NASCAR needs less predictability; this weekend had it

Aric Almirola (Photo credit: purduenila)

Seeing the reaction of Aric Almirola when he was credited with the win at Daytona was almost worth the wait. His excitement was contagious. As a driver for Richard Petty, Almirola's sentiment at winning on Petty's 25th anniversary of his 200th win at Daytona, was genuine.

I was a little surprised at my own positive charge of emotion when the race was called. I suppose that is because Almirola's win was unexpected. Despite the fact that NASCAR called the race when it did, there was a real feel of spontaneity in the final result. That doesn't happen often in NASCAR. I dislike the predictable; it seems that NASCAR has too heavy a hand to expect real spontaneity. 

It was also pretty cool for Kasey Kahne, who hasn't won in a while, to eek out a win at the last second in the Nationwide Race. That was pretty spontaneous as well.

Other than that, the weekend was pretty much a bust. I can only imagine how the drivers, crews, and fans in the stands felt. For me though, in the comfort of my living room, I can take away only positive feelings about the outcome of the weekend at Daytona. 

Could it have been better? Absolutely! Would I have been happier to see Ryan Newman win it? Oh yeah! But once his car was so damaged and he was multiple laps behind the leader, ending the race sooner rather than later worked for me. It is no fun to watch Ryan limping along in a wounded race car. Kudos though to the guys in the #31 team for their diligence in trying to get Ryan's car back to racing form. It just wasn't meant to be.