Born to Ron: Daytona 500 blog
"The Great American Race" celebrates its 50th anniversary
 | NASCAR fans gather on the infield grass prior to the start of the 50th running of the Daytona 500. |
Chris O'Meara/AP |
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Special to NBCSports.com
Editor's note: NBC Sports staffer and NASCAR aficionado Ron Vaccaro will be blogging throughout the afternoon as he watches the Daytona 500 from the comfort of his couch.
7:17 p.m.: One final thought. Great to see that a version of the "Daytona slingshot" is back in effect ... that you don't necessarily want to be leading coming off of Turn 2 on the last lap. It was like this in the old days, then there was a phase, particularly in the late 90s, when a driver needed to be in the lead ... not anymore, and I welcome that.
P.S. Did Chris Myers just refer to Ryan Newman's father, Greg, as Greg "Norman"?
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6:59 p.m.: Wow! Great finish for Ryan Newman. Daytona delivers once again.
I'm tired just from typing about it!
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6:49 p.m.: Restart with eight laps to go sees Chevy-Dodge-Ford-Toyota as the top 4 ... NASCAR execs are smiling with that ... a big reason why the Car of Tomorrow, er Today, was developed.
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6:46 p.m.: Kudos to Richard Childress Racing. Clint Bowyer was near the front of the field when he was punted, and now Jeff Burton is on the point.
I have to be objective here ... I am rooting for anybody but Kyle Busch to win right now ...
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6:33 p.m.: Bowyer gets booted ... And now you see what I meant when I said that cautions breed more cautions about two hours ago ...
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6:31 p.m.: I'll say this right now -- if Dale Earnhardt Junior can win this race on these old tires, his driving ability can never again be questioned. That's the diplomatic statement.
The no bull statement is this -- great move by Tony Stewart to fake staying out then dive onto pit road at the last minute.
Blame Junior, Tony Eury, or whoever, but thinking they could win this race on tires that would be that old was not a Daytona 500-winning decision. He has 20 laps to prove me wrong.
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6:17 p.m.: Am I the only one who gets the feeling that neither of the Busch brothers has an easy time getting a personal car insurance policy?
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6:14 p.m.: I'm amazed that a lot of the pre-race storylines are still intact ... Namely: Can Toyota win? Sure looks like they can, between Kyle "Rowdy" Busch and Tony Stewart. Can Junior win with his new team? Well, he's in the lead right now.
Speaking of Dale Jr. -- the fact that he did not pit seems to indicate that he thinks it is his only chance to win -- that he probably knows he doesn't have the car to beat either the #18 or #20.
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6:07 p.m.: First accident of the day at Lap 161 ... two RoushFenway cars take out each other ... and two of the strongest Fords in the fields are out of it.
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5:57 p.m.: Caution out for debris again. Before you complain about a debris caution, ask Mark Martin how it felt to blow both of his left side tires after running over some foreign object on the track.
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5:54 pm.: If I were campaigning to be NASCAR President, my "yes we can" would be "Go or Go Home" ... with a much different connotation than it currently has. Down with the top-35 rule. The fastest cars at the track should make the race. The old system had the fastest 36 cars qualify with seven provisional spots. That seems a lot fairer than having eight spots reserved for those cars that aren't in the top 35.
I just wonder what the complexion of this race might look like if some fast cars and veteran drivers didn't have to go home largely due to the restrictive top-35 rule. Guys like Boris Said, who had a fast ride all week ... and past 500 champions Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin. Not to mention Ken Schrader, who for a few years in the late 80s and early 90s was a lock to be at the top of the Daytona speed charts. These guys knew how to run for 500 miles and probably would have found a way to be there at the end.
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5:35 p.m.: "Shiftgate" continues ... from duct tape to glue for Junior's shifter ... even in such a big money sport, the little things will always have their place.
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5:14 p.m.: A few questions as this race roars towards halfway -- with the first two courtesy of the "odd" department:
1) How the heck did Mark Martin get TWO flat left side tires?
2) How in the world did Junior lose his shift cover?
3) Where have you gone Tony Stewart? Can it be that he's saving something for the end?
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4:51 p.m.: And debris on the backstretch proves me right ... The first caution of any race always has a way to make things interesting -- the teams get a chance to tweak and massage the cars a bit more and a bit more leisurely. Also, there's that old rule ... cautions seem to breed more cautions ... the field gets bunched up ... and anything can take place when that happens.
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4:40 p.m.: 70 laps in and ... NO CAUTIONS yet ... that has to be the surprise of the day so far. Remember now, the first 500 ran caution free ... wouldn't it be symmetrical if this one did? Perhaps, but I've got 130 laps and 43 drivers that says we'll see the yellow silk in the air at some point.
