The 1971 Season saw the loss of much of the factory support for the top teams, so by the time Daytona opened for speedweeks in 1972, NASCAR had seen many changes since the ’71 season finale in Texas.

Winston had come on board in 1971, the season schedule had been drastically reduced, cutting not only the number of races on the schedule, but also to cut the tour to races of no less than 250 miles.

On January 11, 1972 Big Bill France stepped down from the presidency of NASCAR turning the reins over to his 38-year-old son, Bill Jr.

Corporate sponsorship was pouring dollars into NASCAR racing, growing in both strength and popularity and a new point system was put in place.

Bobby Isaac and Bobby Allison had won the two Twin 125 Qualifying Races and the stage was set for the Great American Race.

A.J. Foyt easily drove his number 21 Mercury  into the lead with about 300 miles to go and captured the one-sided Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.  It was Foyt’s sixth career Winston Cup Grand National victory, and it gave the famed Wood Brothers of Stuart, VA their third Daytona 500 triumph.  They had previously won with Tiny Lund in 1963 and Cale Yarborough in 1968.

The precarious event consisted of a weak field because of the factory withdrawal.  A.J.  outlasted four speedy rivals and beat runner-up Charlie Glotzbach by nearly two laps.  Jim Vandiver was six laps behind in third place. Benny Parsons was fourth and James Hylton fifth.

The 37 year-old Foyt easily took the lead on the 81st lap when engine problems sent leader Richard Petty to the pits.  By that time, most of Foyt’s threats had departed or were running well off the pace.

Pole winner Bobby Isaac’s Dodge went sour on the pace lap and left the race for good on lap 19.  Buddy Baker crashed early with the lapped car of Walter Ballard; and Bobby Allison limped around the last half of the race on seven cylinders.  He eventually got credit for 16th place, 23 laps behind the winner.

Foyt admitted he fought boredom en route to the $45,400 pay-off. “When it’s close, you drive heads-up all day,” noted Foyt. “I’d just as soon race all day like Richard and I did there at the start. This may have looked easy, but it wasn’t. I had two or three close calls out there today.”

Only three caution flags for 17 laps interrupted Foyt’s brisk pace. He averaged 161.550 mph — an all-time record for the Daytona 500. “I’ve won at Indy three times and I’ve won at LeMans,” said Foyt. “I’ve always wanted to win the Daytona 500 because I feel this is the greatest stock car race in the world.”

The 1972 event had the fewest number of leaders for a Daytona 500 race event.  A.J Foyt, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison were the only drivers to have lead any laps during the race.  It still remains as the 500 with the fewest leaders.

Veteran driver Friday Hassler was killed three days earlier in a multi-car pile-up on the backstretch. Hassler’s Chevrolet was tagged hard by Jimmy Crawford in the 125-mile qualifying race. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the track hospital.

Hassler, 36, became the 17th fatality in the history of NASCAR late model stock car racing. “This ruins my day,” said Bobby Allison, who won one of the qualifying races. “Friday was one of the best people I’ve ever known in racing.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Feb 18) – In the fourth annual running of the now famed “Daytona 500″, Fireball Roberts piloted his Stephens/Yunick Pontiac to the point on lap 151 and held off an up and coming Richard Petty, for a 27 second victory.

It was the first 500 that Roberts had finished. In his three previous attempts at running the Daytona 500 he had not finished any of the races, with his best finish being 20th in the 1961 campaign.

Roberts was the first driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole. There have been 7 other drives who have won the Daytona 500 from the pole 1962 was different, Roberts came into the race riding the momentum of a dominate Speed Weeks, having won the first 500 Qualifying race from the pole.

Joe Weatherly jumped on Fireball and led the first lap; Roberts, Weatherly and Junior Johnson traded the lead back and forth through the first 40 laps. Richard Petty flexed his muscle in an underpowered Plymouth and tucked his nose under Roberts tailpipes and got a free ride into second place just under halfway through the race.

