|| *Comments on the 2011 DRIVE4COPD 300:* View the most recent comment <#67> | Post a comment <#post> 1. potatosalad48 posted: 02.19.2011 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) tony stewart wins his 4th straight nationwide race at daytona. danica patrick gets her best finish in 14th and only 12 cars finished on the lead lap. very odd race in my mind. and oh by the way, landon cassill is the points leader. 2. joey2448 posted: 02.19.2011 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) this points system thing is creating some really interesting standings... 3. RaceFanX posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The announcers thought Bowyer won at the line and it took them about 30-45 seconds afterward to finally determine that Stewart won in the blue #4. He nipped Bowyer's black-and-red #33 by inches after getting drafting help from Landon Cassill. No doubt Steward was happy in victory lane but a technical glitch wiped out the audio of it during the live ESPN2 broadcast. Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to lead a NASCAR-sanctioned race at Daytona. 4. HereWeGoAgain posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN outdoes itself with terrible coverage. The topper of course was completely missing Tony Stewart's post-race interview due to problems with their audio. And they didn't even bother to interview Bowyer, who just lost one of the closest Nationwide, or even just NASCAR races, ever. Or Cassill, who helped set-up the win for Stewart and is now the Nationwide points leader. Or Logano, who wrecked on the final lap while Busch was trying to push him into the lead. They didn't even interview Danica Patrick, after her first top-15 finish and being the first woman to lead a NASCAR-sanctioned lap at Daytona. Would have been nice to hear what any of those drivers had to say about the race. Missing accidents, coming back from commercials under caution, the always sub-par color commentary, just a terrible terrible broadcast for what turned out to be a great race. Unfortunately, FOX probably won't be much better tomorrow. 5. DaleSrFanForever posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now THAT was a race!!! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but I love these NWide pony cars. Interesting seeing this new form of drafting. It's different but compelling. Interesting to see cars able to break away from the pack, and actually LAP them (including the #7 car which was really fast). Although I'm not a fan, I give Smoke his due as one hell of a racer. He had a flat under caution, and still came back through and couldn't have executed those final laps any better. Very exciting finish. Good run by Landon Cassill. Yeah, he made that one mistake causing Kes to wreck hard with Josh Wise, but that's racing. Congrats to James Finch and the Phoenix Racing team for putting a great car out there too. Todd Bodine did what Todd Bodine does. Did ESPN really try to blame June's crew chief for him missing his pit stall yet again? Please, somebody tell me I imagined that. 6. Cooper posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Not much to say about this race. -Danica had one of the best cars out there, she just didn't know what to do with the two car tango. -Most embarassing thing I've ever heard on a NASCAR Radio: Kyle Busch: Look who's back, I love you Joey Joey Logano: I like you too -Todd Bodine can't drive -The lead cars were so fast they almost lapped cars in the top 10 because of the two car Nitrous Oxide System. -Elliott Sadler is definately the target of somebody's voodoo. Elliott already 35 points behind in his championship run. My rankings for best races in Speedweeks: 1. Gatorade Duel #2 2. Truck Race 3. Nationwide 4. Bud Shootout/Gatorade Duel 6. ARCA Race 7. Schwab posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart gets his fourth consecutive win in the season opening race at Daytona. He has now won 6 of the last 7 season openers for the Nationwide series. Third time that KHI has had a 1-2 finish in the Nationwide series. All three times involving Tony Stewart and a restrictor plate track. First career top 5 finish for Landon Cassill. 8. CBASS posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Josh Wise and Special K had a HEAVY crash with 15 laps to go. The Onion struck again as he set off the lap 25 crash and took out Sam Hornish Jr. on the frontstretch. Awesome finish, interesting race. Not saying I don't like this new racing, but it's different. All I have to say, is that the ESPN coverage absolute sucked today. Especially the post-race show. At least SportCenter had some NASCAR. 9. Anonymous posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "-Most embarassing thing I've ever heard on a NASCAR Radio: Kyle Busch: Look who's back, I love you Joey Joey Logano: I like you too" yeah wtf why are they joking around and having fun (not to mention acting GAY omg) i don't know what they were thinking 10. DaleSrFanForever posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "just a terrible terrible broadcast for what turned out to be a great race." Exactly. 