Bob Jennings

43 racing machines will take the green flag shortly after noon today to begin the "Great American race" (a.k.a. the "Daytona 500") for the 45th time. The "Daytona 500" used to present the world of racing stock cars at its most glamorous. Unfortunately none of the 43 cars racing around the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway today (with hundreds of northeast Florida seagulls hovering overhead and a hoped for crowd of 150,000 to 170,000 humans in the grandstands and infield) can be considered stock racing cars in any sense of the term. 

Hopefully too, those seagulls won't leave too many souvenirs on the heads of the fans assembled for the "Super Bowl of stock car racing" at Daytona. 

Sure there will be fourteen cars in the race that are pseudo facsimiles of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo seen on public streets. 14 more cars in the race will represent DaimlerChrysler's Dodge Intrepid showroom model, even though the factory Intrepid is a "four door" and there aren't any doors on NASCAR racers these days, wielded shut or not. There will be ten cars designated as Ford Motor Company's Taurus and another five referred to by the title Pontiac Grand Prix. But the cars known as Chevrolets, Dodges, Fords and Pontiacs are that in name only. 

With the new NASCAR templates standardizing the shape of the "sheet metal" hung on the 43 cars, it's doubtful all but the fanatic NASCAR follower could identify which car represents which auto maker without car numbers, sponsor color schemes and decals, even if you include the headlight decals pasted on the front of each car. Isn't that ridiculous? Why do they put headlight decals on the cars? Somebody tell me why - please.      

The engines used in NASCAR are derivatives from General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler too. I mean come on. Where can you find cars in dealer showrooms with carburetors? For that matter, unless you're driving a GM Jimmy, Ford F150, Dodge Ram pickup or something like that, where are you going to be able to purchase a 350 cid V8 engine for your personal vehicle? 

But then how would I know? I've been driving Toyotas since December 1978. But I have also been watching the "Daytona 500" closely since 1967, when I attended a closed circuit telecast of the race at the Indiana National Guard Armory on North Pennsylvania Street in downtown Indianapolis. 

The point I want to make is this. I liked NASCAR a lot better in the days when the cars they raced were really stock cars and not some kind of ludicrous misrepresentation for what is offered at your local dealer. Thirty five years ago, there was a mystique about the "Daytona 500" because Speedweeks in February is when Ford Motor Company showed off the latest Torino and Chrysler introduced its newest muscle car "hemi." Today the cars they race are the product of chassis builders, who are part of the NASCAR "cottage" industry around the Charlotte area, and don't come from any Ford, GM or Chrysler assembly line.  

If I want to see thoroughbred racing cars perform at high speed, I'll choose an Indy car that goes about fifty miles per hour faster than what NASCAR races. 

That's another sore point with me. The "Daytona 500" used to represent high speed thrills, but that was before 1988 when NASCAR came up with carburetor restrictor plates. Now the Winston Cup cars lumber around Daytona International Speedway in the 180 mph range, in packs tightly bunched because nobody has enough juice to pass anyone else - unless they find the proper drafting partner. 

Looking at the stats provided this week on the NASCAR website, the fastest lap reported during Speedweeks 2002 occurred on Friday February 14, during the sixth "Daytona 500" practice session, when Jimmie Johnson posted a speed of 190.998 mph. Cale Yarborough was going that fast in the Wood Brothers Mercury Cyclone during Speedweeks 1968.

The worst part of restrictor plate racing is the fact there will be likely a "big ass" melee that will take out ten to 15 cars sometime during the race today. When cars run that close lap after lap, someone is going to make a mistake eventually and all hell will break loose. Hopefully no driver will leave this world as a result, the way Dale Earnhardt did two years ago. Perhaps I'm being morbid, but then perhaps not. 

So what if they race at 200 mph again? What the hell is wrong with that? NASCAR needs to give the teams enough power so drivers can pass each other without having to rely on another car to help them through the wall of air generated by so many machines running together.   

Obviously NASCAR's concept of stock car racing meets favor with the general public however. The explosion in popularity of the Winston Cup series indicates the sanctioning body is reaching a much wider audience than in the days when they raced real stock cars and purists like me enjoyed NASCAR because it was stock car racing. 

NASCAR can't dispute this fact however. Even though prize money for the "Daytona 500" has been the richest in racing beginning in 2001 (even more money than the purse for the "Indianapolis 500"), more fans attend the Winston Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in April and ticket demand is higher for both Cup races at Bristol Motor Speedway each season than at Daytona in February. If the "Daytona 500" is such a wonderful race, how come NASCAR television coverage this week has been filled with commercials urging fans to buy tickets for today's race? Take that Ben Blake.   

Okay. Now it's time to get off my soapbox and quit lamenting the days gone by at the "Daytona 500" and take a look at what has been happening the past nine days at Daytona International Speedway and what's been happening is Dale Earnhardt Jr.   

