Race 15 – LifeLock 400 at Michigan Recap

So, I'm a couple days late in my recap...oh well.

The race had its moments of excitement and overall wasn't too bad. It was typical Michigan with long green flag runs and fuel mileage playing a big part at the end of the race. Unfortunately for me, the place I was watching the end of the race had Directv, which went out with 4 laps to go. I did get to hear the "overtime" on the radio.

How did my picks do this week? I had the 1st, 2nd, and 5th place finishers, with some others that finished in the teeens.

Four with a real shot to win:
Kyle Busch - 13th place finish. Didn't look like his dominating self.
Tony Stewart - Nice 5th place finish
Denny Hamlin - 14th place finish was about 5 or 10 spots lower than expected.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Finally, a win!

Two who should do well:
Martin Truex Jr. - 17th place finish was disappointing.
Kasey Kahne - Another strong run with a 2nd place finish.

Darkhorse:
Reed Sorenson - Horrible race for Reed, finishing 34th. Was never in contention


The fantasy standings are getting interesting. I'll do a full writeup on them after the next race at Infineon Raceway.

Race 15 – LifeLock 400 at Michigan Fantasy Preview

This week’s race is at the "D" shaped, Michigan International Speedway. This race could either be very exciting, or very boring. Michigan is a wide track that gives the drivers plenty of room to maneuver and could have very long green flag runs. There have been races here without a caution, which makes it pretty uneventful. If one driver starts to dominate and lap the field it could get ugly early. Races without many cautions also mean it could come down to who gets the best fuel mileage in the race. Many drivers have run out of gas on the last lap at Michigan.

On the other hand, it could be an exciting race. Michigan has two or three racing lanes on the front part of the D, and will really tempt the drivers to push the limits. Based on the action we saw last week at Pocono, I’m going to guess we see a good amount of side-by-side action, and a good race this week.

Here's an interesting stat from NASCAR.com:

A Dodge or Ford has won each of the last 13 Michigan races, dating back to Jeff Gordon's victory in a Chevrolet in June 2001. Bobby Labonte leads all full-time drivers with three wins there, while five drivers have two.

Now, on to my picks…

Four with a real shot to win
Kyle Busch
Why not pick Kyle? After last week's disappointing 43rd place finish, he'll want to come out running hard in Michigan. The bad thing is that he doesn't have much success here (only two top 10s in six races), and his practice times weren't very good (27th fastest). With a normal driver I'd say to stay away from them with stats this bad, but come race day Kyle performs.

Tony Stewart
Tony has been solid at Michigan recently. In his last three here he has a 10th and two 3rd place finishes. In eighteen career races Tony has one win, eight top 5s, and twelve top 10s. His 12.0 average finish is also a strong stat. Taking out an accident in 2006, in which he finished 41st, Tony has all top 5’s and one 10th place finish since 2005. I like Stewart to run upfront all day and get the win.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Dale Jr. Historically he hasn’t done great at MIS. In seventeen career races here he only has two top 5s and five top 10s, with a 17.2 average finish. He has had some success here recently. In three of his last four races he’s finished 5th, 6th, and 3rd. He’s had a solid season so far, and this could be a track where he gets that elusive win.

Denny Hamlin
What track doesn’t Denny run good on? In two of his last three here he’s finished 5th and 9th. He’s a solid driver that knows how to go fast, and not wreck. Denny will be in the top 10 most of the day, and will be challenging for the win at the end.

Two others that should do well
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin has been close at Michigan recently finishing 2nd in last two here. I don’t know if he’ll do that good this weekend, but he should at least finish in the top 10.

Kasey Kahne
I never thought Kasey would win last week. I don't really think he'll win again this weekend, but he should carry some momentum from the win into Michigan and have another solid run. He has finished 4th and won in two of the last four here. Another solid top 10 run should be doable for Kasey on Sunday.

Darkhorse
Reed Sorenson
Reed has had a tough season so far. He’s sitting thirtysecond in points, and his only top 10 finish was 5th at Daytona. Michigan could be his second top 10 of the season. He has two top 10 finishes here in his last four races. I don’t think Reed will win on Sunday, but he should contend for a top 10 finish.

