Well, well, well, what a week to remember. Whether for the good, the bad, or the ugly, NASCAR's biggest race of the whole year always gives us something to talk about. Here are the top 5 moments in all of speedweeks to remember:
1. A surprise winner:
Jammie McMurray, the 2010 Daytona 500 champion. Who would have thought of that? Actually, who wouldn't have thought of that? McMurray has seemed to become a pretty good restrictor plate racer. He won the last one at Talladega in the fall, and has won a Daytona July race also a few years back. In a way it was a surprise just because nobody really picked him, but in reality, it isn't. As of now, the streak of different winners in the past 9 years continues. He held off a very hard charging Dale Jr, and was able to make a victory in his first race back with Earnhardt Ganassi
2. Danica Mania:Oh come on, you really didn't think I was going to not talk about this did you? Danica Patrick was the highlight of the whole speedweeks(at least it seemed like it). She did an absolutely fantastic job in the ARCA race, finishing 6th while rubbing fenders, and she did fairly well in the Nationwide race until she was caught up in a wreck. Let's not forget her effect on TV, raising the ARCA TV ratings around 55% as well as raising the Nationwide ratings 33%. She makes Dale Earnhardt Jr look like an average popular driver.
3. Watch Out! There's a hole in the track!:One word: Pothole. Who would have thought, out of all the different things that could have stopped the race, that a pothole would? If you were to tell me that there would have been two delays for a hole in the track, I would've said your crazy. I would have thought snow would have been more likely to happen with the way the cold temperatures were. Anyway, not only did the hole hurt Clint Bowyer's splitter, it hurt the ratings. The ratings were down a tremendous amount because of the two delays, although there was a much larger amount of people watching this year than last year's event. Even though it made the day very frustrating for just about everyone, many say that the finish was worth the wait.
4. Junior!!!!!!!:Enough with the pothole, did you see who finished 2nd? Dale Earnhardt Jr. At what had seemed like a complete disaster for NASCAR, NASCAR's most popular driver might have stopped the bleeding just a little bit. After looking much like his father at restrictor plate tracks, good Ole' Junebug came out of nowhere to end up 2nd. He ended up passing about 9 cars in 1 lap. The fans began to cheer. Even Darrell Waltrip was cheering for Dale Jr in the FOX booth, as many people knew it would have a huge effect on the sport. Although he didn't win, 2nd was better than his last season by far. In fact, this was his best finish since April of 2009, and his best finish with crew chief Lance McGrew. Maybe this is a sign of great things to come. Junior better hope so. He really needs to perform better because one day, Danica could be giving him a run for his money in the Most Popular Driver Voting.
5. Smoke rises to the top:Tony Stewart didn't do all that great on Sunday, but as usual, he dominated the Nationwide race and ended up in victory lane on Saturday. He seems to be just as good as the Earnhardt's at Daytona, by winning every single event at least once except for the big one: The Daytona 500. Tony was one of the fan favorites on Saturday, and was able to end the day with the headline, instead of Danica Patrick. Smoke is always a threat at these races, and one day, he will end up winning the Daytona 500, something he said he would trade a few Saturday trophies for.
Well, mark 2010 Speedweeks in the books. It is over, and now there is nothing left to do but talk about it and watch the rest of the season unfold.
