In this edition of Dave Mathers’ Motion Motorsport Report, Dave looks at NASCAR Speedweek at Daytona International Speedway, including the Daytona 500.
Wow, there was a LOT of head scratching Wednesday night prior to Cup qualifying. NO practice beforehand? Really? With the rules changes for this year?
A track that last had IMSA cars with totally different tire compounds running on it for the Rolex two and a half weeks ago. And some rookie drivers entered for the 500? Cost containment perhaps? Hmm.
And about that qualifying? TWO rounds? And not letting the top ten cars cool down before the second round? Oh well, I guess that’s entertainment. And NASCAR definitely nails that.
NASCAR CUP SERIES: Speedweek started with Cup qualifying last Wednesday night. Chamber of Commerce weather greeted the fans and teams. The cars were vying for their starting spots in the Duels. There are 42 entries this year.
As there are 36 chartered teams, that means that six cars were fighting for four spots. ‘Front Row’ Bowman did it again; five consecutive front row Daytona starts, topping the field in both Round 1 and Round 2.
Teammate Kyle Larson qualified second so Hendrick put two cars up front for Sunday. William Byron was third in another Hendrick Chev, then Almirola, Logano, Briscoe, Blaney, Cindric and Burton in Fords with Kyle Busch 10th in the lone Toyota.
Kyle did not get a time in the second round as he was deemed to have crossed the bottom out of bounds yellow line trying to get a draft off Cindric’s Mustang.
Duel 1 started with the cars having their very first chance to draft other cars as there had been no practice. Polesitter Bowman did the right thing and immediately put it in reverse dropping to the back of the pack.
A wrecked car would cause him to lose his pole starting position so that was smart. A couple of cars got speeding tickets on the first pit stops. Then another car got a ticket with the second bunch.
At the flag, it was a VERY close win for Logano over Bell and Blaney. The last lap saw lots of dicing back and forth. Seven of the top ten were Fords with two Toyotas and one Chev. Interesting!!
And once again NASCAR’s Live Timing had some ‘issues’ during the first duel. ‘Stage 4 of 0′? Huh? What is that all about? Is anybody looking at it during the race(s)?
I remember when the second Duel used to get lined up on the infield road course and it was cool to see them come out onto the big track. And more Live Timing issues for the second duel? Still showing the finish of the first duel. Wow.
A side window popped out of the 31 car of Justin Haley bringing out a yellow on lap 6. And, finally, the Live Timing caught up on lap 8. Guess the Live Timing guy was having a coffee break? Come on guys, the NEW audience you are attempting to attract is VERY tech savvy!! Think about it.
As opposed to Bowman dropping to the back, Duel two polesitter Kyle Larson stayed out front and raced. Not surprising for the true racer. On lap 40, Kyle Busch got turned hard into the wall by Daniel Suarez. Kyle went on the hook and the incident collected four other cars.
Aric Almirola won the second duel over Austin Cindric and Chas Elliott. Things got very tense again on the last lap. Five Fords, three Chevs and two Toyotas finished in the top ten.
It all boded well for an interesting Sunday.
Come Sunday, there was PERFECT weather for the start of The Great American Race!! And nine legends acted as Grand Marshals, including ‘Seven Time’ JJ and Harvick meaning both of them had to hustle to get in their cars AFTER giving the command to ‘Start your engines’!!
A few clouds loomed in the distance, but nothing that I could see on the radar. After qualifying and the Duels, Alex Bowman started from the pole with Kyle Larson beside him (on the inside as Alex took the high side) both in Chevs followed by the Fords of Joey Logano and Aric Almirola.
Christopher Bell was fifth in the first Toyota. Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana got in based on their qualifying times, so were to start 39th and 40th. However, Kyle Busch got relegated to the rear following his wreck in the second duel. Everything ran according to plan and it looked like there would be no ‘incidents.’
However, on lap 40, Riley Herbst overcooked it entering the pits and spun onto the grass. And believe it or not, NO caution!! Bravo, it CAN be done.
And take a wild guess who the leader was after all the pit stops? Pastrana!! But he hadn’t pitted yet but still got to say he led a lap at Daytona. How many people can make that statement?
On lap 53 Truex ‘nudged’ Bubba Wallace out of the way with Bubba touching the wall and then pitting. He came back out and got back up to speed, although down a lap.
Brad Keselowski picked up the win in Stage 1 ahead of Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher, all in Fords. Coming to the flag I think AJ Allmendinger’s brain must have shorted out as he stayed in the middle lane while being lapped. What could go wrong with that?? Apparently, it had something to do with getting the ‘Lucky Dog’?
Lap 119… The BIG ONE!! Tyler Reddick got tagged by Harvick while they were running at the front, and spun, gathering up a good part of the field. Larson, Blaney, Elliott, Truex, Jones and Suarez got collected. Reddick, Jones and Elliott went to the house.
Ross Chastain grabbed the win in Stage 2 with a BUNCH of guys that he had tangled with in the past year or so chasing him. Bowman was second with Logano third.
