Okay, begrudgingly, I will offer my congratulations to White Bread. He did win, after all. Actually, it was hard to tell if it was real or staged, as it looked like the victory lane celebration was held in my tool shed. But, I saw one of those big-smiling Spring Cup girls in the background, so it had to have been legit. Nothing says victory like a hired smiley face in a black and yellow jumpsuit hovering over your shoulder during a post-race interview, don't ya know.
It's simply that the whole thing tasted like burnt toast. The best car, by a wide margin, did not win that race. This is the blight of rain-shortened events, so it didn't come as a big surprise. Ahem, David Reutimann? It's just that I'd enjoy seeing an actual race, by which I mean everyone has the gas pedal firmly down while driving all over each other's bumper, to a checkered flag one of these days, and hedonistically, I was pulling for Gordon to gut-stomp the competition.
As the pundits explained in great detail, playing the weather strategy is a big part of racing, just as important as the engine, the handling, or the guy behind the wheel. I normally agree with this statement, and I've finally accepted the victories of Reutimann and Kenseth - actually, Kenseth not as much. I just can't get over the notion of a rain-shortened Daytona 500. It's the once race that should always be borne out. I don't recall seeing the Super Bowl cut short due to rain - but in this case, it wasn't true.
Zipadelli wasn't busting out his new-fangled stochastic differential equation to stretch fuel mileage and explain Brownian motion; he was simply reacting to his race. His driver spun/got spun and cut a tire. He had to fix the cut tire. He did, he also put some gas in it. Kyle then went all buckaroo restart wild man, as he is want to do, ultimately giving White Bread his lap back. More gas, because Zippy had zero to lose (and everything, including an enormous, fake jig saw - or was it a sawzall? - blade to win) and it's a move every single crew chief, save for possible Tony Eury Jr., makes without so much as a synapses firing.
And as a result, Joey's pit window is a tad longer than the field. That's the best good bad luck a team can have; no cut tire, no pit window advantage (ultimately), no win. Gordon fans exult.
(No disrespect to Zipadelli. He's the read deal, and he clearly made the right call. It's just that I don't see it as that monumental. If a bold call was made, it was hanging White Bread out there with the threat of a dry tank and a wheelin' four-time champ behind him. But again, what did he have to lose, their stranglehold on 24th place?)
I'd also have less of a rag about it if strategy would stop being such a dominant factor in the outcomes. We've had fuel strategy, rain strategy, just-stay-on-the-road-course strategy, how-best-to-drive-alongside-Kyle-Busch strategy (I say let him lead, then he'll only run over lapped cars) and more fuel strategy determining what seems like every race lately. I'm just in need of a last-lap pass, or a cross over for the victory, and I'm dying to see Gordon back where he belongs, especially after a performance like that. But I understand, I really do: it's racing, just like rubbin', and phantom debris on the track.
But Joey deserves his due. Earlier this year, as I pressed someone for details on Joey's driving style, I was told, "He'll either crash or win." I never expected that he would do both in the same day. Now that is exceeding expectations, and even if I didn't like the way it unfolded, White Bread can flat out drive. And now, he's a proven winner. Just ask the chick in the black and yellow jumpsuit.
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