Daytona 500 Feb 2007

02-23-07

Our trip to Daytona for the 500 was AWESOME! We arrived in Orlando on Friday where we stayed in a wonderful condo with everything you could dream of. On Saturday and Sunday we traveled to Daytona where we were surrounded in the freezing cold by good friends, good food, liquor & beer and some wild racin'. I was excited to get to use my new race scanner which turned out to be the best $100 i've ever spent. I LOVE that thing!! Everyone that's a race fan should own a race scanner. I've concluded that it should be a crime to call yourself a race fan and not own a scanner. HA!

Anyway, the Busch Race was a pretty clean race with one big wreck. It was enjoyable to watch and a great way to get fired up for Sunday's race. Speaking of Sunday's race....WHAT A RACE! It was filled with excitement, drama and a controversial finish that not only made history, but it will be talked about for years to come.

Here's the highlights: For starters, anyone that knows me knows that it's always a pleasure for me to see either of the Bush brothers, Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon go up a wall, so when Kurt Bush (No 2.) tapped the bumper of Tony Stewart's (No. 20) car and they ended up wrecking into one another, I admit I cheered loudly. I then proceeded to go bezerck when Jimmie Johnson's (No. 48) car started sliding and hit the wall which caused a multi-car pile up. As much as I hated to see him take out Denny Hamlin (No. 11) with him in this crash, I was so happy to see that No. 48 flying through the grass and skidding to a stop with chunks of metal and tire rubber flying through the air!! GLORIOUS!!

One of my favorite drivers, Scott Riggs (No. 10) headed to the garage early on in the race due to something in the car smoking. However, he ended up returning to the race and finished up in 37th place. GOOD JOB RIGGS! Dale Jr. who is one of my other favorite drivers had some good runs, but with 4 laps to go he got caught up in a wreck that landed him in 32nd place.

NOW......the real excitement and the big controversy came at the end of the race when Kevin Harvick (No. 29) was battling for the lead with Mark Martin (No. 01). All of a sudden, just before everyone starts to cross the finish line, Kyle Bush (No. 5) and Matt Kenseth (No. 17) collided causing a huge wreck which sent Clint Bowyer's (No. 7) car crossing the finish line upside down and on fire. The next thing you know, Harvick is declared the winner by inches over Mark Martin. It was INSANE! I was jumping up and down because I was thrilled to see the other Bush brother wrecked, but at the same time I was FLOORED with how the race ended with Martin being barely beat by Harvick. Race fans were going nuts, absolutely nuts. Many felt that NASCAR should have thrown the caution flag when the wreck occured which would have declared Martin as the winner. Others say that regardless of whether the caution flag came out or not Harvick was in the lead so he would have won either way. It was the wildest race i've ever seen and was worth all the shivering in the freezing cold to see live and in person.