[Bob Tanner]

I don't have a favourite driver, and I know tonight represents only a single race in a long season, but I feel compelled to say:

Junior drove a great race tonight.

Junior's matured a great deal since he declared his emancipation from DEI last season. The happiness and relief on his face was palpable. In fact, it's been awhile since I've seen him look so happy.

Tonight was, for Hendrick, NA__AR and Junior a win/win/win situation.
A win for Junior goes without saying.
A win for Hendrick because it further reinforces that HMS really has it's "stuff" in one concise package.
A win for NA__AR because it needs Junior to be successful. Here's a prediction: TV ratings for next week's race will be up from last year's race. If Junior continues to finish well each week, I predict ratings will be up by a minimum of 5% by the Firecracker 400.

At the risk of sounding dramatic I think tonight's race "might" have been the beginning of a new era for NA__AR.

The race tonight shows that HMS wants to continue, and possibly improve, on last year's performance. It also gave Toyota the opportunity to serve notice that this year will NOT be a duplicate of last year's.

I thought it might be significant that the two DEI cars were non-factors all evening. Also significant was the fact that Toyota's from JGR, BDR and MWR all showed strengths at times. Bush's and Sorenson's Dodge never challenged but made their presence known. With the exception of Flipper's car, the Fords couldn't seem to stay out of their own way. They made Robbie's decision to move look awfully smart.

I'm betting a full eight out of the top twelve finishers will be in the Playoffs.

Finally, I think the new car looks like it won't hurt competition. I also thought it amazing that Johnson finished well in a never tested Martinsville car and Jeffie drove his Darlington car to a top five finish.

[jks812]

It was alot better than I thought it would be. Was GREAT to see Jr in victory lane again. Although I have to admit that I was really pulling for Blaney.But at least the Toyota's showed tonight that they can be up front and they will be competitive this year.
What happened to the Ford's? And yes it did make Robby's move look like a very good one. How long before Roush is crying to Nascar? Shoot who am I kidding, he's probably already cried to them.

[Racer Duck]

I agree with everything you said, Bob.

But I also had a couple downers
1) the commercial break right after the 50 lap section started .. was entirely too long. During that timeout, Smoke took the lead, then Jr. took it back. It was really Smokes first "big move" of the race. But, alas, it's commercial TV, so what else can I expect? They certainly don't care to entertain the split screen idea...
2) the CON seems to be very critical of tire camber, as evidenced by the numerous RF tire problems and Harvick's explanation of the problem.

Still, the CON seems to have some interesting advantages: that Kurt was able to save his trusty steed from what seemed like destined major calamity was a testament to the car's aero characteristics; and there seems to be some little "moves" one can make which increase one's chances of slingshoting without upsetting the slingshotee.

All in all, it was a pretty good race.

[Bassdogs]

If anyone questions the acceptance of Jr on the HMS team, go back to slow mo on the last 2 or 3 laps of the shootout. After the restart, JG is stuck pushing Smoke down low while JJ and CM are chained up to Jr on the top. With a couple to go, JG backed off and pulled into the middle and pretty much left Smoke by himself. At the time Smoke was heads up with Jr, but after the JG move Jr pulled ahead for the eventual win. JG pulled back up and followed Smoke to the finish but the move along with the push from the other HMS guys put Jr in Vlane.

Smoke as many predicted put Toyota back in the game big time, but seeing the HMS freight train running up front with a couple of off the rack back-up cars, the swap shop guys at the #5 and Jr's newby team; served notice that HMS has decided to play ball again in 08.

[wingkey1]

Found ourselves pleased for Jr. He looked more like a kid in a candy shop then we've seen in a while. And how 'bout that clean shaved, All American boy HMS look?


Fords appear to need engines. Looks like Dougies pleading to NASCAR was indication he truly did miss the boat on raising the power band on his creations. Likely Jack has already begun to apply his own engineers to the engines. Bring back Robert.


4 of top 6 finishers were HMS. Folks are just gonna have to get over it and enjoy the races for at least a while/season. Watching JJ and JG was educational - or at least should be for some of the lessers. Both with untested cars played around in the back for a bit to determine exactly what they had to work with. Once known, get out of the way.


While only year two, with the addition of JGR, the Toyos have arrived and will challenge for top prizes every week through the season. Might have been interesting if Shrub had been in the event last night to team up with the 20.


Could have really enjoyed a win by Blaney. Nothing to do with manufacturer.


The car did, as anticipated, show characteristics of the blunt nosed cars of the sports earlier day. The notably faster closure rate and the return of the slingshot. Liked too that the less restricted engine got things to "full song" real quick. This is the throttle response drivers have wanted at the restrictor tracks for a long time.


Had to wonder whether there are thoughts around smoothing the surface of the track. Comparatively speaking - it's ugly rough.


Fun watchin'

[Quality88]

The cars seemed to get up tp speed alot quicker.... atleast it seemed that way to me.

