Well, the Coca Cola 600 became the race that just would not quit. After a Sunday night of waiting, the rain finally got the best of the event and it was postponed until Monday. This was bad news for the fans in the stands who spent a long day at the track hoping to see racing action. The news was OK for those who were watching from home, as they would now have a race to watch with the family on a Monday holiday.
The event got off to a good start, but was plagued by rain off and on all day long. Most fans wondered if this event was even going to make it to the halfway mark or if the teams would be returning on Tuesday to finish up. As the event neared the halfway mark, NASCAR did something very unusual and silenced the cars at 3:00 in honor of Memorial Day. The tribute was an outstanding gesture to those who we honored on Monday, but could have really affected the ability of the race to reach halfway with rain threatening.
The event finally restarted and made it to half way. By not pitting, David Reutimann gained the lead just prior to the rain delay. This proved to be the most important move of the day, as the race never restarted due to rain, and Reutimann was declared the winner of the event a few hours later when NASCAR determined that the race had gone long enough. The rain just wouldn't let go and the race finally came to an end, well short of the finish.
On the paint scheme front, the race featured a few special looks. The #48 of Jimmie Johnson carried an appropriate patriotic look for the Memorial Day event. The car's design featured the names of the 12,548 Lowe's employees who are military veterans or reservists. The rest of the design was inspired by Chad Knaus, who recalled the red, white and blue schemes his father used to drive in Rockford, Illinois.
Kurt Busch competed in the Coca Cola 600 with the same special Miller Lite Taste Protector Lid scheme he raced last week in the All-Star event. The #16 of Greg Biffle featured the Red Cross on the hood of his Roush-Fenway #16. The #43 of Reed Sorensen carried the colors of the US Air Force. Matt Kenseth took to the track in special colors for R&L Carriers.
The Coca Cola 600 (or actually the Coca Cola 340.5) was certainly not the event everyone was looking forward to, due to the numerous rain interruptions. NASCAR now turns its attention to a meeting of the drivers, owners, and NASCAR officials at the Research and Development center in Concord. The sport faces uncertainty in the auto industry, sponsor loss from the economic downturn, boring racing, Car of Tomorrow issues, recent drug policy violations, sinking TV ratings, low race attendance and the lack of noteworthy personalities in the sport. There are many issues facing NASCAR, and hopefully this meeting will shed some light on how the sport plans to handle them.
