THE LINE

February 18, 2009

Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford. Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing DeWalt Ford) won the rain-shortened Daytona 500, his (and Jack Roush's) first win in NASCAR's most prestigious race. Kenseth passed Elliott Sadler after getting a huge push from Kevin Harvick (ironically it was Kenseth who gave Harvick a big shove into the lead when Harvick won the 500 two years ago), and then a caution caused by Aric Almirola froze the field just in time for it to rain. The race was called after 152 of 200 laps, just the fourth rain-shortened 500 in the race’s 51-year history, and the first time since 2003. It was a popular win for Kenseth, who is NASCAR's "Quiet Man" and who shuns any kind of star power publicity in favor of letting his driving do the talking on the race track. After suffering a winless 2008 season, the win was especially sweet for the Wisconsin native. “I tell you what, after last year, winning a race means a lot to me,” Kenseth said. “I’ve had a lot of great opportunities in my life, from my family getting me in racing and really... all the sponsors that we have that have stuck by us and made this happen in an up-and-down economy. Man, I don’t know. Winning the Daytona 500 is definitely a dream moment. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.” “I think Matt’s obviously a pretty stand up person and a great race car driver,” Harvick said. “I think he’s one of those guys that he can win seven or eight races in a year and never receive any credit. He’s a really good race car driver. He’s a champion, Daytona 500 champion.”

(Photo©2009, Autostock, USA Brian Czobat)
Matt Kenseth rolls under the caution flag for rain at the end of the Daytona 500.

(Photo©2009, Autostock)
Matt Kenseth celebrates in Victory Lane with his Roush Racing teammates after winning last Sunday's Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale is taking a lot of flack for causing the "Big One" in the Daytona 500 that ruined Kyle Busch's chances for a win (Busch clearly had the dominant car and could run up front whenever he wanted) and took a lot of cars out of the race. Although we can see both sides of the incident with Brian Vickers we have to say this: We don't like blocking, no matter what the series, and Vickers' blocking move looked like Bush League Bullshit to us. Did Dale need to be pressing the issue at that very moment? Hell, no. But Vickers blatant and dangerous blocking move makes Vickers the bigger culprit in our book. That all said, Dale had a shitty race, and he's really going to have to redeem himself in the coming weeks to get his season back on track.

Kyle Busch. The younger Busch had everyone covered at Daytona. He could run up front at will, and there was no one who was able to touch him when he really felt like hustling it, either. Too bad about the Big One, but watch Busch reel off a bunch of wins this season. When he's on, there's no one better in the sport right now.

AJ Allmendinger. He had to race his way into the field on Thursday and came home in third on Sunday. He deserves a full season in the No 44 Dodge.

Tony Stewart. The best race of the weekend was the Nationwide Series race on Saturday when Tony Stewart held off a furious charge by Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards for the win on the last lap. Go find a replay and see how sideways Edwards was and how quickly his white-gloved hands sawed at the wheel. Good stuff.

American F1 Team. According to a report by Gordon Kirby in MotorSport magazine online, a new American-based Formula 1 team will be announced next Tuesday (February 24) in a half-hour special on SpeedTV. Peter Windsor, a veteran journalist and SpeedTV F1 commentator (he also worked twenty years ago for the Williams F1 team), and Ken Anderson (an experienced race engineer, former shock absorber guru and veteran of Penske Cars) have been working to put together an American Formula 1 team for years and their plan is about to come to fruition, apparently. The new team will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where all of the design, manufacturing and car construction will take place, but the team also expects to establish a European operations base in Spain. It all sounds good right about now, but we have to add a giant "we'll see" at this point and hope for the best.

NASCAR. Guess what happens when you don't allow the Daytona 500 to run the full distance? The ratings go down. Sunday’s race drew a preliminary national rating of 9.2 and a 19 share, Fox said Tuesday. The last rain-shortened Daytona 500 earned a 9.8/21 in 2003. Last year’s full race drew a 10.2/20. Remember, the rating is the percentage of all homes with televisions watching a program. The share is the percentage tuned in among households with the TV on at the time.