Daytona

It's the 50th running of the Daytona 500! And another excuse to gorge oneself on wings, potato skins, and cheese dip! I laid claim to one couch and WD chose the other couch while the boys, with nary a piece of clothing on, ran around the house pretending to be cats.


But that's another story. After 3 months, Nascar season began with 200 laps of racing in Florida. Trisha Yearwood sang the national anthem, the Thunderbirds flew overhead, and Darrell Waltrip and previous Daytona 500 winners gave the command to start.


Michael Waltrip, with his gold wheels, led the 1st lap.....and then dropped to 20th by lap 8.


Starting around lap 41, Kyle Busch took the lead and held it for the majority of the race. He's driving the M&M car this year which is no longer #38 (it's #18) or a Ford (it's Toyota). Lots of changes this season.


The "middle" of the race wasn't that eventful. There weren't that many yellow flags. And the commercials were mostly leftover from the Super Bowl. But then came the final 30 laps. Things got serious. Drivers began to make their moves. Some were good but most were bad. As a matter of fact, 4 of yesterday's 7 yellow flags were during those final 30 laps.


As Tony Stewart led the final lap, Ryan Newman, with drafting help from Kurt Busch, passed Stewart for the win. And the home of the lazy dog erupted in applause. Take that Tony Stewart.


Elliott Sadler started 35th but finished an impressive 6th.


Ryan Newman gets the win, Kenny Wallace gets the Red Lantern, and we're in California next Sunday.