Brian De Los Santos

It has been awhile, I know.

Most of the people reading this blog probably know me from our auto racing coverage, but I'm also the college basketball producer for CBSSports.com, so, as you might imagine, that kept me pretty busy over the last month and a half.

Things really started to pick up with the conference tournaments and our Bubble Watch which I strived to update every night. It was the first time we've done such a feature and I didn't realize what a bear it would be. Admittedly there were a couple of hiccups at first, but we eventually worked the bugs out. In the end, I successfully  predicted 33 of the 34 at-large teams -- I had Ohio State in the tourney instead of Oregon. Ohio State did go on to win the NIT, so perhaps the selection committee should have listened to me.  

And then it was time for Selection Sunday and the Big Dance and all the bells and whistles that come with it. In my Final Four I had UNC, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and UCLA. There were a couple of reasons I strayed away from Kansas and Memphis.

1. I've been on the Kansas and Memphis bandwagon in the past and it bit me. I wasn't going down that road again. As a wise man once said: "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."

Wait, no, that's not the one ...

"Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again. "

Yeah, that's the one.

In actuality, though, I was fooled in to NOT picking these teams. Ha, but next year I'll know better.

2. Kansas was the one I really flubbed on, I had nothing against them beside the fact they had let me down before. I just didnt believe in Memphis period. Though they played a great non-conference schedule, I just didn't think the C-USA properly prepared the Tigers for a deep tourney run. Plus I fell in love with Pitt late in the season. They were playing terrifically up until laying a huge egg against Michigan State.

Oh, well, maybe I'll have better luck next year.

In any case, I can now breathe a little easier, reconnect with the family and jump back on the auto racing bandwagon. And for my 10s of readers of this blog, I'll try to start blogging again at least once a week -- after I get back from a well-deserved vacation.

Later.

... maybe not so great for Danica Patrick.

At long last, the IRL and Champ Car have ended one of the most ridiculous feuds in history.

It's about time. The divide lasted much too long. NASCAR has assumed the throne in America, while the former king has become nothing more than an afterthough aside from when Indianapolis rolls around.

It made absolutely no sense to have two series providing basically the same product. I just never understood why it took so long for CART/Champ Car to come to its senses. Twelve years this has gone on. Why? Too many egos it seems.

With the Indy 500 in its back pocket, the IRL always had the upper hand. I've always felt the IRL product was better as well. The oval concept with which it was born under worked well and led to some compelling racing, even if not a whole lot of people noticed.

Meanwhile, CART/Champ Car stuck with the street and road courses, which has much less appeal except to hardcore fans. 

According to reports, the IRL will gobble up three races from the Champ Car schedule, but it will remain heavy on the ovals. Hopefully it stays that way as well.

According to reports, Champ Car teams expected to move to the IRL include Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, which won the past four Champ Car championships; PKV Racing; Forsythe Championship Racing; Conquest Racing; Derrick Walker Racing and Dale Coyne Racing.

It's for this reason I say it's not such a great day for Patrick. With a stronger and deeper field -- in addition to more road courses which aren't exactly her specialty -- winning just got a whole lot harder. However, if she does manage to win now, it will be a much great accomplishment, but I'm not so high on that feat happening like I once was. 

Finally, though, there's hope for open-wheel racing in America again.

If the axiom that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, then open-wheel racing will be Paul Bunyan in no time.

So there's a thread started by CowboysForever9 titled Daytona a letdown?

Now I can see why this particular member might be disappointed. Their avatar does feature four Hendrick drivers after all. After dominating the headlines all week, Hendrick Motorsports simply failed to live up to expectations today. Jeff Gordon was the only Hendrick driver to show any strength, running top three the first half of the race until a suspension part failed him.

Earnhardt Jr., though he ran top five, top 10 all day, really wasn't a factor. Fourth was about the best he could do on his own. Pit strategy got him into the lead and he couldn't really hang there very long. Johnson and Mears were involved in crashes.

