away the two-car draft.

Almost every team will bring back a car for Speedweeks in February that is faster, has more-efficient cooling and all of the tricks teams add to the cars they are actually going to race. The teams certainly gained a lot of data this week, but a lot of that goes into making the Speedweeks cars better, not necessarily making the test car better.

All of that means the sport could still face issues about the style of racing during Speedweeks. The sport went about as far as it could on the cooling-system restrictions, but if teams come back with better cars for Speedweeks, they might still be able to do the two-car draft for at least five laps without switching.

Fans have voiced their displeasure with the two-car draft and while it does make for boring practice sessions, it isn’t going to go away completely.

One of the ideas some drivers took to NASCAR was to move the grill opening more to the left on the front of the car. That would make it nearly impossible to push another car without blowing the engine because the pushing car currently has to hang out to the right to get air to the engine.

With the grill on the left side of the car, the pushing driver wouldn’t be able to get air to the opening and would instead have to lay off the bumper.

That was probably an impractical change to make in the middle of a test, but it is something the sanctioning body could look at if it truly wanted to do away with the two-car draft.

But it doesn’t.

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said on the SPEED broadcast that NASCAR wants a combination of pack racing and two-car pushing. That’s all well and good, but if teams come back to Daytona with better cars they might be able to run the two-car draft enough to not create a pack.

Hopefully NASCAR has enough of the same information the teams have to create a rules package that will accommodate any changes based on any improvements teams might make between now and Speedweeks.

As always, the Budweiser Shootout will be the race that tells us what kind of racing we will have during Speedweeks. If it’s more of the two-car draft, expect some radical last-minute rule changes.

That part, at least, wouldn’t be much different than most Februarys at Daytona.

Daytona testing helps kick off anticipation for NASCAR season

We are technically only about halfway through the NASCAR offseason, but the days of hearing strictly about off-track news are about over.

NASCAR teams will head to Florida this week to the greatest racetrack of them all in Daytona Beach and start testing for the fast-approaching Speedweeks.

Gosh, it is going to be nice to see cars back on the track. Plus, the teams will be doing more than just logging laps during the three-day test session that begins Thursday.

NASCAR made several rule changes after the season designed to change the style of restrictor-plate racing back to the large packs instead of the two-car drafts.

It will be interesting to see if those changes have much of an effect on the style of racing. NASCAR's similar attempts last year didn’t do much to break up the two-car drafts.

More than anything, it will just be nice to know that the dark, quiet winter is almost over.

Sure, it’s still early January, but the NASCAR action slowly picks up as we move closer and closer to Speedweeks in mid-February.

The Daytona test will run from Thursday to Saturday with Preseason Thunder events where fans can meet drivers and get an early feel for the changes that happened during the offseason.

The following week is NASCAR Acceleration weekend in Charlotte that will culminate with the NASCAR Hall of Fame inductions for 2012.

NASCAR used to hold the Hall of Fame inductions during the week between the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, but now it will help fill the void between the start of the year and the start of the season.

Cars will be back on the track at Daytona the weekend after the Hall of Fame inductions with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. While this isn’t a NASCAR event, several NASCAR drivers run the race and it is a full day of auto racing. That in itself is therapeutic.

The weeks between the 24-hour race and the Daytona 500 will be filled with the NASCAR media tour that tries to set some storylines for the upcoming season and then it is time to get after it with the big cars on the big track.

All of a sudden the season will be in full swing and NASCAR fans will once again long for the weekends so they can watch the practices sessions, qualifying and the race on Sunday.

We might still be more than 40 days from the official start of the season, but those days will be filled with on-track action, big NASCAR events and the wonderful anticipation of another full season of auto racing.

Welcome back, everybody.

NASCAR starting grid will look much different in 2012

After a year where hardly any sponsors stepped up to fund big-time rides for new drivers, there will still be a bunch of people on new teams come Speedweeks in February at Daytona.

