Pit Picks Review – Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Well that was interesting, and I must admit, a bit of a letdown. It was good to see the Cat in the Hat finally get a Daytona victory after so many tries, but very dissatisfying as a fan that the race ended in rain, and not a sprint to the line. I was pulling for Allmendinger to get a shot at the win after getting dumped by Red Bull after a much improved second half of ’08. That and cuz I had picked ‘the field’ to win, since superspeedways tend to be chaos and leave some of the more unheralded teams with a shot at a victory. Thanks to Dale Jr, we got that chaos, taking out some of the best cars in the field, thanks to a move that would have got anyone else penalized a few laps. Who says being the ‘face’ of Nascar doesn’t have its advantages?
This is how this week shook down…
Group 1 – Kevin Harvick(8) & Mark Martin(9)
I used Harvick a grand total of zero times last season, but put him in as I didn’t want to burn a start on a guy like Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson when restrictor plate madness strikes, and he’s had some success at Daytona. It worked out rather well for me, as he was in second spot when the rains came, and was second in the group for points. Unfortunately he didn’t get out front at all, so no 10 point bonus. Had they had to finish the race, I am guessing he would have gotten to lead one.
Group 2 – Tony Stewart(8), Jamie McMurray(8), Dale Earnhardt Jr(9), Brian Vickers(9)
Tony Stewart was decent all day, finished in the top 10, and led a lap, which left him second in this group to the surprise finish of Elliott Sadler. McMurray was my other choice in this group and had a good car all day until Junior’s inability to stay inside of his pit boundaries and subsequent temper tantrum took him and several others out of contention. Vickers and Earnhardt were the cause of the wreck that took out quite a few lead lap cars, while racing for the ‘Lucky Dog’ spot…glad I left them on the bench.
Group 3 – AJ Allmendinger(8), Bobby Labonte(9)
Like I said before the race, Allmendinger’s status is up in the air thanks to a lack of sponsorship, so you might as well use him while you can. He didn’t disappoint this week with a top 5 finish (3rd), which is absolute gold from a group 3 driver. With a few more solid finishes in the next few races (and being locked in the top 35 after Bristol), it may be hard to park that car, sponsorship or not.
Recap
- Points for this race: 278 (Harvick, Stewart, McMurray, Allmendinger)
- Most Possible Points: 364 (Kenseth, Sadler, Stewart, Allmendinger)
- Season Points : 278
- Current Place : 1st
- Lead over 2nd : 18
- Overall Percentile : 88th
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark Young
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