Daytona 500 anyone?

[Deleted]

I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore fan of current NASCAR (more of a 60's-80's fan) but the new season has piqued my interest a bit.

I think the new cars look better than anything put out in years (from at least 2007). It's nice to see actual body shapes and contours instead of a decal stuck on what was, with a few subtleties, a unibody.

I think it's fabulous that Danica got the pole (interesting choice of words) but I don't think she'll be a factor in the race, she still has things to learn.

Watching the Duals (when did they stop being the Twins?) today and I thought the racing was decent, no more of that idiotic tandem drafting.

I'll keep my fingers crossed yet again in hopes that we don't get a series of "boat races" and maybe my interest in the sport will re-ignite.

[BJ]

I'll be watching as well. I'm definitely not a hardcore fan, rather new to Nascar viewing, but I watched two races a weekend last year and I'll probably be doing the same in 2013. I think part of the appeal for me is that I tend to like most of the drivers, which is very rare as I hate just about everything. Last year after Bowyer and Gordon had their little fight, almost everyone was moaning and hand wringing as if it were the worst thing that's ever happened. Meanwhile, I found myself pulling for two guys that I'd been rather indifferent towards.

Anyway, as for Daytona, I think it's going to be another letdown. I'm afraid it's going to be like Talladega last year, mind numbingly dull with a sprint/wreck to the finish. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds like that's what happened toward the end of the Nationwide race this afternoon. Like you said though, it's definitely better than that tandem nonsense. I just wish they could do something to make the restrictor plate races more competitive.

I also agree on the new cars. They're not as stock as I hoped, but I realize they'll never go back to racing stock cars. The one downside is that Dodge isn't in the game for the time being. The Nationwide Challenger was one of the better looking race cars of the era.

As for Patrick, the less said about her the better. She's been all hype her entire career, and I don't see that changing. If she does get better, great, but I'm tired of hearing so much about a driver who routinely makes basic mistakes and finishes off the lead lap.

[StreetDreamer83]

Feb 23, 2013 18:22:32 GMT -5 BJ said:

As for Patrick, the less said about her the better. She's been all hype her entire career, and I don't see that changing. If she does get better, great, but I'm tired of hearing so much about a driver who routinely makes basic mistakes and finishes off the lead lap.

Not to mentioned the fact that she's basically accomplished nothing in her career. Certainly not enough to merit all the media attention/hype she receives. But it is what it is. She might have a decent run tomorrow but reality will set in very soon.

I hope Junior runs well and is in contention to win at the end.

[Mr. Atari]

I have good friends who have tried to get me into NASCAR every year. And every year, I watch the Daytona 500. I'm watching it right now, as a matter of fact. 9 laps to go (and yet another caution!).

One thing I've noticed- there's always (ALWAYS) caution flags in the last 10 laps, completely ruining any excitement that had built up for the first 2 hours. I think the last 3 years all ended with a green-white-checker finish, meaning 199 laps were pointless, and there's almost no suspense on the finish. Whoever happens to be in front when the pack restarts and crashes for the final time wins the race. Where's the drama of a mad dash to the finish line after 500 miles? And who cares who leads for the most laps, if it all comes down to the luck of the draw on the final crash/restart?

I admit that I don't get it, and I'm not a fan. But I don't think I'll become a fan if the races end this way all the time. It's worse than basketball time outs in the last 30 seconds.

[Mr. Atari]

And now that I posted that, they ran a clean final 5 laps. Although, look who happened to be in the lead at the final caution-- Jimmie Johnson. And then he won with no real drama.

Not very exciting for me, though. Sorry.

[BJ]

That was one of the worst races I've watched. Besides the dull racing where no one could pass, there was a commercial break every five minutes. Fox should be embarrassed.

And Mr. A, if you have any hope of getting into Nascar, I'd watch a race other than Daytona and Talladega. It gets a lot of publicity, but I just don't enjoy the restrictor plate races.

[Deleted]

Yep, that was pretty disappointing. No real passing, no one wanted to run the bottom line and damn Jimmie Johnson winning again.

Danica did better than I expected so that was nice. Seeing all the favorites drop out I was really hoping for a Mark Martin or Bobby Labonte win or even anyone who hadn't won before.

One positive thing I noticed was there weren't really any start-and-parks and a guy like Michael McDowell gets a top ten.

Let's hope they tweak the restrictor plate racing a little and make it a bit more exciting. After all, this is the first year with the Gen 6 cars and there will be a learning curve as the season goes on.

I'll give this race a C grade and hope that things pick up through the season.

[StreetDreamer83]

Feb 24, 2013 16:53:44 GMT -5 BJ said:

That was one of the worst races I've watched. Besides the dull racing where no one could pass, there was a commercial break every five minutes. Fox should be embarrassed.

I've watched racing for my entire life and I have never saw a worse race than what I saw today. The only passes for the lead were after restarts or after pit stops. The television coverage was absolutely horrendous and was made worse by the over saturation of Danica talk. Thankfully, you can't judge the majority of the rest of the season based off what happens at Daytona but in my opinion the new car couldn't have looked worse in its first real race.

[BJ]

Interesting to hear that from a long time fan.

The Danica obsession yesterday was absurd, to the point where I turned the sound off at times. When they weren't gushing praise on her, they were apologizing for her mistakes. The first interview post race? Danica Patrick, and as usual, she sounded like a robot pretending to be human.

She did alright, but so did plenty of other drivers. I don't recall hearing Jimmy Johnson's name at all yesterday other than pit stops, and I had no idea Mark Martin finished third until I looked up the results. They're simply not doing their jobs and it's going to hurt Nascar's marketability in the long run.