For the next eighty-four laps, from lap 67 to lap 150, Petty and Roberts swapped the lead back and forth 5 times, before Roberts overtook the pesky Petty for good on lap 151 and led the remainder of the race.

Roberts and Yunick mapped “flat out” strategy for the race and the swift pace caused Roberts to run out of gas twice in the early going.

Buck Baker crashed his Chrysler into the wall in the 83rd lap. He was taken to the hospital with minor rib injuries. Darel Dieringer, who was left without a ride when only one of the Ray Fox Pontiacs was allowed to start, relieved Banjo Matthews and brought his Pontiac home eighth.

Cale Yarborough, a spunky kid out of Timmonsville, SC, made his first Daytona 500 in a Julian Buesink Ford. Buesink owned the Oldsmobile that Bill Rexford drove to the 1950 Grand National championship. Yarborough made only four laps before the wires shorted out, leaving him with a last place effort.

Buck Baker crashed his Chrysler into the wall in the 83rd lap. He was taken to the hospital with minor rib injuries. Darel Dieringer, who was left without a ride when only one of the Ray Fox Pontiacs was allowed to start, relieved Banjo Matthews and brought his Pontiac home eighth.

After the race, the Petty Engineering crew filed a protest against Roberts’ victory. They claimed the Smokey Yunick led crew had used more than the six crewmen during pit stops.

Three days later, Roberts’ victory was upheld with this formal announcement from NASCAR: “Investigation revealed the protest was made on hearsay and was groundless and is hereby denied.”

Joe Weatherly boosted his point lead to 136 by taking third place. Jack Smith, second in the point race, was fourth. Fred Lorenzen came in fifth and David Pearson sixth.

Fireball Roberts went on to capture the pole for the 1963 Daytona 500, but did not finish that race. He ran in one more Daytona 500 in 1964, before his life was cut short and he succombed to injuries suffered in the 1962 World 600 on July 2, 1964.

Does everyone remember who won the 1962 Daytona 500?

It was Glen “Fireball” Roberts, driving a 1962 Pontiac wrenched by the legendary Smokey Yunik.

We’ll review all the Daytona 500 winners since 1962, but our spotlight will be on the races ending in a 2. And then just for some more spin, we’ll throw in facts about the number “2″ in the Daytona 500 as well.

Each week will feature the race and the Daytona 500 race winner, and here is a refresher on who won each year:

1962 – Fireball Roberts 1972 – A.J. Foyt 1982 – Bobby Allison 1992 – Davey Allison 2002 – Ward Burton 2012 – ??

Check back each week and check out the latest blog post(s) for some interesting facts, trivia and other historical information from the Great American Race.

And the changes keep coming, which will make for a very noteworthy 2012 season.  This year’s silly season kind of reminds me of listening to a horse race, where the announcer has the monotone voice and is calling the action as he sees it.  Probably won’t be able to put a “finish” on this seasons off season until after the command to start engines is given for the Daytona 500.

There are some very interesting articles about all the changes, from crew chiefs, drivers and other moves among teams.  I try to keep up on what is going on, but my site and my blog aren’t about posting all this information daily, Jayski.com does a great job of that, as well as a number of other sites.  It’s a log to have to keep up with!

I just don’t remember an off season, or “silly season” like this one has been.  WOW is an understatement.

I wrote last month that I would give my blog a break.  I’ve been working on some websites, my own included, as well as the database, which I don’t know if it will be ready for Speedweeks, but I’ll keep plugging away.  And no matter how much I do, Silly Season waits for no one.