Kyle Busch – Love him or hate him, the kid is good

Fans love to boo a winner
Kyle Busch has been one of the most talked about drivers so far this season. He’s one of the best drivers, can dominate and win any race on any track, and of course the fans love to boo him and paint him as the villain. NASCAR fans, like fans of many sports, boo anyone who wins and dominates too much. Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, and Jeff Gordon all got booed by the fans when they were in their prime, winning 10 or more races a season. Kyle hasn’t won that many races in a season yet, but he does have 3 wins already in 2008. Kyle is being a good sport about the fans booing him though. At Darlington, as the fans booed on his parade lap before the race, he took off his sunglasses and acted like he was wiping away a tear. Good stuff.

Fans also love to boo a jerk
Along with his success on the track Kyle has had a few “bump and runs” as well. He has a very aggressive driving style, not letting up on any lap. Along the way he’s wrecked his share of drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond a couple weeks ago. This is a prime example of why many fans have come to despise and villainize Kyle. When asked about his approach to the races Kyle says, “I’m just out there to do one thing…win races.” He says that the fans’ reaction doesn’t matter to him. As Ray Evernham said, “He’s not really a villain, but the competition.”

Throwing beer cans at him isn’t the answer
Booing a driver you don’t like is fine. Yell at him; flip him the bird, whatever you want, but the fans that throw their beer cans shouldn’t be allowed back at the track. Security should try to catch as many of them as possible and ban them for life. After Kyle won the race in Richmond (when he wrecked Jr.) fans threw cans on the track at him, similar to what they did to Jeff Gordon after he passed Dale Earnhardt in career victories. What a stupid thing for the fans to do, for more than one reason. #1 being safety. They don’t all have strong enough arms to get their cans of beer on the track, and are hitting the fans in the front few rows. A 12oz can of beer cracking you in the skull can’t feel good. #2 is that throwing cans give the tracks a reason to stop allowing fans to carry in their own beverages. If people are going to act like idiots and throw their stuff around, there’s no reason to allow them to bring it in. This is a huge selling point for the sport, and I don’t think NASCAR wants to take that privilege away, but if people are going to continue to act like this they may not have a choice.

Will he become one of the all-time greats?
Kyle has been receiving some comparisons to the all-time great drivers in NASCAR. He’s heard some Earnhardt comparisons because of his aggressive style and dominating races. He said that it’s “Awesome to have that” regarding the comparisons. He says it more about being himself, and not worrying what others are saying.

Kyle is definitely one of the top drivers in the sport right now'. He has more raw talent than most of the drivers combined, and he has access to great equipment and minds at Joe Gibbs Racing. With all of this, he could be on his way to all-time greatness, but I don’t think we can really begin this discussion until he has a couple championships under his belt. The greatest, “King” Richard Petty has 7 championships, Dale Earnhardt also had 7, while Jeff Gordon has 4. All others considered among the best have 3 (Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarbourgh, David Pearson, and Lee Petty). No doubt, it's tougher to win a championship now than when most of these drivers were active, but if he wants to be mentioned among the best, that's what it'll take.

Kyle is off to a great start this season, and could very well win his first of many championships. If he does, then let the hype machine and larger endorsement deals begin. On top of all this, remember that the kid just turned 23 on May 2nd. He has what looks to be a long and promising career ahead of him. Will he become one of the all-time greats? Let’s see if he can win a championship first.

Race 11 – Darlington Recap and Fantasy Update

Well, the track was much faster with the new surface, and there were quite a few drivers that got their “Darlington stripe”. Kyle Busch hit the wall a couple times late in the race while leading, but it didn’t stop him from running away with the win.

The racing action wasn’t that great last night, but it wasn’t really expected to be with the higher speeds. Once a driver got the lead it was pretty tough to pass them. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made mention of it in the post race interview, saying it was almost impossible to pass. This should change as the new surface gets broken in and speeds slow down a bit.

