Daytona disappoints
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There was a tangible sense of electricity surrounding the first event of Speedweeks, a race everyone expected to be so rough-and-tumble that NASCAR's relaxed rules toward aggressive driving would most certainly be tested.
Instead, Saturday night's exhibition Budweiser Shootout felt more like a cease fire.
The bumping and banging that's become the trademark of Daytona and Talladega wasn't too intense until the closing laps. The slicing and dicing of drivers weaving through the field seemed minimal.
And the opportunity to dazzle fans with a spectacular Daytona 500 preview was lost.
"It wasn't nearly as crazy as I thought it would be," said fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin.
That's because NASCAR all but promised as much by lifting the restrictions on bump-drafting and giving drivers the "Boys, have at it" to mix it up more on the race track. Series officials had progressively squeezed out bump-drafting — the practice of one car shoving the car in front of it to push each other through the field at Daytona and Talladega — but decided to let the drivers police themselves after complaints of sterilized racing at NASCAR's fastest two tracks.
So it seemed logical that the no-points Shootout would be the perfect opportunity to see what NASCAR would allow.
After all, the drivers seemed fairly feisty in the first practice of Speedweeks, when contact between Hamlin and Mark Martin triggered a seven-car accident that ruined several race cars. The second practice wasn't clean, either, as bumping between Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch led to the first of Busch's two weekend wrecks.
But come actual race time, it all felt fairly calm.
There were a few in-race incidents, including Busch's wild slide through the grass and subsequent hard hit into the outside wall, but the breathtaking passes and all-out aggression seemed fairly limited. A late caution setup a two-lap sprint to the finish, but Jeff Gordon's bump-drafting of Greg Biffle started an eight-car accident with one lap remaining to draw a race-ending caution.
Although NASCAR waited a bit longer than usual to wave the yellow flag — in a presumed attempt to give drivers an attempt to race to the finish line — the wreckage was too severe and winner Kevin Harvick crossed the finish line under caution.
So what went wrong?
Nothing, if you ask the drivers.
Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray, the second- and third-place finishers, both raved about how exciting it was on the track. And fourth-place finisher Kyle Busch complained numerous times during the race that many cars were out of control.
Only it didn't translate to the audience, which had hoped all 75 laps were as action-packed as the final two.
It's wishful thinking, but also unrealistic.
With several practice sessions and next week's qualifying races remaining, drivers walked a fine line Saturday night trying to preserve equipment.
