Blaney's second-place finish bouyed Toyota
Poor Kevin Harvick.
The Californian pulled off an impressive sweep of the two biggest races last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, but walks out of the season-opening festivities overshadowed in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series by the guys he beat.
Harvick's come-from-behind victory over Mark Martin in the Daytona 500 is well chronicled. Harvick is a lover of racing, though, and has committed himself to NASCAR's second-tier division, the Busch Series, as well.
His victory in the Orbitz 300 last Saturday was hardly a surprise, though, given that he won nine times in 2006 before claiming the Busch championship. Perhaps that is why the bigger story coming out of the Busch opener was runner-up Dave Blaney.
Blaney notched an improbable second-place finish driving a Toyota Camry. Though Toyota finished 1-2 in the Craftsman Truck Series race last Friday, the second-place finish in the Busch event was a much bigger victory than the foreign manufacturer had hoped for in its first weekend of NASCAR racing.
"To come out of [the Busch race] with a second-place was a great result for us," said Lee White, senior vice president and GM for Toyota Racing Development. "All of our executives that were here were thrilled with that finish. Dave Blaney did a great job."
Blaney said he might have done an even better job, possibly vying for a victory over Harvick, but he couldn't find the help to do it.
"I couldn't get [Harvick] without getting a push from behind," Blaney said, "and there were all Fords and Chevys behind me."
For Harvick's part, all he did was drive his heart out. He had a weekend to remember and must move beyond the talk of Martin and Toyota. A win this weekend in his home state of California would solidify Harvick's current Busch Series dominance -- which he attributes to a love for Saturday drives even if he isn't going to run a full schedule in 2007.
"I like the Busch Series," Harvick said. "It is where a lot of us got our start, it is where I got my first break with [Richard Childress Racing] and had some success there. I would rather be in a race car on Saturday; it is a big part of my racing career and always will be."
Long way from the Aussie lifestyle
Marcos Ambrose is a long way from his native Australia and is learning quickly that he's a long way from the laid-back Australian lifestyle, too.
For the first time in his career, he is participating in a racing series that has 35 scheduled events. Ambrose, who finished 16th last weekend in the debut of his rookie season, said it's not going to be a picnic -- but it's going to be fun.
"I'm really enjoying my racing over here," he said. "Everything in NASCAR is designed to race every weekend and everyone's lives work in a way so that you can race week in, week out. It's a long way from Daytona to California, but travel and busy schedules are just a part of NASCAR.
"The season is very busy, but I'm in America to race. You set yourself up to race and race often. The focus is on the racing and as far as I'm concerned the more racing, the better."
New perspective
Juan Pablo Montoya has succeeded at California Speedway before, just not in a stock car. The former Formula One driver and CART champion competed in two CART races for his current team owner Chip Ganassi. Montoya posted a top-10 and a top-5 in those two outings. This weekend, he's looking for his first-ever top-10 NASCAR finish. But success in open wheels doesn't smoothly translate to stock cars.
"It's so different," he said. "I'm comfortable [with the track], but it's a different car."
Rupen Fofaria has covered NASCAR for ESPN.com since 2002. He can be reached at rupenisracin@yahoo.com.
