Who will win the Daytona 500?

[Donziweasel]

Well, it is that time of the year. The Great American Race is Sunday. Who will win it this year?

[f_inscreenname]

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4567/38948994db6.gif

[hardcrab]

While I am an Earnhardt fan, this season I'll be rooting for Mark Martin. He deserves this accomplishment in his career. It will be his last attempt at a full season schedule - he is driving for one of the top teams in the sport and being supplied with the best equipment. I hope he wins the cup.:lightning
That said;
I have a gut feeling the Daytona 500 winner will be Kevin Harvick.:popcorn:
I also hope Jimmie Johnson has an early exit in the race and a completly miserable season.:toiletpap:crossfing:

[BUIZILLA]

I like Johnson.....

but I think Denny may pull this off

or Gordon plays sandbagger for the first 175 laps...

last weekend's ARCA race was pretty darn good too :yes:

[Donziweasel]

I think Martin would rather have a championship than a Daytona 500 win, but I am sure he would take it!:)

I am a Hamlin fan and would love to see him pick one up.

Thing about Daytona, it is anyone's race really. Alot of guys have picked up thier first win there.

I don't think Joe Nemechek made it in, bummer, I kinda like ole' front row Joe.

[zelatore]

I don't think he'll win it, but I'll cast a vote for Martin just for old time's sake.

Frankly, I don't follow Nascar enough to even know half those drivers.

[p729lws]

Hopefully Mark Martin wins but it will probably be that SOB Kyle Busch. Either way I'll be watching from the super stretch across from the jumbo-tron.

Dan

[chappy]

I was lucky to meet Mark Martin at a Busch race in the early 90's in Richmond, real nice guy. Hard not to pull for him after meeting him.:checkered:

[mattyboy]

I know you guys make fun of me cause i am not up country music and well nascar is not big in my neck of the woods either , but i am routing against ryan newman I have not liked him since he released that song making fun of short people. :yes:

[Donziweasel]

Matty, plus it is hard to root for someone who has no neck like ole' Newman. :bonk:

[Ghost]

I know you guys make fun of me cause i am not up country music and well nascar is not big in my neck of the woods either , but i am routing against ryan newman I have not liked him since he released that song making fun of short people. :yes:

It sounds like you may be mistaking him with of a different Newman. Paul Newman raced in a totally different class, and (very sadly) has passed away, so he will not be racing.

[zelatore]

It sounds like you may be mistaking him with of a different Newman. Paul Newman raced in a totally different class, and (very sadly) has passed away, so he will not be racing.

And he was very likely a better driver than a whole field of nascar good 'ol boys.

I'm sure acting paid better than driving, especially 'back in the day' before the crazy sponsorship money came in, but he really should have raced professionally.

[hardcrab]

I know you guys make fun of me cause i am not up country music and well nascar is not big in my neck of the woods either , but i am routing against ryan newman I have not liked him since he released that song making fun of short people. :yes:
Before someone confuses "Newman" from the Sienfeld show, I'm sure Matty meant Randy Newman, the song writer

[hardcrab]

but he really should have raced professionally.

He did.
:convertib:

[Ghost]

Before someone confuses "Newman" from the Sienfeld show, I'm sure Matty meant Randy Newman, the song writer

Indeed. Of course, his deliberate Randy Newman/Ryan Newman blurring was right up my alley. I am often happy to fight crazy with crazy. Actually, fight is the wrong word--more like playing along. :wink:

[boxy]

What ever happened to Dick Trickle ???? :eek::convertib::eek:

[f_inscreenname]

Indeed. Of course, his deliberate Randy Newman/Ryan Newman blurring was right up my alley. I am often happy to fight crazy with crazy. Actually, fight is the wrong word--more like playing along. :wink:

I (http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4567/38948994db6.gif) thought Jimmy Johnson was a football coach. http://www.supernova19.com/forumcw/Smileys/classic/smarty.gif

[f_inscreenname]

What ever happened to Dick Trickle ???? :eek::convertib::eek:

More like,

:yes: :yes:
.http://www.supernova19.com/forumcw/Smileys/classic/drool.gif


http://www.supernova19.com/forumcw/Smileys/classic/rof.gif

[Ghost]

I (http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4567/38948994db6.gif) thought Jimmy Johnson was a football coach. http://www.supernova19.com/forumcw/Smileys/classic/smarty.gif

LOL, I think you're thinking of either Howard Johnson or Anal Johnson, both townsfolk in Blazing Saddles.

Unless you are talking about the football coach so famous for his drafting...

[boxy]

LOL, I think you're thinking of either Howard Johnson or Anal Johnson, both townsfolk in Blazing Saddles.

Unless you are talking about the football coach so famous for his drafting...

Don't forget Gabby Johnson..... :pimp:

[f_inscreenname]

LOL, I think you're thinking of either Howard Johnson or Anal Johnson, both townsfolk in Blazing Saddles.

Unless you are talking about the football coach so famous for his drafting...

No no no... The Dallas Cowboys coach doing football talk on Fox in the winter and race car driver in the summer.
:kingme:

[Ghost]

No no no... The Dallas Cowboys coach doing football talk on Fox in the winter and race car driver in the summer.
:kingme:

Shows you how little I know about NASCAR, and how old I am. I thought you were just playing along with The Confused Johnson Hour with a JUNIOR Johnson reference. Hence my drafting remark.

So when I see your response, I scratch my head, and then it hits me...there's actually a JIMMY Johnson in NASCAR. Hoisted by my own petard, whatever that is.