The end of next week, Jan 12-14, 2012 is Daytona testing with these teams schedules to participate:

#1-Jamie McMurray
#2-Brad Keselowski
#5-Kasey Kahne
#6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
#9-Marcos Ambrose
#10-Danica Patrick
#11-Denny Hamlin
#13-Casey Mears
#14-Tony Stewart
#15-Clint Bowyer
#16-Greg Biffle
#17-Matt Kenseth
#18-Kyle Busch
#20-Joey Logano
#21-Trevor Bayne
#22-A.J. Allmendinger
#24-Jeff Gordon
#27-Paul Menard
#29-Kevin Harvick
#31-Jeff Burton
#36-Dave Blaney
#39-Ryan Newman
#42-Juan Pablo Montoya
#43-Aric Almirola
#48-Jimmie Johnson
#51-Kurt Busch
#55-Mark Martin
#56-Martin Truex, Jr.
#78-Regan Smith
#87-Joe Nemechek
#88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
#99-Carl Edwards

Several rule changes in effect for this test and from the sounds of things, NASCAR may be changing the rules as they progress through the testing session.  It seems one of the clear objectives is to put an end to the two car tandem drafting/racing.

If time permits, I may post some testing results and more on the changes made during the session.

Also, look for a series of blogs to be coming leading up to the Daytona 500.

At Finish Line results, I’m going to give my blog a Christmas break and let all the changes play out and come back either later this month or right after the new year with an update and rundown of the new faces in new places as it stand when we pick it up in the new year.

Until then, everyone have a very Blessed Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

See in in ’12!

Statman; Mr. H

Terry Blount penned prior to the Texas race, that Carl Edwards doesn’t deserve to be leading the points, because he only had 1 win and Tony had four.

Lets take a look at Chase statistics over the past 8 seasons and break it down and see how many times the driver with the most wins has won the Championship.

The “Chase for the Championship” was put into effect after the 2003 season Champion, Matt Kenseth had only won a single race.  There were many calls for more emphasis to be placed on winning.  Prior to the 2004 season, the Chase format was announced.

The 2011 season is the 8^th year of the Chase for the Championship.  And leading up to this weekend, the final race of the season in Miami, the Chase battle is what some are calling an “epic” battle, between two drivers, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.

Sounds like what NASCAR as well as the fans have wanted.  A battle to the end between drivers.  Still, there is the call that Carl Edwards shouldn’t be leading the points, Tony Stewart should.

A short look at each season and it isn’t always the driver with the most race wins who becomes the Champion.

With the 2004 season the first under the new Chase format, heading into the final race at Miami, Kurt Busch had an 18 point lead over Jimmie Johnson.  Jimmie Johnson had 8 wins and points leader Busch had three.  Busch had 10 top 5’s to Johnson’s 20 top 5’s, 21 top 10’s to Johnson’s 23 top 10’s. Kurt had one Chase win to Johnson’s 4 and Kurt took the championship by 8 points over Johnson.  Kurt’s “Chase” average finish was an 8.9 to Jimmie’s 10.2.  Season average finish for Busch 12.5; Johnson 12.1

2005 saw Tony Stewart coming to Miami with a 52 point lead over Jimmie Johnson.  Johnson had four wins, Tony had 5.  Tony had 17 top 5’s to Jimmie’s 13 and 25 top 10’s to Jimmie’s 22.  Each driver had 2 “Chase” wins.  Tony’s “Chase” average finish was 10.5 to Jimmie’s 11.8.  Season average finish for Stewart 9.9; Johnson 12.7

2006 saw Jimmie coming to Miami with a 63 point lead over Matt Kenseth.  Kenseth had 4 wins for the season, Jimmie had 5. Kenseth had 15 top 5’s to Johnson’s 13 and 21 top 10’s to Johnson’s 24.  Kenseth did not win a “Chase” race and Johnson had 1 win in the “Chase”.  Jimmie’s “Chase” average finish was 10.8 to Matt’s 10.7.  Season average finish for Johnson, 9.7; Kenseth 9.6