So, how’d my recommendations do?
Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Jeff Gordon – Strong 3rd place finish, but didn’t have close to the car needed to win….but then again, no one had a car to compete with Kyle Busch.
· Jimmie Johnson – Had a pretty uneventful night and finished 13th.
· Ryan Newman – Disappointing night for Ryan. Got a couple laps down early, but made it up to about 24th, then had more issues and finished 37th.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Strong all night, and finished 4th.

Two others that should do well
· Greg Biffle – Greg was running strong, but mechanical failures had him finish dead last.
· Denny Hamlin – Strong 7th place finish.Dark Horse· Martin Truex Jr. – Martin was in the top 10 most of the night, and even cracked the top 5, but after a late race incident with Denny Hamlin he wasn’t able to hold the good position and fell to a 14th place finish.

Fantasy Update
We have a new leader! Highlife passed buchsmoto and now leads by only 16 points. After that it’s 220 points to 3rd place jusmony.

Browere made a big move, up 8 spots, to get into the top 10, and mouse moved up 3 spots to 13th, only 25 points out of the last chase spot.

Other movers:
· Hollydiaz got the high point total of the week, and moved up the most spots, 14, to 20th place.
· Smoke20 moved 8 spots in the wrong direction, dropping to 25th place.
· Amped Up and SkidRow lost 9 and 10 spots with their bad weeks.

Misc Notes:
11 races down 15 to go until the chase begins.
· Right now there’s only 112 point difference between 12th and 21st place.
· From 22nd place to 36th is only a 107 point difference

It’s still wide open and anyone can make the chase, so don’t give up now. There’s no points race next week, as it’s the All-Star race in Charlotte, so enjoy the week off, and be ready to pick your drivers for the Coca-Cola 600 on the 25th. Don't forget that the next Eliminator begins with the Coca-Cola 600!!

Good Luck!!

Race 11 – Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Preview

Another Saturday night race, this time at Darlington Raceway. The recently repaved 1.366 mile oval should be faster than normal. Look for speeds to be up, and possibly the number of drivers sliding into the wall early.

Back in early March Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Greg Biffle did some tire testing at Darlington for Goodyear. Could this give them a bit of an edge since they have a few more laps on the new surface than other driver?


Kyle Busch
With his strong run last week, Kyle Busch was able to pass Jeff Burton in the standings to regain the top spot he once held after the 5th race of the season. He’s only raced at Darlington three times, with just one top 10 finish, so it doesn’t look too good for him Saturday night. However, Kyle has four straight top 10 finishes, three of them in the top 3, so momentum is on his side. The new surface will also be fast and slick, which are conditions Kyle loves. Will the momentum and new surface carry him to a top 10 finish or better on Saturday?

Jimmie Johnson
After climbing up to 4th in points a couple weeks ago, Jimmie has had some mediocre runs at best, and has slipped a few spots to 7th. I expect Jimmie will be back to his dominating self this week. He has eight career top 10s in only nine races. He should be running up front all night.

Jeff Gordon
Jeff has looked good in some races and didn’t get the results due to wrecks, but had the opposite happen last week when he wasn’t running very good, but found himself in 9th place when the race ended. Expect all that to be different this week. Jeff has absolutely dominated at Darlington in his career. He has seven career wins, fifteen top 5s, and eighteen top 10s in only 27 races. Look for Jeff to be challenging for the lead the entire race.