Sure, there may be one decent ride available at this point after Kurt Busch left the #22 Dodge vacant, but whoever fills that spot will be the seventh driver among those who finished in the top 30 in points last season to either strap into a car for a different Sprint Cup Series team in 2012 or still be without a ride for next season.

In addition to the driver changes, at least 12 crew chiefs who worked for teams that finished in the top 30 in points last year will sit atop a different pit box during the Daytona 500 than the one they sat on at the beginning of the 2011 season.

That means nearly one-third of the teams in the field for the Daytona 500 will look different than they did at that race a year ago. That is amazing considering all of the talk of there being no opportunities to move in the sport and everybody better stick at their current job because there likely won’t be another option.

Of course, many of these moves weren’t made by the choice of the driver or the crew chief. The crew chiefs for drivers such as Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya were replaced mid-season and crew chiefs for Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin were let go from their respective teams once the season ended.

Team lineups have been relatively stable during the past several years, but 2011 will go down as the year where a bunch of crew chiefs lost their job, or at least changed teams. This sort of shuffle happens every few years, and the stability during Jimmie Johnson’s run of five championships is remarkable considering every other team lost for five years in a row.

Overall, the group of Sprint Cup Series drivers has also remained pretty stable in the last five or six years. Early in the last decade, NASCAR had a large influx of young drivers enter the sport, but once the group of drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray reached the Cup level, the pipeline of young drivers quickly shut off.

Just look at the rookies of the year for the past five seasons. Montoya and Joey Logano both finished 20th in the points in their rookie seasons, but the other three have failed to crack the top 30.

This current group of drivers might not have changed much in the past several years, but this year an entire new group of crew chiefs will take their spots atop the pit box for new teams.

One might think all of the crew chief changes could shuffle the running order at many of the races next season. However, just two of those changes happened to teams that finished in the top 10 in points, and one of them just won the championship. The teams that finished outside the top 10 needed to make changes because the current setup obviously wasn’t working too well.

All of the personnel changes could make for a season similar to 2011 where multiple drivers won their first race and no team really pulled away from the pack. Or, it could make for a season where the same top 10 teams dominate as the other teams work to build their chemistry and performance on the track.

For the sake of many race fans, here’s hoping we get another season where different teams show up at the front of the field each race.

Rating the Coke Zero 400: 5 Stars *****

The third restrictor-plate race of the season served up another wild night at Daytona as NASCAR celebrated the Fourth of July with a race that deserves a 5 Star Rating.

David Ragan drove another very good race at Daytona and this time he finally closed the deal. Ragan has always been a good restrictor-plate driver, but something has always kept him from winning. Saturday night, however, he and Matt Kenseth were set up perfectly to drive off to the win on the final restart.

After a green-flag run of 105 laps that included two green-flag pit stops, everybody went back to their Sonoma ways with a take-no-prisoners style of racing. First, Jeff Gordon made an incredible save after getting turned sideways in Turn 3. In a rebound that can only happen at a plate track, he came back in just two green-flag laps to finish sixth.

The debate about the two-car draft style of racing will be debated as much as whether or not there should be more road courses on the schedule, but this style continues to evolve. Each time the Sprint Cup Series visits either Talladega or Daytona, the racing changes. It might not be much, but the little difference the drivers learn each race will take restrictor-plate racing into an unknown future.

Yes, there was still a bunch of two-car drafting Saturday night, but there were glimpses of the old style of drafting, as well. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano were able to keep up with the lead pack all night, but they were never constantly pushing each other. Drivers still have to be pushing each other if they want to make passes, but it looks like drivers won’t lose the draft if they don’t have somebody constantly on their rear bumper.

That doesn’t mean a driver without a partner can contend. He will still drop like a rock to the back of the field and eventually get lapped, but there might be some room for the more traditional drafting than everybody first thought, and that will only become more pronounced as both surfaces at Talladega and Daytona start to age.