[LSC9901]

Good observations by all so far. Yes it was good to see that shy little boy have such a massive grin on his face. I find that this entire year will (hopefully) hold the fan interest more than the past few have. The car itself is bringing in a whole new set of problems and advantages. Was the wreck and masterful recovery by the Blue Deuce a fluke, driver skill, the car itself or a combination of all ??? Has JGR given Toyota the shot in the arm they needed ?? All the clamor about Tony leaving after this year could possibly be put to rest if the rest of the season stays like this. He will most certainly be a contender if this is the car he'll be getting every week.

Ahhh yes ... the HMS powerhouse. No doubt everyone noticed that Jimmie and Jeff ran cars set up for other tracks and were still able to take on the competition. Where would they have ended up if they had their Daytona cars ???

While there is still much in the NASCAR garage to complain about (we still see you Brian !!!), I'm hoping that this season will renew the spirits of many race fans, young and old alike.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Ahhh yes ... the HMS powerhouse. No doubt everyone noticed that Jimmie and Jeff ran cars set up for other tracks and were still able to take on the competition. Where would they have ended up if they had their Daytona cars ???

Were they truly short track cars though.... Durin prerace Gordon said they came in with the Darlington car and redid it for the race... turnin it into a Superspeedway car. I would have been more impressed(not sayin I wasn't) if they raced them without bein tinkered with.

[BringBackWilkesboro]

How about a little shout out to 'ol Ken Squire? He's at his 43rd consecutive speedweeks and he's probably THE smartest man in motorsports. He completely called Juniors victory during Speed's however many hours of coverage yesterday. The sport has changed so much since his prime and yet he still knows whats going on today more than anyone. Keep it up Ken.

Now, the race. I loved it. I found my self rooting on Blaney from the end of the first segment on, simply due to his position on the NASCAR totem pole and his WoO backround. I was kind of disapointed when Stewart ditched him to join the Hendrick contingent up top, but it was clear you had to be wherever that 88 car was if you wanted to beat him, and I guess Tony knew that too, even if it eventually was all for not.

I have been tired of the Hendrick/superteam/Chevrolet dominance for a long time, so I'll just hope for and epic Hendrick takedown in the 500. I'd prefer a Blue Oval, but I'm not even sure they've shown up yet. I'm hoping for an underdog weekend.

[NascarRacer56]

I thought that the cars were much more "racey" than the old ones, and they seemed to need a LOT more driver input too.

Should make for an interesting Daytona 500.

[tbalt]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

With a couple to go, JG backed off and pulled into the middle and pretty much left Smoke by himself.

Rick Hendrick probably told the other three to help Jr. win so he could say see "look at Jr. I made a good decision" and Junior would get the fans going.

[Jeffrey4396]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Tonight was, for Hendrick, NA__AR and Junior a win/win/win situation.
A win for NA__AR because it needs Junior to be successful. Here's a prediction: TV ratings for next week's race will be up from last year's race. If Junior continues to finish well each week, I predict ratings will be up by a minimum of 5% by the Firecracker 400.

At the risk of sounding dramatic I think tonight's race "might" have been the beginning of a new era for NA__AR.

May I disagree with you here? I think this may be a small shot in the arm for Nascar, but I feel it good potentially do more harm in the long run. Remember the ratings have been dropping big time. Not because Jr fans were leaving, but because the fans on the fence were leaving. The die hards will always be here. The fence fans started to leave because of Nascar handcuffing drivers, lack of racing and yes the all mighty HMS dominance. Yes is Jr starts to dominate it will be good for Jr fans and HMS fans, but not for the average Joe fans. I could see it getting real boring real fast for them. Especially if you see an HMS driver in victory lane everyweek. Remember Nascar took off big in '01 and '02 when anybody could win any week. Man in those years my buddies and I couldn't miss a race because we wanted to see what was going to happen next. As the years have gone by the race watching crew have gotten smaller and smaller because they had better things to do then watch a predictable race. I will never leave, because i still have that fire inside called hope. Hope for my drivers, but there are far more fans like them then like me.

What Nascar needs is for a racy 500 will an off the wall winner. They need the fans to know that this new car brings that fiery hope to those that are losing it. I am not stating this because I am a Bobby fan, but I think the best case senerio for Nascar would be for that 43 be back in Victory lane at Daytona. That will show the fans that Nascar is back.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Were they truly short track cars though.... Durin prerace Gordon said they came in with the Darlington car and redid it for the race... turnin it into a Superspeedway car. I would have been more impressed(not sayin I wasn't) if they raced them without bein tinkered with.

I didn't mean to infer that they actually did race with non Daytona set-ups but I'm sure there were some differences plus they had to make the changes during the race that actually did fine tune them to the track. Having to do that can certainly have it's benefits.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I didn't mean to infer that they actually did race with non Daytona set-ups but I'm sure there were some differences plus they had to make the changes during the race that actually did fine tune them to the track. Having to do that can certainly have it's benefits.

True that is. It was impressive as bad as I dislike those two teams, and drivers.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

True that is. It was impressive as bad as I dislike those two teams, and drivers.

Since I pledge no allegiance to any team/driver I don't really care who wins. Like many others though I'm not happy seeing the same teams win 50% of the races.