It’s been rainy in Daytona today. I tuned in to MRN to hear the quality pre-race show and was bummed to hear that this is Barney Hall’s final play-by-play call. It seems I became a NASCAR fan just in time to learn to love it and the people involved and then to watch it all go away.
I eagerly anticipate listening to MRN broadcasts to hear Barney Hall, because he’s the best, the quality. If its good for Barney, his next move, I’m happy for him, but I will dearly miss him and his mastery of his job. It seems all the quality is leaving NASCAR. I wondered how things would change when Bill France died. It seems I’m getting the answers as time goes on and things change for the worst and the best of NASCAR leaves. Sigh.
Change is change – neither good nor bad.
Good luck and much happiness in the future Barney Hall!
Last night Jeffrey Earnhardt tried to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and drive with a broken collarbone. Thankfully he got out of the car on lap 53. I appreciate his determination to honor his commitments, but there comes a time when common-sense needs to play a role also. Matt DiBenedetto replaced him.
It has been raining off and on through the weekend. During Nationwide qualifying there was a big wreck when a sudden downpour drenched one section of the track. Between seven and nine cars were involved. Shortly thereafter they called qualifying and Dakoda Armstrong was the pole-sitter. The schedule was pretty tight with Sprint Cup Qualifying scheduled to follow Nationwide qualifying. The showers moved away, the track was dried, the cars did the usual sit and look foolishness and eventually went out. Showers arrived again and David Gilliland is the pole-sitter.
I keep hearing the radio talkies say the new qualifying is exciting. The televised version is definitely NOT. I miss the old qualifying. I always made it a point to get to the track, or to watch televised qualifying. Now I don’t bother. It just looks like practice with a lot more sitting around. At least during practice everybody gets on the track usually. This whole sitting around for 15 minutes of a 25 minute qualifying session is for the birds and really stupid. Definitely not exciting and it never gets any more exciting. There’s no real focus, point of focus, or markers to show what’s going on and since the networks have decided to make the writing so small I can’t see what’s happening, what’s changing. It’s just ridiculous.
It’s started raining again at Daytona. I’ve not looked at the radar, nor forecast – oooh, Barney is on tv!
By 9pm they’d postponed the race until 10:45am tomorrow.
Engines are set to start at 11am. It has been cloudy here all day. Not sure what the weather is like in Daytona yet, but it’s almost 11am, so we’ll see.
Apparently the news of Barney Hall leaving was a shock to just about everyone. I read that his schedule had been cut back for the past few years for health reasons. The man is 82 and I would imagine that sort of travelling would be rough. I’ll miss him nonetheless and I hope the changes in his position are completely his choice.
Looks like its dry though cloudy at Daytona. They came on air just before the command (or recorded it).
Jamie Mc, the radio in-race reporter, says there’s a little rain in turn one. He also mentioned that there’s chance the race will only go to halfway with the way the storms pop up. Joe Moore was going to thank Jamie Mc and move on when Jamie yelled wait wait, I wanna give a shout out to Barney Hall and he went on to say nice things. Nice job Jamie Mc.
There’s going to be a competition caution on lap 20.
They just waved off the green flag due to the rain in turn one. It’s a light rain and they can probably race in it, but due to the big wreck during Nationwide Qualifying NASCAR is playing it safe. The radio announcers are saying the clouds have lowered and look a bit ominous at the moment, like there could be another sudden downpour.
It looks much darker on the track than it did when they fired engines. They’re saying the rain seems to be limited to turns one and two. The parade laps continue.
The race is underway!!! Barney Hall makes his final play-by-play call to begin the race as David Gilliland leads the field to the green flag.
Caution is out on lap 6 for rain.
They’re talking to one of the crew chiefs, Tony Gibson, who’s a Daytona Beach, Florida native asking what the weather will do. He says it will do what its done all day, pop in and out so the race will be a lot of run a few laps, stop, run a few laps.
Moody says rain is coming down pretty good in turn two. NASCAR is bringing the cars off the racetrack and onto pit road.
The red flag is out and so are the jet dryers.
Drivers have been called back to the cars. The sun is out helping dry the track. Clouds are handing low and dark behind the tv broadcast booth. I’ll miss Wacky Wally when TNT is done. He’s the only one I’ll miss from the TNT crew. They’re awful overall. One of them was doing an interview with Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer and he ended up sounding totally incompetent due to the dumb questions he was asking and the answers KHarv was giving him. Happy Harvick doesn’t suffer fools gladly, though he was standing there talking to Clint Bowyer.
Lap 12 is the first lap on the restart.
