Happy Happy, Harvick Harvick
Monday, February 19th, 2007 9:36am CST
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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Kevin Harvick again has his name inked in the NASCAR history books as he became only the 4th driver in history to win both the Daytona Busch race, and the Cup race in the same weekend. AKA: The weekend sweep. Kevin also gets his name inked as tying for the fewest laps lead by a Daytona 500 winner. The other is the late Benny Parsons in 1975.
Other notable finishes were Jeff Burton in 3rd, Mike Wallace right behind him, Sadler and Kahne did 6th/7th, with Gilliland in 8th. Then Jeff Gordon in 10th, Boris Said in 14th, Montoya in 19th, Rudd in 26th, Waltrip in 30th, Junior in 32nd, Johnson in 39th (ending a 105 week streak of being in the top 10 in points), and Stewart in 43rd. The highest finishing rookie was David Ragan in the #6, who finished 5th, and the highest finishing Toyota was Dale Jarrett in 22nd.
In what was rather tame racing Sunday, the heat and full moon effect took hold with about 40 laps to go. Prior to that, you could hear the sounds of “Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga, Choo Choo” in the background. Call it the tires, overly cautious drivers wanting to finish the dance, whatever makes you feel better.
While Kevin took the Busch guys to school again on Saturday, and made the competition glad he isn’t running the full season this year, then placed himself in position to make a charge to the line during the final lap (under a GWC) of the 500, unfortunately this win will be shrouded in yet another controversial moment and NASCAR Debacle™ once again.
This is shaping up to be interesting, and the explanation from NASCAR just isn’t cutting it this time.
As they came out of the tri-oval, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick were battling for the win. Mark was ahead. No, it’s Kevin. No, it’s Mark. It was shaping up to be a close finish, who would it be? Kyle Bush gets loose, it’s a wreck-a-thon, and the tri-oval towards the start/finish line is becoming a junkyard. It’s Harvick, taking the checkers at the line by 2/100ths of a second in front of Mark Martin.
Whoa, wait a second here Bub. Takes the checkers? Where’s the Yellow Laundry at if cars are wrecking faster than Kirstie Alley’s career. There wasn’t one. OK, NASCAR said there was, they said it was issued when Clint Bowyer went upside down and was sliding on his roof while on fire, but there wasn’t. How can you tell there wasn’t one? Well, the Roanoke Times made the explanation clear. There was an official margin of victory. If the race ends under caution, which according to the NASCAR explanation it should have, there wouldn’t be an official margin of victory.
Now it gets trickier, and it depends on if you wanted Mark Martin of Kevin Harvick to put on the post-race donut show. If NASCAR had thrown the caution at the “usual” time, what would the scoring loop have shown? Harvick, or Martin? We’ll most likely never know. They were back and forth, and right when Kyle got loose, Kevin had it by a scant few inches. But, it wouldn’t matter what the tape looked like, it would matter what the scoring loop said. Data which we’ll never see.
So the heated controversy coming out of this is are the cries that NASCAR is protecting the Dale Earnhardt -> Richard Childress -> Kevin Harvick connection, so there wasn’t a caution thrown. Cry all you want. I’d have loved to have seen Mark Martin win his first Daytona 500, so don’t get me wrong. But hasn’t NASCAR always said they would throw the caution if there was an imminent threat on the race track? Debris that could cause a wreck, a wreck on the track, a deer crossing, aliens landing because they’re running late for the start, whatever. So was there imminent danger on the track? Yes. However, in the heat of that moment, would the caution have stopped the junkyard already in progress? Nope. It would have actually created a bigger one. Why? Some would lift immediately, some wouldn’t. An even bigger junkyard emerges from the smoke.
So what they did was keep it in the stand and let the leaders, who were already ahead of the mess, fight it out to the line. Once the checkers were out, the leaders across, the speedway went under caution.
Was it the right call? In this instance, I think it was. Mainly because throwing the caution would have caused an even bigger mess. The problem with this though is that had Clint Bowyer not flipped back over, after he crossed the finish line upside down, on his roof, on fire, then it could have been an inherently more dangerous situation. That’s part of the risk of racing, and throwing the caution earlier would have made it worse. I know that sounds crazy, but a bigger wreck would have even further delayed the assistance of the emergency crews. Racing is dangerous, and this isn’t an afternoon of tennis.
