A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
The Daytona 500, the first race of NASCAR’s elite (Sprint Cup) series, begins today at noon Eastern.
No sport does an opening ceremony as well as NASCAR. Expect a prayer mentioning U.S. soldiers, someone belting out the words of the national anthem like they really mean them, and a booming flyover of military jets just as the anthem ends.
Next come the most famous words in motorsports, “Gentlemen, start your engines.” Except today they will differ slightly, as female driver Danica Patrick will be one of the racers. Today marks her debut as a driver in the Sprint Cup series.
One of the most attentive fans today will be Rick Santorum. His campaign is the main sponsor of Tony Raines’ No. 26 car. Santorum’s campaign messaging will appear on the hood and quarter panels of the car.
The favorite to win the race is last year’s Sprint Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart. But his chances to win, approximately 10 to 1, are still not very likely. One reason is the special nature of the Daytona 500. Because the track is so large, cars reach especially fast speeds. This makes them vulnerable to going airborne if they wreck, which is a danger to the fans. As a consequence, NASCAR requires each car to have a restrictor plate attached to the carburetor. This restricts the car’s oxygen uptake, which in turn restricts the speed of the car.
The result is in some ways a socialist’s dream—all cars and drivers are nearly equally-abled. Like an actual socialist economy, it also means that a driver’s success depends greatly upon cronyism and his or her networking skills with other drivers. Specifically, the most successful drivers will be the ones who can work with others to "draft" to lower wind resistance. The restrictor-plate rule even affects pit-stop decisions. Drivers will try to pit only when they can entice another driver to pit with them. The reason is that they need a partner to draft with them as they try to catch the field after pitting.
All these factors make the race more unpredictable and a driver’s success more dependent on luck. Less established racers, like Patrick and Raines, have a real chance at winning, which will make the race today especially exciting.
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Oct '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
EJHill
Well NASCAR is not in tune with a lot of things. It has its ultimate event at the beginning of its season, not the end.
EJ, the very nature of the sport and how it crowns its champion precludes it from being "in tune" with other sports that have their ultimate events at the end of their seasons.In fact, instead of concluding their season with their crown jewel event they launch their season with it. How does that make NASCAR less than the other sports? All the fans of NASCAR know that the season is kicked off with its premier event, and they love it. No, they LOVE it.
So the problem isn't with NASCAR not being "in tune," and the problem is not with the fans who wholeheartedly embrace the Daytona 500 as their sport's Super Bowl.
Those not "in tune" may actually just be the people who don't get the sport of auto racing.
May '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
ICYMI, they had to postpone until tomorrow at noon EST due to rain: http://www.nascar.com/news/120226/daytona-500-rain-delay/index.html
May '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Yeah, really. Just since 2000 there have been 16 NFL players, 11 MLB players, 6 NBA players and 4 in the NHL who have died while on a team's active roster. None has been met with the same level of obsession that Dale Sr death has wrought.
And as far as dittoheadadt asks, "How does that make NASCAR less than the other sports?"
It's still the only sport who's champion can be mathematically determined weeks before the last event.
Edited on February 27, 2012 at 2:11amDec '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
EJHill
And as far as dittoheadadt asks, "How does that make NASCAR less than the other sports?"
It's still the only sport who's champion can be mathematically determined weeks before the last event.
You realize that this applies to any sport with season long points chase, not just NASCAR racing (or auto racing in general) right?
Championships reward consistency (or rather, most of them do, the Cup series "Chase" format is a notable exception). If a man is consistently head and shoulders above his peers in performance, he deserves a point lead so big that he need not run the last race or two (such as what Vettel did last year in F1, talk about putting a spanking on the field).
You should also note that last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup series championship was not decided until the conclusion of the final race of the season (which resulted in a tie that was broken by most second place finishes).
Dec '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
EJHill
Yeah, really. Just since 2000 there have been 16 NFL players, 11 MLB players, 6 NBA players and 4 in the NHL who have died while on a team's active roster. None has been met with the same level of obsession that Dale Sr death has wrought.
How many of those guys died on TV while their son pushed one of their best friends to his first ever victory?
It was a giant confluence of circumstances that went together to make his death a very jarring and memorable experience.
However, that said, your lack of knowledge vis a vis auto racing fandom is staggering.
Dale Earnhardt Sr is far from the only racing icon who has a vociferous following even years after his death.
People still fly flags for Ayrton Senna when F1 races in Brazil, even though he was killed in a crash in Imola Italy in May of 1994.
People come to races wearing shirts proclaiming their love for Fireball Roberts or Manuel Fangio or Graham Hill, even though all of them have been dead for years (some decades).
It's an admiration for the greats from your sport's past, nothing more.
Dec '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
I also find it more than a little irritating that even here, people feel comfortable enough in their coastal bigotry to malign race fans (who vote and whose worldview is overwhelmingly conservative) in such a casual "look at the rubes" way.
I am condescended to on a perpetual basis by the entire media, 80% of politicians, and >50% of the random people I meet, so I'll be damned if I'm gonna have it happen here as well.
And just for the record, restrictor plate racing would only be analogous to socialism if fairness were the purpose of the rule. It's not as though they're taxing speed from the fast guys to subsidize/equalize the speed of the slower guys.
The plates are there to keep the cars on the ground and out of the grand stands, full stop. Everything else should be viewed as an unfortunate byproduct of that necessity.
The reason that it seems like anyone can win is not because the plates make it easy, but rather that there are so many good cars now a days that if you make the race at all, you have a chance to win it.
May '11
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
As for the race being postponed, it doesn't look promising for this (Monday) afternoon either. I live within walking distance of the track btw.
The 53 year run of "Bill France weather" really has come to an end !
Aug '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
@EJ
CoolHand already mentioned the F1 obsession the many drivers who have died during a race. I highly recommend the documentary Senna which touches upon the connection between racer and fan.
"It's still the only sport who's champion can be mathematically determined weeks before the last event."
This is patently not true. Most racing -- not just NASCAR -- can have the champion mathematically determined weeks before the last event. With the "Chase" system, it is actually less likely to happen than in F1 with its current 25 pts for first place rule.
Motorsports are dangerous and require a tremendous amount of skill to have success. I may favor F1 over NASCAR -- a 2 hour race fits better into my busy schedule -- but both are filled with skilled athletes who push the limits of technology.
I am actually disappointed that NASCAR changed the rules to favor crowd drafting over duo drafting. The duo draft is one of the most spectacular things to watch in all of motorsport. It requires very specific conditions in track and car quality, and the skill it takes to implement is nothing short of amazing.
Dec '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
I hope someone gets JPM a tiny fireman's hat to put on his dash next week, to remind him not to run over safety vehicles anymore.
Jeepers. . .