Daytona 500 fans all wet over quick ending

CONCORD, N.C. - After a nine-hour trek from balmy Daytona Beach to blustery Charlotte that included a 50-degree drop in temperature, I logged onto the Last Lap message board to some equally frigid responses to this week's question:

The Great American Race has become The Great American Waste. -- Shawn H.

	Marty Smith

Given the stature and significance of the Daytona 500, do you think NASCAR should modify the "offical race" weather rule to require the entire 500-mile distance to be run, even if it means returning the following day to complete it?

At least 95 percent of the responses were negative, and not all focused in the same direction. Some hatred was spread towards the rulebook, some to the television contract and most to the powers that be in Daytona.

I do not envy Mike Helton. He's a loyal, stand-up guy who I'd go to war for. But he simply can't please everyone.

If he chooses to declare the event finished, the fans are furious because they didn't get the 500 miles of competition they paid hard-earned money for, and waited three months to see.

On the flip side, if NASCAR opts to make everyone - fans, media, competitors, janitors, families -- wait through a freaking monsoon, they're considered greedy because "they're just trying to sell more beer and hotdogs."

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The fans don't care about all that. They just want to see the world's best drivers defy logic for 500 miles. That's the root of the anger - give me 500 miles and nothing less, or you rank just below sphagnum moss on pond scum meter.

Examples abound:

RDD2448: Feel ripped off? Absolutely! We've waited 2 1/2 months for what? The Daytona 272 1/2, to be bumped by Bart Simpson and Married with Children?

It was bad enough for the fans at home, at least we were warm and dry. But what about those fans that traveled from all over the country and spent their hard earned money to be present at the Super Bowl of Motorsports?

I think NASCAR's decision stunk and needs to be revisited for next year!

This was a common response. There's no doubt that the 300th episode of The Simpsons was a lofty priority for the FOX network, and many inferred that its prime-time start time weighed heavily into the decision to cut the race short. I'd say there's some merit to that, but at present NASCAR ranks as high as any programming on the FOX priority list.

You don't devote continuous coverage to every on-track event on subsidiary channels -- that would be SPEED, for those of you who didn't catch on -- if you don't care. Plus, they're not paying $400 million a year to air Bart's annoying rear end.

That said, many wondered why the race was called so early when Daytona International Speedway has such an elaborate lighting system:

9isfine: What's the point of having lights at a track if NASCAR won't use them if the situation arises like (Sunday).

They may not be able to modify the weather rule at every track, but when you're at a track with lights, NASCAR shouldn't be so quick to pull the plug.

Like someone else here said, I believe the network had a lot to do with this decision.

I can totally see 9er's point, but it rained buckets until midnight -- some seven hours after the deal was called off. Who, besides this next guy, is going to sit around in the rain that long?

Not many. I talked to some fans that sat in Turn 1, and they said everyone around them was gone 40 minutes before the final decision was announced.

Ferk61: I felt that I was ripped off. They don't cancel the Super Bowl because of weather so why did they cancel the Daytona 500.

I strongly feel that they need to run the whole race, or at least 3/4 of it. I know of a number of other fans who feel the same as I do.

Hopefully NASCAR will change the rule in the near future.

First off, Ferk, keep dreaming. The rule doesn't need to be changed. It's been in place since 1969 and drivers and teams accept it. Secondly, the Super Bowl reference is tired.

Comparing football -- a sport in which players wear inch-long cleats on a permeable surface and are moving at seven mph - and racing - a sport where drivers are driving 3,400-pound missiles, on slick tires, at 190-mph, on a non-permeable surface -- is ludicrous.

Moreover, the Super Bowl is always played in a fair weather city that's conducive to favorable weather, or indoors to assure perfect playing conditions. NASCAR doesn't have this luxury. Plus, you don't miss any game action during the Super Bowl commercials.

This guy's even more out of touch with reality:

Pegleg342: Put a darn set of wipers, and rain tires on the cars and finish what you started. If the Indy Series, and CART can do it without a roof over their head why the heck can't NASCAR.

Get real, a little rain never hurt no body.

Just cause it's raining doesn't mean still run wide open, but if you got the nerve show it, after all you're the one who calls yourself a racecar driver.

That's how I feel about it, looks like to me all you NASCAR drivers are scared of the rain. LOL! I'M NOT.

Hey Pegleg, I dare you to look Tony Stewart in the eye and tell him he's scared of the rain. People would think you were carrying a camera or something.

For all the negativity -- believe me there was plenty, in fact some got so fired up they veered off on tangents regarding everything from preferential treatment of certain drivers and Chevrolet teams to NASCAR's inconsistent rules enforcement to absolutely lambasting FOX for running five minutes of racing coverage followed by 8 minutes of commercials -- there were several who agreed with the decision.

I happen to be one of them, and not just because I was working and didn't fork out a grand to see the show. Had I paid to be there, I'd likely share your sentiments and dad-gum sure would joined you in asking why it wasn't postponed until Monday.

The only person madder than you guys is Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who was relegated to a 36th-place finish in a second-place car.

Your frustration is valid. Fans take vacations to watch NASCAR, and continue to drive all over creation, buy countless t-shirts, hats and tickets in a difficult economic time to support the sport.

That's simply awesome.

But there's an underlying foundation, here, aside from the fact that NASCAR held strong to a ruling that has worked for 33 seasons:

For all the obnoxious hype and constant promotion of the Daytona 500, it still pays 180 points, just like Rockingham, Darlington and Martinsville.

No one seems to cuss when those races are cut short by weather.

Marty's Mailbag appears every Tuesday on NASCAR.com.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.