11. JP88 posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well a very strange race indeed that thankfully had a good finish after a couple of cautions including a scary wreck. Not sure why everyone placed all the blame on Cassill...he was approaching Sorenson quick and had no where to go. Poor Elliott Sadler, that guy can't catch a break. Sam Hornish had bad luck too and Todd Bodine just flat out sucks. 12. Mike posted: 02.19.2011 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That debris caution on lap 102 saved this race. I thought Dale Jr had it after Kyle wrecked Joey but Tony was able to get a good run on 'em. He's become quite the plate racer in recent years. I was very impressed with Danica today. She still has a lot to learn but overall she did a great job. 13. BudMoore posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ""-Most embarassing thing I've ever heard on a NASCAR Radio: Kyle Busch: Look who's back, I love you Joey Joey Logano: I like you too" yeah wtf why are they joking around and having fun (not to mention acting GAY omg) i don't know what they were thinking" I thought their conversations on the radio throughout the race were pretty funny. Busch is a great pusher, but he might actually push too hard. There have been 3 or 4 incidents during speedweeks so far where the car in front of him has crashed while he was pushing. Now at least 2 of them weren't his fault, the Denny Hamlin one in the Duel and the Waltrip one in the Shootout. ESPN never gave much attention to the accident with Logano so it's tough to know exactly what happened there. There was a lot of traffic, it was the end of the race, everyone was jostling for position, so it was probably just a racing incident. I just noticed that Busch has been involved in a few of those wrecks this week. Usually as the guy coming from behind, but he was in front when Martin spun him in the Shootout. He's great at doing the "switch" to swap positions to cool off the cars, and we saw in the Truck race that he can give one hell of a boost if he's behind you at the end of the race. Still, it would have been nice to know what happened with Busch and Logano at the end of this race, but you know, ESPN sucks. 14. Matt posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Car owner for the #39 was Archie St. Hilaire. 15. Brad posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think because of the new rule for 1 championship for 1 series, we may our first winless NNS Champion. IF drivers like Edwards, Boywer, and Keselowski continue to run every week. Should be interesting. 16. Turd Ferguson posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Santos was sponsored by TaxSlayers.com / Target Your Market 17. Cooper posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous, I'm detecting sarcasm... I love you anonymous (Weird or No?). I just find it weird two grown men having a love on in their racecars. I wonder if Dale Sr confessed his love for Mike Skinner. I might be in the minority here, but this comment created a pause in the commentator booth which was very akward. Guess the sport is passing me by. Times have changed. 18. Turd Ferguson posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correction: TaxSlayer.com / Target Your Market. Typo. 19. Anonymous posted: 02.19.2011 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I just find it weird two grown men having a love on in their racecars. I wonder if Dale Sr confessed his love for Mike Skinner. I might be in the minority here, but this comment created a pause in the commentator booth which was very akward. Guess the sport is passing me by. Times have changed. " Dude it was a joke. Busch and Logano were messing around. It's not just the sport passing you by, it seems to be culture in general. You couldn't tell by the way they said it that it wasn't some sort of homosexual love confession? Maybe you just aren't secure enough in your own manhood to understand when two straight friends are joking around with each other like that. Sounds like you have some serious thinking to do. 20. 00andJoe posted: 02.19.2011 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I personally thought the "I love you man!" comment was pretty funny, myself... Pretty nifty race. The telecast did, however, indeed, suck. I never thought I'd say this but the Mike Joy/Larry Mac/DW team is the best commentary team BY FAR these days. Can we send Marty Reid back to the minors and recall Bob Jenkins, please? Back in the day, ESPN was without doubt the best, now NASCAR is just something they do for ratings. You might have noticed they took forever to mention just what the heck had happened to Trevor Bayne, and even then they only mentioned it in passing. Heck, if Bob doesn't want to come back, I'd settle for Bill Weber calling play by play over Marty! Just as long as it isn't Ray Dunlap. *shudders* He's good and great fun in the pits, but was always FAR too shrill in the booth. Anyway. Oh yeah, there