AP Daytona runup=Groundhog Day?

He's still dead, you know...

 

There can be a place for an anniversary story that has something for everybody.

To a 15-year-old kid, reading about the xxth anniversary of Rosie Ruiz at the Boston Marathon may give him a story he otherwise didn't know about.

To a 45-year-old, it can mention some details long forgotten and/or missed the first time as well as providing a "Where are they now?" update.

Anniversary stories can be lame. But they don't have to be.

 

I'm curious why the anniversary of Easter merits a mention. Especially since it's on a different day every year.

 

Heard it explained once and it sort of made sense, so here goes.
Besides the fact it has the biggest purse of any of the races, more preparation goes into Daytona than any other race. From November to February, that's what teams are gearing for. There's also a spectacle about it, with the different format (qualifying races) and the history of the race.
No one doubts that the Indy 500 is the "Super Bowl" of open wheel racing, and it's in the middle of the year. So why is it such a joke that NASCAR's biggest race is first on the schedule?

 

I didn't think the Earnhardt anniversary death piece (we ran a great one from New York Times) was too much. It was a major event. The piece we ran talked more about Earnhardt's life and what he did to bring NASCAR into the sports mainstream and how the sport hasn't had a personality like him since. Very good read, even though we are nowhere close to being in motorsports country.

As for Sept. 11.... crank up the hype. I bet CNN and MSNBC do a 24-hour commemorative special. Fox News will do a week-long special highlighting "the history of violence in the Arabic World" and hail to the troops. I just hope someone does a report on how horrible it is to fly on a commercial airline these days.

It's an event worth remembering, but I suspect the overkill will be unlike anything since D-Day or Pearl Harbor.

 

Eh, it's more akin to the Masters or Wimbledon, a single event with a lot of history and prestige. The real "Super Bowl" is the Chase for the Championship that comes at the end of the season.

 

The Indy 500 is in the middle of the year, but it's really early in their race season.

They can't move Daytona to later in the year. That's where my parents went on their honeymoon, so I know pretty close to when their anniversary is and when it's time to get them a card!

 

The Daytona 500 simply evolved into being the series' blockbuster event. It grew out of earlier stock car races that were run, partially, on a stretch of the beach. In the late 50s Daytona International Speedway was built and from there the Daytona 500 as we know it emerged. Back then NASCAR series participation was much more fluid, with lots more races, but the Daytona 500 quickly became a must for most of the legitimate top-tier drivers.

 

It became that because Bill France owned NASCAR and he owned the track. Therefore, NASCAR declared the 500 to be the biggest race to further fill the France family pockets. Not much has changed.

 

I have a strange personal experience about Dale Earnhardt's death because I was never a NASCAR fan, and rarely watched races. But for some reason, I watched that entire Daytona 500. I obviously knew who Dale Earnhardt was and knew he was essentially the Michael Jordan of stock car racing. So when I saw him crash I just remember thinking "man, that was weird". Not that the crash was weird itself, it was fairly normal, and not a big wreck at all. I just remember having a weird feeling as his teammate crossed the finish line.

Then like an hour later someone called and said he had died. It was very strange. My family went on vacation to FLorida the next day. We had a layover in the Atlanta airport. There were a lot of race fans there basically mourning in the airport. Same thing at NASCAR cafe down in Orlando which was near our hotel.

Sorry for the threadjack. I just remember Earnhardt's death being very real. Maybe because you rarely see such a large sports figure die in his prime (yeah I know racing is different), let alone during competition.

 

But really, that's more like the NBA regular season in the aspect that only the die-hards care about it.