Post by G on Feb 14, 2008 20:07:14 GMT -5
The twin Qualifying Races at Daytona to get into the Daytona 500 are always some of the best races and also some of the most bittersweet. I cannot help but feel a mixture of both happy and sad for all the good and bad things that transpired during this day.
In the 1st race, Dale Jr once again stunk up the ending by driving away with his 2nd win in just his 2nd race with Hendrick Motorsports. There is no doubt at this point that Jr. is the man to beat in the 500 and him switching to Hendrick is already paying dividends. It was great to see Kenny Wallace race his way in with an untested, underfunded team. These are always the feel good stories I hold onto. But, it was also almost devastating to see the likes of Sterlin Marlin and Ken Schrader not make their way in. Especially for me personally, Schrader who is just everybody's favorite good guy. For the 1st time in 24 years, Kenny is not going to make the big race.
1st Race Grade: B
The 2nd race as usual had more drama and more excitement to watch. True my driver was in it so I had more to watch. But I think even if Im being unpartial, it was the better show. Once again, fate was both kind and ugly.
Denny Hamlin won the race with little fanfare. He did it with a push from his team mate Tony Stewart who he had just past a couple of laps early to steal the win away from him. Stewart could see without his help, Gordon was going to win, so he pushed his team mate Hamlin by Gordon to win the race.
I personally thought my driver may have had the car to beat. But this was not a day to think about personal gain. Instead it was a day of teamwork. My boy Michael Waltrip after being passed for the lead on a restart purposely fell back to get behind his team mate Dale Jarrett who is in the midst of his last trip to Daytona a race he has won 3 times. Unfortunately, he was on the verge of missing the race until my boy Waltrip fell back and got behind Jarrett and pushed him the rest of the race assuring he made it into the Daytona 500. I personally thought it was a classy sacrifice from a driver who could have easily been a contender for the win.
And although it was good to see Andretti take a care that hadnt even been tested and got himself into the 500. It was sad that someone like Boris Said found themselves going home. The bittersweetness of the Dual Qualifying Racings at Daytona was complete.
2nd Race Rating: A
Overall Rating: A-