The second actual yellow (there were two for stage ends) came out on lap 140 when the carcass from the right front tire of Blaney’s cobbled up car ended up in the middle of the track.
Lap 181… The second big one. Harvick, Preese, Truex, Gibbs, McDowell and others got collected while passing a lapped car. Harvick’s hope of winning Daytona in his last year just went up in smoke.
With three laps to go Suarez looped it out of Turn 4. The restart would have Busch, Austin Dillon, Byron and Logano. This set up a tense green / white / checker finish. Tense? How about the THIRD big one? Dillon had to lift to avoid hitting teammate Busch and he got tagged from behind. CARNAGE!! Too many wrecked cars to count. Fox counted 13 cars. Ouch.
Another green / white / checker restart with Stenhouse leading Larson and Bell. They just zoomed in on Cindric’s car and his left front wheel was pointing out a bunch. Just wants to finish?
Well, the finish was interesting as Larson spun out with some help and crashed a bunch more cars. NASCAR’s Live Timing showed Logano winning but the Stenhouse crew was celebrating the win. So, it was Stenhouse, Logano and Bell.
I’m willing to bet that MANY highlight clips will show up from this race!! Count on it. The mainstream press could care less about real racing, but have an accident? Like catnip to cats!! As P.T. Barnum so famously said, ‘say anything you like about me, but spell my name right’!! And that would be N A S C A R!!
In the Cup points, Logano leads Buescher by 2 and Stenhouse by 4.
Their next race is Fontana, Sunday at 3.30 on TSN 5 and Fox.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: Saturday’s weather was MUCH better than Friday night’s and it was blue skies and sunshine for the start of the race. Following another national anthem ‘questionably’ presented and being forced to look at Austin Dillon’s ‘sports jacket’ (LOL) Austin Hill started ahead of Parker Kligerman (both in Chevs) with Cole Custer (Ford) third.
The yellow came out on lap 7 when Bayley Currey began smoking on track. On lap 23 Blaine Perkins got tapped by Sam Mayer and spun taking out Daniel Hemric as well.
Austin Hill had problems before the green with his radio and started dead last instead of from the pole. However, he was a man on a mission and actually won Stage 1 to impress everybody by coming through the pack with no damage.
Business picked up on lap 41 when Parker Kligerman tagged Sheldon Creed into a tank slapper. Creed was actually sideways at the front of the pack, went up to the wall and kept going.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Justin Allgaier tried to go up the middle but a car dropped down to miss Creed and Justin spun taking Caesar Bacarell with him. Creed’s car was too damaged to continue after his encounter with the wall.
At the end of Stage 2, it was Allgaier over Mayer and Hill. Coming to the end of the stage Jeb Burton got spun taking Sammy Smith with him.
On one of the green flag pit stops, Kligerman overcooked pit in and spun but fortunately he did not hit anything and kept going, no harm, no foul. On lap 88 CJ McLaughlin hit the wall for another yellow, the sixth.
But Wait There’s More!! With less than two to go, Brandon Jones got spun trying to block. On the subsequent restart Sam Mayer pulled the gun out of the holster and went high around the leader.
However, he attempted to block a car going under him, spun and hit the wall flipping and sparking down the track. Reports had it that he was okay after the wild ride. This brought out the red while NASCAR ‘reviewed the tape’ and the win went to Hill who was ever so slightly ahead of John Hunter Nemechek and Allgaier. There were 8 cautions for 32 laps.
I’m pretty sure Hill will be getting ‘called to the trailer’ after doing burnouts on the tri-oval grass!! LOL
In the points, Hill leads Allgaier by six and Nemechek by 18.
Their next race is Saturday at Fontana on TSN 5 at 5 P.M.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS: The series has one of their original sponsors returning – Craftsman. They replace Camping World although I noticed that Jayski hasn’t picked up on the change just yet!!
Qualifying saw 42 trucks attempt to make the 36-car starting field. Canadians Stewart Friesen and Jason M. White (there is also a Jason A. White in the field!!) qualified 23rd and 36th, both in Toyotas. Nick Sanchez (Chev) grabbed the pole followed by Ty Majeski (Ford) and Jack Wood (Chev).
Two laps into the race, the yellow came out for rain. How many times have we seen rain in Daytona? Too many to count. BUT the good news is that the Florida heat dries the track very quickly and they were back green after a few yellow laps. At the end of Stage 1 it was Christian Eckes (Chev), Matt Crafton (Ford) and Matty D (DiBenedetto) (Chev).
On lap 29 it happened – a crash, the first of the season for the trucks. A bunch of trucks, seven in total, got damaged, some badly, after the middle truck in a three-wide got loose and spun. This brought out the red flag to clean up the mess.
And then, for the icing on the cake, it started to rain!! Again. Back to green and coming to the end of Stage 2 Friesen was running second and got turned by Ben Rhodes and went hard into the wall. The wreck collected six trucks in total.