was a race. Danicamania resumes (soon to be joined by Pastranamania) but it looks like a (half)year of experience has led to improvement, the total flub she made of the "exchange" with Bowyer notwitstanding. After this year though she really needs to decide whether to move full-time to NASCAR or move back to IndyCars; running a split schedule after a point is only going to hurt, not help. Speaking of Trevor Bayne, good work getting back to finish 10th (not that we were told about it...). Todd Bodine, meanwhile, illustrated why it's probably a good thing he didn't make the 500, seeing as in the three races he has been in, he's been in five wrecks, three of which were his fault. Somewhere Randy LaJoie is smirking... It was a close-run thing with Sam Hornish, but this weeks' BGN Goody's Headache Award goes to Brian Keselowski, who saw his running-at-the-finish streak snapped by a particulary "ouch"-worthy One A Them Racin' Deals. 21. TimmyH posted: 02.19.2011 - 7:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I love you anonymous (Weird or No?)." No. Because you're obviously not serious, like Busch and Logano were not using the word seriously. The word, "love" doesn't automatically mean real love. The way they were using it is more like saying, "man, I love this car!". If you say that it's not like you're saying you want to marry your car, you're just really happy with the way it's working out for you in a race. Frankly, the fact that you even considered that they were serious says more about you, than it does them. "I might be in the minority here, but this comment created a pause in the commentator booth which was very akward. Guess the sport is passing me by. Times have changed." Yeah Grandpa, I'd say you're probably right. Those dang youths today, with their gay love-ins right in the middle of a race! And who's saying that two good friends can't love each other in a platonic way to begin with? Would that make you uncomfortable? This is such a non-issue I can't even believe I wasted the time replying. If you're so homophobic that you want to believe that Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are in love with each other, go right ahead, that's your right I guess. But the rest of the sane grounded people in this country are only going to laugh at you behind your back. As for the race, it was Tony Stewart's 10th Nationwide win, his 6th Nationwide win at Daytona, and I'm not sure how many Daytona wins that gives him overall. He has 3 in Cup, 6 in Nationwide, and I know he's won at least 1 or 2 Gatorade Duels and maybe a Bud Shootout. Either way, the guy has won pretty much everything you can there except the 500, where he never seems to have much luck. 22. Foyt14 posted: 02.19.2011 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tony Stewart has 16 wins at Daytona now: 2 IROC 2 Duels 3 Shootouts 6 Nationwide 3 Cup Am I missing any? I'm going to assume that's probably 2nd only to Earnhardt Sr. in total. 23. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 02.19.2011 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Now THAT was a race!!! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but I love these NWide pony cars. Interesting seeing this new form of drafting. It's different but compelling. Interesting to see cars able to break away from the pack, and actually LAP them (including the #7 car which was really fast). Although I'm not a fan, I give Smoke his due as one hell of a racer. He had a flat under caution, and still came back through and couldn't have executed those final laps any better. Very exciting finish. Good run by Landon Cassill. Yeah, he made that one mistake causing Kes to wreck hard with Josh Wise, but that's racing. Congrats to James Finch and the Phoenix Racing team for putting a great car out there too. Todd Bodine did what Todd Bodine does. Did ESPN really try to blame June's crew chief for him missing his pit stall yet again? Please, somebody tell me I imagined that." I agree with every single thing said here, which is eerie and weird... 24. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 02.19.2011 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica gets her best career finish in the Nationwide Series with a 14th, and Ricky Stenhouse is certainly carrying the momentum he had towards the end of last year into this season as well. Talon64 will probably post the rest of the little milestones, lol. 25. DaleSrFanForever posted: 02.19.2011 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Not sure why everyone placed all the blame on Cassill" Because he cut into the side of Brad causing him to spin off Trevor Bayne's bumper. I guess he thought he was clear when he wasn't. Possible spotter failure. But like I said, that's racing. As far as the GoDaddy Girl, I'll be more interested to see how she does at Phoenix. She had a FAST car in this race. But her complete lack of knowledge of the draft killed her. Again, I can't believe how little JR Motorsports has prepared her for stock car racing, and how little initiative she has taken in studying this form of racing that is foreign to her. I blame all parties for her painfully slow progress. Just shows you they care more about marketing than results. It was good to see her in that NWide commercial with June. They are meant for each other. 