Ryan Newman
This team has been up and down all season, and can’t seem to keep a good streak going. They’ve finished 1st at Daytona and 43rd in Phoenix. They’re sitting 11th in points right now, and must string together 5 or 6 consecutive top 10s to solidify themselves in the chase. They currently have two top 10s in a row, and should have a third one after this race. Ryan has finished in the top 10 here in the last 3 races, and has 6 career top 10s in 9 career races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jr. continues to put a solid season together. Every time I think he’ll have an off week, he proves me wrong and runs well. Last season it seemed like he mailed in a couple races, but this year he seemed focused every race, for the entire race. In an interview on April 3rd Jr. said, “It’s good to have other people you’re motivated to please.” Guess he was sick of Theresa. Look for him to stay motivated and please Hendrick Racing again this week.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Jeff Gordon – 1st, 2nd, 2nd in last 3 – 7 career wins, 18 career top 10s, 15 top 5s, in 27 races. How can you go against that success?
· Jimmie Johnson – 3rd, 4th, 7th in last 3 – 8 career top 10s in 9 races with 2 wins, 5 top 5s. He’ll make up for the 30th place finish last week.
· Ryan Newman – 4th, 6th, 5th in last 3 – 6 career top 10s, 5 top 5s, in 9 career races. Flyin’ Ryan likes to go fast, and the new surface at Darlington will be fast.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 8th, 5th, 8th – 4 consecutive top 10 finishes, 6 career top 10 in 13 races. He’s gonna win soon enough…

Two others that should do well
· Greg Biffle – 2 Wins in the last 3 here. Tough to go against wins, but we’ll see if he can keep it up while contract talks are ongoing.
· Denny Hamlin – 2nd, 10th in only 2 races here. He injured his hip playing basketball this week, but he won’t feel that once the adrenaline kicks in for the race.

Dark Horse
· Martin Truex Jr. – 11th and 14th place finish in his only two races here and coming off a season best 5th place finish at Richmond, Martin should have confidence on his side for this race.

Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Review and Fantasy Recap

It took a while for the racing to get good, but once it did, there was quite a bit of excitement. There was a lot of passing, and side-by-side action in the last 40+ laps and of course some pretty impressive wrecks.

Kyle Busch was able to stay in front of the crashes and stay in front of Juan Pablo Montoya to get the victory. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was strong all race, but couldn’t pull off the win after getting involved in a wreck, and finished in a respectable 10th place.

The surprise finishes of the race had to be Juan Montoya taking 2nd place, David Ragan in 4th, and Brian Vickers in 5th. Good jobs by these guys, and let’s see if they can build on this for future races.

The four drivers with a real shot to win.
The four I said had a real shot to win did pretty good, according to the unofficial results. We’ll see if this changes at all after NASCAR posts the official results tomorrow.
Jimmy Johnson finished 11th.
Kurt Busch was in a wreck and ended up finishing 39th after fighting to get back on the lead lap.
Jeff Gordon finished 12th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 10th.

The two others that I said should do well,
Ryan Newman finished 8th after running up front most of the day.
Brian Vickers had a great run and finished 5th.


Fantasy Update
phin got the high point total of the week with 594, and move up 5 spots, all the way up to 39th.

Browngw got the low point total of the week with 275, forgetting to take Mark Martin off his team, and dropped 18 spots from 5th to 23rd….ouch!

The biggest position gainer was hollydiaz, moving up 7 spots to 20th.

Eliminator
Redvette won the eliminator! His driver, Tony Stewart, didn’t finish in the top 10, but he finished ahead of shocker, who forgot to pick their driver.

The next Eliminator game will start with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, and once again will be free.

Race 9 – Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Preview

Talladega is the biggest track on the circuit at 2.66 miles. It's a wide track that allows for some good side by side racing. Let's hope the boys have the new car figured out, and can make the racing good. I don't want to fall asleep during the race this week.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Will this be the race that Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks his winless streak? Early in his career he dominated at Talladega. From 2001 – 2004 he had 5 wins, 2 second place finishes, and 1 eighth place finish. Since then he’s not been nearly as good, finishing 15th or worse (40th twice) from 2005 through the spring of 2007. In the fall race here last year, he finished in the top 10 taking home 7th.

He’s driving a lot better this year with Hendrick, and looks like a true contender for the title. We’ll see if he can get back to his old self and win the race.

Jimmy Johnson
He’s baaaack. He’s gotten himself back up to 4th in the standings with three consecutive top 5 finishes. Look for Jimmy to keep the domination going. He finished 2nd in the last two Talladega races and won the spring race in 2006, so he’ll be running with the lead dogs all race long.

