Daytona Wreck-a-Palooza

This is the Statt Mann Baby. Time to Scatt a little bit.

You had to see last night’s NASCAR Cup race at Daytona coming from far away. The crashes were wild even for a restrictor plate race.

Just as predictable was the finger pointing by drivers taken out in the crashes. Brad Keselowski had the most talked about comment or threat really: “I’ve got to wreck more people,” Brad said. “We’ll go to Talladega, and we’ll wreck everybody that throws a bad block like that.”

Curiously, Rick Stenhouse, Jr. was around most of the wrecks in one way or another. Officials gave him a security escort out of the track after the race. He finished 17th. Erik Jones won the wreck-a-palooza. It was his first Cup win. Oddly the only lap he led was the only one that mattered, the last one.

For years we’ve talked about NASCAR officials allowing drivers to block others without fear of penalty. A lot of that was going on Saturday night in Daytona. Now, if you believe the heated comments after the race, the drivers will take matters into their own hands.

Maybe cooler heads will prevail by the time the schedule gets to Talladega in October. Otherwise, it could get uglier.

Peace.