Daytona 500 had it all, but not the greatest ever

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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It’s OK. Throw me under the bus. The 50th Anniversary of the Daytona 500 was good. Actually, it was damn good. However, it wasn’t the best ever. It was worthy of being the 50th anniversary though.

The season opener had it all. Drama, strategy, surprises, and [gasp] racing.

The internet trolls will tell you it sucked. Consider the source of that opinion. To them, everything sucks. They long for “the good old days”, yet their memory is clouded with nostalgia. This very well was one of the most competitive 500’s in recent memory. Ignore the fact that the results will tell you that 6 of the top 10 spots were taken by a Dodge. Don’t ask where they came from, we don’t know either. Yet there they are, taking home 1st, 2nd, 5th-7th, and 9th. Round out 2 Toyota’s, a Chevy and a Ford, and call it your top 10.

The lone Chevy? Dale Jr. Ford? Greg Biffle. Add in Smoke and Shrub in 3rd and 4th, and there you have it.

I can only imagine the hearts of the Toyota boys as they came down the backstretch on the final lap. Up to that point, you would be hard pressed to convince a new fan that Toyota wasn’t worth the paper in the Mens Room last season. Kyle Busch was making a scene, as was Tony Stewart. If you take any lessons from this, it better be that Toyota is coming.

However, as with every tale there has to be some drama. As Tony Stewart moved down to pick up his teammate Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman made the charge with his teammate Kurt Busch stuck to his bumper with Gorilla Glue.

The dreams of The Captain, and we don’t mean Morgan, then came true. After all these years, all the trials and tribulations, Roger Penske finally ended up in Victory Lane for the Daytona 500.

It was a typical plate race, chess-like maneuvers and precision positioning for a while, but that’s just the nature of the game. You have to make it to the end to have a chance to win. But the closer you get, the riskier your moves, and if you play your cards right, you win.

Last season, Dodge wasn’t impressive. Pre-season Thunder, still no love. Reed Sorenson showed some promise in the Shootout and Duels, but for most of the 500 Dodge was relatively quiet. They were there at the end though, and Penske has a nice $1,000,000 bonus from Dodge to prove it.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Chip Ganassi Racing #41, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Daytona, Drivers, Elliot Sadler, Evernham Motorsports #19, Evernham Motorsports #9, Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports #88, Joe Gibbs Racing #18, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Penske Racing #12, Penske Racing #2, Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon, Robby Gordon Motorsports #7, Roush Racing #16, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tony Stewart, Tracks

Tagged As: Dale Earnhardt Jr, Daytona 500, Elliot Sadler, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart



Trackback URL for: Daytona 500 had it all, but not the greatest ever

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday January 23, 2008
12:48pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Elliott Sadler

• 2007 Stats

  • Organization: Gillette Evernham Motorsports
  • Car Number: 19
  • Crew Chief: Josh Brown/Rodney Childers
  • Sponsor: Dodge Dealers
  • Points: 25th :: 3140 :: -3583
  • Starts: 36
  • Poles: 0
  • Wins: 0
  • Top 5’s: 0
  • Top 10’s: 2
  • Winnings: $3,972,990

• 2008 Preview

  • Organization: Gillette Evernham Motorsports
  • Car Number: 19
  • Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
  • Sponsor: Best Buy/Stanley Tools

While Elliott and older brother Hermie have no desire (as of last September) to become track owners and revive South Hampton, which is just east of their Emporia, Va hometown, one can always hope. OK, so that isn’t even a rumor, but hey SMS Fans, we tried!

Seriously though, and back on topic, Elliott had a so-so year. One could easily wonder if Ray Evernham knew what he was doing when he hired Eliott Sadler to replace Jeremy Mayfield in August of 2006, however that particular question holds no weight around the Lounge.

While Dodge, and particularly Evernham Motorsports, enjoyed success in 2006, they, along with all the other Dodge teams, got their butts kicked in 2007. Whether you blame the new nose, old nose, new car, or whatever, Dodge just didn’t have it for the most part in 2007. OK, Kurt Busch made the Chase (the only Dodge to do so) and won a couple races, but where was “The Rocket”, and the rest of the Dodge camp that could typically be counted on for some upfront time?

Looking forward to 2008, fans of any driver that has a Dodge nameplate can only hope that it will not be as dismal as 2007 was. If anyone is going to figure it out, it will be Evernham. Of which, both Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne should be in a better position competition-wise.

Note: information is accurate as of date published. Check Thunder Lounge for additional updates and information.

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Filed Under: Drivers, Elliot Sadler, Evernham Motorsports #19, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Sprint Cup, Teams





Trackback URL for: Daytona 500: 25 Days and Counting

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Friday February 16, 2007
1:44am CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

In what was an inspirational day at Daytona for some, it was a heart breaker for others as they loaded their trucks to head for the house. Also, not a day without it’s controversies, and the underdogs coming from the back to live a dream.

