Catchfence

If the 50th Daytona 500 managed to stay within the form chart of the last five years yet at the same time offer something different, the 50th running of what began as the Firecracker 250 and then became the Firecracker 400 managed to do all that and yet also cheat the sport out of the proper outcome. That is the bothersome part of racing that is the sport’s best and comes amid continuing economic turmoil the sport has never seriously addressed.

Daytona’s 400 miler was decided by the worst possible method of determining running order – by a videotape replay of the leaders entering Turn Two. As a result, Kyle Busch was in effect declared the race winner by default, even though there was still some two miles of clean racetrack on which he and Carl Edwards and company could have raced.

Thus did Kyle Busch get win #6 on the season and spoil what had been a stunning rally by the Roush-Fenway Fords. The finish began with the elimination of the Hendrick Chevrolets that dominated roughly half of the race as Jimmie Johnson got wrecked, then Dale Junior got double-shuffled, then Jeff Gordon got nailed by Edwards. Edwards parlayed that punch into a charge for the win, but by freezing the field, NASCAR stopped him from a potential photo-finish win.

Once again NASCAR’s rule feezing the field instead of racing back to the stripe put the wrong car into victory. Now this may sound harsh, especially given that one can never know if Edwards would have beaten Busch to the stripe, but by not racing to the flag NASCAR compromised the finish. And it is by no stretch the first time they’ve done this.

NASCAR first began freeing the field following a crash at New Hampshire in 2003, a crash directly witnessed by this author. Dale Jarrett crashed off Four and came to a stop close to the groove; the yellow flew and the leaders slowed entering Three – except Michael Waltrip, who tried to bully through to put a car a lap down. The leders slipped past Jarrett, but NASCAR changed the rule after that race.

It was a case of refusing to hold a driver responsible for an error in judgement, and the result has been several races where the winner was made such by freezing the field. The 2004 Alabama 500 was the first and perhaps most infamous example, as Jeff Gordon was declared winner with five to go and the controversy doubled because the race ended under yellow. The Michigan 400 nearly two months later saw Ryan Newman saved by a yellow on the final lap from a fast-closing Kasey Kahne. Tallaega in October 2005 was another case – the yellow flew on the final lap with the leaders three abreast entering Three; Dale Jarrett was declared winner in Turn Three, not at the stripe. The next year in the same race on the final lap Kahne blew past Brian Vickers after Vickers took out Junior and Johnson, but NASCAR ruled Vickers the winner.

The controversy has also worked when NASCAR let the leaders come back to the race-ending yellow – such was the case on the final lap of the 2004 Firecracker 250 when Jason Leffler hammered Michael Waltrip into the backstretch wall, then swerved Junior into the Turn Four wall as Mike Wallace stormed under them all to the win. Nearly three years later Mark Martin appeared to have the Daytona 500 won, but Kevin Harvick stormed from midpack to a two-foot lead just as Kyle Busch lost it and took half the field with him off Four; no yellow flew and Harvick beat Martin to the stripe.

If the 50th Daytona 500 managed to stay within the form chart of the last five years yet at the same time offer something different, the 50th running of what began as the Firecracker 250 and then became the Firecracker 400 managed to do all that and yet also cheat the sport out of the proper outcome. That is the bothersome part of racing that is the sport’s best and comes amid continuing economic turmoil the sport has never seriously addressed.

Daytona’s 400 miler was decided by the worst possible method of determining running order – by a videotape replay of the leaders entering Turn Two. As a result, Kyle Busch was in effect declared the race winner by default, even though there was still some two miles of clean racetrack on which he and Carl Edwards and company could have raced.

Thus did Kyle Busch get win #6 on the season and spoil what had been a stunning rally by the Roush-Fenway Fords. The finish began with the elimination of the Hendrick Chevrolets that dominated roughly half of the race as Jimmie Johnson got wrecked, then Dale Junior got double-shuffled, then Jeff Gordon got nailed by Edwards. Edwards parlayed that punch into a charge for the win, but by freezing the field, NASCAR stopped him from a potential photo-finish win.

Once again NASCAR’s rule feezing the field instead of racing back to the stripe put the wrong car into victory. Now this may sound harsh, especially given that one can never know if Edwards would have beaten Busch to the stripe, but by not racing to the flag NASCAR compromised the finish. And it is by no stretch the first time they’ve done this.

NASCAR first began freeing the field following a crash at New Hampshire in 2003, a crash directly witnessed by this author. Dale Jarrett crashed off Four and came to a stop close to the groove; the yellow flew and the leaders slowed entering Three – except Michael Waltrip, who tried to bully through to put a car a lap down. The leders slipped past Jarrett, but NASCAR changed the rule after that race.