2007 saw Jimmie coming to Miami with an 86 point lead over Jeff Gordon.  Gordon had 6 wins for the season, Johnson had 10.  Gordon had 21 top 5’s to Johnson’s 20 and 30 top 10’s to Johnson’s 24.  Jeff had 2 “Chase” wins and Jimmie had 1 win in the “Chase”.  Jimmie’s “Chase” average finish was 5.0 to Jeff’s 5.1.  Season average finish for Johnson, 10.8; Gordon 7.3

2008 saw Jimmie coming to Miami with a 141 point lead over Carl Edwards.  Edwards had 9 wins for the season, Johnson had 7.  Edwards had 19 top 5’s to Johnson’s 15 and 27 top 10’s to Johnson’s 22.  Each driver had 3 “Chase” wins.  Jimmie’s “Chase” average finish was 5.7 to  Carl’s 8.0.  Season average finish for Johnson, 10.5; Edwards 9.5

2009 saw Jimmie coming to Miami with a 108 point lead over Mark Martin.  Martin had 5 wins for the season, Johnson had 7.  Martin had 14 top 5’s to Johnson’s 16 and 21 top 10’s to Johnson’s 26.  Mark had 1 “Chase” win and Jimmie had 4 “Chase” wins.  Jimmie’s “Chase” average finish was 6.8 to Mark’s 8.7.  Season average finish for Johnson, 11.1; Martin 13.7

2010 was Denny Hamlin coming to Miami with a 15 point lead over Jimmie Johnson.  Hamlin had 8 wins for the season, Johnson had 6.  Hamlin had 14 top 5’s to Johnson’s 17 and 18 top 10’s to Johnson’s 23. Denny had 2 “Chase” wins and Jimmie had 1 “Chase” win.  Jimmie’s “Chase” average finish was 6.2 to Denny’s 7.2.  Season average finish for Johnson, 12.2; Hamlin 16.2

2011 has Carl Edwards coming to Miami with a 3 point lead over Tony Stewart.  Stewart has 4 wins for the season thus far and Carl has 1 season win, thus far.  Stewart has 8 top 5’s to Edwards 18 and 18 top 10’s to Edwards 25.  Tony has 4 Chase wins thus far, Carl had 0 thus far.  Carl’s “Chase” average finish is 5.222 to Tony’s 6.889.  Season average finish for Edwards, 9.5; Stewart 12.3

Blount used the analogy of a football team winning 12 regular-season game, three more than any other team in its division, but the 12 win team also lost by 30 points or more in all four losses.

To that I say first, who cares and second, why does that matter?  Racing isn’t football, football isn’t racing.

The one thing both racing and football have in common, (well, almost) football season is 16 regular season games, plus playoffs.  Racing is 36 races over the season.

In racing, every point matters, every lap matters.  In football, every game should matter, but it doesn’t.

Take the Indianapolis Colts 2007 season.  Finished the season 13-3.  They “rested” their players in the last game and lost 16-10. Went into the playoff’s flat and lost to San Diego 28-24.

Could you imagine any one of the NASCAR drivers sitting out a race or two prior to the Chase, knowing that they had their spot in the Chase locked up.  Not going to see that anytime soon.

Blount wrote as though Carl wasn’t deserving of leading the points.  Statistically, across all of the stats looked at in this comparison, Carl leads in all but one, wins.

Carl won the most races in 2008, yet didn’t win the Championship now, did he?  He had more wins, more top 5’s, more top 10’s, a better season average finish.

The difference, over the course of the “Chase” Jimmie had a better average finish than Carl.  And, Carl had a 100 point penalty for an infraction at Las Vegas.

For Terry Blount to say Carl Edwards doesn’t deserve the points lead is a rather short sided.  When Tony and Carl strapped into their cars prior to the Daytona 500, they both were participating  under the same set of rules.

Sunday’s race can and will decide it.  Stay tuned!…

Last time I checked, racing was about winning and in today’s society, winning at all costs has becomed the norm.  So if execs at Ford or Chevrolet or Dodge or Toyota issue team orders, then so be it.

