My Bud Shootout Experience
After a sleepless night full of anticipation, I hit the highway in route to the mecca of motorsports; the Daytona International Speedway! Under gloomy skies and an iffy forecast I tried to remain optimistic that the racing gods would allow for the day’s events to go on uninterrupted. My prayers seemed to be answered once I arrived at the track to mostly sunny skies!
Daytona 500 Qualifying Practice:
I arrived to the Sprint Fan Zone just in time for the first of two Sprint Cup practices on the day and found a perch on the sprint fan deck. From here I watched the competitors turn single car laps in preparation for their qualifying run on Sunday afternoon. After an hour or so of watching the cars I headed over to the garage viewing areas to watch the crews at work. Man what an experience this turned out to be, not only did I get to view some of the behind the scenes work that goes on in the garage, I got autographs from Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann! I can see now why these guys are so popular, they take time to sign a few autographs, unlike drivers like Gordon, Earnhardt and Stewart. (Even Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson took time to do this). Getting those signatures was worth the price of admission in itself.
After the first practice session ended I took a stroll through the ARCA garage and got an up close and personal view of the cars that were about to hit the track. I got a couple of great pics and met a couple of the drivers (which again was awesome!) I spent most of the second Sprint Cup session either watching cars turn laps around the 2.5 mile superspeedway, checking out the garages or walking around the Fan Zone soaking up the experience!
The ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 (Race Rating 7 out of 10)
It was now 4 o’clock which meant it was just about time to see some RACING! However I began to get a little nervous about the weather. The winds had begun to pick up and the clouds were building and turning grey. I decided to head over to the grandstands and find a seat. As the race started the clouds looked like they wanted to open up and put a damper on what had been an awesome day. I tried to ignore the skies as the green flag waived and the racing began. If you have never seen a stock car race at Daytona, you need to! The sense of speed and the sound of the cars as they roar past you is indescribable! It did not take long for the action to get going as Milka Duno went sliding through the grass early in the event. (It may not have looked like much on T.V but it was a crazy moment to see unfold in person). The next 30 or so laps had the typical ARCA feel as the yellow flag flew 3 times. After this the race settled down and the strategy began to play out. As the race played out the field separated into packs separating the contenders from the pretenders. There was not a lot of passing for the lead but the racing over all was fun to watch and given the fact that this was an ARCA race I figured something wild would happen towards the end.
With less than 15 laps to go a crash in turn 2 bunched up the field and set up a shootout for the win. Brandon McReynolds brought the field to the green flag as he not only tried to hold of the pack of hungry drivers behind him, he was trying not to run out of gas. Well, that task became a bit more difficult when Chris Buescher went for a spin in the Tri-Oval, setting up a green, white, checkered finish. During the caution period many cars had to pit for fuel while others, including the leader, ran the bottom of the track trying to keep fuel in the pick-up. (It was at this time I noticed Bobby Gerhart was in 7th place and got a little nervous about him winning another one of these damn races) The green flag would fly with two to go and the field stayed single file all the way around the track as they came up to speed. McReynolds would be the leader at the white flag as he tried to hold the field off for one more lap. As the field came of turn 4 McReynolds car slowed and everyone behind him scrambled 3 and 4 wide. I really didn’t notice what exactly what happened until Bobby Gerhart’s number 5 car came screaming past me (while I was yelling NO NO NO!) on his way to taking the checkered flag for the 7th time in this race. However the action was not over, several cars crashed coming across the finish line trying to avoid McReynold’s stuttering racecar, adding to this already truly wild finish.
This was just the beginning to the on track fireworks and the Bud Shootout was even wilder!
The 2012 Bud Shootout! (Race Rating 10 out of 10)
As the sun set upon the Daytona International Speedway, the pre-race ceremonies got underway. I made my way down onto the race track, which is an experience in itself. Walking down the 18 degrees of banking is eye opening because you realize just how steep this track really is. I was able to sign the start finish line, get some really nice photos of the cars on pit road and see driver intro up close, but I was ready for some Sprint Cup Series racing! I made my way back to the grandstands for the command to fire engines (which gave me goose bumps!). As the race went green I fully expected to see the tandem racing in full effect and after just a few laps I was proven wrong! Pack racing was back in full effect and on lap 9 a shower of sparks erupted out of turn 1 as Paul Menard was spun out by David Ragan, before I could tell what had happened 3 cars were out of the race (27,40,34) and many others were damaged (17,5, 31). With “The Big One” seemingly out of the way I expected the racing to calm down up until the break at lap 25 and again I was wrong. The pack continued racing hard, 3 by 3 and swapping the lead many times. As the field came to lap 25 Jamie McMurray held the lead but from what I could tell Dale Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Gordon had the cars to beat.
