NASCAR Race: McMurry Wins Daytona 500 with an Asterisk
Jamie McMurray, who was about a 25 to 1 underdog in the BetUS NASCAR sportsbook, outlasted his rivals on Sunday to take the checkered flag in the 2010 Daytona 500.
McMurry crashed out of the NASCAR race in 2009 before winning it this year. Sunday’s Daytona 500 victory, no doubt, is the biggest of McMurray career. McMurray knew how important the victory was because he could not stop himself from weeping like a little girl who had found her freakin puppy after a flood. Seriously, it was one of the worst displays of non-manhood I have ever seen in NASCAR sports. The man made Terrell Owens look like a mannequin. I was afraid he was going to drown; he was crying so much.
Besides McMurray’s awesome display of tear duct invulnerability, some might argue that another positive came out of this past Sunday’s Daytona 500. What was it? Their biggest NASCAR star, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 2nd.
Dale Jr., who was going off at +700 in the NASCAR sportsbook, shot from 22nd to 2nd because of two green-white checkered flag overtimes. Why did NASCAR break out with the goofy green-white checkered flags? Because somehow, someway, a pothole developed on the track.
NASCAR needed two red flags in order to fix the hole. The two red flags and the two green-white-checkered overtime flags led to a 6-hour Daytona 500. Because of that, I’m just not sure if it’s fair to say that McMurray’s victory was legitimate. I mean, how often is this going to happen? It took NASCAR race 144 minutes to fix both potholes. It took 1 hr and 40 minutes to fix the first pothole. Two green-white flags and the victory of the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s most important race, was crowned.
Really? Is that the way to start out one of the most important seasons in your sport’s history? NASCAR television ratings took a huge hit in 2009. Running a 6 hour Dayona 500 probably isn’t the way to get those viewers back. I don’t believe that pumping up Dale Jr. is the way to do it either, but at least that’s something positive that NASCAR race van convince they got out of this NASCAR race. It’s actually the only thing.
Jimmie Johnson, the 2009 AP Athlete of the Year, and 4 time Sprint Cup Champion, believes that the hole in the track caused him to split a tire. He ended up 35th after crashing during the NASCAR race.
Juan Pablo Montoya, looking for his first non-road course victory on the Sprint Cup Circuit, was in 2nd place before drivers started up again after NASCAR race officials finished patching up the pothole for the second time. He ended up finishing 10th.
Clint Bowyer, who was leading before the whole pothole debacle, ended up 9th. Greg Biffle looked like a serious contender before the ridiculous Hole Gate began and ended up 3rd. Tony Stewart, the pre-race favorite at +450 in the online sportsbook, was in good position before the pothole mess started. Smoke finished 22nd.
The most alarming thing regarding this whole mess is that most of my fellow NASCAR writers are talking about how the Daytona 500 on Sunday was a success. I just don’t agree. As a sports gambler, I was horrified at what I saw. Good money was lost on a legitimate driver not named Jamie McMurray this past Sunday to win the Daytona 500. Yes, the cliche “them are the breaks” is often times valid when it comes to online gambling on NASCAR, but the pothole mess was just plain stupid and idiotic.
The fact that NASCAR race can’t get the track right in their most important NASCAR race of the year is insane to me. The fact that Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 when better drivers and crews were in position to do so is shocking. Does NASCAR care that people are turning away from their sport and starting to watch other sports?
NASCAR Hole Gate is not funny. It is not funny to non-gambling NASCAR fans and it definitely is not funny to us sports gamblers who count on NASCAR race to run fair races.
The good news is that things look to change this week because NASCAR travels to Fontana where the track, no doubt, should be in perfect condition. Oh, I’ll be there again, logging onto the NASCAR race sportsbook and looking for that favorite and long shot that I believe could score me some dollars.
After all, there is one cliche besides “them are the breaks” that is true in regards to NASCAR betting even though it refers to a different sport. What’s the cliche? “When a shooter goes cold, what should he do? Keep shooting!”
Most NASCAR bettor went cold this past Sunday because of Hole Gate. Thank goodness that the NASCAR sportsbook will be offering odds on Fontana this weekend for us to “keep shooting”.
