Pavement woes turn Daytona 500 into marathon

Notebook: Pavement woes turn Daytona 500 into marathon


By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(February 14, 2010)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Talk about a momentum breaker.
Two long delays, necessitated by attempts to repair holes in the pavement at Daytona International Speedway, extended Sunday’s Daytona 500 to more than six hours and threatened to kill the buzz that had been building toward NASCAR’s Sprint Cup season opener.
But Jamie McMurray’s dramatic, emotional victory in the Great American Race shoved frustration with the delays into the background. Nevertheless, the fact remains that potential problems with the racing surface must be addressed before the series returns to Daytona in July.
After the race reached the midpoint, a succession of drivers complained about a hole in the asphalt near the transition between Turns 1 and 2. Under caution for John Andretti’s accident on Lap 117, NASCAR red-flagged the race for 1 hour, 40 minutes to patch the hole.
The epoxy, however, didn’t hold, and on Lap 161, NASCAR halted the race for close to 45 minutes for additional repairs.
“As we do for every event, we inspected this track this morning and there were no concerns,” track president Robin Braig said. “We are always prepared for these types of issues. We had the proper materials and worked diligently to repair it.
“The delay in the repairs was caused by the unusually cold ambient temperature. After this event, we will evaluate these effects from the weather and will make the necessary adjustments.”
Daytona 500 runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels the problem should have been addressed long ago.
“They should have repaved it several years ago,” Earnhardt said. “We’d have it all weathered and ready to go right now. It would be in good shape. But it will get there again one day. It wasn’t paved—hasn’t been paved since 1978. It’s due, I would say.”
Braig, however, countered that Earnhardt’s point of view doesn’t represent a consensus.
“Dale Jr. has not liked our pavement for many years,” Braig said of the notoriously bumpy surface. “I think you can look that record up. We listen to our sanctioning body and Goodyear. We take the drivers’ and the crew chiefs’ concerns. We mix that in with a lot of decision makers.
“But we don’t think it’s time to repave, unless we find out something different after we evaluate it this week. We’ve got engineers all over this. You know how many people are waiting in line to get out there and see that in the morning.”

Close call for Biffle
Greg Biffle, the third-place finisher in the Daytona 500, was less than a mile from winning the race, had NASCAR not called a caution for a wreck in Turn 3 behind him.
Biffle was rounding Turn 4 on Lap 199 when the yellow flew for a crash involving Bill Elliott, Joey Logano and Boris Said. Had he taken the white flag under green, Biffle would have won the race.
At the drivers’ meeting before Thursday’s Gatorade Duels, NASCAR announced a rule change that would require as many as three attempts at a green-white-checkered-flag finish before a race could end. If NASCAR calls a caution before the leader takes the white flag and starts the final lap under green, another attempt at a green-white-checkered is required—up to three times.
“I was thinking, ‘Why do I have to be the first casualty of the rule change, to be the guy who didn’t get the win?’ ” Biffle said.
Actually, that wasn’t the case, because Biffle’s winning chances came within the scheduled 200 laps, and under the same circumstances, NASCAR would have gone to a green-white-checkered under the old rule as well as the new.
It was actually Kevin Harvick, who was leading when caution flew on Lap 203—three laps into overtime—who suffered from the amendment. The subsequent green-white-checkered restart gave Jamie McMurray the chance he needed to win the race.

Short strokes
Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are human after all. Because of a succession of tire problems, the No. 48 team began defense of its fourth straight Cup championship with a 35th-place finish, his worst start since posting a 39th-place result in the 2007 Daytona 500 and the second-worst start of his career. … The extraordinary length of the race took its toll on Kurt Busch, whose No. 2 Dodge was set up to run in daylight. Nevertheless, it was a four-tire call late in the race that really hurt, dropping him to 23rd at the finish. … Late in the race, Scott Speed led 12 laps on old tires, holding off a line of drivers who had pitted for fresh rubber. In 40 previous races, Speed had led a total of 21 laps.