The Last Time We Visited Daytona

This week, NASCAR resumes one of its long traditions. No, not restrictor plate racing or sponsor hopscotch or drivers blaming everyone around them. This week, NASCAR makes the first of many return trips to tracks it visited earlier in the season -- in this case, the incomparable Daytona International Speedway. In football, a team doesn't return to an opponent's arena unless there's a playoff game (or tons of snow on your own artificial field). In this sport, if at first you didn't succeed, there's a good chance you'll get an opportunity to try, try again.
Thank the deity of your choice for that.
This week, the People's Pitstop starts an occassional series of flashbacks to tracks we've already visited. When George Santayana said those who can't remember the past are doomed to repeat it, he might have been thinking about the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team.
In the first week of the season back in February, the People's Pitstop trotted out this lineup for the Daytona 500: Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip. Two of those drivers (Earnhardt and Waltrip) had won races before at Daytona. All four of them qualified in the top 10 for this race. Earnhardt grabbed the freakin pole, while Gordon and Burton started in the front four.
This normally would have gotten us bonus points, but the Daytona 500's unique qualifying structure precluded that. Still, with a lineup like that, you would have expected the People's Pitstop to start the season on the highest of notes. Instead, we racked up a grand total of 142 points, our lowest total of the season by far (so far). No starting driver finished better than 24th, and Waltrip limped home in 40th place. In the ultra-competitive 9beersfantasysportstavern league, which we currently lead, we started out in 13th place.
Meanwhile, some kid who was making his second career Sprint Cup start (and who, according to his official biography, still can't legally drink in America) won the Great American Race.
The lesson: You can't relax after the qualifying session, whether you're a driver or a fantasy NASCAR player.
Speaking of the fantasy game, you have until Thursday night to make your picks for the People's Pitstop lineup. Two from the A List, four from the B List and two from the C List, please. Your votes will determine who starts for us.
And whether we've learned from the recent past.