McMurray, using a boost from former teammate Greg Biffle, powered into the lead on the second and final green-white-checkered attempt. But Earnhardt, who restarted the final sprint in 10th place, was slicing his way through the field.

He weaved in and out of traffic, shoving his Chevrolet into three-wide lines, eventually darting his way to McMurray’s bumper. It was vintage Earnhardt – he’s a 12-time Daytona winner spanning NASCAR’s top two series – and McMurray was terrified to see him growing in his rearview mirror.

“When I saw the 88 behind me, I thought, ‘Oh no.’ He had a good car and I just thought – Earnhardt and Daytona, they win all the time it just seems like,” McMurray said. “You never know what to expect.”

But with just two laps to make up so much ground, Earnhardt ran out of time and had to settle for second as McMurray sailed to his first career Daytona 500 victory.

“In that specific incident I can really relate it the very first one at the beginning of the race (Lap when I was up high and some cars came together in front of me,” Patrick explained. “There was smoke and I just kind of held my line and slowed down and they went from crashing in front of me to sliding down the track a little bit so I missed it,” Patrick said.

Although Danica Patrick lasted just 68 laps in her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Daytona International Speedway, Patrick gained valuable NASCAR experience. “I was just starting to get it,” Patrick pleaded with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., as she drove the mangled No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet to pit road for repairs. Patrick started the race 15th And narrowly missed the second wreck in Turn 2 on Lap 7 that damaged eight cars. Her evasive move even surprised spotter Chip Ross, who asked, “Did you get any of that?” Patrick replied, “I don’t know how I didn’t but I didn’t.

“In that specific incident I can really relate it the very first one at the beginning of the race when I was up high and some cars came together in front of me,” Patrick explained. “There was smoke and I just kind of held my line and slowed down and they went from crashing in front of me to sliding down the track a little bit so I missed it,” Patrick said.

But rolling back in the 34th position among the riff raff was not the most advantageous place for Patrick to be. That proved true when a wreck ignited between Colin Braun and Josh Wise at the start of the tri-oval and collected the No. 7 and nine other cars in the process.

“In (the final incident) I did the same thing I could see actually something happen out of 4, definitely, some car got sideways, he got it, it looked like. I slowed down in the middle of 4 ’cause I saw it, but I thought we all were under control. Then all of a sudden you see smoke and I literally could not see a thing.” On Lap 69, Patrick retired the No. 7 behind the wall.

Danica experienced a few miscues along the way. She stalled her car on pit road, was unsure as to where to line up on restarts, and struggled with closing in on the car ahead of her. She finished 35th and said that the difference in cars and this close-style racing “surprises” her, even after running a dress rehearsal a week prior in the ARCA Series — which is a lower level stock car racing division.

Team, I was browsing my March 2010 CAR AND DRIVER magazine and I came across an article titled “Runaway Toyotas”. In the article, they test 3 different vehicles: a Toyota V-6 Camry (a recalled vehicle), an Infinity G37, and 540hp Roush Stage 3 Ford Mustang. Engine horsepower ranged from 268 – 540 horses. The idea was to see what techniques can be employed to stop each of these vehicles normally and again with a simulated stuck throttle. If you find yourself in a runaway situation, try to remain calm and employ one or a combination of the following techniques.

1. The best choice to stopping a runaway car is put it in NEUTRAL or PARK. Automatic transmissions have a device called a park pawl which will prevent the wheels from locking while at speed. The last thing you should worry about is damaging the transmission.

2. In a panic situation, the natural response is to hit the brakes. During this test at full throttle, the brakes of the Toyota, Infinity & the Ford were strong enough to bring those vehicles to a halt. The braking distance obviously was increased compared to the braking distance in a normal situation. The Infinity has electronic throttle software that cuts power to the engine whenever the brakes are applied. This allowed the car to stop in approx 10 feet further than a normal braking situation. You may need to use BOTH feet when you apply the brakes.

3. Kill the ignition. This will shut down the engine but you will also lose power boost to your brakes and power steering.

In addition to this article, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, on 4 Feb, did a piece on some of these same techniques.

Let’s compare:

Wiper Blade Change:

1. Buy new windshield wiper blades (not refill, buy the whole blade… remember when we talked before about spending money to save? this is one of those moments..)
2. Take off old wiper blades
3. Put on new wiper blades

Air Filter Change:

1. Buy new air filter
2. Take out the old air filter
3. Put in the new air filter

Making A Bowl of Cereal:

1. Buy cereal
2. Buy milk
3. Find a spoon
4. Find a bowl
5. Put cereal in bowl
6. Put milk in bowl
7. Put spoon in bowl

See how much easier the first two are? And if you are lactose intolerant, you can still do 1 and 2, but you can’t do 3!! Now, do it yourself and stop wasting money.

Are you letting someone else change your oil? If so, why? Oil changes are one of the easier jobs to do on your vehicle, and if you are not doing the oil changes yourself, at least promise me you won’t take it to the dealership to have it done… that is just bleeding cash out of your wallet.

Take a little time to learn how to properly change your own oil. You will feel better about your vehicle for many reasons.. you saved money, you proved you can do it yourself, and you know it got done right and that you didn’t get screwed by an unscrupulous business that cuts corners by not changing your filter or oil (which defeats the purpose of paying for an oil change to begin with). Also, if you don’t take your car to a shop for oil changes, you don’t have to worry about them talking you into letting them change your wipers out for you – which, by the way is even easier than oil changes. If you can’t change your own wipers, chances are that you can’t even change radio stations..

By the way: using a non-dealership shop does NOT void your car’s warranty.

The only exception to this rule is if your car’s performance changes. If the car starts acting funny, then turn it in. Otherwise, keep your wallet closed by staying away from the dealer.

People will upgrade their gas, but won’t change their timing belt at the recommended time. The gas upgrade is a worthless waste of money, but a timing belt that breaks because it is worn or brittle is an expensive disaster… lots of parts that need a belt to time them so that the don’t collide at high speed will now do just that.

Drivers will wear their tires so thin that you can practically see the air… dangerous! Or, they will use the wrong type of tire for their climate, which can cause skidding accidents.

Sometimes, you have to spend money to save money. Other times, spending money is a waste of money. If you are not sure which is which, open your car’s owner’s manual and start reading.