The Daytona 500 has grown, you have to assume, beyond anything Big Bill France could’ve imagined back when he was cobbling together funding and dirt and eventually asphalt in the late 1950s.
It eventually became everything you want in a marquee event — not only big, in and of itself, but an event from which the sanctioning entity promotes all of its other wares. Big stuff, very big stuff.
So, naturally, let’s settle in for a few minutes and tell NASCAR how it can better drive this bus.
Three complaints. Or, at minimum, three mild issues that maybe — just maybe — could be addressed in the relatively near future.
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What happened to practice?
In your dad’s day, it was nothing to have several teams come down in December for a few days of testing, then all the teams do the same in January, then get multiple practice sessions once returning in February for Speedweeks.
Do you know how many preseason laps they turned at Daytona this year? Just as many as you did. That’s right: Zip.
That’s a first.
Sure, modern engineering and technology allows teams to build a race car, never introduce it to asphalt before qualifying day, and watch it run just as it would (or nearly ’bout, at least) if it’d been put through hours of preseason paces.
But where’s the fun in that? Cutting out preseason testing is reasonable, if for no other reason, to help cut costs for teams. Especially in modern times, when you’re highly unlikely to discover an advantage that will escape the notice of today’s high-tech inspection process.
But no practice at all before a one-lap, single-car, pole-qualifying process? And after that, no practice between qualifying and the start of Thursday night’s 150-mile qualifiers?
“Not in agreement with our biggest race of the year and not having any practice,” Kevin Harvick said midweek. “Not a fan of that. I’m sure there’s a reason for it but … not a fan of that, especially with it being our biggest race of the season.”
Others were fine with it.
“Does adding a practice make the race better?” asked Joey Logano. “At the end of the day, you look at it and say, does practice make the race better? You’re probably gonna say it didn’t.”
But NASCAR has scheduled practice sessions for Friday and Saturday. As they should. There are a few drivers setting sail Sunday with no idea of what it’s like to run in Daytona 500 traffic. A taste or two would be nice.
For the rest of us, some preseason laps were always a nice way to roll into the business end of Speedweek(s). Once they’ve learned they can live without it, however, it’s probably gone forever.
Slow your roll? This is too extreme
Back to Big Bill France. Among his reasons for building this behemoth of a race track was his desire to provide a faster playground than Indianapolis — for professional and, likely, for personal reasons.
Speed, speed, speed. Fast, fast, fast. That was the call. Eventually, the cars got too fast at Daytona and sister track Talladega, inviting restrictions on carburetor intake to throttle horsepower.
Nowadays, technology has reached a point where restrictions on horsepower are managed in higher-tech ways. For lack of a better explanation, it seems like the Boys in Competition have a veritable thermostat they can dial up or down to facilitate desired horses and, of course, miles per hour.
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In the two years of the Next Gen car at Daytona, pole speeds for the 500 have been slower than any since Curtis Turner won the pole at just over 180 mph in a Smokey Yunick Chevrolet.
In 1967!
In 2022 and again Wednesday night, the pole speed was 181-plus.
Last year and probably again this year, Daytona’s pole speed was slower than the speeds at Texas, Las Vegas and Charlotte, and nearly 10 mph slower than Michigan, the only track to touch 190 on pole day.
Doesn’t feel right, does it? Any way to nudge that thermostat?
Cash is king ... and invisible
Finally, let’s talk money.
Some facts and figures regarding the Daytona 500 were released this week. Among them, the total purse: $26,934,357. (I know the finance majors are big on details, but can’t we just round up to $27M on this one?)
No word, however, on the winner’s share. Or anyone’s share.
NASCAR quit reporting purse winnings in 2016 when the franchise system was put in place — they’re called "charters," for technical and/or legal purposes. Someone else’s research told me the last time a Daytona 500’s purse was broken down, in 2015, the winning team received roughly 9% of the total purse.
Let’s see … carry the naught, bring down a 3, carry another naught … by Jethro’s math, if that formula holds, Sunday’s winning team will receive $2,424,092.
And 13 cents.
Give or take.
Or so we assume. Too bad we have to assume. Just one guy’s opinion, but it seems to add some cachet when you know there’s something at stake other than a trophy and champagne shower. "That was a million-dollar pass right there at the stripe!"
And yes, round it up to $2.5M — which, by the way, is split in some fashion between driver and owner.
And another by the way: That $2.5M is still less than 16 individual winners will win this season on the PGA Tour. But that’s a battle for which others shall gird.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