The break seemed like it took forever but it was interesting to see the teams work on their cars for more than 20 seconds. Finally the cars made their way back on the track for the second segment. The racing was just as wild and out of control as before and it didn’t take long for the crashing to continue. Early in the segment, Martin Truex and Clint Bowyer tried to hook up and drive to the front, but Clint went for a ride down the front stretch when Clint went high for the lead and Martin tried to follow him. It seemed a lack of communication and lack of down force spelt trouble for the two car hook up! After the restart the field continued to race hard all the way around the track in one big pack. I loved what I was seeing because even when cars hooked up they could go to the front but they couldn’t stay hooked up for long, which allowed the pack to catch back up! Around the half way mark of this segment I looked over in turn one and saw another shower of sparks and I assumed there had been another crash but the track stayed green! I looked at the Jumbo Tron to see one of the most amazing saves at 200 mph I have ever seen. I’ll never know how Kyle Busch did not spin his race car and cause another huge wreck.
This little incident broke the cars up into 3 different packs that circled the track single file for a couple of laps. The lead pack began to mix it up a bit which was allowing the second pack to inch back up a bit. It was interesting to see this, because I expect a few single file runs in the 500, but it was never boring to watch! The front runners stayed single file until BOOM! Joey Logano went around in a shower of sparks and next thing I know I see cars spinning and Matt Kenseth sliding head on into the wall. The second big crash had eliminated some of the races top contenders including JR and Kevin Harvick (whose car caught fire as he tried to get back to pit road). This crash proved just how on the edge these cars were because typically when the cars run single file they won’t crash like that, which reiterates the fact that bump drafting in the corners was not a good idea!
The race was restarted with 15 laps to go and my adrenaline was really pumping. The intensity was picking up as were my nerves. Jeff Gordon (My favorite driver) had worked his way to the front and I was screaming each time he came by with the lead. However his lead did not last as Kyle Busch had hooked up with Greg Biffle and pushed his way to the front. Then a lap later Tony Stewart got a huge push from Jamie McMurray and he went to the lead. With 2 laps to go Stewart Busch and Gordon ran 1,2,3 as they hit turn 3 and the all hell broke loose. Gordon got into Busch spinning the 18 and collecting most of the rest of the field behind them. The track was blanketed in smoke and all of the sudden out of the smoke the first thing I could see was the roof of Jeff Gordon’s car. He slid on his side for about 1,000 feet and tumbled 3 times and landed on his roof! It was a spectacular, yet scary scene to witness in person. Once it was announced he was okay the crowd erupted. We had all just witnessed history as it was Jeff’s first NASCAR flip. I never knew how I would handle seeing my favorite take a ride like that but when all was said and done all I could think was “wow that was pretty cool”! This crash wiped out many of the remaining contenders leaving only 10 cars on the lead lap, including Kyle Busch who had somehow saved his car from major damage yet again…
There were only two laps left and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Tony Stewart still had the lead, but it would be Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski who ran first and second as the field took the white flag. Before the field reached turn, the two car tandem of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch (yes Kyle Busch) stormed to the lead. Keselowski and Ambrose tried to hook back up and run the two of them down but it was too little too late as it was a two horse race. Off of turn 4 Kyle made his move on the 14 and the two raced side by side to the finish line. It was so close from the stands; I could not tell who had won. By .013 seconds, a Bud Shootout record, Kyle Busch was named the victor! I am not a Kyle Busch fan at all, but I was not mad, it was incredible seeing wreck that car 2 times without hitting anything and drive back for the win. Seeing that kind of driving in person is truly special!
As this action packed day came to an end, I could not stop smiling! I had witnessed one of the wildest NASCAR races ever, with some of the biggest crashes and one of the closest finishes! What more could a race fan want?! When all was said and done I had a great time and got to experience some once in a life time things and I consider myself lucky to have been able to do all of this.
So what have we learned? For starters the pack is back, which means the Daytona 500 is going to be WILD. We have also learned pushing in the corners in a pack of cars is not a good idea and no one is immune to flipping in NASCAR! The 2012 NASCAR season has begun and I am more pumped for the rest of speed weeks than I have been in years!
Stay tuned, as I will be posting reviews for the Duels, Truck, Nationwide and of course the Daytona 500 later this week!
