Who`s Hot / Not In NASCAR Daytona 500 Edition

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2/23/11 10:00 AM
Who's Hot / Not in NASCAR: Daytona 500 Edition
Summer Dreyer · Tuesday February 22, 2011
Unpredictable. That one word sums up the entire Daytona
weekend, from the photo finishes in the Camping World
Truck and Nationwide Series races to Trevor Bayne scoring
his first NASCAR victory—in any of NASCAR’s top three
series—to win the Daytona 500 at just 20 years old, the
youngest 500 winner in the race’s 53-year history.
But while Bayne will most definitely be taking the spotlight
this week—and he should!—other drivers had runs worth
mentioning (or worrying about) that you may not have
noticed in all the excitement. So, without further ado …
here’s this week’s edition of Who’s Hot and Who’s Not
around the NASCAR circuit.
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HOT
Regan Smith – Aside from
Trevor Bayne, Smith
probably had one of the
most impressive underdog
performances throughout
Daytona Speedweeks.
Smith led seven laps in the
500, and while that doesn’t
necessarily sound
impressive, he was up front
more often than not.
Because of the tandem
racing, finding the right
dancing partner was crucial,
and Smith seemed like the
go-to guy for anyone in
need of some extra help.
Kurt Busch probably
received more assistance
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Forced
To Back-Up Car, Will Start
500 At The Rear
posted by Jay Pennell
Wednesday February 16, 2011
It was a gritty
performance late,
coming back from a
Pole sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. will
keep that title in name alone after a
wreck early in Wednesday’s opening
practice session forced the No. 88
team to pull out the back-up car.
Pushing teammate Jimmie Johnson
off the fourth corner, the two-car
tandem came up on a pack of slower
cars that began moving up the track.
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coming back from a
from Smith after the two
wreck not of his
worked so well together in
making as Regan
the Gatorade Duel, but at
Smith’s seventh-place
one point an ill-timed
finish at Daytona was
bumpdraft threw Busch’s
his career best.
Dodge into Smith, sending
the No. 78 spinning and
almost ruining what could have been a career day. The
fact that the team was able to rally back to seventh after
that speaks volumes about their ability to step it up a
notch in 2011.
Jennifer Jo Cobb – After finishing sixth in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night, Cobb
became the highest-finishing female driver in series
history. In 2010, the owner/driver Cobb also had the
highest driver points standings finish of any other female
driver in series history when she wound up 17th.
Admittedly, one of the reasons in this race she was able to
run so well is because of all the trucks that got sent to the
garage due to wrecks by the end of the night. However, it
was Cobb’s ability (and her spotter’s careful guidance) that
kept her out of trouble at Daytona, something that drivers
with larger resumes than hers haven’t always been able to
do.
Cobb showed some “feistiness” during the race, too. After
a multi-truck accident that started with contact with Kyle
Busch, Cobb drove up beside Busch, tapped his truck ever
so slightly, and sharply pointed towards him in his truck to
voice her feelings about the crash. To be honest, I can’t
say I wouldn’t have done the same, so you GO girl!
Honorable Mention: Trevor Bayne (of course!)
WARM
Danica Patrick – The only reason I didn’t put her up
there with the “Hot” drivers is because she didn’t finish on
the lead lap. Nevertheless, female drivers definitely came
to show their stuff (racing ability, GUYS!). During
Nationwide Series qualifying, Patrick sat on the pole for a
while before Clint Bowyer, Landon Cassill, and team owner
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all beat her time. However, fourth
place isn’t a bad starting spot for a driver who hasn’t even
run a full schedule of racing yet.
Patrick also led a lap during
the race after Bowyer
2/23/11 10:00 AM
cars that began moving up the track.
Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. backed off,
but the two-car draft of Martin Truex
Jr. and Brian Vickers were unable to
get slowed in time. Truex made
contact with the rear of Earnhardt’s
EVENT HAS
ENDED
car, sending
them
both into the inside
wall. The No. 88 and No. 56 teams
went toFrontstretch
work pullingLive
outBlog:
the back-up
cars. Homestead
Join Us: Sun November 21, 2010
“I just Time:
really don’t
what was
1:00PM know
EST
going on there,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
“The guys on the inside looked like
Watch Replay
they were going to stay low and then
they started creeping up and giving
Reader
Information
Jimmie, and
they
gave me the
impression
that
they were going to
Powered by: CoveritLive
be closing the hole on the outside. So
Jimmie lifted, and he about wrecked.
