Bayne is the youngest driver ever to win this race, and the only racer to win his first Daytona 500 since the first Daytona 500. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.
I was thrilled for the kid, and even more thrilled that Tony Stewart once again failed to gain this coveted prize. Heh heh!
But overall, my observation is that these new 2-car drafts made for an exciting finish to a much less than exciting race. There were so many lead changes that the lead hardly meant anything. Too many drivers taken out at random by other guys wrecking. A battle of attrition is not necessarily fun to watch.
Is Daytona becoming just a lottery like Talladega?
It was an exciting race, but I agree, the randomness of it is disturbing.
I was OK with Bayne winning, it is always fun to see a driver gets his first win, more so at the Daytona 500. I was somewhat surprise that so many drivers were willing to draft with him, but then again, he did prove himself in the Duals.
What I did not like are the drivers that should not be there, those that always end up being in the way sooner or later, I’m mosty thinking of the one that should stick to racing trucks in the desert.
The name “Trevor Bayne” would be perfect for a James Bond villain. Instead of winning the Daytona 500, it sounds like he ought to be communicating his ransom demands to the leaders of the world from his hidden island fortress.
I’d agree if the whole season were like that, but I have to confess that I kinda like having a few races per year where just about anyone who manages to keep the fenders on can win.
Regarding the tandem drafting, I was intrigued that so much of it involved veterans and relative rookies working together. Exciting start to the year; hope the rest is as interesting.
My reasoning is that, with two veterans, the question becomes; who will push and who will be pushing, especially in the closing laps, where if you are pushing, the best you can hope for is second, Carls Edwards did state that it sucked to be second at Daytona, he really wanted to go for the win but it did not work out for him.
Earlier in the race, maybe some veteran were reluctant to push another one because they did not want to owe a push to someone else later.
A rookie or a lower ranked driver woud be very pleased to settle for a second place or maybe even a top five.