In a race that didn't have the 'Big One', the multi-car crash that has come to be expected with restrictor plate racing, we instead had 3 'little ones' near the closing laps, which allowed us to witness 3 attempts at the G-W-C finish. The first occurred within the 500 mile distance of the race, while the last two came in 'overtime'. Each attempt shuffled the deck once more, with Jamie McMurray finally emerging as the clear cut leader on the 3rd attempt, followed closely to the line by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to finally end the race 6 hours and 10 minutes after the field of 43 cars had taken the green flag. Congratulations to McMurray and the Earnhardt-Ganassi, Bass Pro Shops team for pulling off the victory in the Daytona 500 (508 actually).

            The race achieved it's dubious longevity because of a pavement issue in turn 2. It was discovered (actually, reported by many drivers) during a caution on lap 116 that a broken seam in the asphalt had developed into a pothole in turn 2. During that caution period that was turned into a red flag period, the track crew was dispatched to assess the situation and come up with a fix for the problem. Originally thought to be about a 10-15 minute repair, issues with moisture seeping up from the base under the asphalt turned it into a 1 and 1/2 hour patching job when the patch material wouldn't set up and harden to anyone's liking, giving us what the announcing team referred to as a 'half time' of sorts during the race. Trouble is, there was no Rock Band or Marching Band to provide 'half time' entertainment, just the remaining field parked on pit road. 

            Finally, racing resumed, only to be interrupted  on lap 161 by another red flag period as the 'pothole' developed once more in the same spot, only larger this time, as the pavement around the original patch came apart. We were informed by the TV announcers that this time around, a different material would be used to try for a fix, though no one was telling them what it was. With yet another 'half time' provided for them, the drivers relaxed once again outside their cars on pit road, while up in the stands, and at home, plans for an unexpected dinner were being made by those who thought they would be done with the race by that time. After almost an hour, the fix was completed, and racing was set to resume once more. After the race, NASCAR PR issued a statement that this time, Bondo, the same material used to smooth over dents on your car and mine, was what was used to fix the pothole. A brilliant idea, almost as good as tarring the cracked seams on the pavement would have been BEFORE racing ever occurred there.

            Many other stories will come out of this event, and you can read them everywhere. This one will hopefully be wrapped up by an announcement that a permanent fix has been formulated to prevent future potholes, but who knows. We all know from experience that our government agencies haven't found one yet. Maybe the folks at Daytona can invent one and sell it to them. At this point, buying stock in the makers' of Bondo seems like it might be a sound investment.

            We'll be back Tuesday evening with our report on our interview with Jamie McMurray, to be conducted at a luncheon at the Friar's Club in NYC. Hopefully, potholes will play no part in the continuing celebration of his victory. Join us then......