[Donziweasel]

Paul Newman raced a bunch professionally. He was in the SCCA, Trans Am series, Can Am, 24 hours of Lemans (which he won in 1979) and 24 hours of Daytona (which he won in 1995). Both 24 hour wins were in his class. He even ran the Baja 1000 and finished.

He also owned part of Newman-Haas Racing, which had a Cup car for a while (the number 12) which he finally sold to Penske.

He was a better actor than race car driver. I think he did it mostly for fun. He loved motorsports.

[boxy]

Paul Newman raced a bunch professionally. He was in the SCCA, Trans Am series, Can Am, 24 hours of Lemans (which he won in 1979) and 24 hours of Daytona (which he won in 1995). Both 24 hour wins were in his class. He even ran the Baja 1000 and finished.
He also owned part of Newman-Haas Racing, which had a Cup car for a while (the number 12) which he finally sold to Penske.
He was a better actor than race car driver. I think he did it mostly for fun. He loved motorsports.
All that plus he is one of the few guys who can pull off a full brown leather suit...

RIP Reggie Dunlop

[zelatore]

Paul Newman raced a bunch professionally. He was in the SCCA, Trans Am series, Can Am, 24 hours of Lemans (which he won in 1979) and 24 hours of Daytona (which he won in 1995). Both 24 hour wins were in his class. He even ran the Baja 1000 and finished.
He also owned part of Newman-Haas Racing, which had a Cup car for a while (the number 12) which he finally sold to Penske.
He was a better actor than race car driver. I think he did it mostly for fun. He loved motorsports.

Well, I'll rephrase-

Newman ran quite a few professional races, but didn't race professionally. As you mentioned, I believe it was more of a hobby for him. Imagine where he'd have gone if he'd been in a car day in/day out instead of a race here and there.

But I can't deny he was a passin' fair actor too.

[Ghost]

All of which brings us back to the question of who will win Daytona.

One thing I don't get (I don't know squat about NASCAR, nor about it's season or whatever) but it seems like Daytona is the most prestigious race of the year (a bit like the Super Bowl) but it starts the year.

I know people have probably said that before, but I never heard it explained exactly. So, if people want to unhijack this thead and talk smack about Daytona, anything you lob in about why this race is so big and how it fits the seaon will be edifying for know-nothings like me. (Closest I've been to a NASCAR race was the 79th Indy 500.)

[Donziweasel]

Daytona is big because of a few things. It was one of the first superspeedways when built in 1959 and is still the second biggest oval speedway on earth at 2.5 miles. It is the first race of the season and has a whole week of racing, including the Shootout, twin dual 150's, Busch, Trucks, and of course, the Daytona 500. Been to 2 of them, and what a show. Fasted qualifying speed was before the restrictor plates and was something like 212 mph by Bill Elliott.

It is one of the 2 restricter plate racing where you have to draft to run with the pack. Finally, Daytona finishes are usually very exciting and even crazy.

Not sure if they do it anymore, but there use to be a million dollar bonus if you won 3 out of the 4 Nascar Crown Jewels. Daytona, (the first race of the season), Darlington (the oldest race), Talladega (biggest and use to be the fastest superspeedway on Earth), and Charlotte, (the longest race at 600 miles). Only two poeple ever did it, Bill Elliott (how he got the name "million dollar Bill") and Jeff Gordon.

[Ghost]

DW, thanks for the note, that actually told me alot.

BTW, I just surfed into the coverage--am I seeing things? With 48 laps to go are we in a rain delay, with Tony Stewart in 8th as the only driver from the poll in the top 10 right now?! Is my uninformed "other" vote for the winner going to hold up? I'll laugh my a$$ off if it does... :)

[mattyboy]

i stuck around to watch that ??? what kind of sport is that more like friggin golf??? a little rain and they pull the plug sorry i tried guys i'm going back to the real sports :confused::garfield:

stock cars don't have winsdhield wipers?????

[Ghost]

Holy cr^p! I don't even care and that ending was like kissing your sister.

Two of us won the prediction poll and it still sucks.

[f_inscreenname]

Holy cr^p! I don't even care and that ending was like kissing your sister.

Two of us won the prediction poll and it still sucks.

1000% agree

[Donziweasel]

Pretty good race until the rain. Would have liked to have seen them run the last 48 laps, would have gotten crazy, probably 1 or 2 more big wrecks.

[zelatore]

I watched on and off, maybe 30 minutes all together. I think everybody knows I prefer my race tracks to have hills and more than one direction of turn.

And although I pick at the nas-cab boys for not racing in the wet when even the bikes run in the rain, I do have to say I understand why they don't do it. I'd be scared as heck to try and run one of those big tanks around a concrete lined fish-bowl in the wet with 40 other guys who use terms like 'rubbin is racing' and 'chrome horn'! Talk about 'the big one'!

For the rest of us motorsports fans:

March 1, World Superbike, Australia (now with BMW and Aprilia factories)
March 6, AMA Superbike, Daytona (yet another Yosh walk-away?)
March 29 - F1, Australia (the 'new and improved' cars...)
April 12 - MotoGP, Qatar (Nicky on the Duck - yes!)

[mattyboy]

Vince McMahon doesn't own nascar does he???? cause then it would make sense

[hardcrab]

What ever happened to Dick Trickle ???? :eek::convertib::eek:
Depends .................................................. get it ?

:lol9::toiletpap