Carl Edwards
If it weren’t for the 100 point deduction he’d be 2nd in the standings…although, after he got caught cheating he did poorly in Atlanta, but has bounced back since then. He’s finished in the top 10 in the last 3 races picking up a win in Texas. Talladega isn’t like the 1.5 mile ovals that Carl has been dominating at, so I don’t know if he’ll be a real threat to win the race. In 7 career races at Talladega, he only has three top 10’s and his best finish is 5th.

Drivers with a chance to win
· Jimmy Johnson – He is back, and in a big way. Look for Jimmy to show that he’s the man to beat. He has a 2nd, 2nd, and 1st in 3 of last 4 races here.
· Kurt Busch – Kurt has been pretty low key this year, all the way down in 16th place in the standings. I think he’ll be able to make some noise in Talladega. This track has been pretty good to him giving him a 7th, 3rd, 3rd, and 7th in last 4 races here.
· Jeff Gordon – Hey, he’s Jeff Gordon. He won both races here last year, has 6 career wins at the track, and 13 top 5s.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 5 career wins at the track, racing for Hendrick now, and hasn’t won a race in 2 years. Look for him to end that this weekend.

Two others who could do well
· Ryan Newman – Talladega is fast and Newman loves to go fast. He’s finished 5th and 9th in last two here and 5 career top 10s. If he can avoid a wreck, then he should be in the front pack with a couple laps to go.
· Brian Vickers – Brian did well at Daytona, the only restrictor plate race so far this season, finishing 12th, and I look for him to challenge to get into the top 10 this week. He’s won and finished 3rd in 2 of the last four races here. In his career he’s been hit or miss, finishing 27th or worse 4 times, and top 10 the other 3 times. I say it’s time for another top 10 for Brian.

Season Review after 8 Races

Gripes about the Schedule
We’re only 8 races into the season, and the Sprint Cup Series has already taken 2 weeks off. They only have three more races before their next non-points weekend (May 17th), and then they have eight straight races without a week off (May 25th – July 12th). After their week off on July 20th they don’t take a break the rest of the season, meaning they race every weekend from July 27th until November 16th.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to space out the weeks off? At a minimum there should be a week off between the 26th and 27th race to give the teams a chance to catch their breath and prepare for the “Chase”. This is definitely something NASCAR should look into more closely and get smarter with.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Well, so far this season Dale Jr. is looking pretty good. If there were a Most Improved Driver award, I’d have to give it to Jr. for his performance so far this season. Last year at this time he was 15th in points. He now finds himself in 3rd, with 6 top-10 and 3 top-5 finishes.

In the season preview I said he needs to perform like an elite driver and show he’s ready to race like a champion. He’s done a good job of that so far. He hasn’t won a race yet, but he should break his two year drought soon. He’s been close, but hasn’t been able to get a W. If he wants to stay atop the list of serious contenders he’ll need to get more than one win this season, which he could easily do after the first one comes. If it doesn’t happen this season and/or next season he’ll be in danger of becoming “Dale Earnhardt’s son”. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not what a champion would be called.

Attendance
Attendance has been a mixed bag so far this year. The races held in “destination” towns, like Las Vegas, have fared pretty good and have either sold out, or came close to it. Other races, like Martinsville, struggled to fill the seats. The race promoters are learning that they just can’t say they have NASCAR and sell $100 tickets anymore. They need to offer more to the fans. People want more reasons to visit a town. Gas prices no doubt have an effect on attendance. NASCAR fans like to have fun, and bring their big, gas guzzling, RVs to the races and party for 3 days and nights before the races. Now that gas is up to $3.60 or more per gallon it’s costing people hundreds of dollars to get to their favorite tracks, which few can afford. Hopefully some better promotions and add-on attractions to compliment the race will be more of the norm in the future to help bring fans back to the tracks. And of course, hopefully the economy gets better so more people can afford the race experience. I know from first hand experience that it’s a blast. It’s hard to beat the atmosphere of NASCAR weekend at a track.