I got off the gas and there were a
couple guys coming behind me –
Truex and a couple of guys – and
they didn’t have a chance. You got to
pay attention out there, man. If you
want to come out here and race
you’ve got to pay attention.
“We’ve got plenty of race cars, I’m
not worried about how fast we’ll be
or whether we’ll be as good. We’ll be
fine. But it never feels good tearing
them up,” he added. “I’m just
disappointed in myself. I didn’t feel
good about getting out there and
practicing, I didn’t think I needed to
be out there practicing, I just had a
bad feeling about it. We come up
running up on some guys that didn’t
have their head on straight and got in
an accident.”
In part, Earnhardt Jr. blamed the rule
changes made by NASCAR saying the
new alterations made the closing
rates even more dramatic than
before.
“The keep slowing the cars down and
it’s making the cars drafting normally
so much slower, and now the closing
rate on the two-car pack is even
faster. It’s just hard, real hard.
Hopefully there’s just no more
accidents the rest of the week. We’re
all kind of getting the hang of it, but
the guys that aren’t in a two-car pack
need to be aware that those guys are
going to come flying up on them
faster than they think. You just have
to keep that in mind and hold your
line.”
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pushed her towards the
front. She had her
moments after that
(especially with Bowyer)
but coming home 14th, one
lap down, her best career
Nationwide Series finish is
nothing to sneeze at.
2/23/11 10:00 AM
Danica Patrick made
huge strides at
Daytona, posting a
career best finish of
14th in Saturday’s
Nationwide race.
Landon Cassill – Due to
the new Nationwide Series
rules, Cassill is the points
leader of the series after
finishing third to Sprint Cup
Series regulars Tony
Stewart and Clint Bowyer. While you would expect Cassill
to be on top of the world, the former Hendrick Motorsports
development driver is in front of the unemployment line:
he doesn’t even have a ride for next week in Phoenix. In
the post-race press conference, Cassill was even asking
Bowyer for help! Someone get this guy a ride!
Honorable Mention: Reed Sorenson (fifth in 2011
Nationwide debut)
COOL
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – OK, yeah I know I had him listed
as a “hot” driver just last week, but after looking over a
review of his Speedweeks I began to rethink that. Aside
from the Daytona 500 pole, Earnhardt didn’t have many
bright spots over the past couple of weeks. Heck, and even
that was spoiled after a wreck in practice sent him to the
back of the field!
That string of bad luck continued on Sunday when
Earnhardt failed to finish the race after getting caught up
in a wreck not of his own doing on the first green-whitecheckered attempt of the race. He finished 24th. But this
is all fixed anyway, right?
Brad Keselowski – I never thought I’d see the day when
Keselowski ended up getting overshadowed by older
brother, Brian, but that’s exactly what happened this
week. After Brad pushed Brian in the Gatorade Duel to
secure him a spot in the Daytona 500, it was Brian who
became the talk of the NASCAR garage!
Meanwhile, Brad … well … sucked both Saturday and
Sunday. Keselowski nearly made it to the end of the race
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in Nationwide, but contact with Cassill on lap 106 sent him
spinning through the grass and promptly ended his day.
He finished 30th.
In the Cup Series race, contact with Robby Gordon sent
him spinning into the outside wall. Keselowski wouldn’t
finish that race, either, eventually being scored 29th in the
final running order.
In Brad’s defense, Brian had some misfortunes of his own;
he finished 41st after he got caught up in a 14-car crash
in turns 3 and 4 on the 30th lap of the race. At least
people other than Brad’s fans seemed to actually care…
Honorable Mention: Jimmie Johnson (27th after being
involved in an early wreck)
Don't miss this week's
edition!
