racewriter's Blog

It almost seems like Speedweeks last a whole lot longer than just a couple of weeks. I think it’s because once the fellows started testing back in January, we were all tuned in again, ready and waiting for things to get rolling.  And rolling they are…on Thursday afternoon we watched as the two fields of cars took to the track to determine the qualifying order for the Daytona 500. 

There were several men that after days of media interviews, practices and all the Speedweeks hype had to pack up and go home, their cars just weren’t fast enough to get in the show. Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier, Jacques Villeneuve, AJ Allmendinger, Eric McClure, Ken Schrader, Sterling Marlin, Stanton Barrett and Carl Long have all said good-bye to Daytona International Speedway, at least for now. 

How weird is that going to be when we see the green flag drop and Ken Schrader isn’t behind the wheel of a car at Daytona? Or Sterling Marlin? Hmmm…times are changing I guess, ready or not. 

The day did end very well for some of our fellows, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin each won a quick 60 lap race around the outside of the infamous Daytona infield, securing the 3rd and 4th starting positions for Sunday’s Daytona 500 for the two of them. Jimmy Johnson and Michael Waltrip already have the 1st and 2nd spot. They took care of that during the Bud Shootout. 

What we had left out there were 49 other fellows, some with a guarantee, some with only a hope of making the cut.  So what I’m wondering is why don’t we have a bigger field of contestants when we’re at these Super Speedways.  I mean we cram 43 cars onto the short tracks…so much so that the leader catches up with the tail of the train within just a few laps, producing less than organized chaos.  So how difficult would it be to put 53 cars on these big ole’ tracks? 

I’m sure there are all kinds of reasons why this won’t work or it would have been done long ago.  Probably has something to do with money, or the calculation of points. But it sure would make things a lot easier during these crazy Speedweeks to know that maybe, just maybe most of our guys would make it in.

And yes, I know if we made it 53 instead of 43 then we’d have more teams trying to make it in and we’d still end up with folks going home.  Duh…that’s not my point. I’m just thinking it makes a little bit of sense to have the number of drivers in the field match the track a little better.  Hey, it would even be fun to take a few cars out of those short track races.

How would that be fair you say? How would the points work? I don’t know…that’s for the mathematically inclined folks to figure out, which I’m sure they’ve already done and that’s why we don’t do this…ha!  But it was a good idea don’t you think? 

Ah well, I guess I’m just trying to make myself feel a bit better after watching these heartbroken fellows pack up their gear and head home.  Months of preparation, laps and laps of practices, tweaks, changes and last minute swap outs weren’t enough to keep these fellows competitive.  

The good part is these guys are more than just your average fellows. They are racers. And they will keep coming back over and over and over until they get it right or run out of money.  Gosh, I sure hope it turns out that they get that extra speed worked into their cars and they go out and make the next race.  If determination will carry them anywhere, here’s hoping it carries them right into the next starting grid.