That's a wrap on seven solid weeks in Daytona (cont'd)

Did anyone else find it weird that the three races of the weekend featured two barn-burners mixed in with the most boring Daytona Busch race I've seen in a long time?

Travis Kvapil thoroughly dominated Truck testing -- that engine he had was in another world -- but when it came down to it, two Toyotas proved too much for him. Testing speeds in Daytona are nice, but misleading sometimes. Paul Menard had a wonderful test at Daytona in January, and he watched the race on TV.

As I left the track at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night, a group of five 20-something males were having their own demolition derby. The quintet had a shopping cart in which they placed a comatose member of their party, and they were pushing him into a full 55-gallon drum at full speed. They did this about 10 times in a row, because they stopped my car and demanded I watch.

It was pretty funny. Every time he hit the trash can, he flew out of the cart and landed about 10 feet away. I can't imagine his bruising. It is pretty funny to think that Clint Bowyer ended up Daytona in better shape than this unfortunate soul.

Martin's second-place finish has to be a welcome sight for Regan Smith, who will face a steep learning curve. The more owner points Martin can rack up before Bristol, the better.

David Stremme looked awfully strong during Speedweeks, and it will be a great story if it is he, not Reed Sorenson or Juan Montoya, who carries the torch for Ganassi this year. The chances of that happening? Slim. But so were his chances of blazing through Speedweeks with a runner-up in the qualifier and a strong 10th in the race.

Joe Nemechek finished a quiet ninth. Because he is one of the unfortunate guys who will have to qualify every week, he earned a little breathing room by scoring 138 owner points.

That was the best Daytona 500 I ever saw. Yes, NASCAR should be taking some heat for that crazy finish that saw no yellow flag, but that was a lot better show than the 2000 Daytona 500, wasn't it?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.