A very fast 500 has an 80's feel

Busch dominating, in an excellent 500

Just over halfway thru the 500 and from the drop of the green flag the race reminded me of a mid 80's Daytona 500. If you are judging success on how the race is ran today then I would have to say that Nascar has hit a home run with the Car Of Today. Outside of Kyle Busch (who has been the only one running consistently upfront) the race has featured a lot of different drivers running up front. I was standing at the end of pit road and got to look at the tires coming off of the front runners and I noticed that everyone was blistering tires, with the worse being Dale JR, who was missing half his tread. But Hamlin's was amazingly clean. If it wasn't for his left rear quarter-panel, I think he would be contending for the win. But I was a nay-sayer with the COT but I must say so far the race has made the teams get the car handling good first before worrying about the draft. It was just the opposite in years past.

There is the second caution, so lets hope for a finish under the green.

John Gibson - Tech Editor, SCR