DAYTONA BEACH — Similar ol’, identical ol’,
Late wreck.
Then one other.
A Hendrick automotive wins.
William Byron, second straight yr, winner of the Nice American Race.
However till the top, this one was a minimum of a bit completely different than most. My goodness, how a lot three-by-three racing did we see Sunday night time?
You had been led to consider every racer knew precisely the place his wheels had been linked to the asphalt and will put them — or maintain them — wherever he wished.
However after they bought all the way down to lower than 10 to go, all of us ought to’ve identified higher. It’s one factor to carry your powder, say, on Lap 50, 60 and even 180, fairly one other once you get previous 190. And but once more Sunday night, the visions of that checkered flag bought one of the best of ’em.
It’s fairly predictable in this stuff — sadly or comically, take your choose — however you already know they gained’t full these closing few laps, and even closing half-lap, with out mayhem.
This time, the beneficiary wasn’t merely a spot or two behind the mess. William Byron started the ultimate lap ninth and was sitting fifth when he snapped his wheel to the precise on the backstretch, trying a transfer simply because the leaders got here collectively and went haywire coming into Flip 3.
He was forward of the others in lower than the blink of a watch, simply as these others had been pointing sideways, after which motored dwelling with Tyler Reddick trailing. No warning was thrown because the wreck behind them continued, and that is attention-grabbing, to say the least, given the fast set off Thursday night time.
We bought ourselves a pedigree winner, and the identical one, for the second straight yr. However this the Daytona 500, the place the Have Nots usually rule, and let or not it’s identified, Cole Custer made an influence transfer towards the lead on the surface, and Corey LaJoie was lurking strongly within the inside lane, as that final-lap powder keg ignited.
It was a typical Daytona end following a fragmented Sunday the place the Daytona 500 show-biz wasn’t simply symbolically separated from the racing, however bodily separated by hours, courtesy of yet one more rain delay.
Trump steals the pre-race present at Daytona 500
An enormous a part of any Daytona 500 is the pageantry, and the pageantry is all of the issues that happen earlier than the precise race.
This yr, there was give and tackle that entrance.
Issues had been truncated as a result of NASCAR and the Speedway each have a climate app. And that app steered issues had been going to hell shortly after 2 p.m.
And when the pre-race agenda features a sitting U.S. President, and climate is coming, you adapt. Issues had been moved up an hour, and wouldn’t you already know it, issues labored out properly for President Donald Trump, whose presence was strongly felt within the closing hour earlier than the inexperienced flag waved.
There was an Air Pressure One flyover that’s all the time spectacular, regardless of how usually you see that large chicken go by. After which a presidential limo main the sector by a few pre-race parade laps, because it did 5 years in the past earlier than one other Daytona 500 that will begin and shortly cease.
That is large stuff for NASCAR. Very welcomed. But when we’re searching for one hitch within the giddy-up, it’s gotta be the timing of the preliminary Thunderbirds flyover, which usually comes on the fast finish of the nationwide anthem, not a tick earlier than “and the house of the courageous.”
It appeared as if the presidential arrival and formalities accompanying it shoved across the down-to-the-second schedule, however once more, a small worth to pay.
Hustling to accommodate a presidential go to whereas making an attempt to placed on the standard present was no straightforward activity, and it confirmed, however no one appeared overly bothered.
A major-time Sunday kickoff to a brand new NASCAR season
So we finish one other NASCAR Speedweek, which was once a Speedweeks. By Sunday’s finish, the day had been lengthy, had come on the finish of some eventful days, and due to this fact felt like the top of a number of weeks.
NASCAR now exits Daytona and heads into a brand new season identical to it’s finished because the early Nineteen Eighties when the Daytona 500 turned the season opener and by no means gave up that designation. The guess right here is, a rain delay isn’t desired, however when the result’s a Sunday night prime-time viewers, nobody complains.
An viewers carry-over normally happens, and can occur once more as NASCAR strikes on to Atlanta, which just lately turned one other observe the place the limiting guidelines restrict horsepower and result in extra of the pack-racin’ we noticed Sunday at Daytona. These “others” who had an opportunity to win at Daytona will get yet one more shot subsequent weekend.
After which the higher rungs of NASCAR’s meals chain will begin taking on, which can appear regular in a season that may yield irregular headlines.
There’s a courtroom case on the market, involving a few racing plaintiffs and fees of antitrust violations. It’d fizzle, it won’t.
Except issues settle a technique or one other, a trial will start just a few weeks after the season ends. That will be very completely different.
How the season started was somewhat regular.
