Takeaways from the 2015 Daytona qualifying races -
Same Old Hendrick Stuff - Jeff Gordon won the pole, Dale Junior and Jimmie Johnson won the races, and that was basically it.
If They Get Competition, It Will Be A Surprise - The Joe Gibbs Toyotas and Penske Fords are the only other teams with any muscle against Hendrick, and in the 150s that challenge was little to nothing. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards preferred to race for nothing - i.e. second - instead of challenge Johnson. Ford meanwhile more and more looks to be easing out of NASCAR, with nothing outside of Penske to show for anything.
Where Did Clint Bowyer Come From? - The only impressive run all night was Clint Bowyer, who is on his third racecar this week.
Stewart-Haas' Mediocre Night - Kurt Busch showed the most fight of the SHR cars and got busted by another ridiculous yellow line penalty. The other SHR cars were okay, though Harvick seemed MIA all night.
Danica Crashes Again - That she still made the 500 was pathetic.
RCR Racing To Nowhere - Austin Dillon looks worse than he did last year and the rest of the RCR fleet has no fight.
NASCAR's Rules Myopia At Work Again - The leader was almost unpassable all night and the lack of push-drafting yet again made for a forgettable night. NASCAR at some point needs to figure out that rules myopia is myopia no matter what euphemism is used. The penalty on Kurt Busch yet again leads to the question - what purpose exists for this yellow line rule?
What began with a so-so 75-lap shootout now awaits the Truck 250, Sportsman Cars 300, and the 500 as Speedweeks 2015 rolls on, but right now a so-so Speedweeks has been just that.
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