Firetona 500
Once one NASCAR season ends, the race fan has to wait 100 days until the next NASCAR points race. Daytona speed week starts on a Saturday with the Budweiser Shootout. The week then consists of practices and qualifying races for the Daytona 500. By Saturday, every fan is anxiously awaiting the drop of the green flag at 1:16 Daytona time. In Florida the weather is unpredictable, but this week had seen clear skies and warm temperatures. On Sunday, this all changed. Rain, rain, and more rain pummeled the track and NASCAR was forced for the first time to postpone the race until Monday. So while every NASCAR fan frantically called their boss and told them they wouldn’t make it to work on Monday, they didn’t check the forecast. At the 12 pm Monday start time, rain continued to pour down and the start was pushed back to 7 pm. This worked out perfectly for me because as soon as I returned home, the green flag dropped. Two laps into the race, drivers’ dreams were crushed as were their cars as a multicar pile-up took out big name drivers including Danica Patrick who became the 3rd female driver to start the Daytona 500. The race continued at a blazing pace, until Juan Pablo Montoya created a blaze of his own. While the race was under caution, Montoya went into the pits to fix his car and came out to catch up with the other cars. While speeding to catch up, Montoya’s car mysteriously lost all handling and he slammed into a NASCAR jet dryer truck. The jet engine started leaking fuel all down the track and caught fire. So NASCAR officials had to spend 2 ½ hours putting down cleaner and Tide detergent to clear the track. At around 11:30 the cars finally took back to the track to finish the race. Three more wrecks took out more top contenders, but Matt Kenseth was able to steer clear and take the victory. The 36 hours of Daytona were a great way for the NASCAR fan to start off the season.
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