Take a look at the finish results and tell me how, if it really happened, team orders did the Ford drivers any good?  The highest finishing Ford was Carl Edwards in 11th place.  And yes, he chose to run near the back of the pack all day yet managed to barely miss a top 10 finish.

Now if the results had been 3 or 4 Roush drivers in the top 5 or top 10, then there may be something said for team orders.

Yesterday, it was revealed, that Chad Knaus had an interesting conversation with Jimmie Johnson prior to the start of the race.  That won’t fall into the category of team orders, who knows where that will end up.

I get back to my point about all the manufacturers in NASCAR.  Isn’t it supposed to be “competition”.  And when there is competition, that means that someone is going to win and someone else isn’t.  As we’ve seen the masterful engineering of the past 5 championships by the 48 group, they realize there is a HUGE target on their back, each and every race as well as each and every season.

If team orders don’t come into play, then why didn’t Chad Knaus lend his crew to Denny Hamlins team last year, or Kevin Harvick for that matter.  Afterall, both the 29 and the 48 run under the same manufacturer, yes?

Are we going to see Ron Washington lend Tony the Rangers ace pitchers?  Would the Patriots loan the Colts Tom Brady until Peyton Manning is up to par?  Doesn’t happen that way.

Sports is about competition.  Competition is about having an advantage over your competitors.

Every racer turned announcer in motorsports broadcasting says pretty much the same thing especially in plate racing; the final ten laps, there are no teammates.

It seems to me that the biggest alledged “issue” here is Gordon and Bayne.

Earlier this season after Bristol, Gordon was questioning the actions of both the 17 and the 2 car with the “speeding” on pit row.  Was it speeding or was it taking advantage of a “gray” are in the rules?  I think of anyone to be questioning any other driver or team about “gray” areas in the rule book, Jeff Gordon needs to recall his days with former crew chief Ray Evernham.

Anyone care to dispute the fact that Ray didn’t exploit the gray areas of the rule book?  And now lets remember Chad’s conversation with Jimmie before the start of Sunday’s race.  Do we now better understand how Jimmie has won 5 championships? I’m not saying they cheated.  They exploited every gray area of the rule book and that is nothing new in the racing world.  It’s been going on in NASCAR for the better part of 63 seasons.

If it happens to be your driver or team that is winning the race or the championship, then it’s easier to overlook the gray areas.  But when it’s not your driver or team, then EVERYONE is looking for a smoking gun.

Team orders.  I say that exist… in every sport, like it or not.

After Tony won the first race of Chase VIII in Chicago, it wasn’t that much of a surprise as Tony has a way of surging late in the season.  And the writers were all gasping that Jimmie Johnson had ‘slipped’ from 6th position in the points, to 8th.

It was, strangely enough, a fuel mileage race.

After Tony won the second race of Chase VIII at New Hampshire, the same writers had Tony’s name on the trophy and Jimmie was sunk.  After all, he was now in 10th place in the standings, a place that he had never been before.

And another strange occurance, New Hampshire ended up being a fuel mileage race too…

Here we sit, coming into race 5 of Chase VIII and its is turning into a 3, maybe 4 man race. Carl, Kevin, Jimmie and Brad.  But there are only 4 races completed and 6 remain.  Of the top 4, based on the 4 Chase races so far, Edwards had the best average finish of 5.25, followed by Harvick with 7.5 and oddly enough, JJ and Keselowski are tied at 7.75.

JJ has for a while owned Charlotte, however, it hasn’t been quite the automatic it was for a few years.  With it being a night race, the conditions change so setup is of course vital.  But on a consistency view, so far, Carl is on a tear, Jimmie has his “bad” race(s) out of the way (maybe).

Edwards performance at Kansas may have been a turning point for not only him, but the team as well, because they dug themselves out of a hole and really salavaged a top 5 finish to re-claim the points lead.

From a season perspective, based on consistency, Carl and Jimmie have put up the numbers: Carl has 15 top 5′s and 21 top 10′s to Jimmies 13 top 5′s and 20 top 10′s.