First up in the day was Tony Stewart who lead the field to the checkers in the first heat. Strong in the field were several cars, but in the end nothing was in the way of that orange machine and finding victory lane at Daytona for the second time in less than a week.

Kyle Bush had a pretty good run, as did Jeff Burton although his finishing position doesn’t really show what the car could (or was) doing. Ah, the comfort of knowing you’re in the show. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for brother Ward.

This guy here, who’s had probably the worst 5 days in his life recently, maneuvered his way into one of the two available transfer spots in the 500, for a start just ahead of mid-pack. Granted the Red Army is going to be a little hot, when Waltrip spun Junior into the infield. Junior recovered for a top 5 in the heat. It wasn’t deliberate, and all was well between the two at the end of the event. A mistake was made, but all forgiven. Of course, had the outcome been different, who knows.

So now were on to the second heat. Duel #2, if you will.

With a winning dodge of Kurt Bush’s Dodge, who tried to block, Jeff Gordon again lead the field to the checkers at a Daytona event. In a less caution filled event than the first, the “controversies” were less, and although the racing wasn’t exactly boring, the drama was less than in the first. Up until the final few seconds, which saw Mike Wallace come out of almost nowhere to end up sliding into the 500 yet again.

With the factor between zero and hero being less than 3/10ths of a second in both heats, it was a nail biter.

Now we come back to Mr. Gordon, who will be starting the 500 from the 42nd position Sunday.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, you ask? Well if you’ve been under a rock this evening since shortly after the conclusion of the second heat, or perhaps trying to figure out why there’s two characters on your screen when you know darn well you only pushed the button once, you missed the #24 failing post race inspection.

Ah, but it goes further. Before some of you get up on your high horses, let the neutral opinion of Thunder Lounge interject. It wasn’t due to an intentional circumvention of the rules, meaning it wasn’t intentional, says NASCAR Director of Competition Robin Pemberton.

During post race inspection, the 24 came through the height sticks about an inch too low. This obviously called for further analysis, and Robin was even under the car a few times.

Here’s what happened. NASCAR, as we all know, mandates rear shocks and hands them out for installation. Well, the bolt that secures it to the shock mount failed. It wasn’t an illegal bolt, it either got cross threaded or whatever, and started failing. Read that as coming apart.

So the reason, as deemed by NASCAR, for the 24 being too low was part failure. However Robin said that since it was a failure which could have lead to serious safety incidences, that the 24 would be starting from the 42nd spot (tail end of that line) instead of the 4th position behind Ricky Rudd. No further penalties will be handed down, and the matter is closed.

What I don’t get, personally, is why a penalty for a part failure? When someone gets their front end, or rear end for that matter, knocked around and the templates don’t fit in post race, isn’t that a part failure in a sense? I mean, deification occurs, so a penalty for a part failure which wasn’t intentional (which is what they said) makes no sense to me. But, OK. Whatever.

So what this comes down to is that now a team can be penalized for a part failure? This could have an impact somewhere down the road. We’ll just have to wait and see.

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Atlanta, Daytona, Drivers, Evernham Motorsports #19, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Jeff Gordon, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing #55, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Press Releases, Scott Riggs, Teams, The Chase, Tony Stewart, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Dual Duel’s, And Misused Tools

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday February 13, 2007
4:58pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Holy cow, man. Here we go…

Roush Racing #17:

• - - Robbie Reiser: suspended 4 weeks
• - - Robbie Reiser: Cough up $50 G’s
• - - Matt Kenseth: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Jack Roush: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham Motorsports #9:

• - - Kenny Francis: suspended 4 weeks
• - - Kenny Francis: Cough up $50 G’s
• - - Kasey Kahne: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Ray Evernham: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham/Valvoline Motorsports #10:

• - - Rodney Childers: suspended 2 weeks
• - - Rodney Childers: Cough up $25 G’s
• - - Scott Riggs: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - James Rocco: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham Motorsports #19:

• - - Josh Browne: suspended 2 weeks
• - - Josh Browne: Cough up $25 G’s
• - - Elliot Sadler: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Ray Evernham: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

As we all know by now, the #17 and #9 were found in post-qualifying inspection, and were found to have made illegal aero modifications.

The #10 and #19 were found prior to qualifying last Sunday.

All infractions were for:

• - - Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing)
• - - Section 12-4-Q (car, car parts components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules)
• - - Section 20-2.1E (unapproved aerodynamic modification)

Oops! See you guys at either Las Vegas or Bristol.

Buh bye now.

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Daytona, Drivers, Elliot Sadler, Evernham Motorsports #10, Evernham Motorsports #19, Evernham Motorsports #9, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #17, Scott Riggs, Teams, Tracks





Trackback URL for: You’re Outta Here! Can You Say That 4 Times?