Just minutes into the first round of yesterday's group qualifying for this weekend's Daytona 500 at Daytona Int'l Speedway, "a bad multi-car wreck destroyed several cars" including that of driver Clint Bowyer, who "was livid when he came out of the care center and took NASCAR to task for using this format to set the field for its version of the Super Bowl," according to Jeff Gluck of USA TODAY. Bowyer said of the new format, which is different than its predecessor in that qualifying used to be done one car at a time, "It's idiotic to be out here doing this anyway. There's no sense in trying to put on some cute show for whatever the hell this is. ... These guys have spent six months working on these cars, busting their (rears) on these cars, to go out there and have some guy out of desperation do that crap." Bowyer acknowledged it was not driver Reed Sorenson's fault, instead laying blame on NASCAR for "putting us out here in the middle of this crap for nothing." Sorenson, who is not guaranteed a spot in the race, said, "For us, trying to get in the race is that big a deal where I was treating it like the last lap of a race. That's how aggressive you have to be when you're not in the race. That's how this qualifying is -- it forces you into that." Driver Kurt Busch: "We gotta find a better system. So much hard work goes into these cars, and it seems like it's a roulette system." Driver Ryan Newman: "Hard to stand behind NASCAR when nobody knows why we're doing this. Maybe I need to get sit down and educated about this." Three-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart tweeted: "Today [used] to be about showcasing the hard work from the teams over the winter. Now [it's] a complete embarrassment for our series" (USA TODAY, 2/16).
NASCAR TAKES IT ON THE CHIN: NASCAR Exec VP & Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said that the series "understood 'certainly there are some challenges on super speedways,' and hoped to avoid the pit road chicanery and blocking by drivers." He added that the series "will confer with fans, drivers and teams about reaction and possible changes." But USA TODAY's Brant James notes driver Jimmie Johnson for his part "touted the potential entertainment value of the format, tracing it's origins to a practice session" at Talladega Superspeedway in May, '13. Johnson: "At some point in time in order to grow the sport, somebody has to be unhappy. I don't know where that falls. Hopefully we can look at facts and stats and say, yes, this is better and it is worth the five cars we lost. If it didn't move the needle, then we should try to rethink things and the five cars we lost wouldn't be worth it" (USA TODAY, 2/16). O'Donnell said that neither Bowyer nor Stewart "would be subject to any discipline for their criticism, saying it was part of the territory." He added, "You can take us on. We’re NASCAR, that’s part of our job. When I look at the comments that Clint made or Tony made, those are based on wanting to see the best racing out there. So certainly tough to hear, but those are things we have to have conversations with them on and work with those guys to figure out if there’s a better way to do it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/16).
QUALITY QUALIFYING? In Daytona Beach, Chris Boyle notes strategy during yesterday's qualifying "came into play before the racers exited pit road," as no one "wanted to be at the front of the pack, opting instead to fall back and gain speed by drafting." The final round "was a particularly bizarre game of cat-and-mouse" in which cars "sat on pit road for nearly four minutes, before Martin Truex Jr. finally took to the track." Only one lap counted, and the final four cars "crossed the line with roughly two seconds left" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/16). In Orlando, George Diaz writes, "A week before the Great American Race, NASCAR sponsored the Great Qualifying Fiasco." Driver Jeff Gordon's "heart-warming pole puts the proverbial lipstick on a pig" that is the qualifying format. NASCAR drivers "tend to complain about a lot of stuff," but the "screams you hear today are justifiable" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/16). ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass wrote under the header, "Daytona Qualifying Turns Into Circus." Yesterday "wasn't a perfect day for NASCAR, and it had to be thankful that Gordon emerged as the pole sitter for next Sunday's race so that not all the focus centered around how the pole was determined rather than who won it." It "hasn't achieved an entertaining product that gives fans a sense that the driver who leads the field for the sport's biggest race truly has the deserving car -- and even more importantly that the drivers who could potentially miss the race deserved that fate" (ESPN.com, 2/15). In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis wrote aside from "returning to single-car qualifying, no one seems to know the best way to go." Even single-car qualifying "had its own issues." Johnson said of the reaction to yesterday's qualifying, "We were bitchin' then, and we're bitchin' now, aren't we?” Much of yesterday's strategy -- "all of it, actually -- took place on pit road, with the clock draining on each of the 5-minute qualifying rounds." No one "wanted to be first on the track, knowing the followers would be faster" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/16).
UNLIMITED ATTENDANCE: The NEWS-JOURNAL's Willis noted driver Matt Kenseth won Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited "in front of an estimated 35,000 fans" at DIS. Even when the "wreck-filled race finally ended, it wasn't over." A late-race, "on-track run-in between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano spilled over to the not-so-effective 'cool down' lap." They "went face-to-face after crawling from their cars, but nothing came of it but hard feelings and a little footage for the highlight reels" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 2/15).
