Edition 17, Feb 1st- 2008

Daytona 500 - 50th Edition

For Pat and I, the anticipation of attending race week for Daytona had special meaning this year. We have been going to the Daytona 500 since 1989 and we knew going back for this race would be special as we would again be with our good friends, the Dempseys and we thought there would be so many more activities for the 50 th addition of the race. Being with our friends in the warm weather was great, but we as regular race fans did not find much more fanfare than a normal race at Daytona, which was somewhat disappointing. The weather and the racing on the other hand were great!

I would urge our readers to attend the Daytona experience at least once. The whole week before the 500 is full of racing with the Arca, pole qualifying, twin qualifiers, Craftsman, Nationwide, and of course the Daytona 500 itself. If this is not enough racing, go to New Smyrna speedway located up the road for short track racing most nights. Your only limit to racing action will be how much money you have allotted for your race vacation. Of note to the new participant, ticket scalpers are everywhere, and it is NOT against the Daytona Beach ordinance to charge over the face value of tickets. Some people were paying over $200 for $100 tickets to attend this year’s race. Other activities are much more reasonable or free.

For the past two years Ford has sponsored street fest on Beach Street in Daytona. Admission is free for this event, several Craftsman Truck, Nationwide, and a few Sprint drivers attend, and sign autographs. This may the very best site to get autographs, as most drivers are exempt from signing autographs during speed week unless you catch them at a local establishment or you happen to be exactly in the right spot at the right time. I would also urge you to enjoy the local culture, as fresh seafood, and reasonable charges to be on the beach. In February the Daytona weather is a great break from our sometimes harsh climate. But enough of the chamber of commerce report, and let’s move on to the races.

The Daytona 500 was quite boring in the first half of the race, and the cars got strung out in packs of 3 to 10 cars running together. The guy next to me actually fell asleep, and I thought with the new cars, this would not be interesting at all, but soon the “phantom” track debris was reported, the cars were bunched back up, and racing continued. When you attend a race at a large track, you are lucky to see half the action, so I can not report who bumped who during the race, but the new C.O.T. cars appeared to have much more throttle response than their predecessors, and three wide racing without accidents were common occurrences. The Nationwide race was well run, with a lot of give and take.

Finally here are a few predictions for this coming year in Sprint racing. Dale Jr. seems much more relaxed and comfortable with his new team, and I would look for several wins this season. Kyle Busch still scares me as a driver. I think he has great talent, but he puts a vehicle where others would not go, and sometimes this puts other teams in jeopardy. (Review the truck race from Daytona). And finally NASCAR says they are getting back to their roots, but to prove this, they need to do more to hold or reduce prices to attract the average working person. I was told the short track races at New Smyrna were great.

And finally, we in the short track racing programs throughout the United States must continue to improve our service to our fans and sponsors. We are the base programs that have existed for decades and will continue if we provide the entertainment so deserving to our fans. As usual, the Mid West races will feed the upper leagues. We can hardly wait for our race opener in Rockford.

Racing to the Checkers,
Jim