We are so back.
Not even one race into the NASCAR Cup Series season and race control had all of us who work in the sport collectively on the verge of making a trip towards the back of the hauler to chat with vice president of competition Elton Sawyer.
That’s what we do, right?
Or maybe, now that we exist in an era where NASCAR officials have their own officially sanctioned podcast appropriately called ‘Hauler Talk’ to detail such matters, that it would be appropriate for an overnight episode.
To wit, NASCAR’s Amanda Ellis walked back into the infield media center on Thursday after the controversial finish to second duel took place and there was an obvious retort waiting on her:
“Emergency pod?”
It was a joke of course.
Listen, in hindsight, that’s a caution they know they probably shouldn’t have thrown because NASCAR interjected itself into the finish. Erik Jones crossed the line ahead of Austin Cindric by 0.004 seconds but it was a moot point because race director Jusan Hamilton pressed the button just feet ahead of it
Thus, Cindric was declared the winner. even as Jones celebrated on the frontstretch.
“Yeah, I mean that’s the rules and that’s their call,” Jones said. “So, it’s part of it. But yeah, I’ve never been in that spot, so it’s a bummer. Would have loved to start out with a win.”
The reason provided by NASCAR is that race control felt the hits drivers took in the race ending crash behind the battle for the lead was severe enough that it warranted giving response vehicles the additional time to get moving. But we’re talking no more than three seconds and the caution didn’t affect the way the leaders were pushing towards the line.
“That’s bullshit,” said Jones’ team owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson as his driver conducted the interview.
It was, but fortunately it was on Thursday and not Sunday during the Great American Race itself.
However, congratulations to Mark Martin on his victory in the 2007 Daytona 500.
Lajoie bets on himself
And certainly, the timing of the caution didn’t make Corey Lajoie lift either, en route to earning a spot in the Daytona 500.
While Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports locking in will steal a lot of the headlines, what Lajoie did just to reach this point was genuinely inspiring too.
Lajoie lost his full-time ride at the end of last season but enjoyed all the benefits of a buyout that will see him get paid his full Spire Motorsports salary for the entirety of the 2025 season even if he had nowhere else to drive.
He finished last season with Rick Ware Racing and fronted the eponymous team owner the money for this ride, even though at the time he hadn’t sold sponsorship for it yet.
“I fronted Rick the money in January to make sure nobody else got the car because I know his car is one of the more desirable open cars to drive,” Lajoie said. “I was on the hook for a couple of weeks, not knowing what was going to happen.
“I was probably dumb enough to let my chips ride on the table and try to make this race on my own dime but luckily for me, DuraMAX and Take 5 came in at the last minute and took me off the hook.”
And then he put them in the show.
But think about it for a second.
Lajoie, had DuraMAX and Take 5 not come aboard, was prepared to fund this car himself and risk not making the field in the first place.
How much is that?
“Four zeroes, one comma,” Lajoie said with a laugh.
That’s nuts. Why would he do that?
“I wish I had a good answer for you, because that’s what this place means, right,” Lajoie said. “It’s the Daytona 500. It was all of my kids’ college fund rolled into one race, right?”
But now, by virtue of making the most lucrative race of the year, that investment has already paid off.
“I was at peace with letting that amount of money go as a bit of a faith tester,” Lajoie said. “It was like every day for weeks, and it got down to the 11th hour, right, and we delivered that sponsor. I don’t think it’s coincidence. I think that that partnership was meant to be.”
Why Cindric raced
Cindric had more to lose than gain mixing it up at the front of the field.
The 2022 Daytona 500 winner could have lost a very fast primary car that was already locked into the front row after time trials on Wednesday. He literally could have taken the green flag and immediately parked his car and started on the front row no matter what.
So why risk losing that car?
Is it just his competitive nature?
Is it the championship points paid to the top-10 on Thursday?
Data acquisition?
“I think the points were the only thing I could use to justify racing from my crew chief’s perspective, from a strategy towards the season,” Cindric said. “The points definitely do matter for the season.”
But he did really want to race and expressed that to crew chief Brian Wilson on Wednesday night.
“I’m very thankful that my race team trusts me to go out there and do that because, yeah, I left last night saying, hey, can I race, can I race, can I race,” Cindric said. “To your point, as a competitor, that’s all I want to do. That’s all I’m here to do. Somebody is just going to have to tell me not to, which is totally fine. I understand.”
They didn’t, he won, and now they’re the co-points leader alongside Bubba Wallace.
“Yeah, you maybe look like a fool if things maybe don’t work out, but there’s some risk management involved,” Cindric said. “I think in a lot of ways the pros outweighed the cons for me.
“It’s easy for me to say, but having two days for the same group of guys to have to patch up a car, build another car, I have a lot of confidence in those guys. Easy for me to say, but, yeah, not having to talk about that. All in all, a lot learned for tonight and a lot gained. Certainly I had a lot of fun.”
Helio uses the provisional
The Daytona 500 will have a 41st starter in the form of the controversial ‘open exemption provisional’ rule new for the season.
This is the rule that permits a driver with a world class stature entry into a Cup Series race, even if that driver otherwise did not qualify into the field, as long as it was applied for 90 days in advance and approved by NASCAR.
Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner driving for Trackhouse’s Project91, did not lock himself into the field through time trials and then was involved in a crash 14 laps into his qualifying race.
That wasn’t the end of his adventure as Castroneves accidently steered his left front onto the apron. That shot his car up the banking and hard into the outside wall, and then back into the infield grass.
“It’s an incredible package but there was a lot of air flowing around us and in this situation, someone ended up crashing and I ended up in it,” Castroneves said. “It’s difficult to figure it out and know where to go.
“Maybe if I moved down more, but I didn’t want to hit the guys on the bottom, so I need to understand my surroundings more. Up to that point, it was really good. I feel bad for Project91 and Trackhouse because they have some work to do.
“I didn’t want to take the provisional but I have to now.”
Is he prepared for the race now with just two practice sessions and the ARCA race left before 500 miles on Sunday?
“Absolutely,” he said. “It will be interesting. Finally, I had a lot of cars around. I was comfortable in the high lane. Very very comfortable. I tried the low lane to see how it is. As for right now, I’m enjoy it very much.”
Starting lineup
ROW 1
1. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
2. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
ROW 2
3. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
4. Erik Jones, No. 23 Toyota
ROW 3
5. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
6. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
ROW 4
7. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
8. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
ROW 5
9. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
10. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
ROW 6
11. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
12. Corey LaJoie, No. 01 Ford
ROW 7
13. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
14. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
ROW 8
15. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
16. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
ROW 9
17. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
18. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
ROW 10
19. Justin Allgaier, No. 40 Chevrolet
20. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
ROW 11
21. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
22. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
ROW 12
23. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
24. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
ROW 13
25. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
26. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
ROW 14
27. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
28. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
ROW 15
29. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
30. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
ROW 16
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
32. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
ROW 17
33. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
34. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
ROW 18
35. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
36. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
ROW 19
37. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
38. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
ROW 20
39. Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 Toyota
40. Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Toyota
ROW 21
41. Helio Castroneves, No. 91 Chevrolet
