24/70
Well that was sure fun! Nothing like tuning in for the first race of the season and getting to see your favorite driver celebrating in Victory Lane. That was the payoff for sitting through four hours of FOX hype and having to watch Tony Stewart at the head of the pack for more than half of the afternoon. In all fairness I must say I feel sorry for Tony Stewart losing it the way he did, if only because it caused his frustration to boil over and led to him doing something stupid after the checkered flag. But more on that in a moment. First, my recap of my predictions.
GLENN'S TEN (5-for-10):
* Tony Stewart (winner) -- 7th, I thought this was Tony's year until he got snookered on the last restart. He led 109 laps and seemed to be able to drive the car where he wanted to regardless of who was around him. What he lacked was a teammate to help him when the heat got turned up near the end. Bobby Labonte's engine got toasted early in the race, and Jason Leffler was victimized by a wreck not of his making. That left the Hendrick and Roush drivers to gang up on him, which they did. Jimmie Johnson was Tony's last straw, blocking his way to a top 5 while Tony had to settle for 7th. Tony took out his frustrations after the flag by beating on Jimmie's car, which prompted harsh words from Jimmie's crew chief. Tony justified it by saying Jimmie was beating on him so he was just giving as good as he got. Maybe, but Jimmie did his beating and banging BEFORE the flag in the course of the race. Tony's beating was simple childish retaliation. This is the kind of thing that earns him a bad rap. Hopefully this is the last we'll see of it this season.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 5th, The aforementioned dust-up with Stewart aside, Johnson never had as strong a car as his victorious teammate. He didn't improve his chances with the pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road that kept him out of the draft for a chunk of the second half of the race.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 3rd, Dale's car looked like junk most of the day, hovering around 25th. Naturally, it got better just in time for the final laps. He drafted his way to the lead and looked destined to repeat as champ. That was before a debris caution came out just as Gordon completed his pass for the lead, shades of last April at Talladega.
* Michael Waltrip -- 37th, Doh! He thought he had the car to win -- and just might have -- until the engine blew on lap 161. I think this was the main reason why Junior didn't hang on to the lead near the end -- no drafting partner.
* Kurt Busch -- 2nd, Kurt overcame a pass-through penalty to contend for the win. He sliced and diced his way past Tony Stewart and Dale Jr., but he never could catch Gordon.
* Jeff Gordon -- 1st, Jeff ran up front all day despite rarely leading. That's a bad sign if you're the competition. He didn't get a lot of drafting help while trying to make the pass for the win, but he had Johnson and Scott Riggs in position at just the right moment -- before the final caution. Jeff's third Daytona 500 win is sweet. In case you're counting, his 70th career win leaves him just six shy of the late, great Dale Earnhardt Sr.
* Carl Edwards -- 12th, I thought he'd squeaked through with a top 10, but he got shuffled back after the final caution. He got roughed up on the next to last restart when someone checked up and several cars plowed into each other. He had to pit for repairs that probably hurt his final showing.
* Greg Biffle -- 25th, Got caught up in a wreck, but he wasn't much of a factor before then. He had worked his way into the top 10 from his 23rd starting spot.
* Scott Wimmer -- 33rd, He looked strong until the big pileup that saw him make every highlight reel with his end-over-end crash.
* Jeff Burton -- 29th, Sustained crash damage, but had been a leader before that. He'll get it together this season. I think.
THE REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Scott Riggs -- 4th, Wouldn't have picked him in a million years. He deserved to be here. Never led, but the car was in the top five much of the day.
* Mark Martin -- 6th, Final Daytona 500 race of his career and he performs above (my) expectations with a battered race car, speedily repaired after Thursday's tangle with Kevin Harvick.
* Sterling Marlin, 8th -- I'm kicking myself for doubting his ability to make the cut at Daytona. He got here because of attrition; the car was mostly junk.
* Kevin Lepage -- 9th, Another beneficiary of attrition. He backed up his strong qualifying race by making the show in the green-white-checkered scramble.
* Rusty Wallace -- 10th, Not the win he wanted, but a respectable finish for a veteran in his final 500.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Elliott Sadler -- 11th, Not sure how he got here, because the car looked mediocre all day.
* Dale Jarrett -- 15th, Never conquered handling problems. Sank like a stone after starting from the pole.
* Ryan Newman -- 20th, I told you something would happen. He brushed the wall, then got some damage on the next to last restart that forced him in to the pits.
* Kasey Kahne -- 22nd, Suffered some crash damage.
* Kevin harvick -- 28th, Backup car now looks a lot like the primary car did on Thursday, except this one wasn't his fault.
* Matt Kenseth -- 42nd, Thought he had his best Daytona car ever. It wasn't.
* Bobby Labonte -- 43rd, Has the dubious distinction of starting the season in last place. He might take comfort in knowing that the last three drivers to suffer this fate -- Tony Stewart (2002), Ryan Newman (2003) and Mark Martin (2004) -- all went on to finish the season no worse than 6th. Tony of course won it all in '02. Shades of things to come???
Next week... It's too early to be in California, but that's where we're heading.
