Sunday, February 15, 2009
Crazy finish to kick off the NASCAR Sprint Cup season!
Anticipation fueled an exciting race last Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Due to the economy, NASCAR decided to eliminate off-season testing. They hoped this would help balance competition between the higher income teams and the lower ones. Prior to this change, higher income teams were able to afford multiple tests that were of higher quality, giving them an advantage over the lower income race teams.
Without testing, NASCAR drivers were not able to take to the track during the three month off-season. Until Friday afternoon, during the first on track practice session, drivers and teams had no idea how their race cars would take to the 2.5 mile Daytona tri-oval. Drivers, crew members, journalists and fans were all full of anticipation. Everyone wondered about the outcome of Saturday night’s shootout. Would the no testing policy bring the balance NASCAR was hoping for?
Anticipation and excitement continued during all 75 laps of Saturday night’s shootout. Drivers were putting their cars 3 and 4 wide in the corners, spinning sideways and bouncing off the wall and each other. The excitement persisted throughout every lap. With only three laps to go, the 7th caution of the evening occurred. This forced the race into a green, white, checkered finish. A “green white checkered” occurs when the caution laps exceed the number of laps scheduled for that particular race. Once the caution is cleared, NASCAR allows for one green flag lap, a white flag lap, which is the final lap, and then the checkered flag is waved to greet the race’s winner. During the white flag lap, as the driver of the number 26 Ford, Jamie McMurray, struggled to hold the lead, Kevin Harvick, in the number 29 Chevy bolted forward just as the eighth and final caution occurred bringing an end to the shootout. Kevin Harvick was definitely in the right place at the right time. After driving in this race for the fifth time, Kevin Harvick is now a winner of 2009’s much anticipated shootout!
There was definitely balance in competition during Saturday night’s race, but was this due to the no testing policy? It is certainly a possibility, but the rest of the season will tell.