I do not pretend to be an expert on NASCAR racing. I have neither the resources nor the insights to compete head to head with media outlets like the Charlotte Observer or the Orlando Sentinel or Speed TV or anyone else. However, I do hope to offer a few facts on each week's Sprint Cup Series race. My hope is that offering these basics will persuade you, the Internet, to cast your votes in the weekly polls that will determine the People's Pitstop lineups.
This week, of course, we have the Daytona 500, aka the Great American Race.
Track basics: Daytona International Speedway is one of the largest (a 2.5-mile tri-oval) and fastest tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Last year's winner had an average lap speed of nearly 133 miles per hour. In fact, it's so fast that it's one of two tracks where NASCAR requires cars to use restrictor plates, which tend to bunch the cars together. What happens when fast cars get bunched together in packs? Crashes like this one.
Recent winners: Matt Kenseth (2009), Ryan Newman (2008), Kevin Harvick (2007).
Who wins a lot here: Daytona hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup races a year, excluding last week's Bud Shootout, the racing equivalent of football's Hall of Fame Game. Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with six wins in points races here, followed by Bill Elliott (four), Tony Stewart (three) and Michael Waltrip (three).
Who may be due: Mark Martin has 17 top 10 finishes at Daytona, including nine finishes in the top five, but has yet to win here. Since NASCAR fans are fond of calling this race their Super Bowl, would that make Martin the equivalent of Jim Kelly (with a cooler haircut)?
Want to know more about each week's race? Post a comment and let me know. In the meantime, feel free to vote in this week's polls.
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