Now, what’s really jacked up is NASCAR and their explanation. Why not just sack up and say why you made the call? Why try to pull the damn smoke and mirror trick? Why? Why? Why? You made a call, there was plenty of room ahead to get slowed down before coming back around, it avoided creating an even larger wreck, so say so. That’s what’s hurting the credibility of the tower.
Had it been at Bristol, or had the wreck happened in say turn 3 or on the back stretch, the caution would have come out. Why? Less room to avoid the mess, for one. Second, the start/finish wouldn’t yet be in sight so the pressure of a finish position wouldn’t be right there tempting the guys behind the wheel. With that in mind, there wouldn’t be a hesitation to lift. A hesitation that when running to the finish, a scant couple of seconds from it, would cause people to get spun out from behind and create an even more serious accident situation.
So when you beat up NASCAR this week, don’t beat them up for making the call. Beat them up for their explanation of it. It deserves it.
It isn’t an easy call, one I wouldn’t want to make. Anyone who challenges the call, and not the reason NASCAR gave for it, I’d like to see you do better. It’s a whole lot harder than it looks.
Filed Under: Busch Series, Daytona, Drivers, Kevin Harvick, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Richard Childress Racing #29, Teams, Tracks
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How about we just beat them up for not being consistant in the calls. In the past we have seen the same senario and they have put out the caution and ended the race. I’ll all about racing back to the flag, but you have to consistant. Don’t just do it so Harvick can put his name in the record books and give RCR another 500 win. Just be consistant and that is all you could ask for. It didnt’ happen here.
Tim said this on February 19th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Great article about the issues surrounding the Daytona 500. You might like to read my blog about the TV coverage of the sport.
The link is http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com
Thanks again for the opportunity to post.
JONinFLA said this on February 19th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I’m loosing respect for nascar officials. There are cars crashing all over the racetrack and they wait to throw the yellow until Bowyer flips. I just don’t get it. Nascar can just change the rules whenever it’s convenient for certain racers to win??!! Seems like there’s just a hint of favortism.
barb said this on February 19th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Spot on analysis Luke. After spending way too much time reading other sources on the subject it comes down to this, most everyone is using the “look at the tape excuse.”
In using it none consider the data loop that would be used to determine the winner if the yellow had been tossed.
BTW, anyone seen a story in the last 24 hours on “NASCAR cheatin’?”
If they had a choice they got what they wanted, a diversion from the Waltrip debacle.
marc said this on February 19th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Very true Marc. Very true. It was “just” the distraction they needed.
I’m dead set in my mind that the call was correct to let them race back to the line, without throwing the caution. Oh yes, as I mentioned there wasn’t a caution. Granted NASCAR said there was one, but if there was, there wouldn’t be a margin of victory.
Throwing the caution would have created a bigger mess. If it were a quarter of a lap earlier or more, then the caution would have been appropriate. Throwing it with 3 seconds left to the checkers would have caused hesitation amongst some drivers to lift, which would have caused an even bigger wreck and even more of a delay in getting the emergency services out on the track. The correct call was to let them keep going, and get what cars weren’t wrecking out of the way and on into turn 1 and beyond on the cool down lap.
The call looks questionable, but simple logic dictates it was the right one. It wasn’t some damned conspiracy, and when people cry “conspiracy” it really shows a tainted view. How many people would have to be in on it? Yeah, out of all those people, at least one would go under anonymity to the press for cash. If it were 30 years ago, and there wasn’t near the amount of press in the garage, it might be possible. However, it wasn’t and isn’t today.
Where the BS comes in, is NASCAR’S explanation of it. Why not just sack up and tell the truth about the deal? Were they worried they would be criticized for safety in the big press? I don’t know, but that’s what bothers me the most.
With the finish, if there were a caution it would come down to loop data. Data which we’ll never see. You would have to know where the loops are, then look at the tape and make your own call to figure it out. The way it was back and forth there, it’s anyone’s guess. The only way the tape is any good, is if you were privy to know where the loops are at. It isn’t something that’s common knowledge, so the tape is no good.
What were left with, is a media frenzy that will debate this up until late Wednesday or early Thursday. Then they will move on to speculation about California, and with 53 entries, who will go home and who will stay.
I am convinced that my own conspiracy Theory is correct. Aliens have taken over NASCAR.
I’m convinced the race never occurred, and we’re all living in someone’s ant farm.
Either that, or Speedweeks was all a dream and I’ll wake up in 15 minutes or so and it will be the day after Homestead. Man, that would suck.
If I wake up, nobody will ever read this, and I’ll be heading to Las Vegas with a fist full of cash first thing in the morning.