Kenseth is trying to block all lanes and so far has been able to keep Tony Stewart in the bottom lane, Jimmie Johnson in the second lane and Bobby Labonte in the third lane behind him. Jimmie pushed Smoke to the lead past Kenseth.
Barney Hall was saying yesterday that you could show excitement in your voice without yelling. I truly wish he could teach everybody else how to do that.
Caution is out on lap 21 for a big wreck including Smoke, Jimmie Johnson, Stenhouse, Dale Jr, Kyle Larson, Carl Edwards, and a whole lot more. Looks like Smoke and Stinkhouse got together and around they went and collected the field. Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Marcos Ambrose, Michael Waltrip, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Keselowksi, Trevor Bayne, Danica Patirck and Harvick also involved. MRN says at least 14 cars were involved.
Stinkhouse got loose and collected Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, AJ Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Carl Edwards, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Michael McDowell, Marcos Ambrose, Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, and Trevor Bayne,
KHarv just emerged from the Care Center.
Jimmie is out of the Care Center. He says they’re going to come back out and collect some points. Not sure he knows his car was taken away on the hook.
Smoke is out of the Care Center. He’s pissed about Stenhouse racing that hard on the lap where there would be a competition caution.
Stinkhouse is trying to find someone else to blame. He says thr 33 blocked him which is fine because everyone was doing it, he got a little squirrely and he straightened it up and was fine, but he got hit in the left rear. Stenhouse said it happened like he thought. He’s blaming the 24 for getting into the 14.
Smoke said they were 1/4 lap from the competition caution and Stenhouse had to be a hero.
David Ragan led the field to the restart.
Caution is out on lap 41 for debris in turn one.
The radio announcers are consistently counting down to the halfway point since weather is in the areas. Kurt Busch is currently the leader. He’s led 13 laps.
We reached halfway and are still rolling on as the weather isn’t there yet. Kurt is battling Biffle for the lead. Kasey Kahne, winner of Friday night’s Nationwide race, is lurking closely behind.
Green flag pit stops have begun as Casey Mears is the first to head into pit road.
Michael McDowell slid sideways into his pit stall and managed to get all four tires in the box and was pitted with most of the front of the care facing the wall at a bit of an angle.
Danica missed her pit box and had to slam on brakes, back it up and into her box. All of her drafting partners are back on the track. Jeff Gordon has led a lap while these pit stops have been happening.
Caution is out on lap 94 for debris on the back straightaway. BooBoo got his second lucky dog.
Wow! TV is showing seriously heavy clouds hanging over the speedway. The track looks dark again.
Smoke it back out, Kenseth, Carl, and Keselowski are back on the track and having pit stops.
63 laps to go on the restart as Kurt Busch leads them to the green flag on the restart.
Big Wreck on lap 98!!!! I saw Kasey go around. KyBu’s car has just gone on his roof. The following were involved Cole Witt, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Josh Wise, KyBu, Kasey Kahne, Smoke, David Ragan, David Gilliland, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr, Michael Annett, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Justin Allgaier, Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill, Ryan Newman, Ryan Truex.
It appears Biffle hit Kasey to turn him around.
Biffle said Kasey slowed up fast and he doesn’t know why, and he got a shove from David into Kasey who’d slowed up.
Biffle says he doesn’t know what happened, if someone got into the back of him and shoved him into the 5 car. The in-car camera is showing Kyle getting out of his car after they’ve turned his car right side up.
The 16 got into the 5 which hooked him into the 22. Kurt thinks its his fault and they’re assuring him that it was Clint Bowyer’s fault.
The following were not involved:
Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, Jeff Gordon, Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Marcos Ambrose, and Terry Labonte.
Kasey said he got hit from behind and it got him spinning. He said he got hit in the corners of his bumpers which got the car going from left-tor-right and side to side. Jamie Mc rushed over to KyBu when he came out of the Care Center. Kyle said it was like a slow carnival ride when he went upside down. He said it wasn’t so bad with the 7 part harness.
Jamie Mc says his car got airborne and his car got hit while he was in the air and it was a scary feeling. He was most concerned about Kyle Busch who wasn’t getting out of the car and it was upside down. He said he didn’t see anything. He said Kasey said he got hit and got squirrelly and couldn’t catch it.
Landon Cassill is out of the Care Center.
Only six cars in the field have not been involved in some kind of crash in this race.
Clouds continue to gather over the speedway as Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola battle for the lead.
Caution is out with 52 laps remaining for rain on a portion of the track.
Chase Elliott has been in the booth with the guys and has just said some lovely things to Barney.
NASCAR is bringing the field off the track and onto pit road on lap 112. The red flag is out. It’s raining in turns 3 and 4 and down the backstretch, but its not raining on pit road or in the grandstands yet, so the fans are wondering what’s going on.
