Racing Cools in the Hot Weather

For an interesting Nextel Cup race with lots of passing and side-by-side racing, bundle up and hope for cold weather.

For a boring (to watch), follow-the-leader type of race, put on your shorts and soak up some sunshine.

After three preseason races leading into Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500, that seems to be what is in store for stock car enthusiasts here this year.

Before a crowd estimated at 100,000 by NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in a Chevrolet, and Elliott Sadler, in a Ford, won the Gatorade twin 125 qualifying races Thursday at Daytona International Speedway on an 82-degree day. There was almost no passing and not much excitement.

Last Saturday night, with temperatures in the 40s, Dale Jarrett won the Budweiser Shootout, a race in which the lead changed 15 times among nine drivers before Jarrett stormed off the high banks with a dramatic pass of Kevin Harvick on the final lap.

There were no last-lap high jinks Thursday. There weren’t even any challenges.

What makes the difference? Tires.

At the request of the drivers, Goodyear developed a new tire this year that is not as hard as last year’s. It sticks better when it’s new but wears out faster than last year’s tire. The drivers generally applaud it, saying it makes for more of a drivers’ race.

“When the tires start to go away and the car starts to push around or slide around, the driver starts to do a lot more than he normally does, as far as letting off,” said Earnhardt, who led the final 14 laps after passing DEI teammate Michael Waltrip. “But at the same time it doesn’t matter how good you are if you’re stuck behind some guys late in the race on old tires. I don’t know what amount of magic would take the guy into the lead.”

Earnhardt passed Waltrip almost immediately after getting fresh tires.

“I’d been trying to set him up for four or five laps, and I couldn’t get anybody pushing behind me to get a good run at him,” Earnhardt said. “I got lucky when he got behind that lapped car of Jeff Gordon. Jeff was nice enough to let me go after a few laps, and once I had clean air, I knew it was going to be a bad day for the rest of them because it was so tough to get around anybody.”

Gordon, a two-time Daytona winner, had run into rookie Kasey Kahne’s car in the pits. He finished 21st out of 23 cars and will start 39th Sunday.

“It was my fault,” Kahne said. “There was a white car, and it checked up when he went to go to his pit. I took my eyes off him and swerved to miss him. When I swerved to the right, I took my eyes off my pit and drove by it. I had to hit the brakes, and Gordon ran into me. He wasn’t expecting me to hit the brakes.”

Greg Biffle, who will start on the pole Sunday, led the first 22 laps, but when he pitted with all the other cars, he dropped to 13th place.

“It looked pretty hectic out there so I just took the high road,” said Biffle, who did not have to race for his starting position in the 500.

In the second heat, Sadler led the last 26 laps in a caution-free race, averaging 182.334 mph. With one six-lap caution period, Earnhardt had averaged only 156.087 in the first race.

Sadler, who will start on the outside of the front row Sunday, credited his crew for getting him out first on his lone pit stop.

“If I hadn’t come out first, I wouldn’t have won the race,” he said. “I really applaud Goodyear for making the tires where they wear out quicker, where they put it on the crew chief and the driver to work on handling and get the car to work throughout the whole run.”

Sadler, who had won only once in five years of Winston Cup racing, at Bristol in 2001, said Thursday’s victory was the biggest of his career.

“It’s probably the most emotional win I’ve ever had in any type of racing, and I think the reason why is my pit crew got me out first,” he said. “That put a load on my shoulders by having to hold off great race drivers like Harvick and Sterling [Marlin] and really use the race track to my advantage.”

There was little racing in the second 125, because the field was strung out with sometimes half a mile between cars.

Much of the excitement that surrounds the twin 125s was lost when 45 cars entered the 500, making for the smallest field since 46 entered in 1963.

Because only two cars would be eliminated, the suspense of who might finish 14th or 15th to get into the 500 was lost.

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Daytona 500

THE FACTS

* Site: Daytona International Speedway.

* Schedule: Sunday, race (Channel 4, 10:30 a.m.)

* Track: Tri-oval, 2.5 miles, 31 degrees banking in turns).

* Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.

* Last year: Michael Waltrip won the Daytona 500 for the second time in three years after the day’s second rainstorm shortened the race to 109 laps, 91 short of the scheduled distance.

* Fast facts: Greg Biffle won the pole last Sunday with a fast lap of 188.387 mph. Elliott Sadler will start on the outside of the front row after finishing second. The rest of the field was determined at Thursday’s twin 125 qualifying races.... Only three racers have won the Daytona 500 in consecutive years, most recently Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995.... The winner of the Daytona 500 has gone on to win the series title seven times, most recently Jeff Gordon in 1997.... Buddy Baker holds the record for fastest winning speed (177.602 mph in 1980) while Junior Johnson has the record for the slowest (124.740 mph in 1960).

* Next race: Subway 400, Feb. 22, Rockingham, N.C.