Tough one out there today, boys are girls. The commute on this race day was not for the impatient or the meek.

Left the hotel in the greater Sanford-Lake Mary-Heathrow metropolitain area at about 8:30. Went 10 miles and came to a complete stop, nothing but brake lights in front of me. Stop-and-go for the better part of an hour. Another writer up ahead tells me that the FHP has blocked off exits to US 92 and I-95, forcing all the traffic on I-4 to go in one way.

For a little while, I honestly began to worry that I wouldn’t make it in time. Did I have enough cash to park in a satellite lot and walk? Finally, as I get closer to Daytona, I find that the routes that had been blocked off are now open. A few zig-zags around traffic, a navigation of Daytona’s infernal new way of entering the Turn 4 tunnel (note to Robin Braig: You need a few more secutrity checkpoints there) and I’m in. Total time on the road: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

All told, that’s not bad. I’ve been in race-day traffic jams more than 3 hours long at Charlotte and Martinsville. But I should have taken the lead of my colleague Joe Menzer, who left a half-hour later than I did - the man needs his sleep - but used the super-secret back way preferred by local Dave Rodman, and beat me by 15 minutes. And so ends the first race of the day.