Overall, I thought the race was pretty good. Did you know there were 81 green-flag passes for the lead around the track, and 42 official lead changes at the start-finish line. The 42 lead changes were the most since 2001 and only the fifth time since 1972 that there were 40 or more lead changes during the race. The 16 leaders were the second-most in Daytona 500 history.

Kyle Busch definitely had the best car. The late cautions, however, worked against him. If he had had a slightly longer green-flag run to the finish I'd say he definitely would have won.

Probably.

The complexion of the race really changes once the sun goes down. Cars that were great early aren't always there at the end. Busch was, but perhaps he wasn't quite as strong on the cooler track.

Stewart was kind of in a no-win situation there at the end. But he probably should have stayed high and raced head-to-head with Busch. That likely would have ensured at least one of the Gibbs drivers won. But instead he pulled low. Was he trying to block Busch or hoping he'd be able to get a stronger push from his teammate that from Newman. Who really knows? He was in a tough position.

Stewart has now finished top 10 in five of his 10 Daytona 500 starts. It's the only race he has yet to win at Daytona.

Congratulations to Ryan Newman and Roger Penske. It's been a long time coming for the owner of 14 Indy 500 trophies.

That'll wrap it up for me from Daytona. Good night everybody.

REED SORENSON (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger)
ON THE RACE: “The first half of the race was so hot and slick. You could see everyone out here separating. We took the conservative side on tires. We just tried to keep an eye on the leaders – if we could still see them we were happy. We knew there were going to be cautions at the end. We just took care of the tires, took care of the car and went after it there at the end.  

ON THE LAST FEW LAPS: “It was pretty fun there at the end. We had a lot more grip there at the end. We got two or three wide and pushed each other really hard and there happened to be about four Dodges lines up at the end. Everybody on the team has done a great job since we got here and I think that says a lot about what we can do this year.”

WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND AS YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE: “I was happy. Everyone on the team was.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)
ON THE RACE: ”To give my teammate a shot and to push him victory makes me feel like we won this thing as well right along with him.”

ON TEAMMATES AT DAYTONA: “You have to have teammates when you are restrictor plate racing. You have to work together whether you are on the track or off the track. Penske Racing deserves this. It’s our first ever restrictor plate win and we came through with a one-two finish.”

ON STARTING AT THE BACK: “We had to work our way to the front and then we got caught speeding on pit road. This is just a team effort and I’m really happy for this Miller Lite Dodge.” 

DONNIE WINGO (Crew Chief, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger)
ON THE RACE: “Well, with about 12 to go it looked like it was going to be pretty good. We fought being loose all day. We finally got it pretty good and finally got the opportunity to kind of get wedged up in there and we kind of got shuffled out and somebody got in the left rear of us and knocked us out. It knocked the left-rear corner panel down on top of the tire and we had to come in and get it off or it was going to smoke the rest of the race and probably blow a tire out.”

ON REED SORENSON’S FINISH: “We’re tickled to death. Anytime one of our cars can run good, I mean that’s good for the whole organization. That’s what we’re all in here together for.”  

SAM HORNISH, JR. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger)
ON THE RACE: “We were just trying to learn and make the car better every time we had a pit stop. It’s a big thing for me to just try and learn more and more each time we go out there. I tried to just be smart and not get ourselves into too many problems.”

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH A 15TH-PLACE? “I’m about as happy as I can be with a 15th place finish. I want to win every time we go out there, not to be disappointed about it. We came in with a goal that if we were in the top-20 we would be happy with that.  Not only were we able to do that, but we were able to see one of our teammates win so that was great.”

ON PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES: “I’m stoked. This is a big puzzle that we’re trying to put together here and put all of the right people in the right places. We’re just moving forward and trying to do the best that we can. As far as the team as a whole, to have two veteran drivers finish first and second in the Daytona 500 and a rookie driver finish in the top-15 – I feel pretty happy about that and I know that Roger (Penske) does too.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)
ON THE RACE: “We just had a good car. We had a really good car all race long. I think we were in the top 10 all day long at all times. I was really happy with our Budweiser Dodge and Allstate and everybody that’s a part of it. The team did a good job with the pit stops, the car was great, just everything was really good today. It was awesome. W