26. 18fan posted: 02.19.2011 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michael Waltrip had a shot at the end but Bowyer dropped in front of Junior so he had no partner and dropped to ninth, but for some reason was shown while he was taking the white flag running ninth. The problem is this broadcast team has by far the most races to broadcast, so we get the most races with these morons. Don't know if Mike Bliss was even mentioned and he finished 13th, ahead of Danica. 27. CBASS posted: 02.19.2011 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unfortunately, Bliss will park next week in the #44 as Charles Lewandoski will be in the #19 28. martin-n-rusty posted: 02.19.2011 - 10:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Post 4 - At least FOX can cover stuff well, its just the damn gimmicks that makes them suck Cooper - Todd Bodine not being able to drive should be nothing new to any of us DaleSrFan on Post 25 - There could of been no way that it was spotter failure. They were right infront of the grandstands when that happened. Boneheaded move on Cassill's part The race itself was not that bad. I wouldn't listen to any of the doom and gloomers 29. Mike posted: 02.19.2011 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The race itself was not that bad. I wouldn't listen to any of the doom and gloomers" A friend of mine told me today's race was the worst Nationwide race at Daytona he's ever seen. Sometimes I wonder if other people are watching the same thing I am. I thought the race was freakin awesome! 30. KurtBusch22Fan posted: 02.19.2011 - 11:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hate the Top 35 rule. You got a slowpoke like Scott Wimmer, who was almost 2 miles per hour slower then Jennifer Jo Cobb, making the race and they end up putting Brett Rowe in the DNQ spot. 31. Jarrett88fan posted: 02.19.2011 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It has been a long time since I've seen a Nationwide or Cup plate race with 12 cars or less on the lead lap, interesting. Jr. could have pulled directly in front of Stewart at the apex of turn four and side-drafted Bowyer to the line. 32. Jarrett88fan posted: 02.19.2011 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think because of the new rule for 1 championship for 1 series, we may our first winless NNS Champion. IF drivers like Edwards, Boywer, and Keselowski continue to run every week. Should be interesting." --- Fascinating analysis Brad, I thought the same after this race. Consider the potential races wins for the Nationwide only drivers: (2) Nashville Road America Montreal Kentucky I think it is quite possible the series champ will have 1 or 0 wins this year. There are 2 or 3 races that Nationwide only drivers can realistically win, excluding the road course ringers. This point system should be intriguing to watch play out, especially over the summer months when the plane hoppers have their fun. 33. Rusty posted: 02.20.2011 - 1:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was just as disturbed by Tony Stewart calling Clint Bowyer his "blond headed prom date" as I was by Kyle and Logano expressing their love for each other. This race was fun to watch in the beginning and end, but there was a stretch without much action. It seems like most of the guys in the field don't get the two car draft thing, or their cars just aren't good at it. The guys in the middle of the field racing in a pack all got lapped. 34. Bronco posted: 02.20.2011 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Simply cannot believe Landon just moved over with about two to go and made the switch with Tony in front of him. That may have been his only shot to win a Nationwide race. Absolutely pathetic. Dale Jr is one of the best RP racers of all time, yet he is terrible at this whole two car thing. By my count, this about the fourth time that he has tried to push someone out and pass them for the win but didn't get it done in the end. He just seems better suited at slicing his way through a pack, witnessed by his Daytona 500 charge last year. "Jr. could have pulled directly in front of Stewart at the apex of turn four and side-drafted Bowyer to the line." I know! That's exactly what I was wanting him to do, but just like Talladega 2009 he didn't judge the closing rate good enough or didn't know they were behind him. Sad but true - Danica Patrick led a lap in this one while Dale Jr and Aric Almirola didn't. Nearly won the pole on Friday as well. Overall, not a very good race to me, it was mind numbingly boring to watch 2 pairs of cars lead the race with a 15 second gap to the rest of the pack. Thank heavens for that awesome truck race last night. 