Primetime Monday Night NASCAR works! The Sprint Cup season blasts off with plenty of TV sizzle

  Matt Kenseth in victory lane, six hours after the green (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

 
  

   The network, which carried the 500 from its 7:15 p.m. ET start to it's 1 a.m. finish, says more than 36.5 million watched at least part of the broadcast. That makes it the biggest NASCAR hit ever for Fox, and second in viewership only to NBC's 2006 coverage of 37 million. (The full national ratings won't be out till Thursday, and usually those are even higher than the 'overnights.')
   The Monday night telecast was up considerably from 2011's Sunday 500, seen by 30 million.
   And Fox execs had more to crow about:
   The network won the primetime night among adults 18-49 and in total audience figures, which officials described as "a significant achievement, going up against original episodes of popular network programs like ABC's The Bachelor, CBS's How I Met Your Mother and NBC's The Voice."
    Slicing up the show, Fox says it was "Fox's most-watched Monday night…(since) Game 5 of the 2010 World Series."
    Fox reported an overall rating of 8.0, slightly down from last year's 8.7.
    Fox says the broadcast gained audience as it went on, reaching an 8.2 from 9:30 p.m. till 10, when the dramatic Juan Pablo Montoya crash occurred, and peaked at 8.8 right after that.
   The top two TV markets for the Daytona 500 Monday were the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area and the Jacksonville Fla. area, followed by Charlotte, Greenville SC, Dayton Ohio, and Orlando.
    Biggest jumps in viewership came in New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Ft. Myers Fla, San Antonio, and Tampa.
    On the ESPN side, the network's coverage of the crash-filled Nationwide 300 was a record-breaker, with 4.4 million viewers. That's up a whopping 37 percent from last year.
  
  

   SpeedWeeks was certainly filled with action. A little too much here perhaps for Miguel Paludo (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   Analyzing the Monday game itself:
  
   -- Jack Roush's guys did indeed have the strongest, fastest iron in town, and Team Ford used it quite effectively, almost mercilessly.
  Matt Kenseth, strong enough last season remember to have a good shot at the Sprint Cup championship (until Martinsville), won the Daytona 500 with machine-like precision. Ruthless.
   Kenseth, nicknamed the Stealth Bomber for his style of racing, flying under the radar, was judge, jury and high executioner here, taking care of all comers, including teammate Greg Biffle, in Thursday's 150 (with an amazing move) and again in the 500.
   Fords are by far the strongest brand on the tour right now, continuing the run they showed all last season. But seldom has archrival Chevrolet seemed so outclassed, presumably under the hood. Whether or not that Ford edge continued as the stock car tour hits high-downforce tracks like Phoenix and Las Vegas will be something to keep an eye out for.

   -- Still, if Dale Earnhardt Jr. had had some support from his teammates down the stretch, it might have been different at the line.
   Alas, Jimmie Johnson crashed out on the first lap, a victim of Elliott Sadler's over-eagerness. Then Kasey Kahne….. And just before halfway, Jeff Gordon blew an engine – an odd failure for Rick Hendrick's shop, and certain to have repercussions.
   Earnhardt himself was about as happy as could be, for a man finishing second. After all it's been a while since he won on the tour.  
  "This is the first time I have finished one of these for a while, so it feels pretty good. We had great engines. And the body and paint looks great; I don't think it has a scratch on it."
   That's almost miraculous, considering the number of  cars destroyed during SpeedWeeks.
 
  
  

   Fortunately Duane Barnes and Juan Pablo Montoya were only shaken up in this incident. But it was scary (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   -- NASCAR's new rules to kill the two-car drafting packs worked, but did it make for better racing for fans?
   Bluntly, no.
   No one could pass, no one could charge from the back to the front. Only the low line was fast, and anyone trying to make a run on the outside was doomed.
   Saturday's Nationwide race had its own problems; however the action was much more exciting – drivers were stuck in a relatively tight pack, but they  easily able to team up in two-car packs and launch lightning runs to the front. That was the type of action that the 500 should have had.
   And even Earnhardt, one of the most aggressive drivers during the race, pointed that out:
   "I like the rule changes. (But) riding along in the middle of that race I was thinking the fans probably are wondering whether this is better or not, because there wasn't a ton of action.
    "The low line was really dominant; the top couldn't get any action happening."
      Paul Menard, who finished sixth, agreed:
   "We had a pretty uneventful race, really. We just rode around the first half, anticipating some big wrecks. There were a couple, but not as many as we thought.
    "I really couldn't do a whole lot of passing; it was hard to pass. You could get two cars pushing for about half a lap or so…
    "It was just a lot of riding around the bottom."
  
  

  Maybe just a little bondo is just the thing. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   The most vivid display of that came down the stretch when Richard Childress' three drivers hooked up, with Jeff Burton on point, and tried to mount a run on the outside lane. They never even came close. The Childress guys last year, remember, had some of the strongest cars at Daytona and Talladega; and Childress men have been quite confident about their new fuel injection program.
   For Burton a fifth place, in the kickoff to what he hopes is a comeback season, is pretty darned good…even if the fact that three Childress Chevys hooked together couldn't touch the Roush Fords should be disconcerting.
   "We thought we had a really good shot at it," Burton says of the late-race charge. "Paul was hooked up to me, and we were coming pretty hard on them going into three (the last lap).
   "But the group on the outside got a run on him and just sucked us off each other."
   That was reference to some newly discovered aspects of the venerable side-draft – when a rival pulls up alongside another car, the aerodynamics of the lead car take a hit, and if the charger does it right, he can split up two rival teammates.
    Burton, remember, has been a strong proponent of the two-car draft, and so has Menard.
   In something of a backhand compliment Burton says with its new anti-tandem rules "NASCAR did a great job. To be honest, I didn't think they could make these changes.
    "But they did, and they did a great job of breaking up the tandem. It made it for a completely different race."