Carey and Coffey: You Can't
Have Two Things, Carl! What's
Up With That?
Check in with Matt and Jay on
their site at CareyandCoffey.com.
COLD
Kevin Harvick – Harvick fell
out of the race so early, he
was able to fly back to
Charlotte and start tweeting
about the race while he was
watching on TV at home. Just
22 laps in, the engine on the
No. 29 went kaput and
Greg Biffle’s got
knocked him out of the race
plenty of making up
(42nd). He wouldn’t be the
to do in the points
only Richard Childress Racing
after an ugly, wreckdriver to lose an engine,
filled start to his
either. Teammate Jeff
season at Daytona.
Burton’s motor let go just 92
laps into the race, the first
time RCR has experienced two
mechanical failures like that since Michigan back in the
summer of 2006. To add insult to injury, RCR’s one
contender left, Clint Bowyer was involved in a wreck on lap
198 after he had been running up front for most of the
day. Expensive weekend, Mr. Childress?
Greg Biffle – There weren’t many people happier to get
out of Daytona than Biffle. On lap 30, a 14-car pileup
ensued and Biffle found himself right in the middle of it.
Biffle spent 17 laps in the garage area to repair the
damage, then returned to the track to gain some extra
points and help his teammates.
Except the teammate part didn’t go so well. Biffle was
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2/23/11 10:00 AM
drafting with Roush Fenway Racing friend Matt Kenseth
and suddenly, it went very wrong. Biffle attempted to
bump draft Kenseth heading into the tri-oval, but hooked
his right rear bumper instead and sent him into the outside
wall on the frontstretch. Kenseth was OK, but his day was
done.
Biffle’s day ended, too when an accident involving him and
Juan Pablo Montoya left Biffle’s car too damaged to
continue. He would finish 35th.
Honorable Mention: Johanna Long (running fine in the
Truck race … until being turned into a bowling pin by
Donnie Neuenberger)
Connect with Summer!
Contact Summer Dreyer
Tuesday on the Frontstretch:
5 Points to Ponder: Pit Problems, Waltrip Must Go,
And Ethics Run Amok?
Crime Scene Investigation: Denny Hamlin Looking
To Bury Phoenix Hatchet
No Bull: Bayne’s Win Was Big For NASCAR… Now
What?
Talking NASCAR TV: Audio, Post-Race Issues
Plague ESPN And FOX
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Readers React to Who's Hot / Not in NASCAR:
Daytona 500 Edition...
RandyGoldmanI’m just going to throw this out
02/22/2011 there… Danica Patrick IS hot.
08:08 AM
permalink
Sharon J
02/22/2011
08:22 AM
permalink
Read more here!
Where were spotters? Why did
drivers not know there was a slow
moving car (78)? This was a wreck
that could have been prevented. My
sympathy to the drivers who got
taken out by a car which could have
been warned about the fast coming
traffice and moved over the yellow
without penalty. Smith takes out
those with a chance to win, yet he
gets back in the race.
RaceTalkRadio.com
Johnboy60
02/22/2011
12:47 PM
permalink
Well Randy, You finally said
something I agree with!! She is
SMOKIN’!!
RandyGoldman- another convert!!!!
02/22/2011
01:16 PM
permalink
Read more here!
DoninAjax
02/22/2011
08:30 PM
permalink
Maryeve Dufault!!!!
Danica who?
Page 6 of 8
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Old Farmer
02/23/2011
03:09 AM
permalink
2/23/11 10:00 AM
What a joke column. Everybody
knows what Kurt Busch (I think)
said is true, that the real season
doesn’t start until next week.
Daytona is a show, nothing more.
Whoever gets the best drafting
breaks wins.
And a sincere congratulations to TB
for pushing seemingly everyone on
the track and then getting his
rewards for doing so. He was THE
MAN within the oddity of the
Daytona race. Let’s see what
happens from here on out,
discounting the restrictor plate
circuses.
And, yes, Danica Patrick is HOT.
Anyone who doesn’t think so must
be dead or blind.
Let’s see who is hot and who is not
on the racetrack after two or three
races. Time tells who is and who
isn’t, not a single race.
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