35. martin-n-rusty posted: 02.20.2011 - 3:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Simply cannot believe Landon just moved over with about two to go and made the switch with Tony in front of him. That may have been his only shot to win a Nationwide race. Absolutely pathetic." I don't necessarily blame him that much. What's better, holding up a better Tony Stewart, or getting behind him and follow his draft, and set up for a last lap pass? Should of tried a move, but when Jr and Bowyer were fighting for the win, that kinda screwed him over. 36. Anonymous posted: 02.20.2011 - 4:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Simply cannot believe Landon just moved over with about two to go and made the switch with Tony in front of him. That may have been his only shot to win a Nationwide race. Absolutely pathetic." ...Really? Are you serious? Aside from the move making sense because Stewart would probably overheat from pushing too long and neither one would finish in the top 5, or Stewart likely abandoning him altogether because he would be little more than a roadblock for the more experienced drivers racing for the win... on top of those logical explanations, it's actually been shown, even less than 24 hours before this race, that being in the position behind the lead car is actually the best place to be to make a last lap move. Several drivers throughout speedweeks have even specifically mentioned that they'd prefer being the car pushing on the last lap because the leader is a sitting duck. Add that to the fact that Cassill wasn't as fast with Stewart pushing as they were the other way around so they wouldn't have been in that position anyway, and that it could never hurt to get yourself on the good side of a Cup star/team owner by helping him out at the end of a race, and.... well take your pick as to why he did what he did. I don't think Landon Cassill was suffering from a lack of wanting to win a race. That's just a ridiculous notion. He just had no room, or the car, to make a move right at the end. It Looks to me like he made the right move, he's now the points leader, and if this leads to him landing a full time sponsor or a better ride, I don't see how you can possibly look at what he did in this race as pathetic. It was actually surprisingly smart racing for someone who made such an avoidable rookie mistake in taking out Keselowski earlier in the race. 37. Watto posted: 02.20.2011 - 5:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Simply cannot believe Landon just moved over with about two to go and made the switch with Tony in front of him. That may have been his only shot to win a Nationwide race. Absolutely pathetic." I don't know that I would call something "absolutely pathetic" based on an assumption. They got a big run through the tri-oval, and it looked like Landon was wanting to try to go high on Bowyer & Jr. I don't think Stewart was going to push a Finch car to the win over his KHI teammate, but maybe that's just me. Before Landon got the nose on Jr high, Stewart decided to fend for himself, and Cassill's best option for himself was to stick right to Stewart's bumper after he was hung out. It's worth noting that Cassill might be on Hendrick's payroll. I believe he still is a test driver for Hendrick. 38. Cooper posted: 02.20.2011 - 9:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 19. Anonymous posted: 02.19.11 - 6:52 pm "Maybe you just aren't secure enough in your own manhood to understand when two straight friends are joking around with each other like that. Sounds like you have some serious thinking to do." I knew this response was coming, I seen it and I still didn't shut my mouth. It has nothing to do with it being wrong in a sense. You can tell it was joking. But I was commenting on how the sport changed. It went from kicking ass to kissing ass. You should not be allowed to talk to your teammate. I think it should be illegal. 39. DaleSrFanForever posted: 02.20.2011 - 10:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this race shows you don't have to have a 35 car pack to be exciting. 4 cars battling for the win was awesome. Kinda like the old days. I hope NASCAR sees this and the mostly positive reaction to it and realize their goal of every race ending with 30 cars finishing within 2 seconds of each other isn't all it's cracked up to be. Hell, look at the '76 Daytona 500. One of the best finishes ever. Petty and Pearson were the only two cars ON THE LEAD LAP!! But they were hooked together battling it out. For me personally, I prefer this to pack racing. It kept me interested throughout the whole race. With pack racing, I oftentimes find myself thinking "can we just skip ahead to the final lap", but I never had that in this race. With drivers in the Top 15 getting lapped after just 30 laps of green racing, it kept everyone on their toes. I respect those who prefer pack racing (even you Bronco) but I prefer this. Plus it was cool seeing unlikely combinations. Kyle Busch and Brad hooking up? Holy shit! "Michael Waltrip had a shot at the end but Bowyer dropped in front of Junior so he had no partner and dropped to ninth, but