Day 2: Missing the pits

So when Michael Waltrip hit pit road with a bunch of other cars early in the 2nd segment of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, he sped right past his pit.

Who could blame him, really? I mean, for the last year, the guy's been used to running 2 laps and then making a hard left turn to load the car on the hauler to head home.

Ba-dum, cha!

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So the way NASCAR chose to address the sticky issue of whether or not Tony Stewart slugged Kurt Busch in their hauler following Friday practice was to say, "What happens inside the hauler, stays inside the hauler."

Yeah, I'm not down with that.

If a crew chief wants to say that in the interest of keeping a team close-knit, or a hockey coach does the same for the same reasons, I get that. But it's completely unacceptable for the governing body to choose not to discuss goings-on that have to deal with competitors.

It's no wonder the conspiracy theorists abound in the NASCAR world. NASCAR chooses to deal in secrecy, and it's not right.

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Trevor Sanborn finished 6th in the Super Late Model feature at New Smyrna Speedway, night No. 2 of the 42nd World Series of Asphalt Racing at the track.

Louie Mechalides started on the pole but finished 27th.

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When Daytona opened the infield "Fan Zone" a couple of years ago, I admit I scoffed at the idea like it was yet another scheme for a big company to squeeze even more money out of race fans.

Having seen it in person, however, I had a much different feeling.

I'm not sure if I was actually at a race track today. There were beer gardens, tiki torches and rock bands. And there are no better infield views of the track or the garage than the giant deck that sits on top of one of the Cup garages.

Three words. Awesome, awesome, awesome -- in the truest definition of the word. People we can talk all we want about New Hampshire Motor Speedway being "fan friendly," but with all the experiences fans are offered here, it's at a completely different level.

*****

Not that it has anything to do with anything, but...

I stood on the track today, and it was amazing both how high the banking was through the tri-oval and how narrow the actual racing surface is. ... Watched half of the ARCA 200 from the spotter's stand on top of the roof of the fronstretch tower. Stunning views, but poor for watching racing. Not only can you not tell which car is which, but there's also no depth perception that far away, either. ... Tony Stewart is the sport's new Dale Earnhardt -- fans boo and cheer him loudly, and you've always got to keep an eye on him, particularly if he's moving to the front.