So, after a wonderful holiday weekend, next week the series makes its first-ever stop at Kentucky Motor Speedway. This track is 1.5 miles long, but don’t expect the same, relatively boring racing some other 1.5-mile tracks often produce. Something about this track usually produces pretty good racing, as well as surprise winners. That would certainly fit the 2011 season. Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

Restrictor-plate races bring out the excitement and adrenaline of NASCAR

All of a sudden NASCAR is nearly a quarter of the way through the season. Unofficially, it already is.

Sure, there are 36 races in a season and there are still two weeks until the ninth race, but we are at the second restrictor-plate race of the year, which means it is time to take a break from the normal grind and get ready for the spectacle that is racing at Talladega.

Speedweeks at Daytona are always a great way to start the season and everybody is excited to see the close racing on such a big track, but after the Daytona 500, the talk about how great the race was and all of the media attention the winner receives dies down and restrictor-plate racing is forgotten. Until now.

Now it is time to jump into that world again where nearly the entire field has a legitimate shot to win and a huge wreck is almost guaranteed to happen, as well as a very close finish.

The start of a race at Talladega and Daytona is always filled with pent-up excitement and plenty of nerves because these are the tracks where NASCAR still seems dangerous. Either good or bad, fans know they will see something memorable happen at one of the four restrictor-plate races.

While all of the focus is on the pre-race ceremonies and all of the build up to the race, once the green flag drops, everyone’s attention goes strait to the cars on the track and it seems as though the rest of the world fades into the background.

The only time for a break in these races is after a big wreck that requires a lot of cleanup, and often a red flag. Other than that, there is hardly time to blink without fear something special will happen.

The talk about a race usually lasts for a few days into the following week, and then everybody gets geared up for the upcoming weekend, but that is not the case after races at Daytona or Talladega. No matter what happens, these races get played on all of the news shows the next few days and people debate on the aftermath for weeks, not days.

However, even the excitement from these races dies down in time, and that’s why the schedule works perfectly in this case. At each quarter pole in the season, there is a restrictor-plate race, granted the fall race at Talladega has been moved back in recent years to the halfway point of the Chase, but that one feels like the final big show of the season that is different from the general theme of that part of the year where the title contenders receive most of the attention.

Every NASCAR race is special, but the four restrictor-plate races are at another level. With the aerodynamic packages on the cars and the two-car draft, many people have said we might surpass the all-time record for lead changes in one race, which was set in this race one year ago.

Whoever misses this race is going to have to here about it for weeks to come and have to be satisfied with the highlights. But, everybody else will see the most exciting four hours of the month, if not the season.

Rating the Daytona 500: 5 Stars *****

An action-packed Daytona 500 shook off any remaining offseason dust as the large pack returned to Daytona for a great show that brought a rookie and legends together in Victory Lane at the greatest race track on Earth. This year's race earns a rock-solid 5 Star Rating.

This race had just about everything a NASCAR fan could ever hope for in a race, provided that fan’s driver didn’t get caught up in the Big One on lap 29. In that case, it may have been a rather long race, but the action that followed should have made up for it.

Could this race have been any more perfect? The weather was absolutely perfect, the racing was close throughout and the final laps had several players new to the front of the field. Robby Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Regan Smith, David Gilliland and winner Trevor Bayne are generally never at the front of a race, but there they were ready to fight for the right to be called the victor of the sport’s greatest race.

A huge congratulations should go out the Bayne. What a great guy; hopefully this is the start of something great for him. Fans need a guy like this to root for.

Some things are just thought to be unattainable, and at several points in the past decade it looked like a #21 Wood Brothers car going to Victory Lane would be one of them. This team was basically left for dead along with Petty Enterprises as NASCAR rushed into the 21st century.

The original Petty shop closed and the Wood Brothers had to cut back to a limited schedule with semi-retired driver Bill Elliot.