for some reason was shown while he was taking the white flag running ninth." To me, that might have been the most damning indication of what drivers think of Mikey's "legendary drafting ability". June had Mikey right behind him. How many times have those two hooked up at Daytona or Dega and made the show their own? You know that's what Mikey wanted. Then he could really talk about Dale Sr and "That Day" and once again talk about what it meant to him and once again use it to publicize himself with him and June hooking up again like they did on "The Day" and blah blah blah. June had a choice. He could either stay side by side with Bowyer on the restart which would allow him to hook up with Mikey once again, or he could hang back a full car length, allow Clint to pull in front of him, and draft with him. June didn't even hesitate. He chose Clint which left Mikey with no partner. And it was a smart move. He would have won were it not for the best drafter currently in NASCAR: Tony Stewart. Unlike some are saying, the best plate racer currently isn't June. It ain't Harvick. It sure as hell ain't Mikey. It's Smoke. Here is my ranking of the 43 drivers in the Daytona 500 as far as drafting ability: 1) Stewart 2) Jeff Gordon 3) Kurt Busch 4) Harvick 5) McMurray 6) June ..... 42) Brian Keselowski 43) Jimmie Johnson 40. Cooper posted: 02.20.2011 - 11:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's amazing how Tony can't win the 500. Maybe today will be his day. Tony has basically won every event at Daytona except for the 500. And I agree. Tony is #1 when it comes to drafting. 41. 00andJoe posted: 02.20.2011 - 12:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #25/#28 - actually, from the replays, it looked to me like Cassill genuinely thought there was room - he saw "Special K" coming and decided to hitch a ride. Up to that point they'd work well together, he just misjudged how fast the 22 was coming and - whoops! #29 - I have to agree. #30 - Ditto. The top-25/30/35 rule has not produced the results it was supposed to: i.e. encouraging sponsors to sign and stick around by guaranteeing a spot in the field. Jeff Gordon can't sign a 36-race sponsor. What does that tell you? However, I do distinctly remember fans were constantly grumbling about how the provisionals were so unfair...well, we got what we wished for! But the "38+4+1" system (38 on time, four provisionals, 1 PC or normal provisional) I personally think was the fairest system (and even the 36+6+1 was better than it is now). As it is, the Twin 150s are rendered almost pointless. #32 - I wouldn't be so sure. We have a better crop of NNS-Only drivers this year than we've had in awhile, Elliott Sadler leading that pack with the best equipment. I also think there's a possibility of a few "upsets" in 'joint' race weekends. I don't think we're going to see too many "plane hoppers" this year - the Make Trevor Bayne's Life Suck Rule* discourages that (although not putting Driver X in the owner's-title contending car, of course). * - Although I call it it this, and it could have been done better ("full time Cup drivers cannot score points in other series", how hard is that?), it isn't that bad. And it seems to be having its intended effect - only nine Buschwhackers in the Daytona 300 seems, without actually checking the numbers, to be down a tad from past years... #33 - Actually, the exact phrase use was "long-haired chick", I recall. ;P #34 - Cassill, I think, simply saw what I believe: Cassill+Stewart couldn't run down Earnhardt+Bowyer. Stewart+Cassill had a chance - and did. Also, as was pointed out during the race, the side-draft just isn't there this year - observe "that cue-ball headed fool"'s racing in the Truck Series race, constantly leaning on people trying to get side-draft - and getting zilch! Also, I have to admit, I was actually somewhat relieved Junior didn't win. The conspiracy theorists are already getting enough ammunition... Finally, I agree with everybody who says the new cars are awesome. But can we get Government Motors to run the Camaro please? 42. Brad posted: 02.21.2011 - 9:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Back to my first post (#15): After yesterday's Cup race, I may have spoke too soon lol. 43. AlmirolaFan88 posted: 02.21.2011 - 10:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne finishes 10th here after finishing 41st last year and 27th in July. 24 hours later, he wins the Daytona 500. 44. Talon64 posted: 02.21.2011 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "After yesterday's Cup race, I may have spoke too soon lol." A Daytona 500 trumps a Nationwide championship anyday. I hope Bayne switches over to running for Cup points, his Daytona 500 win would count towards making the Chase in the wild card spots. Tony Stewart wins his 10th career NNS race, 6th at Daytona to tie Dale Jr. for 2nd and put himself 1 behind Dale Earnhardt for the most. 4 of his 6 Daytona wins have come while driving for KHI. It's also KHI's 10th Cup win, 4 of them with Tony Stewart at Daytona. Clint Bowyer won his 9th career Nationwide pole, 2nd at Daytona. 