Ratings
Ratings for NASCAR started out great for the first 4 races.
· Daytona drew slightly more viewers (175,000 more) than last year, although not as many as 2006.
· The rain delay coverage of California on Sunday night drew 10.9 Million viewers. That either says NASCAR could be real popular in Sunday night prime time or that there is absolutely nothing on Sunday nights. I’ll let you decide.
· The viewership of Las Vegas was way up. 12.4 Million people watched the race, which is 1.4 Million more than last year.
· Atlanta drew a 5.6 rating, which equates to 9.8 Million viewers; 700,000 more than last year.
· After that, the ratings dropped. Bristol, Martinsville, and Texas all had worse rating than last year. Phoenix matched its ratings from last year.
Why the drop off? My guess is boring races. In the first four races there was an average of 30 lead changes, meaning there was quite a bit of side-by-side racing. In the last four races there was an average of only 15.8 lead changes. Not much side-by-side racing, and one driver dominated most of those races, making them almost unwatchable.

Let’s hope the teams figure out this new car soon so we can get back to watching some good racing.


More notes and observations are on the way, so keep an eye out. Until then, leave a comment and give everyone your opinion.

Food City 500 Review and Fantasy Recap

Of the four drivers that I picked to finish in the top 10, Kyle Busch looked the most dominant, but power steering issues dropped him down to a 19th place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle were able to get top 10 finishes, but Carl Edwards finished 18th, 2 laps down.

The two others that I said should well were mixed. Ryan Newman got caught up in a wreck and had a disappointing 33rd. Matt Kenseth had a solid day finishing 10th.

The surprise finish of the race had to be Aric Almirola. This was his first race of the season, and only 7th of his career, and he finished 8th. His previous best was 26th at Phoenix last fall.


On the fantasy side of things buchsmoto regained the lead with a 591 point week. Browngw to the high point total of the week with 636 points, and moved up 13 spots to 13th place.

5 races down, 21 to go until the chase begins. There’s no race next weekend as the drivers get to stay with their families for Easter. As always, don’t be afraid to post your comments or send some mail through the website to talk some trash to the other players.

Race 5 – Food City 500 Preview

Kyle Busch is leading the points chase has tore up Bristol lately. He’s averaged a 5th place finish in the last four races here. Look for that domination to continue on Sunday. Right now it looks like he could begin a streak of domination not seen since Jeff Gordon in the mid-to-late 90’s.

Qualifying position means a lot at Bristol. Since the track is only ½ mile, it’s easy for the 25th – 43rd place qualifiers to get a lap down early. Kyle Busch starts down in 22nd since qualifying was rained out, so he’ll have to get on the move fairly quick if he doesn’t want to fall a lap down early. With his aggressive driving style, he should be able to move people out of the way and get to the top.

Greg Biffle is kind of a surprise at second place in the standings. He’s had solid runs with two top 5’s, one top 10, and a 15th being his worst finish, in California. He’s done well at Bristol over the past two seasons, so there’s no reason to believe Sunday would be any different. Biffle should be a solid pick to finish in the top 10, and his 14th place starting spot should help him stay up with the leaders.

Right now Denny Hamlin is the lowest ranked driver that made the chase last year, in 19th place. He’s only had one top 10 finish this year which was a 9th in Las Vegas. A 12th place starting spot isn’t too bad, but Hamlin hasn’t done particularly well in Bristol, so don’t look for him to make much noise.