It was a case of refusing to hold a driver responsible for an error in judgement, and the result has been several races where the winner was made such by freezing the field. The 2004 Alabama 500 was the first and perhaps most infamous example, as Jeff Gordon was declared winner with five to go and the controversy doubled because the race ended under yellow. The Michigan 400 nearly two months later saw Ryan Newman saved by a yellow on the final lap from a fast-closing Kasey Kahne. Tallaega in October 2005 was another case – the yellow flew on the final lap with the leaders three abreast entering Three; Dale Jarrett was declared winner in Turn Three, not at the stripe. The next year in the same race on the final lap Kahne blew past Brian Vickers after Vickers took out Junior and Johnson, but NASCAR ruled Vickers the winner.

The controversy has also worked when NASCAR let the leaders come back to the race-ending yellow – such was the case on the final lap of the 2004 Firecracker 250 when Jason Leffler hammered Michael Waltrip into the backstretch wall, then swerved Junior into the Turn Four wall as Mike Wallace stormed under them all to the win. Nearly three years later Mark Martin appeared to have the Daytona 500 won, but Kevin Harvick stormed from midpack to a two-foot lead just as Kyle Busch lost it and took half the field with him off Four; no yellow flew and Harvick beat Martin to the stripe.

A good percentage of the Race-Stream Media had its dander up because NASCAR didn’t throw the yellow when the crash started and Martin hadn’t come back to the stripe. What it illustrated, however, was the foolishness of freezing the field. The argument made is a safety one, that stopping cars from racing to the yellow is preventing crashes. But the argument doesn’t hold water considering that over the last few years there have been several crashes where the drivers were not racing to the yellow yet there were secondary wecks anyway. The whole safety argument is based on the myth that started with Darrell Waltrip’s 1983 Daytona 500 crash when he swerved to avoid Dick Brooks coming to the yellow and smashed the inside guardrail. No one was pushing any issue back to the yellow until Lake Speed chopped off Brooks enough to make him slam on his brakes; the rule racing back to the flag didn’t make him do that.

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The chaotic finish put a damper on what had been some superb efforts up and down the field. Kyle Busch wasn’t the only JGR Toyota to storm to the front, as Denny Hamlin mixed it up well and J.J. Yeley got a relief shot in Tony Stewart’s Toyota and showed he actually can race in good cars as opposed to the hand-me-down machinery of the #96 team.

The Hendrick Chevrolets had looked downright outpowered by the Gibbs Toyotas much of the year and at Daytona the Hendrick cars showed some huge power gains, which explained how Junior could lead a race-high 51 laps after being just a drafting car in the first two plate races of the season. Other Chevys had less to smile about as DEI’s strong start ultimately went nowhere at the end, while RCR got some good results from Bowyer and Harvick but sees Jeff Burton in a hole I very much doubt he can climb out of.

Ford had some noteworthy efforts. Roush-Fenway’s effort didn’t win but did put three cars in the top five and Doug Yates’ two cars actually looked like contenders for awhile.

Dodge salvaged something in Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, and Kasey Kahne top tens, while Petty Enterprises was too quiet for my liking yet got some productivity at the end.

We won’t of course ever know if Edwards would have beaten Busch to the stripe, but he certainly deserved the chance. The integrity of the sport likewise deserved that chance.

A good percentage of the Race-Stream Media had its dander up because NASCAR didn’t throw the yellow when the crash started and Martin hadn’t come back to the stripe. What it illustrated, however, was the foolishness of freezing the field. The argument made is a safety one, that stopping cars from racing to the yellow is preventing crashes. But the argument doesn’t hold water considering that over the last few years there have been several crashes where the drivers were not racing to the yellow yet there were secondary wecks anyway. The whole safety argument is based on the myth that started with Darrell Waltrip’s 1983 Daytona 500 crash when he swerved to avoid Dick Brooks coming to the yellow and smashed the inside guardrail. No one was pushing any issue back to the yellow until Lake Speed chopped off Brooks enough to make him slam on his brakes; the rule racing back to the flag didn’t make him do that.

The chaotic finish put a damper on what had been some superb efforts up and down the field. Kyle Busch wasn’t the only JGR Toyota to storm to the front, as Denny Hamlin mixed it up well and J.J. Yeley got a relief shot in Tony Stewart’s Toyota and showed he actually can race in good cars as opposed to the hand-me-down machinery of the #96 team.

The Hendrick Chevrolets had looked downright outpowered by the Gibbs Toyotas much of the year and at Daytona the Hendrick cars showed some huge power gains, which explained how Junior could lead a race-high 51 laps after being just a drafting car in the first two plate races of the season. Other Chevys had less to smile about as DEI’s strong start ultimately went nowhere at the end, while RCR got some good results from Bowyer and Harvick but sees Jeff Burton in a hole I very much doubt he can climb out of.

Ford had some noteworthy efforts. Roush-Fenway’s effort didn’t win but did put three cars in the top five and Doug Yates’ two cars actually looked like contenders for awhile.

Dodge salvaged something in Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, and Kasey Kahne top tens, while Petty Enterprises was too quiet for my liking yet got some productivity at the end.

We won’t of course ever know if Edwards would have beaten Busch to the stripe, but he certainly deserved the chance. The integrity of the sport likewise deserved that chance.