2nd place was his 2nd top 2 finish, 8th top five, in 12 Daytona starts. 2008 Nationwide ROTY Landon Cassill got his best career finish in 3rd, his first top five and 7th top ten in 33 career NNS starts. Reed Sorenson was probably the biggest winner at Daytona when it came to the title contenders, finishing 5th for top five #32 for driver #32. It's his first top five in 8 Daytona starts, and 12th top five in 31 starts in the #32 since 2009. Since last season, Jason Leffler has 8 top tens and a 9.3 average finish in 10 starts when he's not driving his primary ride, the #38 (8 starts in #10 last year, #30 in this race). Leffler had a 19.8 average finish in 27 starts in the #38 in 2010. 2010 NNS ROTY Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gets his 2nd straight top 10 at Daytona (career best 3rd in 2010 night race). Trevor Bayne gets his first top 10 in 4 Nationwide restrictor plate races. Glad to see he's slowly starting to improve on the plate tracks. lol No rookie competed in this race; Jennifer Jo Cobb missed the show and Timmy Hill will make his NNS debut at Phoenix this weekend driving for Rick Ware Racing. 45. 18fan posted: 02.21.2011 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only 40 cars on the entry list for the Phoenix race. Embarrassing as there are more trucks on their entry list. 46. Brad posted: 02.22.2011 - 9:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Talon64 (#44): True that. I was saying that b/c I didn't think NASCAR would let Bayne change his points status from Nationwide to Cup. I really hope NASCAR will let him run for Cup points though. It would be cool to see him and the Wood Brothers in the Chase and win ROY. That is of course if the Wood Brothers can afford to run a schedule. I don't know what Jack Roush was thinking when he gave David Ragan a contract extension through 2014.(http://jayski.com/news/teams/story?id=5992030) Bayne obviously proved that he can get the job done and he should be in the #6. 47. 00andJoe posted: 02.22.2011 - 11:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Blake Koch will also be running for ROTY, I believe. Expect to see a couple of backup cars rolled off the trailer to fill the field. 48. Watto posted: 02.25.2011 - 3:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Bayne obviously proved that he can get the job done and he should be in the #6." There's a chance that Bayne would be more deserving, but I wouldn't base that opinion on a 17th at Texas and a win at one of the biggest crapshoots on the schedule. Ragan has won at Bristol in a Nationwide car and his numbers in Nationwide generally put Bayne's to shame. I think it's a wait and see deal to see how Bayne adjusts to Cup. 17th at Texas was a good start, though. The 21 that Bayne drives are actually Roush cars that are run by Wood Brothers, it's good stuff. It'll be an easy comparison this year once Trevor gets some more experience. 49. Talon64 posted: 02.25.2011 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "There's a chance that Bayne would be more deserving, but I wouldn't base that opinion on a 17th at Texas and a win at one of the biggest crapshoots on the schedule. Ragan has won at Bristol in a Nationwide car and his numbers in Nationwide generally put Bayne's to shame. I think it's a wait and see deal to see how Bayne adjusts to Cup. 17th at Texas was a good start, though. The 21 that Bayne drives are actually Roush cars that are run by Wood Brothers, it's good stuff. It'll be an easy comparison this year once Trevor gets some more experience." In David Ragan's first Nationwide season, while he was also running full time in Cup, he had 4 top fives, 9 top tens, 2 poles, 8 laps led and a 19.5 average finish driving for Roush. His teammates won 6 races with the #60 finishing 3rd, #17 finishing 10th in only 28 starts, and Ragan's #6 only finishing 12th in the owners standings. Bayne ran 15 races in 2009, then last year in his first full season he put up 6 top fives, 11 top tens, 3 poles, led 99 laps and had an average finish of 16.0, most of that for Diamond-Waltrip which finished 10th in the owners points thanks to him. And Bayne didn't get the advantage of running full time double-duty. It took Ragan 196 combined starts from 2004-2009 between Trucks (29), Nationwide (85) and Cup (82) to win a Nationwide race. And that was at a plate track, although he followed it up pretty quickly with that win at Bristol so full credit to him for that. Trevor Bayne's on 51 NNS starts and 2 Cup starts to date but already has a Cup win. Plus, Bayne's led more laps in 51 Nationwide starts as a NNS-only driver (142) than David Ragan's led in 96 starts as a Buschwhacker (115). The numbers suggest that Bayne's been more impressive than Ragan was at the same point in their careers. Combine that with how much Ragan's sucked in Cup the last 2 seasons and I'd replace him with Bayne in the #6 in a heartbeat if I were Jack Roush, as long as UPS was alright with it and agreed to re-up their contract. It was rumored in the off-season that Ragan's contract lasted until 2014 but Jack Roush said yesterday that his and UPS' contracts are up after this season. 