The 2009 NASCAR season got under way with the Bud Shootout 2009 race on February 7 and while it didn’t end exactly how I wanted it to, it was a very good race.
This special race is run in two segments, the first being 25 laps and the second being 50 laps. In between is a ten-minute break.
My favorite driver, Jeff Gordon, started dead last, right beside Kevin Harvick. That really doesn’t worry me because this race is at Daytona, a restrictor plate race, meaning the draft is important. I’ve seen cars lead on lap 3
and be in last place on lap 5. Timing is everything.
I had a few observations about this race.
First, the drivers are ready to race big time. The pit reporters noted how early they had gathered to be introduced. They were eager! Once the race started, their cars were darn lose, and they were all beating and banging on one another. There were several cautions due to wrecks and a number of those were just racing incidents and not any kind of driver error.
Kyle Busch hasn’t changed. He’s still a steamroller on the ...