Normally a driver that would be an easy pick to win is Jeff Gordon. But his last win here was in 2002. He also does not have two consecutive top 10 finishes at Bristol since fall of ’01 and spring of ’02 (4th place & a win). In his last race at Bristol Jeff finished 3rd, so if history is any indicator, he’ll probably finish outside of the top 10 this week. He's starting 2nd, so if there’s ever a chance for him to get back-to-back top 10s this is it, but I’ll go with history on this one and say he finishes just outside the top 10.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Kyle Busch – 2nd, 8th, 9th, 1st in last 4 – starting 22nd this weekend
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 3rd, 5th, 7th in 3 of last 4 – starting 15th this weekend
· Carl Edwards – 7th, 4th, 1st in 3 of last 4 – starting 9th this weekend
· Greg Biffle – 7th, 10th, 5th in 3 of last 4 – starting 14th this weekend

Two others that should do well:
o Matt Kenseth – 1st & 3rd in 2 of last 4 – starting 4th this weekend
o Ryan Newman – 8th, 9th, 7th in 3 of last 4 – starting 13th this weekend

Daytona 500 & Season Preview

Well, the field is set for the 500, and we’re ready to start a new NASCAR season! Like every year there are several questions to begin the season. We’ll discuss some of them here.

Hendrick Racing
Will Dale Jr. become a consistent driver?

• He’s looked good early at Daytona, winning the shootout, the qualifying race, and starting 3rd, but he does well here every year.
• Jr. needs to perform like an elite driver this year. He’s had “potential” since his rookie year in 2000, now he actually needs to show he’s ready to race like a champion.
• Last year Jr.’s average finishing position was 18.6, the 3rd worst of his career.
  He must step it up this year for Hendrick if he wants to remain in a premier car and not fall to the wayside like Kyle Petty.
• The bottom line is that Jr. is a good driver, and should make the chase this year, and probably win a couple races.
• Long term, I don’t see him ever winning a championship. He’s a good driver, not a great driver.

Can Gordon win a 5th championship with the chase format?

• His last championship was in 2001, and he’d be at 6 already if NASCAR had the traditional point format, and not the chase.
• Gordon was definitely revived last year and battled neck and neck with Jimmy for the championship, but was the second best driver in the series.
• His career isn’t done, and he’ll contend for the title the next couple of years at least.
  Will he win one? Don’t count him out, but it’ll be very tough.
• He’s starting 8th at Daytona, and should be in the top 5 or 10 at the end of the day.

Can Johnson win three championships in a row?

• Why not? He’s flat out, the best driver in the series.
• He’s starting on the pole, and is the driver to beat.
• The Daytona 500 will be his this year.

Will Casey Mears be the forgotten man for Hendrick?

• Can he perform as well as Kyle Busch did last year?
• Well, starting 9th at Daytona is a good way to kick off the season.
• Mears may do okay at Daytona, getting a top 10 or 15, but I don’t expect him to make much noise this season.
• Kyle Busch is a better driver than Mears and should do much better than him this season, but only time will tell for sure.
• Finishing in the top 15 in points would make this a successful season for him.

Michael Waltrip

• Saying Michael had a tough season last year is an understatement. He only qualified for 14 races.
• He qualified 2nd for Daytona, but then again, he always performs well at Daytona, so is this an accurate gauge of the upcoming season?
• Only time will tell. I’m cheering for him, since he is a good guy, but he’ll need some luck to become a serious threat to win races this season.

Joe Gibbs Racing

• Stewart won the Cup in 2002 & 2005, can he do it again this year?
• He’s qualified in 6th for Daytona, and is always a threat to win every race he’s in
• Tony could definitely win Daytona, and possibly the championship, but he’ll need Jimmy Johnson to have some bad luck this season to do that.

Can Hamlin become a top driver?

• Denny has been impressive in his first two seasons.
• He actually did better his rookie season, having an average finish of 12.5 compared to 14 last season.
• Denny should be a consistent driver that makes the chase and wins a couple races each season, but not a serious threat for the title.
• He’s starting 4th at Daytona and will probably run strong. Look for him to finish in the top 10.

So, who’ll contend for the win this weekend?

• Jeff Gordon – He’s awesome at Daytona. He won in 2005 and was in the top 10 last year
• Jimmy Johnson – He’s just awesome everywhere. He won it in 2006, and 5th in ‘05
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Finished 3rd in 2005 and 8th in 2006
• Mark Martin – The 49 year old driver finished 6th in 2005 and 2nd last year
• Tony Stewart – He’s only finished in the top 10 once the last 3 years here, so he’s due.