Pot Holes Slow Daytona 500

[TexasTerror]

Very embarrassing for the Daytona 500 and NASCAR...

What would be a good comparison for those who follow the other major sports?


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR prides itself on being the closest motorsport to everyday driving. It sure looked like that at the Daytona 500, with a bunch of drivers waiting for a pothole to get fixed.

NASCAR's biggest race was halted twice Sunday because of a pothole in the pavement -- lengthy delays that meant a race which started in the afternoon would end well after dark.

Racing at the season opener finally restarted with 32 laps remaining.

Credit: ESPN/AP (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4914019)

[TheValleyRaider]

What would be a good comparison for those who follow the other major sports?

This?

http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Capital+One+Bowl+Penn+State+v+LSU+qb8dluAHsgHl.jpg

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

NASCAR is a mess. I really thought the sport was headed down the right path again. However, today fooled me.

It has been know for several years that Daytona is in serious need of a new surface, the last time was 1978 which is rediculous for the "cathedral of speed". To eliminate 9k seats so DIS could build a carnival on the backstraight instead of repaving the track shows just how screwed up this sports sanctioning body is these days.

It would be like day 1 of the Masters and only 12 holes are cut.

[Franks Tanks]

The race was so boring due to delays I started watching the Artic Combined and Biathalon.

[appmaj]

I was there...left during the second red flag :(

[ASUMountaineer]

The racing, itself, I thought was good. The changes they made in the off-season helped, and I liked the multiple green-white-checkers. But, I agree, Daytona has got to put down a new surface, that was ridiculous.

[tribe_pride]

The race was so boring due to delays I started watching the Artic Combined and Biathalon.

Dude. That Nordic Combined was intense. How we are so good at that event when we suck at jumping and XC skiing I will never get.

[Franks Tanks]

Dude. That Nordic Combined was intense. How we are so good at that event when we suck at jumping and XC skiing I will never get.

I respect their athletic ability and skill, but its boring to watch

[93henfan]

Certainly egg on NASCAR's face. Daytona was slated for repaving in 2012, but to go 34 years between scheduled pavings at your marquee track is just dumb. The pothole was just the tip of the iceberg. To have cars riding bumps and bottoming out at 190+ all the way around is completely unsat.

That being said, the race itself was phenomenal. Of course, I'm a Jr. fan, so the last G-W-C was particularly exciting for me. xthumbsupx

Nice to see Jamie McMurray pick up the win. Just a heckuva nice guy.

[bluehenbillk]

Tough race to watch yesterday, I thought the end was pretty good, but those red flags were killers.

[93henfan]

What would be a good comparison for those who follow the other major sports?

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/14/sports/nfl-roundup-eagles-turf-unsafe-for-ravens-game.html?pagewanted=1

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1849134

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press101907-worcester-policy.html

[LacesOut]

Tough race to watch yesterday, I thought the end was pretty good, but those red flags were killers.

This.

Glad the race got completed, and the last couple of laps were really good. Damn I wish Junior would have won though.

[OhioHen]

Another example of "the world's best drivers" not being able to adapt to changing conditions. Just drive the d@mn cars and avoid the obstacles that exist! If you can't drive low through that turn because of the hole, then don't drive low - keep your car in the other "lane" like the rest of us do every day.

[ASUMountaineer]

Another example of "the world's best drivers" not being able to adapt to changing conditions. Just drive the d@mn cars and avoid the obstacles that exist! If you can't drive low through that turn because of the hole, then don't drive low - keep your car in the other "lane" like the rest of us do every day.

Luckily, the rest of us aren't going 190mph then. xlolx

I don't know, if I was driving 190mph, 3 inches from someone else doing the same, I wouldn't want to have to avoid a pothole. But, that's just me. xnodx

[Franks Tanks]

Another example of "the world's best drivers" not being able to adapt to changing conditions. Just drive the d@mn cars and avoid the obstacles that exist! If you can't drive low through that turn because of the hole, then don't drive low - keep your car in the other "lane" like the rest of us do every day.

All the drivers said "who cares we know where it is, we can avoid it"

Nascar stopped the race against the driver's wishes.

[93henfan]

Clint Bowyer drove over the pothole and it took a pac-man chunk out of his front splitter. Jimmie Johnson cut a tire on it (they think). Driving on with the pothole would have been even more amateurish than having to stop the race twice for highway repair. One of the drivers (was it Carl Edwards?) jokingly suggested putting a cone out in front of the hole. xlolx

[DJOM]

Driving 190 mph I certainly don't want to be watching for a pothole. I'm used to dodging them in Chicago at 95 mph but racing 3-4 inches from another car at 190 would add a whole new issue to driving.