Daytona 2010

Danny Efland completed his first Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2010, finishing 21st and on the lead lap in Corrie Stott's Chevorlet Impala. Here are his impressions of the race.

DAYTONA REVIEW

At the family dinner table last Tuesday night we discussed watching the Daytona races on TV that coming weekend. Little did I know that at 11:30 pm that night an offer to drive in the Nationwide race would come in over my cell phone and that after midnight I would be on my way to the track of my dreams — DAYTONA!!

Corrie Stott Racing had a last minute driver opening. You may remember that Corrie is the son of Ramo Stott, a 1960's era Cup Driver! Corrie is a past Cup Crew Chief who has started his own team. An offer to drive for him at Daytona is probably the biggest honor in my racing career to date.

Wednesday was consumed by car inspections, drug tests, registration and above all confirming with NASCAR that Yes, I was certified to drive Daytona. Having successfully competed at Michigan and California’s 2 mile tracks qualified my license upgrade to the 2 ½ miles of Daytona.

On Thursday we got 9 laps on the track but no drafting practice. We needed to find about 4 tenths of a second to make the field. We thought the changes we made would do it but it did not matter because qualifying was rained out and we were in the race under NASCAR’s rainout system.

On Saturday at Driver introductions I was actually nervous for the first time I can remember since Go-Karts. I was in the field at Daytona!!

Knowing I did not have the experience, particularly with bump drafting and whatever ‘side drafting’ meant, I immediately faded to the rear to learn ....... and learning was quick! A first lap crash in front of me forced me down pit road wide open to avoid wrecking cars - a move I had to make at least one more time late in the race to avoid Danica ( she only needs one name to identify her!). NASCAR had told us to use pit road under these circumstances because if you went into the grass with all the recent rain your car might dig in and flip!!

No one would draft with me and I really do not blame them - I was the least experienced driver on that size track in the field. Alone I began losing ground. Finally Danica’s people sent her to the back as well. We hooked up for about 30 laps and began to learn how the cars handled on a superspeedway. I found that mine was faster following than leading and finally I experienced that ‘side draft’!!

After pit stops and some well thought out car adjustments by the crew I hooked up with Kenny Wallace, Bobby Gearhart (who had won the ARCA race the weekend before) and Scott Riggs. Our four car draft kept us just behind the lead pack. It was quite a thrill and I knew I was learning when after the next pit stop, Kenny Wallace told his spotter to find the ‘02' spotter and get the driver (me) to hook back up with him.

Needless to say the race was exciting - you probably watched it. I was living my dream and had gotten very comfortable with the track, the car, and using the draft. The team had made all of the right calls on the car during the race.

We developed into an 8 to 10 car second pack and with about 12 laps to go, Corrie Stott came on the radio and said "Go get ‘em". My original orders had been to just ride, take care of the car and learn. Now I was turned loose. The racing was tight and the draft comfortable. We got as high as 15th . I was running 17th on the white flag lap when Kyle Busch spun coming to the checkered flag and a ‘wall’ of white smoke appeared ..... I checked up slightly and got tagged from behind. The result was a spin that put me across the finish line with 4 flat tires and in 21st place!!

I had finished my first trip to Daytona on the lead lap (my first in a Nationwide race) and with my highest finish in 24 starts - I had run Daytona - and all in 4 days from a mere dream!
Thank you Corrie and guys!

Danny Efland