Cold temperatures, combined with winds and higher speeds equaled more crumpled sheet metal as practice for the Twin 150 races at Daytona Beach got serious.
In the first practice Clint Bowyer had a tire go down involving David Reutimann.
In a continuation of last week’s wreck fest practice at Daytona found saw NASCAR stars like Jimmie Johnson and five others having to go to back up cars for the qualifying races.
When Mike Bliss got loose in turn four in the middle of a drafting freight train precipitating a multi-car crash. “I knew I was out there and was going to be a sitting duck," Bliss explained.
Then there was Joey Logano’s view "I didn't really see what happened. I guess [Mike Bliss] got loose or got tagged or something, I don't know what happened. Maybe just got a loose and over corrected and swung back out in front of me. I had nowhere to go.”
Johnson, looking for his second Daytona 500 win said "I thought things were wild. And here's the biggest problem. Guys have different theories on where they want to blend on the race track. Some people stay on the bottom; others think they blend on the top, and either way there is a draft of 18 to 20 cars coming and we're like a snake weaving through these cars and cars coming in and off at different speeds.
And I don't believe that's what caused this wreck, but there were a lot of other crazy moments because of that. I need to go to the tape and see what happened here because I was just riding along and thought everything was fine and the next thing you know, I was in the middle of it."
As Denny Hamlin explained “I just think with the speeds we’re running, cars are less stable than what they have been in year’s past. You know, when cars are getting close to each other the car up front just doesn’t have the grip he used to have….it kind of makes our cars a little bit more on the edge.
Even the bravest of drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya have some new found respect for the cars when he tweeted “had a good day, we didn’t get in trouble in practice so I’m pretty happy!!”
Hamlin explained the action best “if they want to put this back in the driver’s hands, this is what you’re going to see.’’
photo:NASCAR
In the first practice Clint Bowyer had a tire go down involving David Reutimann.
In a continuation of last week’s wreck fest practice at Daytona found saw NASCAR stars like Jimmie Johnson and five others having to go to back up cars for the qualifying races.
When Mike Bliss got loose in turn four in the middle of a drafting freight train precipitating a multi-car crash. “I knew I was out there and was going to be a sitting duck," Bliss explained.
Then there was Joey Logano’s view "I didn't really see what happened. I guess [Mike Bliss] got loose or got tagged or something, I don't know what happened. Maybe just got a loose and over corrected and swung back out in front of me. I had nowhere to go.”
Johnson, looking for his second Daytona 500 win said "I thought things were wild. And here's the biggest problem. Guys have different theories on where they want to blend on the race track. Some people stay on the bottom; others think they blend on the top, and either way there is a draft of 18 to 20 cars coming and we're like a snake weaving through these cars and cars coming in and off at different speeds.
And I don't believe that's what caused this wreck, but there were a lot of other crazy moments because of that. I need to go to the tape and see what happened here because I was just riding along and thought everything was fine and the next thing you know, I was in the middle of it."
As Denny Hamlin explained “I just think with the speeds we’re running, cars are less stable than what they have been in year’s past. You know, when cars are getting close to each other the car up front just doesn’t have the grip he used to have….it kind of makes our cars a little bit more on the edge.
Even the bravest of drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya have some new found respect for the cars when he tweeted “had a good day, we didn’t get in trouble in practice so I’m pretty happy!!”
Hamlin explained the action best “if they want to put this back in the driver’s hands, this is what you’re going to see.’’
photo:NASCAR