Will Daytona still have The Big One?

Will Daytona still have The Big One?
By Darren Fauth

Monday, Jan 21, 2008 8:14 am EST

Remember the collective let down we felt after the Bristol race last fall?

Yeah, that Neutered Bristol Race™ where:



• 97% of the laps were led by two drivers
• 20 drivers finished on the lead lap
• A paltry five drivers were out of the race at the end
I know I wasn't the only 'Old School' NASCAR fan that felt cheated. Even my wife, a NASCAR noob, asked, "Isn't this the race where the cars are usually all banged up and they are throwing helmets at each other?"

In that same vein, I'm worried about the upcoming race at Daytona. Yeah, I know we saw the CoT car run at Talladega, and it was a great race (although Bob and I disagree on the appeal to the lowest common denominator). We saw the first official CoT version of The Big One™ with the 11-car tangle-up on lap 145 after Bobby Labonte took a sudden left. Rather unimpressive, right?

I'm not a CoT basher. I'm cool with it. Really. But this is the 50th running of the Daytona 500 baby! What is the CoT going to be like here? It's a much bumpier track than Talladega. The teams have had a year to bring the ‘race' out of these cars. Are we going to see a Classic Daytona Big One™?

With its high center of gravity are these cars capable of a flip, tumble and barrel roll?

Using NASCAR.com's lap-by-lap reports, I tallied who the Top 10 Bad Luck Superspeedway drivers are. These guys have been at the epicenter of the most wrecks at Daytona & Talladega these last two seasons. The number in () is wrecks.



• Greg Biffle (5)
• Jimmie Johnson (5)
• Tony Stewart (5)
• Dave Blaney (4)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (4)
• Kyle Busch (4)
• Jamie McMurray (4)
• Joe Nemechek (4)
• David Reutimann (4)
• Martin Truex Jr. (4)