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GURSS: Daytona 500 Rewind
Written by: Jade Gurss   
02/17/2009
Mooresville, NC
 
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo) ยป More Photos

Random rants and notes following the Daytona 500:

Having a race end due to rain – especially the Daytona 500 -- is like having a slow leak in a Goodyear Eagle. It’s a deflating feeling for fans and competitors alike. However, that doesn’t lessen the accomplishment of Matt Kenseth, a deserving winner and a good guy with a dry sense of humor that doesn’t always come through via television cameras…

You could tell the economy is in a slump by the lack of new TV commercials from the many sponsors. Of the new ones, many were unoriginal or uninspired. Toyota wins again for the most imaginative spot with its autograph-seeking robots. Funny stuff, and not too far from reality with some fervent fans…

The ‘new’ Richard Petty Motorsports – previously Gillett Evernham Motorsports – had three great finishing results but I was most impressed with AJ Allmendinger. From the start of the Budweiser Shootout practice last week through most of the 500, he was clearly one of the fastest cars in the draft. A top-five finish in the Shootout combined with a third-place in the 500 should be enough to convince someone to back him for a full-time ride in 2009. He was second only to David Ragan last season in the ‘most improved’ category, and he’s already the early favorite for that honor this year…

Of all the underdog teams who appeared out of nowhere in the past month, give full and deserving credit to Tommy Baldwin and Scott Riggs, who teamed up to run on the lead lap all day. They were clearly not in the race by a fluke – and put in an impressive performance in both the Duel 150 and the 500…

And, finally, Dale Jr. Ah yes, the pundits are having a field day with this one. While the beatific one was never as good as his most fervent fans demand that everyone else believe,
he’s also not as bad as many pundits are positing in the past two days. Yes, he had a rough day and was clearly rusty from an off-season where the usual testing time was filled with too many cigarettes and computer games, but he still has more career race wins than drivers like Kenseth and Greg Biffle. It’s no longer my job to defend him, but he does have a strange knack of winning when it seems most bleak for himself and his team. One disastrous race where the driver made multiple mistakes does not ruin a fine career, and I suspect this might be fuel for the 88 team…

As for Junior fans, no, we do not need new blocking rules or rules about a tire on the line by one inch. Dale Jr. had a rough day, but there are 35 races left in the season. His redemption begins this Sunday on the west coast…

In the meantime, the hyperbole and devotees who put the ‘fan’ in ‘fanatic’ will continue to debate and argue each incident, but isn’t that fervor part of what pays the bills for all of us who make a living in the sport?

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at: http://fingerprint.typepad.com
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