Impressive numbers, and an interesting note; the last time the driver leading the points after race 30 and only had 1 victory, he had 11 top 5′s and 22 top 10′s.  If Carl wants to dethrone Jimmie, his biggest key is, of course to not make mistakes.  Another key asset will be bonus points in the form of leading a lap.

This championship could come down to  a mere point or two and, wouldn’t if be ironic if Carl was to dethrone Jimmie without winning another race?  After all this “Chase” business, we could have another champion with only one victory.  But I think carl has at least one win, if not two before the season is over.

One race can make the season just as one race can truly break a season.  Of what looks like the top 4, who will break the most and who will break the least?

I’m not counting anyone out until the end of CHASE VIII Round 10 at Homestead. Chad Knaus has the Chase figured out and I’m sure he obsesses with figuring each and every finish scenario.  Unless Jimmie gets caught up in a series of unfortunate events, look for him to contend right up until lap 267 at Homestead.

Your thoughts?

I even saw on where the radio communications have “just” been released.

What I am reflecting on this day is not watching a reliving the tragedy through pictures and video and stories. What I’m reflecting on is where America was for a time after 9/11.

Many people came together, as neighbors, as friends and painfully as victims, yet for a brief moment, American seemed deeply connected again.

I’d rather that the media give coverage to the rallying call that took place that day, how Americans flew their flags proudly, many Americans prayed that day and for many days after.

Mostly we should reflect on what American means to us as Americans. Put aside politics, to where we think about America; not how many Republicans or Democrats there are, not how many blacks, or whites, or Japanese, Chinese or any other race. Not about how many days til Christmas, how good the Christmas Season Shopping will be, or who has more than me.

We should think about those Americans who have less than us. Think about the many Americans who may have lost their jobs Friday. It could be someone in your family, it could be a friend or even your next door neighbor.

So often, in times of tragedy, far too many look first to point a finger of blame and then, sadly, too many look for our Government for a handout to “fix” the problem.

For today, September 11, 2011 take time to reflect on the horrific tragedy of ten years ago. Then, take time to find someone who needs help. Look to give someone something today that can make a lasting impact, maybe a meal for a neighbor who is struggling,
or a gesture of kindness to a police office or a fireman.

Be thankful for the freedoms that we as Americans have, let us never take those freedoms for granted, be reverent and let us be mindful of all the men and women who have served, are currently serving and who have given the ultimate sacrifice, defending the freedoms that we’ve come to take for granted.

If you have one, fly your Flag today. Take pride in America. Never forget the day it seemed the world stopped. Go forth today and remember the day America came together. Let us all take action to bring this country back totether, to work together to right the wrongs.

Let us get back to the Spirit of America that we wore that day. Let us, as Americans, depend each other to get us through not only times of tragedy, but let us come together in good times.

God Bless the United States of America!

Sitting down to partake of our Thanksgiving fest today, we gave thanks:  The Doxology.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow…  Once finished and before digging into this:

Thanksgiving Day 2010

My wife then suggested that we all, myself, my wife, my step-son and daughter think of five things that we are thankful for.  While not to embarass any one, we all gave thanks for many more things then only 5.

On a more public/personal note, I’m thankful for not only our meal, but for the work that has been done this year that has provided us the ability to enjoy such a tremendous feast.

I’m thankful, for the seperation from my former employer.  I know that of the previous 9 co-workers, I am truely the most blessed and happier than they are.

I’m thankful for the customers and clients that I’ve had the opportunity to work for over the past year.

I’m thankful for the customers and clients who didn’t choose my business services this year.  For the areas I felt I fell short in providing them my business services.  It makes me a better business owner to strive to provide not only a service, but also a better business manager, to make myself a better leader in my company as well as a better employee in my company.

Lastly, I Give Thanks to God for giving us His Son.  Enjoy this day and Give Thanks to the Ones You Love.