50. Watto posted: 02.26.2011 - 3:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The numbers suggest that Bayne's been more impressive than Ragan was at the same point in their careers." I can't compare two drivers today based on what they did years ago. Learning curve doesn't matter, it's about how they are right this second. However, I don't think it's a bad gamble either to try Bayne out in the 6, but it shouldn't happen right now because of hype. Ragan missed out on the Chase a few years ago by a small margin and ended up 13th in points I believe. He has Cup stats in the past. Bayne has a lot of hype right now but he needs more experience before I say he's better than he actually is. I mean, in Bayne's 51 Nationwide races, his numbers have been parallel to Steve Wallace's and no one thinks Steve Wallace is ready for Cup. In their 51 Nationwide races together, they both have a 16.5 avg finish. Steve has more top 10s (19 to 14), Trevor has more top 5s (6 to 2). Steve has more NASCAR experience on his side, but he runs for a team that lacks MWR/Roush type resources. 51. 18fan posted: 02.26.2011 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Remember Ragan finished 13th in points when Roush had great cars. All his teammates have won since then with cars that were not as good relatively than the 2008 cars. 52. Brad posted: 03.10.2011 - 8:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @#32 "--- Fascinating analysis Brad, I thought the same after this race. Consider the potential races wins for the Nationwide only drivers: (2) Nashville Road America Montreal Kentucky" Actually Kentucky is part of the inaugural race weekend for the Cup Series.So that one will more than likely be won but a Cup regular. :( 53. 00andJoe posted: 08.30.2011 - 1:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #51 sponsor: Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room/SickBoy's Bad Habit Lounge 54. 00andJoe posted: 08.30.2011 - 1:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #55 sponsor: Racing With Jesus/Imperial Bedding 55. 00andJoe posted: 08.30.2011 - 1:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #70 sponsor: Foretravel Motorcoach 56. Spen posted: 10.15.2011 - 3:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Todd Bodine was involved in three cautions this race while driving the #15 car. Rookie Timmy Hill, who's been driving that car for the last 30 races, has been involved in *two* cautions all year. 57. Rocky Lore posted: 03.28.2012 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I read that the car Bobby Santos III was driving in this race was basically a car that Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave to the team after Santos wrecked their only car in practice. 58. Daniel posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 36: #55 Brett Rowe Out using fastest 36: #40 Scott Wimmer 59. Daniel posted: 05.21.2012 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Previous post: fastest 43 instead of 36. 60. RaceFanX posted: 09.24.2012 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Todd Bodine's first Busch race since 2008. As of the date of this post he has not run in the series since. This was also Santos' only Busch start of 2011. 61. NASCARLover22 posted: 09.02.2015 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #30 AccuDoc Solutions #20 NASCAR The Game 2011/GameStop #14 Hefty BlackOut/Reynolds Wrap #33 Rheem (just Rheem) #6 Blackwell Angus Beef/Cargill 62. Paul posted: 04.30.2016 - 2:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The No. 52 car was provided by JR Motorsports for Jimmy Means' team for this race after Bobby Santos, III crashed the team's only car during a practice session (Hence the TaxSlayer decals on the car). As far as I know, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lent them the car free of charge provided that the team attempt to run the entire race, which the No. 52 team hadn't done since Talladega in April 2009. Santos went on to finish one lap down in 17th place, which would be the team's best finish of 2011. 63. Braindead Zombie posted: 05.10.2016 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To be honest I can't really fault Marty for calling the wrong winner. I also thought Bowyer had won. 64. Anthony posted: 02.12.2019 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) look at the points standings after this one 65. SweetRich posted: 07.06.2020 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first race for car owner / driver Jeremy Clements. 66. SweetRich posted: 07.07.2020 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The final career NASCAR Nationwide Series race for Germain Racing. 67. SweetRich posted: 07.09.2020 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 2nd and final career Nationwide Series race for Patrick Sheltra. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: