Patience is a virtue. That is an old and tried expression, but it certainly rings true for the 43 drivers who will decide next Sunday's Daytona 500. Running at Daytona takes skill, determination and a little bit of luck, but patience will play a key role more than ever this year. It will be important because pack racing (multiple cars running together) has returned to the historic speedway, and the results, if patience is not exercised, can be disastrous.
If last Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout is any indication, next Sunday's 500 is sure to be wild. There were several multicar incidents during the 75-lap non-points race, one of which saw four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon flip upside down and barrel roll down the front straightaway. It was the first time Gordon flipped during his career, but after climbing from his car and being checked at the infield care center, he told reporters this year's Shootout was the most fun he had had at Daytona in several years. Gordon's sentiments were echoed by nearly all drivers in the garage area following Saturday night's demolition derby. Races at Daytona and Talladega (the two superspeedways that NASCAR runs on) have been defined by tandem racing the past several years. Two cars could hook up nose to tail and run multiple laps without breaking apart.
Fans were not happy with this particular style of racing, and drivers grew frustrated as well. The higher ups in the NASCAR sanctioning body decided a change was necessary and went to work to resolve the problem.
The Bud Shootout was the first real test under race conditions of the new rules package, and it passed with flying colors. There were very little two-car drafts and plenty of pack racing. Fans left the speedway on Saturday night and took to social media to express their excitement and happiness about how the race unfolded.
NASCAR, which has been criticized in years past for not listening to the fan base, came out of the Shootout with a good indication of what the rest of Speedweeks will look like. They also came away with what can be likened to winning the jackpot: both fans and drivers were happy with the on-track product.
That's the honest truth: NASCAR racing, maybe more than any other sporting event, lives and dies by the quality of the product. Sure, the drivers who strap into the racecars every Sunday have to compete against one another to see who comes out on top, but how they are able to compete and the rules and guidelines that make that possible form the product on the track. NASCAR worked hard in the off-season before Speedweeks trying to solve the problem of twocar drafting and made plenty of headway in winter testing at Daytona. I'm sure there were quite a few sleepless nights for President of NASCAR Mike Helton and Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton while their people ironed out the kinks.
Let me go back to the principle of patience. Saturday's Shootout was all about the money and the trophy, which Kyle Busch walked away with. It has always been billed as no-holds barred, checkers or wreckers affair, and that's exactly what it was on Saturday night. There was not a lot of patience floating around inside the driver's helmets.
It's possible that this lack of patience on their part is to change for Sunday's 500-miler, and I believe it will. Drivers need to exercise much more restraint in the early part of the 500 because it is the premiere event on the schedule. It is the Super Bowl of NASCAR. Winning it means eternal glory, your name etched on the Harley J. Earl trophy for the rest of time. Only patience (and a well-timed winning move at the finish) will get you there.
Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards won the pole for the 500 last Sunday. His teammate Greg Biffle qualified second. Those were the only two positions for the Daytona 500 locked in during qualifying on Sunday. The rest of the qualifying order will be set after the running of the Gatorade Duels on Thursday. The Duels are qualifying races and where drivers finish in them determines where they start in the 500. The 54th running of The Great American Race, the