TV just showed a shot of the back straightaway and you can see how hard its raining there and yet dry pavement is in front of that. It blew in from the beach as opposed to the earlier rain which came in from the east. The rain is continuing to move down the back straightaway. It’s still not raining on pit road yet, but its moving that way.
Danica was in both crashes and yet the car has been able to continue. She recognizes her luck in being where she is, so instead of going home now, she wants to go back racing.
Michael McDowell is currently in seventh. He’s managed to miss all the wrecks today.
Boy was Ryan Newman whining and complaining. Its as though he doesn’t realise he doesn’t have to put up with this crap! He could get a real job. I mean seriously, Dude, there are other series that don’t race on super speedways that he could race in instead. Of course, he may not be able to afford his private plane to get him to the races, but if you feel that strongly about not wanting to race on tracks like this one, it’s an option – as well as a real job.
Casey Mears he got hit from behind, he looked in his rearview mirror and saw Kasey Kahne get loose then gather it up, “but he must’ve gotten hit from behind again and that caused him to go sideways”.
Top 10 with 48 laps to go
Aric Almirola
Brian Vickers
Kurt Busch
Casey Mears
Austin Dillon
Denny Hamlin
Michael McDowell
Danica Patrick
Clint Bowyer
Marcos Ambrose
Info from nascar.com: If Almirola wins, it would be the 199th victory for the No. 43. Five drivers have won with the number: Richard Petty, Hamilton, Andretti, Jim Paschal and Lee Petty.
Almirola is the 43rd driver to drive the No. 43 car.
Barney is estimating in 15 minutes the cloud will either be over them or completely moved away and track drying can begin. There are 48 laps to go. This would be the anniversary of the Richard Petty win at this race with Ronald Reagan in attendance.
Whoops! I just lightning out the window of the broadcast booth.
NASCAR says the track is good for the most part, about 3/4s done. The rain stayed mostly on the backside of the track, so the cleanup is centered on the back side of the track.
17 cars are on the lead lap as we sit under the red flag.
MRN is allowing Tony Stewart to say thanks to Barney Hall on-air.
Barney said, “We’d like to be there every week, but its time to hang it up a little bit”. Barney sounds choked up.
54 years! That’s an incredible run in one job.
Terry Labonte had kind words to say about Barney Hall also. The turn guys all ended their initial comments with words for Barney Hall.
Looks like the rain has started again as its raining on the front-stretch now.
NASCAR called the race. Aric Almirola wins the race. He wishes his wife and kids were there. He said they considered coming, but decided not to.
14:56
30 years ago the 43 won this race (then called the Firecracker 400) and that was The King’s 200th win with President Ronald Reagan in attendance.
This is Afterburner’s home race – two hours away from Tampa, Florida.
So now he’s in the Chase. Seriously? Okay. This format is showing its holes I think.
Unofficial Results:
(1) Aric Almirola
(2) Brian Vickers
(3) Kurt Busch
(4) Casey Mears
(5) Austin Dillon
(6) Denny Hamlin
(7) Michael McDowell
(8) Danica Patrick
(9) Clint Bowyer
(10) Marcos Ambrose
(11) Terry Labonte
(12) Jeff Gordon
(13) Alex Bowman
(14) Dale Earnhardt Jr
(15) Martin Truex Jr
(16) Paul Menard
(17) Joey Logano
(18) Brad Keselowski
(19) Matt Kenseth
(20) Michael Waltrip
(21) Michael Annett
(22) David Ragan
(23) Josh Wise
(24) Ryan Newman
(25) Justin Allgaier
(26) Bobby Labonte
(27) Kasey Kahne
(28) Kyle Busch
(29) Greg Biffle
(30) Jamie McMurray
(31) Landon Cassill
(32) Ryan Truex
(33) Reed Sorenson
(34) Cole Whitt
(35) David Gilliland
(36) Kyle Larson
(37) Carl Edwards
(38) Trevor Bayne
(39) Kevin Harvick
(40) Tony Stewart
(41) Ricky Stenhouse Jr
(42) Jimmie Johnson
(43) AJ Allmendinger
In NASCAR news this week:
- Brian France speaks.
- Barney Hall Leaves Play-By-Play.
- Gilliland Gets The Pole.
- Higgins Wins Squier-Hall Award .
- Keselowski’s Embarrassing Antics Continue.
- NASCAR Announces Banquet Dates NASCAR Announces Banquet Dates .
- Kasey Claims Victory at Daytona.
- Penalties for the 51 Team.
- Nationwide No-Call Explained.
- Josh Wise Gets Political.
- Darrell Wallace Jr. took high road dealing with fans during BET Awards.
- Daytona adds more SAFER Barrier.