The #21 has been fast in qualifying for the Daytona 500 several times in the recent past, but it never ran particularly well in the race. Personally, I thought this year would be no different. While it looked like it was possible for many different cars to get to the lead, some cars, such as those with Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines, would be able to rush to the front when it counted.

However, it turned out those ECR engines, although they may have produced the most power, couldn’t hold up for an entire race. That, combined with the wrecks set up a finish for several surprises, similar to the 2002 race when Ward Burton beat Elliot Sadler, who drove the #21 that day, after Sterling Marlin was penalized for tugging on his fender under the red flag and Jeff Gordon crashed late in the race.

As expected, a track-record 22 drivers swapped the lead a record 74 times in the 208 laps it took to finish the race. People kept saying this was going to be one of the best ever, and they were right. The Daytona 500 is always special, but the events that unfolded were incredible from morning through the afternoon and into the evening.

The prerace ceremonies were spectacular, as always, with a very nice video piece on Dale Earnhardt. Then, Lap 3 raised goosebumps as the entire crowd raised three fingers during the lap that was partly led by the #29 car, which replaced the #3 on the track the week after the 2001 Daytona 500.

After the two-car drafts dominated Speedweeks, everybody was back in a big pack early in the race, which was nice to see. Maybe everything people said was true, the warmer temperatures kept the two-car draft from working really well and the presence of more cars on the track kept two cars from pulling away.

It’s going to be tough to follow this race, but Phoenix International Raceway will give it a shot. This will be the final Sprint Cup race on the track with the current pavement and configuration, so teams might as well go for broke because notes from this upcoming weekend won’t be much good in November.

In addition, Monday Morning Crew Chief will be live at the race Sunday, so check out the new Facebook page for updates and plenty of content will follow the race and the experience of race day.

Duel races show all that's great about NASCAR

The Duel races are always two of the most interesting and fun races of the year because they include drivers who have to make the race to keep their team intact and others who want a good starting spot for the biggest race of the year.

From the joy of Brian Keselowski to the despair of Casey Mears, the Duel races cover the full range of emotions.

The two qualifying races took on added significance this time because they would be the experiment to show everybody what the big race would be like, and the first race had the pole position on the line.

The races did prove NASCAR made the correct changes throughout the week since the Budweiser Shootout when it put restrictions on the radiators and made the restrictor plate smaller.

The cars got right up against the 200 mph mark, but didn’t cross that line and the new package actually kept the cars together more than they were Saturday night in the Shootout. Mark Martin and Tony Stewart jumped out to a huge lead early in the first race, but then fell back to the pack and no other pair was able to really jump out to a lead and hang on to it for more than a few laps.

So far every Sprint Cup race of Speedweeks has set a new record for lead changes, and I don’t see why that won’t continue in the Daytona 500, especially with the new rules.

While this style of racing may be different, it isn’t bad. Every finish this week has come down to less than a car-length, and the Shootout and second Duel race were legitimate photo finishes, even though Denny Hamlin was disqualified in the Shootout.

The Duel races always include the possibility of a great underdog story, and sometimes it actually happens. Kevin Lepage made the race in an unsponsored car in 2006, and this year Brian Keselowski raced his way into the big show with help from his younger brother, Brad.

What a great scene. NASCAR has run a little thin on heart-warming stories on the track of late, but this was certainly one. Brian Keselowski and his crew didn’t even have hotel rooms for Thursday night because they figured they wouldn’t make the race.

In several aspects, the 2011 edition of Speedweeks has been a bit of a throwback. The slingshot move is now in force more than ever, the pack doesn’t stay together for long after each restart and the speeds are as high as they’ve been since the 1980s. Some of the mystique returned to Daytona this year.

So now the only thing left on the Sprint Cup side is practice and the race.

In just a few days the drivers will start to get those soft but powerful nervous and excited feelings that something special is going to happen. And with the way this week is going, I think it’s pretty safe to say something special probably will take place come Sunday.

