Sofa Sideline – Go Get ‘Em Tiger!!!!
Tony "the Tiger" Stewart wins the Budweiser
Shootout!!
For the second year in a row, Tony Stewart is the winner of
the Budweiser Shootout. With 24 laps to go, Stewart retook the lead from Kenny
Schrader and held on over second place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. Five cars in
the lead draft had pulled away from the remainder of the field, and it was a
race to the finish for that group. With six laps to go, and in fifth place, Jeff
Gordon pulled up to the high side of the track and ducked past Kenny Schrader to
take over fourth place. Gordon and Schrader then hooked up with two laps to go
to pass Sterling Marlin, successfully sending him to the back of the group.
Meanwhile, Junior was using the brake to see if he could get Tony to lose some
steam and get the run on him, but Stewart played defense to that maneuver, and
was able to stay in the lead. With one lap to go, Gordon pulled alongside of
Junior and with the two of them battling side by side, it left Stewart in
charge. Schrader had a great race coming in fourth, with Sterling Marlin
finishing fifth. It seemed Sterling waited just a bit too long to make a move,
and is probably kicking himself for it today.
Rounding out the top ten were; Dale Jarrett, 6th,
Terry Labonte, 7th, Bobby Labonte, 8th, Kenny Wallace, 9th,
and Todd Bodine in 10th.
The second group never seemed to get in line to be able to
catch the lead pack. It appeared that Ryan Newman was back there vying for
position and not getting the clue that the priority was to catch the leaders and
then worry about passing to pick up positions. It’s all about winning, and it
wasn’t going to happen, and didn’t, when they are back there juggling
around, while at the same time, the front five were in line, getting farther
ahead and waiting for the right moment to make a move. (Maybe these
"kids" don’t quite know everything yet!)
This race may have been indicative of how the Daytona 500
will run, and I’m sure there will be many people complaining that it’s not
as much fun for the fans as watching them all bunched up, with several lead
changes, etc. I, for one, have said on numerous occasions that the
"old" restrictor plate racing was not actually racing when it never
really mattered what went on until the last lap. Any driver, from any position,
could basically gain the lead at any time. That, to me, is not racing. With the
new package, we saw drivers’ having to think about what they were doing, and
make some calculated passes. They may get spread out on Sunday, but so be it.
The "best of the best" will be in the hunt at the end, and that is how
the game is played. And please, no unnecessary "debris" calls during
the race!
The Fords didn’t run well and as a result, NASCAR once
again, changed the rules to give them some relief. The height of the rear
spoiler of the Taurus’ will be cut another quarter-inch in an effort to even
up the competition. The new rule will be put in place following the second round
of time trials on Monday, and will be in effect in time for practice on Tuesday
and Wednesday. I don’t know what to think about all this, except I kind of
liked Junior’s response when asked "What about the Fords?" Junior
said, "They got what they deserved. They laid around all winter."
(Ouch.)
Other than the Fords, many of the drivers seemed satisfied
with the new rules package as evidenced by their response to questions about the
draft and ability to pass, etc.
"You could pass. The nice thing is that we feel like we’re
driving the car again. With last year’s package I felt like the car was
driving me and I was just riding along. This year I feel like I’m at least in
more control of my car. It doesn’t mean that it drives perfectly. We were
tight at times during the race; we were loose at times during the race, but at
least I felt like I was in control of what my car was doing," said Tony
Stewart.
When asked how the draft compared with other years, Kenny
Schrader responded; "It’s just like in the past. It’s not like it was
the last couple trips with those aero rules, but it’s like it used to be. I
like it. I don’t know about the people sitting in the grandstands, but from
where I was it was plenty exciting."
Jeff Gordon, on how he felt the public is going to react to
this year’s race, "It was a great race, a great finish. There might have
been a lull in between. We were shuffling it up and the people were standing and
cheering. It’s not what we had before, but you’re not going to make everyone
happy. If they’re going to make the drivers happy, a rules package similar to
this will make more of the guys happy. If they want to make the fans happy, then
go back to the old rules. I’d rather be a spectator, actually, with the old
rules. There might be some things that they might be able to do to create more
passing. But is that going to make the cars spread out more or less? I don’t
know. I felt more comfortable out there and enjoyed it."
The 125s will give us another opportunity to see how it’s
all going to play out next Sunday. The Fords will be running with the new
spoiler, and maybe in a position to race and just get on with it. I hope so! On
Thursday, we also get a chance to watch the other drivers and see who’s
"cocky" and who’s "smart." I think it’s all gearing up
to be a great race on Sunday.
Since I picked the winner of the Shootout, I’m going to
keep going until I lose. Early favorite to be the winner of he Daytona 500 is
Jeff Gordon. I don’t think he showed all his cards yesterday, and after the
Shootout he had a grin on his face that said "there’s more." I may
change my mind after the 125s’, but for now, I’m going to say the winner
will be Jeff Gordon.
That’s it for now.