The Daytona 500: no longer "The Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing"?

ted@economy said:
I think the Indy 500 is the indycar superbowl , and it's not at the end of the season either .
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Yeah but the Indy 500 is different from the other Indycar races. They only have one other 500-miler, the season ender. It's the only race with 33 cars; most of the other fields are smaller. It's the only one where they start 3-wide. I think last year they started awarding double-points at Indy (and couple other tracks). And it's one heck of a lot older than any other race on their schedule.

NASCAR has tracks older than Daytona. It pays the same points as the other 35 races, and the field is the same size. It's not the only 500-miler; it's not even the longest race. It does have qualifying races (which I wish more tracks had), but that's about it.

I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
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Prior to 1982, the Daytona 500 wasn't even the first race on the schedule. They used to open at Riverside about a month before the 500.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Yeah but the Indy 500 is different from the other Indycar races. They only have one other 500-miler, the season ender. It's the only race with 33 cars; most of the other fields are smaller. It's the only one where they start 3-wide. I think last year they started awarding double-points at Indy (and couple other tracks). And it's one heck of a lot older than any other race on their schedule.

NASCAR has tracks older than Daytona. It pays the same points as the other 35 races, and the field is the same size. It's not the only 500-miler; it's not even the longest race. It does have qualifying races (which I wish more tracks had), but that's about it.

I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
Click to expand...
It's special to me because Daytona Beach is where it all started, man - maybe not specifically at the Daytona International Speedway, but literally on the beach.

I don't even like restrictor plate racing, but I always get hyped for the 500. It's a special event, and it's the first time we get to see cars going round and round every year.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Yeah but the Indy 500 is different from the other Indycar races. They only have one other 500-miler, the season ender. It's the only race with 33 cars; most of the other fields are smaller. It's the only one where they start 3-wide. I think last year they started awarding double-points at Indy (and couple other tracks). And it's one heck of a lot older than any other race on their schedule.

NASCAR has tracks older than Daytona. It pays the same points as the other 35 races, and the field is the same size. It's not the only 500-miler; it's not even the longest race. It does have qualifying races (which I wish more tracks had), but that's about it.

I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
Click to expand...


I nodded off during all your statistics , but in my book the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 are the two superbowls of racing in North America . It's simply a historical fact . The Homestead race is just a race.
 
Mr. Gregory said:
It's special to me because Daytona Beach is where it all started, man - maybe not specifically at the Daytona International Speedway, but literally on the beach.

I don't even like restrictor plate racing, but I always get hyped for the 500. It's a special event, and it's the first time we get to see cars going round and round every year.
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Very well said. :cheers:
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Yeah but the Indy 500 is different from the other Indycar races. They only have one other 500-miler, the season ender. It's the only race with 33 cars; most of the other fields are smaller. It's the only one where they start 3-wide. I think last year they started awarding double-points at Indy (and couple other tracks). And it's one heck of a lot older than any other race on their schedule.

NASCAR has tracks older than Daytona. It pays the same points as the other 35 races, and the field is the same size. It's not the only 500-miler; it's not even the longest race. It does have qualifying races (which I wish more tracks had), but that's about it.

I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
Click to expand...

It's where it all began- the hard packed sands of Daytona. It was the first superspeedway, which 55 years later, is still one of two. It brings the most cars, the best cars, and the best drivers. You've got 50-60 cars duking it out for 43 starting sports. The teams put the most money into this event. No one "starts and parks".

The Daytona 500 and DIS symbolize NASCAR. A man had a dream to build the fastest track for the fastest drivers. Half a century later, that philosophy is still working.

And the history? The three-wide finish in the inaugural race. Richard Petty winning there 7 times. Dale Earnhardt winning the 1998 race- with a reaction from the racing community that couldn't be achieved by any other driver. Tony Stewart winning the 2015 Daytona 500 after overcoming so much adversity in the past 2 years, and winning everything else at Daytona and everything else in NASCAR. Ok, well maybe that last one hasn't happened...yet :)
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Yeah but the Indy 500 is different from the other Indycar races. They only have one other 500-miler, the season ender. It's the only race with 33 cars; most of the other fields are smaller. It's the only one where they start 3-wide. I think last year they started awarding double-points at Indy (and couple other tracks). And it's one heck of a lot older than any other race on their schedule.

