Fantasy Results after Daytona

Great race today. Well, the last hour was great. The first 2 1/2 was tough to watch with a group of guys who have never actually purposefully watched a race before. They wanted carnage, and to be honest, I wanted carnage. I wanted to see M&Ms splattered all over the infield. The #18 Toyota was way too much stronger than the rest. Something seemed fishy. I thought this whole COT was supposed to level the playing field.

Since the pre-race was unimpressive (with the exception of the Thunderbirds flyover) I won't bother rating the starting command (weak) or the national anthem (I was entering picks), but I will mention the commercials. If the expectation is that the Daytona 500 commercials are supposed to rival the Superbowl ads, we are falling short, but there were some gems. The NAPA ads ripping on Waltrip were good. There were actually a couple knee-slappers. Fortunately, the lack of cautions in the race meant we didn't have to suffer through countless repeats of UPS or Dominoes ads.

The race itself heated up at the end. I thought the #31 got cheated on that restart with 3 to go. The whole field laid back. Bad, Bad boys. I was extremely happy that the #18 did not win. That was my only goal, to not see Kyle Busch in victory lane. It was, however, nice to see Newman get a win.

My favorite moment? Rewinding the after-race celebration to show the guys the midget in Alltel gear in the background as they interviewed Newman's wife. Classic. I felt very dirty doing it, almost like I saw a boob flash. Am I evil?Newman has a midget in the pits. How can you top that? For a guy they say never watched Seinfeld, I find it amazing that his hame is Newman, he's a little on the girthy side, he has a "short-staturred" friend (Micky), and works for Penske (remember George's Penske file?) Coincidence?

A quick note on phantom debris. I hate that they do it, but it most certainly helps improve the competition, and adds excitement to an otherwise boring race. Unfortunately, my Lebonese friend, who earlier this week though the Daytona 500 was a drag race, left before the first "caution". Oh well, one less non-stereotypical NASCAR fan out there I guess. So much for "the drive for diversity."

Well, it looks like Tony Stewart was the pick of the week, although I must defend the #41 selection (I didn't have to burn a favorite in the first week and still got a great finish). We had 2 guys with #20, 2 with #41, and nine people with Dale Jr. A good week for 13 of the 15 entries. Be sure to get your picks in by the green flag at California on Sunday.

Also, a rule note. I plan to award zero (0) points for a first place finish (A 1 point bonus for picking the winner) and 50 points if your driver does not start the race for some wierd reason.

Results after Daytona:

T1) Shaffer - 3(20)
T1) Wingman - 3(20)
T3) Big Jon - 5(41)-2
T3) PT - 5(41)-2
T5) KRo - 9(88)-6
T5) Scott - 9(88)-6
T5) Wayne Smith - 9(88)-6
T5) Inskeep - 9(88)-6
T5) Dave Shaw - 9(88)-6
T5) Susie - 9(88)-6
T5) Shane - 9(88)-6
T5) TBA - 9(88)-6
T5) Tony - 9(88)-6
14) Joe Yu - 29(55)-26
15) Hau-Ling - 42(6)-39