From the time the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) crew unpacked cars and equipment belonging to the Budweiser number 8 team, in the garage area at Daytona International Speedway for Speedweeks 2003, it's been like Christmas two months later for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Guess who had the fastest lap among 50 drivers during the first "Daytona 500" practice session? "Little E" led the first session with a lap at 184.521 mph, followed by DEI teammate and 2001 "Daytona 500" winner Michael Waltrip, who ran 184.313 mph. Earnhardt was third fastest, behind Joe Nemechek (185.189) and Waltrip (184.953), in session number two with a lap at 184.759 mph in the Budweiser Chevy. 

Last Saturday night (February 8), Dale Jr. overhauled the field in the Budweiser Shootout. I watched the "Shootout"  sitting at the bar in the local Max & Erma's up the road, while the cold Indiana winds swirled around outside. This winter has been the worst I have seen in years. 

I was impressed with the way the red number 8 Chevy was able to charge from the rear of the 19 car field and blow by Jeff Gordon, who started 18th, for the lead with five circuits remaining in the 70 lap race. Junior's walk over the competition in the Budweiser race came close to making me think I'd been incorrect in my assessment of his late race dominance on the way to winning the "Pepsi 400" at Daytona in July 2001.

Jeff Green was a surprise "Daytona 500" pole winner (186.606) in Richard Childress' number 30 America Online Chevy. But Earnhardt Jr. was right behind with a qualifying lap at 186.382 mph. I don't know about you, but it almost seemed to me at the time like Dale was annoyed he didn't win the pole for today's race. Perhaps some of the comments "Little E" has made to the press criticizing the RCR drivers this week have something to do with Green winning pole.

Apparently Earnhardt wasn't trying for top speed in the practice sessions at Daytona, that followed qualifications last Monday February 10. The Bud Chevy was 29th (186.753), fourth (189.223), and 34th (186.714) in the third, fourth and fifth "Daytona 500" practice periods. "Little E" got serious again on Thursday when he won the second "Gatorade 125" qualifying event however. 

I recorded the two 125 mile qualifying events Thursday and got to watch the video yesterday. Earnhardt Jr. had to joust with Kevin Harvick a bit during the early laps of the second Gatorade race. For most of the 50 laps however, it looked like the toughest problem Dale encountered was how to place teammate Waltrip in second place. It was somewhat reminiscent of the way Michael Schumacher arranged a Ferrari photo finish with Rubens Barrichello in last September's Formula One race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In the "Daytona 500" practice sessions that followed Thursday's races, Earnhardt Jr. was 23rd (187.009), twentieth (187.114) and tenth (186.982) fastest. Then it was time to get serious again. As if to punctuate his ownership of the race track at Speedweeks 2003, Dale won yesterday's "Koolerz 300" Busch series race. That's an impressive accomplishment, something Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) did on three occasions at Daytona by sweeping the "Shootout", one of the 125 milers and the Busch race. 

The senior Earnhardt wasn't able to add a "Daytona 500" victory in the same February he swept the preliminary races however. How many times did the "Intimidator" own Daytona Speedweeks going into the "Daytona 500," only to encounter heartbreak in the big race? It took "Big Dale" twenty years to win the "Daytona 500." Then three years after Earnhardt's 1998 win, the "Daytona 500" took his life.

Can you imagine how much frenzy an Earnhardt Jr. win today will send NASCAR fans into? "Little E" seems to have inherited the love of the millions who cheered each time his dad was on the track in the black GM Goodwrench Chevy number 3. It should be an entertaining show, if only for the fan frenzy, if Junior gets it done this time, in only his fourth "Daytona 500" appearance.   

There are always various story lines surrounding Daytona Speedweeks every February. Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. has dominated the headlines, there have been other things going on. In the days leading up to the start of NASCAR activity at Daytona International Speedway, RJR acknowledged it had asked NASCAR to begin a search for a new Winston Cup series sponsor after a 33 year partnership. The new Winston Cup templates which make body shapes, among the four passenger car models represented, nearly identical is another story of note.

Although most everyone, including yours truly, expects Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win today, given the unpredictable nature of the "Daytona 500," there are a lot of drivers who can also win. My own particular hopes rest on Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. Tony should be solid today but Ryan seems to be suffering a bit from the switch the Penske team made from Ford to Dodge for 2003.

The most obvious challengers to Earnhardt Jr.'s dominance will likely be Waltrip and the three cars from Earnhardt Sr.'s former team, Richard Childress Racing, driven by Jeff Green, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick. Robby won the first 125 miler Thursday, by getting out of the pits ahead of RCR teammate Jeff Green.

Going by qualifying speeds and race performances during Thursday's 125 milers, the Chevrolet (or facsimile thereof) appears to be the car to have at Daytona this time. I expected Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, both in Fords from the Jack Roush shops, to be stronger in the pre-race competition. Busch pulled a "boo boo" in one of the races Thursday when he spun in the pits. 

Then there are always the familiar names to consider when you think about who can win the "Daytona 500." Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott are all former "Daytona 500" winners who can win again. The Labontes, Rudds, Wallaces, Burtons, Martins, etc. are still going at it, trying to keep up with and ahead of the new breed of drivers in NASCAR.    

Hey, it's almost race time and I need to get this posted on my website. Enjoy the race.     

2003 "Daytona 500" starting grid