  
Tony Stewart (office depot) had a rough night at the office (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   -- Where were the Toyota guys?
   Toyota drivers were pretty much no-shows during SpeedWeeks, aside from Kyle Busch's amazing Shootout performance.
   Martin Truex Jr. did take the measure in the 500's midrace $200,000 leader bonus, beating Biffle. And Denny Hamlin, not really seen much up to Monday's start, did lead a race-high 57 laps of the 202. And Joey Logano was impressive at the wheel, though not with his luck, although he did finish ninth.
   But when the big, big boss flies all the way over from Tokyo to see this NASCAR stuff for the very first time, and even takes a few laps in that 2013 mystery NASCAR Toyota, well, it comes across as a major disappointment.

   -- Dodge?
   The big winner was clearly Brad Keselowski, whose in-car Twitters and Twitpix were a big hit. (And NASCAR says it won't penalize him for carrying a cellphone in the race.)
  

  

    One hellava Tide commercial.... (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   -- That fiery mess over in the third turn, where Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a safety truck and ignited 200 gallon of jet fuel?
   The safety truck driver, Duane Barnes, who has worked at Michigan International Speedway for 24 years, was shaken but okay, and even returned to the track to watch the finish, after a brief visit to Halifax Medical Center. "I appreciate everyone for taking the time to write, call and ask how I am," Barnes said in a short statement. "I am okay, and I am amazed at how many people have wished me well. I am also glad Juan Pablo Montoya is okay, and thank him for his concern."

   The fire itself wasn't the biggest problem; it was the fuel, which is all but toxic to an asphalt. So track officials used a novel ploy of soaking the track in Tide, the famous laundry detergent.
   Joie Chitwood, the track president, was relieved, after it was all over: "There is no training manual to light a track on fire and respond to it. 
   "The worst possible thing that can happen to a racetrack is fuel. And we hardly ever talk about burning fuel; fuel alone is bad enough. 
    "So I'm really proud of the way the team responded."
   The 48 Hours of Daytona, Chitwood said, "was very challenging, rain delays and trying to complete the 500 miles. 
   "But what the team did, in responding to a burning jet dryer on the track, is phenomenal.
    "And that we got to finish the race under green is a heck of an accomplishment. 
     "The team was prepared, the expertise was there, the training was there, the teamwork with NASCAR was there.
    "We had 200 gallons of burning jet fuel on the track -- We had to respond, deal with the driver of the jet truck, the driver of the racecar, suppress the fire, then applied oil-dry to soak up excess fuel.
    "Then we watered the track, we soaped the track, then watered it again to clean up any soap. 
     "After that we applied street bond to make sure any excess stone or anything that was showing from the fuel leak was covered.  And we dried it with blowers."

    Daytona president Joie Chitwood: sometimes it might be less nervewracking just to go back to regular stunt work.... (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

    It took two hours, from the 10 p.m. ET conflagration until the 12 midnight restart, to get everything under control.
   However just the fact that the track crew was able to deal with such a bizarre situation was amazing.
   NASCAR didn't let drivers walk over to inspect the injured asphalt, but that may have been just as well, because drivers were a little skittish with what little they did know.
   "The track held up well," Earnhardt said. But he conceded he was nervous, listening to the bits of asphalt flying up and rattling under his car. "When you're a driver and you hear things flying up, that's not typically normal.
    "So I just assumed the track was pretty soft. But it held up well. They did a great job, whatever that deal."
   The fire, Earnhardt said, "was very scary, and looked like something that was going to be tragic.
    "So I was happy to hear that everybody was okay and able to go home to their families."

    NASCAR's Mr. Twitter:Brad @Keselowski (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

    During the two-hour red flag for track repairs, drivers climbed out of their parked cars and talked…and Twittered, on Keselowski's cell phone.
   "I heard he was in trouble for having a recording device in his car," Earnhardt said. "But I think that's how Brad is, man. That's what he enjoys. I thought it was pretty funny.
   "We did take the phone and put it to some use -- looked up the weather, because it was drizzling. So it did come in handy."

    The red flag, however, proved costly to both Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. When their crews pulled off the plastic windshield protectors, NASCAR quickly penalized them to the rear of the field for the rear, for working on their cars under the red..
     Both men, championship contenders of course and among the handful of 500 prerace favorites, never got back into contention.
  
   -- What next for Danica Patrick? Heck, after going 0-for-3 in the opening week of the season, things can only get better.
   This was her Sprint Cup debut. And Patrick, who got more deliberate media, marketing and promotion out of this SpeedWeeks than any other driver in this sport's history, was all in all a big flop. She did win the pole for the Nationwide race, but three bad crashes didn't do much for her stock. She finished 38th in the 500.
   Her next Cup race is at Darlington Mother's Day weekend, but she's running the full Nationwide tour too, so she won't be vanishing.
   After her first lap crash in the 500, she had to go behind the wall for extensive repairs; she returned to the track some 60 laps down.
   "I have nothing to gain, but I also have nothing to lose, and I picked up a lot of good tips," she said of her final hour of racing. "I just wish the beginning of the race could have been a nice single-file line.
   "I feel bad for disappointing my fans….but I'll come back stronger."
 

 Danica Patrick: 0-for-3 at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)