iNSIDE SCOOP: Isn’t It Interesting…?

The Sprint Unlimited was a monumental success from the standpoint that the racing was excellent, the excitement level was high and there was a feel-good winner in Denny Hamlin.

Unfortunately, the good racing also led to some on-track dust-ups that left eight cars running at the finish, but hey, you’ll have that in big-time auto racing, right?

Dale Jr. crashed, as did Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, et al. But at the end, it was Hamlin and Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano…and that works for a non-points race when you’re trying to jump-start the interest level in your sport.

The cars seemed like they could race better, pulling out of line and making moves. The draft pulled and pushed and snaked and all the other things that drafts are supposed to do, and it was the first time the group at large had been out there in race conditions with the draft and the new aero rules.

Some thoughts from the weekend:

Chevrolets earned the front row for the Daytona 500, with Martin Truex Jr. on the outside of the front row. The polesitter? Why, Austin Dillon and the No. 3, making its triumphant return to the sport after the 2001 Daytona 500.

Now, I’ve heard a lot of talk about the fix being in and Dillon winning the pole because it was necessary. What better feel-good story could there be than having the No. 3 make a splash in its return? There’s folks that are comparing NASCAR to WWE, and that’s just not right.

First of all, it’s qualifying: two laps by yourself. Dillon was fastest under that format. Nothing to see here. 

Second, Dillon has been wicked quick at times during his short NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, and has been racing on plate tracks for a while. It’s not a surprise.

Third, most of the folks saying that don’t know what the Sam Hill they’re talking about. It’s nearly impossible to fix something like qualifying and even harder to fix a race. That’s been proven. Remember that old adage that if two people know about it, it’s not a secret? Nobody is that good.

But…it is interesting in one respect. Whenever there’s been a seminal event, something special has happened. Remember the 1994 Brickyard 400, when Indiana “native” Jeff Gordon won the first race at Indianapolis that didn’t have Jim Nabors, the tents full of balloons and open wheels?

Or how about the Daytona 500 in NASCAR’s 50th Anniversary season, 1998? Dale Earnhardt finally kicked the Daytona curse and won the 500, after 20 years of trying.

As I’ve said in the past, such happy coincidences occur on occasion in this sport. Nothing to see here.

Let’s move on toward Thursday and the Budweiser Duels…it’s going to be an interesting day!