Duel races have everything this year

By the time the Thursday of Speedweeks rolls around, there is usual at least one, often several, burning issues that have everybody talking.

But this year might have the most issues circling the garage area as teams and NASCAR get set for the Duel races.

In the past, the week leading up to the Daytona 500 has been filled with talk of restrictor-plate sizes, teams getting busted for cheating, or back in the days when which manufacturer a team used mattered more than the motor, one car make complaining its cars were at a disadvantage aerodynamically.

This year the talk has been about a myriad of issues, including the size of the restrictor plate, the technical ins and outs of the cars’ radiators and how they work in the two-car draft, which has been the major issue of the week.

Once Daytona International Speedway repaved the track to make it as smooth as could be, the drivers were able to push each other all of the way around the track without having to lift, and they could do it for many laps at a time.

While NASCAR has made restrictions to the cars’ cooling units and shrunk the restrictor plate, the two-car draft races will likely continue even if not to the extent that we saw in the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday.

All of the technical stuff led into Wednesday’s first practice session where Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed his pole-winning car and will now have to start both the Duel race and the Daytona 500 from the back of the field.

This may be a big-time bummer for Dale Jr. fans, but it will make for an even more dramatic first Duel race because the winner will lead the field to the green flag Sunday.

The Duel races are always exciting, but this year even more is at stake than usual. The pole position is up for grabs, the race will show everyone how the new rules changes have affected the style of racing from Saturday to now and two go-or-go-homers will make the field while a host of others will have their dream crushed.

So get ready. This is going to be one heck of a show.

Rating the Budweiser Shootout: 5 Stars *****

There’s nothing like a photo finish to start Speedweeks. Even though Denny Hamlin was disqualified because he went below the yellow line as he came to the checkered flag, that finish was certainly worthy of a Monday Morning Crew Chief 5 Star Rating.

With cars reaching 206 mph, everyone seemed in awe of what was taking place. Daytona International Speedway is once again a place to see incredible speed.

Is this the type of racing fans have wanted for years? Has that complaint finally been satisfied? It seems this is probably as close as the racing can get to resemble the old days without taking the restrictor plates off of the cars.

Many probably thought they would never see those types of speeds in their lifetime, not because the cars couldn’t run that fast, but because NASCAR would shrink the restrictor plate to keep it from happening. Well, not this year – yet. We’ll see what happens in that regard as the week progresses. NASCAR has made changes to the front gille and pressure relief valve in the radiator to shorten the distance cars can bump draft before the pushing car overheats, but still no changes to the restrictor plate.

Also, the two-car draft is simply phenomenal, and I think everyone in NASCAR is a little stumped at why the technique is so effective all of a sudden. A couple of common-sense factors would be the fact that the front and back bumpers line up, which allows cars to bump draft all of the way around the track, and the new pavement. Drivers no longer have to worry about handling. Instead, they have to solely focus on making the two-car draft work, which may be even more of a challenge.

While the Chevrolets and Toyotas looked strong at testing and in practice, the lone Dodge car in the shootout came away with the victory. Kurt Busch finally broke through on a restrictor-plate track, and although he didn’t actually cross the finish line first, he has the trophy and the cool leather jacket. This just proves truly anyone has a legitimate shot to win the Daytona 500. Yes, even Kevin Conway. Maybe.

Ryan Newman also added another chapter to his exciting restrictor-plate career. Newman is usually either up near the front of the field at Daytona or Talladega, or he’s in the middle of the biggest wreck of the day, if not the season. He won the 2008 Daytona 500, but has flipped at each plate track and has been involved in several other memorable moments, including the 2009 spring race at Talladega when Carl Edwards’ car bounced off of Newman’s hood and went flying into the fence.

So, although it was delivered in a different way this year, the Budweiser Shootout came through with lots of intrigue and excitement. I can’t wait to see what unfolds the rest of this week. Have a great one.