As I've been saying would happen for two years now, a Green-White-Checker finish managed to tear up a couple million dollars worth of equipment. It's a friggin' miracle that nobody got killed today, and NASCAR needs to change the end-race policy before someone winds up in court or dead. The most shocking thing I saw from the whole situation was from Clint Bowyer's in-car camera: he never lifted off the throttle, even as Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were wrecking directly in front of him (and even as he pushed David Ragan into the middle of the wreck). Hey, nothing's out of bounds at the end of the Daytona 500, even if you're doing extremely dumb things to try to finish third.

Oh, and a full season of "Kevin Harvick, Daytona 500 winner" is going to be just delightful. One of the biggest egos in NASCAR, and now he's leading the points and winner of the season's biggest race. Great.

One last thing before I sign off for the day: is it just me, or are the new Chevy commercials for the Impala Car of Tomorrow incredibly racist? Hey, check it out, we're racing the Impala! Attention, Black Folks! See? We're cool!

New complaint, and it involves the aforementioned Mr. Boogity Waltrip. Someone has to make him stop yakking about how awesome Toyota is during the Fox telecasts. He opened up the Bud Shootout (nee Busch Clash, possibly someday to be the Tequiza Tangle or Michelob Melee, according to my friend Rick) by saying that the story of the year is how hard the Toyota teams have worked, and that it's huge, great news to have such an awesome manufacturer coming into the sport. Today, while the booth guys were talking about Toyota making their first Cup start, he makes the non-sequiter of "Yeah, and the Camrys are all made right here in the USA!" Really? Thanks! I'm a little hazy, but I think I remember Darrell doing commercials the last two years for somebody...a car and truck manufacturer, maybe. They might have been Japanese? Can anyone help me remember, maybe?

I dunno, call me sensitive, but it really, really bothers me to have a supposedly impartial color commentary guy openly shilling for a company that he's a very public spokesman for during telecasts. Somehow, it just seems more subversive than the race breaks so that we can "see how the entire Coca Cola racing family is faring today!"

A quick pre-Daytona 500 note

...with more probably to come as I intermittantly become inflamed and/or outraged during the day.
Darrell Waltrip just said that there is "a stigmatism attached to Toyota being in NASCAR." Couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you, Mr. "Boogity Times Four Minus One."

Oh, also: go Juan. I want to see him win today and then rip off Cris da Matta's old catchphrase of "I keek ass!"