And Sunday’s Daytona 500 highlights the changes NASCAR is undergoing, even at the ripe old age of 70. Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, agrees that this move isn’t necessarily a plus for the sport but it isn’t an all-out cheat for competitors to abuse.
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Lagasse, a native of St. Augustine, Fla. will make his 28th career start at the 2.5-mile superspeedway and eyes his second consecutive finish at Daytona after finishing seventh last February.
Thanks to their wins in the Duel qualifying races, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott will start on the second row of Sunday’s Daytona 500. So while anxious for the signature Daytona 500 win, he climbs into the number 2 auto with perspective. “The Daytona 500 is always a great way to kick off the first part of the year in terms of technological testing: a lot of the things that we bring down to Daytona to look at, to test, and to try are things that manifest themselves later and in other sports”.
While he will be starting in fourth this time around, he’s once again looking good going into the race, so he will be one to watch on Sunday. Without a doubt, this year’s Daytona 500 is sure to be a fantastic race with plenty of storylines and emotions. “The beauty of it is that it is just the 150s, and it wasn’t the Daytona 500”. He might have won the Daytona 500, too, had he not run out of gas previous year. He was a victim of bad luck, missed opportunities and close calls that stamped him 0 for 19 in NASCAR’s biggest race. In the first 15 minutes of the podcast, we talk about his life in NASCAR, winning the Daytona 500 in 2001 and what it’s like to crank the engines. “But we also know that we have to go to Atlanta the week after and the same amount of points are on the line”.
Eventually Johnson will retire and that era of NASCAR’s history will end.
“Car looks good. I’m a little biased, but the 9 looks good on top of the scoring pylon”, Elliott said after Thursday night’s victory.
“Right now, I’m just like, ‘great, got through tonight, ‘ Wallace said”.
Ford drivers have speed, but 2007 victor Kevin Harvick noted the cars are much harder to drive under new NASCAR technical regulations. This was evident on multiple occasions Thursday night in which Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chase Elliott approached drivers closely entering a corner and “took the air” off of the spoiler of the vehicle in front (causing an extreme loose condition that spun out a couple people).
Johnson’s frustration is explainable given that in a lot of seasons, he is that guy.
Fixing them will actually make a real difference. Gordon retired from full-time driving in 2015. Team owner and friend Dale Earnhardt died on the last lap while blocking to keep Waltrip a safe distance from the pack. Duel 2 victor is 22-year-old Chase Elliott. “You’re going to go to the Daytona 500 and you’re still going to have 100,000 people (if not more) in the grandstands”.
“I don’t feel that it’s time yet”. We actually live in the same neighborhood. “I would love to have it there more throughout the season”.
Ragan: “I wasn’t a fan of either team. Roger expects us to race for wins”, Logano said. He was able to move the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota into seventh when the caution flag waved on Lap 12. But our back-up vehicle was pretty fast. “Hopefully we can stay there”.
“It’s a neat time in the sport really, to see that kind of influx of new talent and new guys”.
“The ’16 offseason (was spent) savoring the moment, being the champion, enjoying all that”, Johnson said.
■ Spectator passes for the March 7-11 Mint 400 off-road race that starts in Primm are in short supply. He placed 29th at The Glen in 2017, the final vehicle on the lead lap.
“I really think we can surprise a few people Friday night”. We didn’t get to race. The area is gorgeous. I thought we learned a little bit from our mistakes.
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“That is probably the highlight of the night, better than finishing third, just seeing how pumped he was”, Wallace said. “I don’t really have anything else to say beyond that”.