NASCAR has tracks older than Daytona. It pays the same points as the other 35 races, and the field is the same size. It's not the only 500-miler; it's not even the longest race. It does have qualifying races (which I wish more tracks had), but that's about it.

I've only been following NASCAR for twenty years or so, but I never understood what makes Daytona special. Maybe it was different before the restrictor plates but to me it's just another race, one that happens to start the season. Rearrange the schedule and we'd be saying that about some other track.

I'm open to explanations. Tell me, what do others think makes it special?
Click to expand...

charlie......bitchin bout espn delay last week had more validity ! :D
 
Speedbowl14 said:
It's where it all began- the hard packed sands of Daytona. It was the first superspeedway, which 55 years later, is still one of two. It brings the most cars, the best cars, and the best drivers. You've got 50-60 cars duking it out for 43 starting sports. The teams put the most money into this event. No one "starts and parks".

The Daytona 500 and DIS symbolize NASCAR. A man had a dream to build the fastest track for the fastest drivers. Half a century later, that philosophy is still working.

And the history? The three-wide finish in the inaugural race. Richard Petty winning there 7 times. Dale Earnhardt winning the 1998 race- with a reaction from the racing community that couldn't be achieved by any other driver. Tony Stewart winning the 2015 Daytona 500 after overcoming so much adversity in the past 2 years, and winning everything else at Daytona and everything else in NASCAR. Ok, well maybe that last one hasn't happened...yet :)
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Sure, there's plenty of history in the area, but does that make the race itself special? There's more racing history at Indy, but that race has been less than entertaining many times.

Best cards and drivers? It's the same teams that will show up for the next 35 races. The days of drivers from other circuits and series showing up for it, the Foyts and Andrettis, are long gone. There haven't been 50-60 cars trying to qualify in quite a while.

DW won at Bristol seven -consecutive- times. I'd like to see Smoke get a D500 win. I suspect he'd get a response similar to Dale's. I think his Indy wins will still mean more to him.

With the restrictor plate, racing at both superspeedways ain't what it was. The dream of Daytona being the fastest track is over; the 1.5 mile tracks regularly take that title. True, no one S&Ps because anyone can win, but to me that's part of the problem: anyone can win it. That supports ToyYoda's original question: is this race what it used to be?

hawg dawg said:
charlie......bitchin bout espn delay last week had more validity ! :D
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Not bitchin', trollin', or fishin', just seeking opinions and discussion. I want to thank others for their posts. I acknowledge its history. I don't think those days are gone, but they're not what they were. I guess I'm just not a sentimental guy. (Heck, I live in central South Carolina but think moving the Southern 500 from the spring back to Labor Day is the dumbest scheduling change in several years. It may be traditional, but it's also too freakin' hot to attend.)
 
I know that money is a big reason the Daytona 500 is a big deal to teams and drivers. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned around $1.5 million for his win in this year's 500. However, if a final four driver goes to Homestead and wins, subsequently winning the championship, the payday will be much bigger than that. I just think that with the new format, Homestead is now a bigger deal than the Daytona 500, with a lot more on the line.
 
I don't have a valid opinion on the matter, because I've been to a Daytona 500 but not Homestead. To me, if anyone experienced the atmosphere at Daytona during Speedweeks, especially on the morning of the 500, they'd realize it's more than a plate race. But maybe Homestead's atmosphere is better ... I dunno.

I think I enjoy most that either the Chase is irrelevant and should be ignored entirely or the Chase is such a rousing success that we can say Homestead has usurped the 500 for Most Important NASCAR Race.
 
ztevans said:
I don't have a valid opinion on the matter, because I've been to a Daytona 500 but not Homestead. To me, if anyone experienced the atmosphere at Daytona during Speedweeks, especially on the morning of the 500, they'd realize it's more than a plate race. But maybe Homestead's atmosphere is better ... I dunno.

I think I enjoy most that either the Chase is irrelevant and should be ignored entirely or the Chase is such a rousing success that we can say Homestead has usurped the 500 for Most Important NASCAR Race.
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I've actually been largely in the "chase should be ignored" category, but it is what it is, and Homestead now has much more of a Super Bowl resemblance than Daytona.
 
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