Daytona 500 Provided Lots Of Controversy

I naively believe that there are a lot of NASCAR fans reading this column and are interested in what happened when Dale Earnhardt and Brian Vickers caused a massive pileup of wrecked racers this past Sunday in the Daytona 500 race, while actually there may be only a few dozen.

Dale is accused of causing the driver who blocked his passing, Brian Vickers, to spin out of control and wrecking almost everyone behind him and Earnhardt went on to finish the race.

Earnhardt Jr. and Vickers were both a few laps behind the leaders but up front with the leaders. A free pass was up for grabs for one driver to get it at the next caution allowing that driver to advance into the lead lap. Earnhardt was trying to pass on the right but could not, then he saw an opening on Vickers' left side next to the out of bounds stripe and could make it because he was a faster. He accelerated and was ready to pass Vickers when Vickers turned left into the number 88 car, forcing Earnhardt to go below the out-of-bounds stripe. When Earnhardt attempted to get back in bounds he was still faster but came up behind Vickers barely touching him causing Vickers to spin out, wrecking more than 10 cars.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt was one of the fastest cars on the track as proven by his ability to come from behind twice. Once, he misjudged where his pit crew was located and had to go through pit lane at 55 mph, then again when he had to await a delay penalty by NASCAR for not having his right front tire completely inside the pit box. The pit crew in their haste did not notice the tire touching the box line and changed the tires while being told not to by the NASCAR official. Earnhardt had slid into the pit angling so that he could make a quick exit and slid a few inches too far to the right.

He overcame both of these misfortunes and by the end of the race had achieved getting into the lead lap. Evidently some think that NASCAR gave him a break and did not penalize him because of his name. I think they saw it the same as I did.

Rule Not Followed

Vickers was at least a few car widths right of the line ahead of Earnhardt who could not pass on the right because of traffic on the right, when Earnhardt then went to the left to pass, Vickers pulled left to block. Had he not wrecked, NASCAR might have black flagged him for a one-lap penalty.

It's a shame that Vickers did not finish the race; both might have finished in the first five.

NASCAR has rules on blocking; it is permitted only once on an attempted pass. If a driver tries to pass on one side blocking is allowed. If he then changes sides, blocking is not allowed.
This race very likely would have had a different winner if not for this pileup.

Blocking Causes Accidents

During the preshow, the 1979 Daytona 500 was shown as being the beginning of one of the most popular sports on television. It showed when Cale Yarbourgh and Bobby Allison were racing to the finish and Cale tried to pass. Allison tried to block and caused both cars to collide, lose traction and start sliding, losing control, and crashing into the wall, unable to finish the race.

It started the winning career of Richard Petty as he was far behind the leaders and cruised on to the finish line for the checkered flag.