Daytona 500 had it all, but not the greatest ever
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 12:30am EST
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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.
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
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