11/05/24
February 13, 2002
Rule change boosts Fords to front of field.: Earlier this week, NASCAR announced Winston Cup Ford teams would get another quarter-inch off their spoilers, effective with yesterday's practice at Daytona International Speedway. How does this affect your picks for the Daytona 500 Championship race this Sunday? Was Ford was given too much of a break?
Practice speeds mean squat in Daytona and Talladega. NASCAR allowed the Fords to cut off a quarter inch off of the rear spoilers to give them a fighting chance and most importantly, to make the race "exciting" for the fans on the stand and watching on TV. NASCAR never really knows how a car will behave on the track solely based on wind tunnel tests. This is why they do all these last minute changes before Daytona (and also during the year). This is why last year they gave a bit more to the Dodge teams, not knowing exactly where they stood. I personally would like to see Rusty or Mark win it. I won't mind if Ricky Rudd won it either. I guess that makes me a "Ford Person." Looking realistically, I am just rooting for the underdog here. Fords have won only ten times in the history of Daytona 500. But if I were betting money (which may be illegal where you live; adult supervision required; check local listings; all other warnings apply), I'd go with any of the RCR, Hendrick, Yates or Joe Gibbs cars. That's 11 cars right there. While DEI has a great super-speedway program, only Dale Jr. is of any threat. Michael is the new Derrick Cope. Kenny has always proved to be a loyal drafting buddy. Roush has never won at Daytona, and this year will not be any different. One dark horse was Ward Burton, but he wrecked his car yesterday. Unless racing gods shine on him like they did on Jarett in 2000, Ward will have to wait another year. Sterling Marlin knows how to drive around Daytona, and has his best bet is to have other Dodge teams helping him during the race. Racing Daytona has evolved into a "system." Yates, RCR, Hendrick, and to lesser extent Joe Gibbs (and maybe DEI) have figured out how to win at this track. Their cars can win it with a trained monkey and good drafting partners. BTW, Daytona 500 is not a "championship." It is just a race in the Winston Cup series.
posted by tamim at 05:19 PM on February 13, 2002
I haven't looked to see if this has been brought up before, but is car racing really a "sport"? I concede that it's a skill and competitive, but in my opinion sports involve a combined mental and physical exertion. There isn't a category for car racing on this site, that must say something
posted by jonah at 05:15 PM on February 14, 2002
here is an article that explains why drivers should be considered athletes. Might not apply as much to NASCAR (Jimmy Spencer anyone?).
posted by gyc at 06:17 PM on February 14, 2002
After the Twin 125's today, I'm happy that Shawna Robinson (first woman since 1980) and Dave Marcis (his final Daytona) qualified. Very cool. Of course racing is a sport. It's covered in Sports Illustrated, on ESPN, and in the sports section of any newspaper. I didn't get that right with "championship", I was meaning to differentiate between all the other activities going on at Speedweeks and the race. "Daytona 500" stands alone. But "just a race"? :P Jeff Burton's car got wrecked, not Ward's. I'm always rootin' for Ward, must be the way he talks. Lotta tape in that second race.
posted by brenna at 09:14 PM on February 14, 2002
Yeah, I too am happy for Shawna Robinson. I was gonna link to her on the front page, with today being "unimaginative and entirely arbitrary consumerist interpretation of romance day" (via), and she being a hot gal in a fast car; then I remembered that she is married. And good for ol' (literally) Dave Marcis. I can't believe he came in seventh in his Twin-125s. I don't know if auto racing is a "sport" or not, but I wouldn't base my decission on it being left out as a category at Sportsfilter. That would be shallow of me to do. But from a strictly psychological and physical stand point, it takes just as much nerve and physical fitness to drive a car at upwords of 200 miles an hour with 20 other cars at similar speed running around you. A blink at the wrong time can turn really good sheetmetal into pancakes. The article GYC linked to gives a great perspective on that. By the way, Jimmy Spencer is cut out from the same cloth as Nigel Mansel. Rumor has it, they share a tailor too. I got it wrong on the Burton brother. It indeed was Jeff and not Ward. I hope Ward is still in the hunt on Sunday. I was also wrong on Michael. After seeing some of the footage from today on Fox Sports, I think Dale Jr. has a really good shot at winning it. I am allowed to be wrong at times. :-) My previous analysis still holds. Nothing else has changed much. As much as I'd like to see Rusty or Mark win, I don't think their cars can hold up.
posted by tamim at 11:50 PM on February 14, 2002
DEI definitely have to be the favorites on the superspeedways, so I think DE Jr. and Michael Waltrip along with Jeff Gordon have to be the favorites. The results on Thursday just adds to that.
posted by gyc at 12:10 AM on February 15, 2002
Interesting article gyc, thanks. I'm not one of those "anyone can drive a car around a track people", I just have a hard time thinking of race car driving as a sport. After all, much of the performace relies on the equipment (the same could probably by said for tennis and golf though, and definitely for cyclying).
posted by jonah at 01:03 PM on February 15, 2002
After only two Fords were in the top 20 in Saturday's Bud Pole Qualifying, yesterday's practice speeds found six Fords in the top 10!