Tyler Ankrum (Toyota) grabbed the Stage 2 win. And then, ta da, RAIN again on lap 45. Back to green and on lap 57 Rajah Caruth, trying to come up through the middle, spun taking out five trucks.
The green came back out with 36 to go. And then yellow – light rain, heavy mist with 27 to go. The rain picked up resulting in a red flag with the drying equipment going out on the track.
After a LONG delay for rain, the trucks went back out under the yellow. And run a few laps, the rain/mist returned, so back to pit road. Death by a thousand cuts?
FINALLY, common sense prevailed and they threw the checkers!! It was Zane Smith (Ford), Tanner Gray (Toyota) second and Eckes third (Chev) – parity! There were seven cautions totaling 41 of the 79 laps completed.
MEMO to Fox Sports Racing (Canada’s version of FS1): I used to love Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle and played it all the time. However, the constant playing of The Ride of the Valkyries from the Ring Cycle in one of your commercials has turned me off it. Please make it stop!!
Eckes leads Crafton by five and Majeski by 9 in the points after one race.
Their next race is Friday, March 3 at Las Vegas on Fox Sports Racing at 9 P.M.
ARCA: The Daytona 200 preceded the Xfinity race Saturday and, like all previous ARCA races, it was exciting. 39 cars took the green including a bunch of female drivers.
Connor Mosack (Toyota) nabbed the pole followed by Jesse Love (Toyota) and Jason Kitzmiller (Chev). Canadian Jason White started 19th. Long time ACT driver Dale Quarterley started 15th just ahead of Frankie Muniz.
Another Canadian, Winnipeg’s Amber Balcaen, was also in the field and had a great outing! She started 35th and came home sixth in spite of losing her power steering with four laps to go. At one point, she was up to third!
Two laps in, Tony Cosentino spun on the back stretch for the first yellow. On lap 12 Scott Melton got punted into the outside wall and caught fire. This brought out the yellow and then a red to fix the ‘soft’ wall.
The safety truck spreading oil dry actually slid off the banking and some of the safety crew had to tether themselves while fixing the wall. I’d never seen that one before. There were a bunch more yellows, eight at my count in total, with the last one with nine laps to go when Quarterley got spun into the infield but did get back out.
The green dropped with four to go and out front, OH Canada, Jason White!! I guess he couldn’t hear my hollering at him to back up to the field as took the white flag WAY out front. Typically for superspeedways, the pack blew by him and he ended up a strong ninth with Quarterley 10th and Muniz 11th. Greg Van Alst started seventh and won followed by Mosack and Sean Corr who started DFL.
Their next race is Phoenix, Friday, March 10.
FORMULA ONE: Their season starts Sunday, March 5 in Bahrain.
INDYCAR: Their season starts Sunday, March 5 in St. Petersburg.
IMSA: Their next race is the 12 Hours of Sebring, March 11 & 12.
NHRA: Their season starts Sunday, March 12 in Gainesville, Florida. That’s a change from the traditional Pomona opener!!
NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES: Their season starts Saturday, May 13 at Sunset Speedway.
UNITED RACING SERIES – APC LATE MODEL SERIES: Their season starts Saturday, May 20 at Sunset Speedway.
ONTARIO SPORTSMAN SERIES: Their season starts Friday, May 19 at Delaware.
SUPERSTAR RACING EXPERIENCE (SRX): Their season starts Thursday, July 13 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY: Their season starts Friday, May 12.
FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY: Their season starts Saturday, April 29.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY: Their season starts Friday, May 19.
SOUTHERN ONTARIO MOTOR SPEEDWAY (SOUTH BUXTON): Their season starts Saturday, May 6.
GRAND BEND SPEEDWAY: Their season starts Saturday, May 20.
GRAND BEND DRAGWAY: Their season starts Saturday, May 6.
ST. THOMAS DRAGWAY: Their season starts Saturday, May 6.
TORONTO MOTORSPORT PARK: Their season starts April 22.
SHANNONVILLE DRAGS: Their first race is June 17 & 18, Nostalgia Weekend.
MOTORAMA CUSTOM CAR & MOTORSPORTS EXPO PRESENTED BY EBAY MOTORS: This racing filled show takes place March 10, 11 & 12 at Toronto’s International Center, across from Pearson Airport. The Racing Zone is already sold out and the Fast Eddie Night of Champions on Saturday, March 11 will feature a ton of track and series champions on the main stage.
DRAGSTRIP MEMORIES: This great event goes April 16 at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, on the grounds of Hamilton Airport.
CAN-AM STOCK/SUPER STOCK SERIES – their season starts Saturday, June 3, Grand Bend.
MY VIEW: Much has been said and posted about Kyle Busch getting caught with a gun in his luggage in Mexico during the off-season. I find this both ironic and funny coming from a country where the cartels control everything and gun deaths occur all the time. But, then again, it IS Kyle Busch. ‘Nuff said.
Until next week!!
– Dave Mathers
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