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4:27 p.m.: 125 of 500 miles complete, and the race is starting to settle a bit.
We just saw Denny Hamlin pass Kyle Busch for the lead. Both drivers are in Gibbs Toyotas, so there's a very good shot Toyota can wind up in Victory Lane today. But before anyone gets upset about a "foreign" manufacturer doing so well in NASCAR, just remember it's reflective of the times and that some Camrys are actually manufactured in Kentucky.
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4:04 p.m.: The early verdict on the car formerly known as the "Car of Tomorrow" at Daytona is good. The field is strung out a bit, thanks to an increased premium on handling. This will also increase passing, as cars can make moves without the worry of being shuffled all the way to the back of a 43-car pack.
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3:54 p.m.: Richard Petty took off the trademark cowboy hat to wave the green flag ... this MUST be a special event. The King is rarely seen without that hat and his trademark shades. Pretty cool to have the guy who won this race a record seven times in the flag stand to start the 50th running.
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3:46 p.m.: FOX's new "Gopher Cam" may catch some flack for it's gimmicky quality, but there's nothing gimmicky about the views it gives. May be the best "speed shot" I've seen in a long time.
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3:29 p.m.: Why is the "Great American Race" the perfect name for the Daytona 500? Many possible answers, but none needs to be exclusive.
But when you consider that Bill France Sr. had to take a second mortgage on his house to build the Daytona International Speedway, AND that had that first race back in 1959 been rained out he would have gone bankrupt, and you contrast that with the cathedral of speed that exists today, what represents the American Dream any more than that?
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3:27 p.m.: Almost Race time!
A musical note. While the title of this blog accurately indicates that Springsteen is my favorite musical act, NASCAR has scored major points with me today. From Brooks and Dunn to a stirring, traditional rendition of our national anthem from Trisha Yearwood, the stage has been set. And now it is up to 43 Cars of Today to honor that stage with a great race.
Time for a prediction: Dale Earnhardt Junior, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon surely among the favorites, but I'm going to show my skill, and give you two darkhorse picks. Pick 1 is Mark Martin, now driving for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, and Pick 2 is Carl Edwards. Not much good has been said about the Fords this Speedweeks, but I think his RoushFenway Fusion has looked solid this week.
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3:15 p.m.: Poignant moment of the day so far: Brooks & Dunn, one of Dale Earnhardt's favorite bands, singing "Hard Workin' Man" as the car Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 with 10 years ago was rolled on to the infield grass.
As Brooks & Dunn sing "Proud of the House We Built" ... can anything be more apt for the Daytona International Speedway? The track is the premier venue in all of motorsports, and the "we" who built it encompasses all -- the drivers, the crews, the fans.
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2:56 p.m.: The true emotion on Darrell Waltrip's face ... choking up at the thought of Dale Earnhardt ... shows one of the reasons this sport has become so popular. Larry Woody, a longtime writer for the Tennessean once wrote "If horse racing is the sport of kings, then auto racing is the sport of friends."
Somebody might want to tell that to Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart.
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2:51 p.m.: WOW. FOX has REALLY come up small. They just made a goof by showing Mike Joy's look back at the 1960s at Daytona twice. Then Chris Myers came on camera and said -- "Now we'll show you the 80s at Daytona" -- only problem was they had already shown that too!
This is the best we can get?
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2:29 p.m.: I'm going to turn to TV critic for a minute now. FOX keeps showing glimpses of the ceremonies taking place at Daytona, including honoring the past champions of the race. But all we get to see are a few seconds here and there. So far there's been a lot of taped features. It's 81 degrees in Daytona ... take us there! I don't care how cool they think the Hollywood Hotel looks ... for this event, there'd be nothing wrong with picking up the public address announcer for a few of these ceremonies.
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2:22 p.m.: Just watched the FOX sign-on for pre-race coverage. As I sit in my living room, as plush as my recliner might be, somehow I don't believe host Chris Myers when he says that we have the "best seat on the house."
Scheduling issues prohibited me from going to the 500 this year, as I did one year ago. I've been glued to the TV for three hours already today, all in anticipation of the 50th Daytona 500 starting.
With 49 years of preamble, this race can't help but live up to the hype ... New car, new drivers, old drivers with new cars and new teammates ... same old Daytona excitement. I'll be here all afternoon long, laptop plopped on top of a pillow, sharing my thoughts.
Legendary race-caller Ken Squier just hosted a brief roundtable with Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon and Cale Yarborough. I wish it'd been given more time ... those four probably could have filled the majority of the pre-race show with informative, entertaining stories.
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