Race 10 - Crown Royal 400 at Richmond Preview

Well, this weekend the boys are running under the lights on a Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia. This is the short track that thinks it’s a super speedway. The ¾ mile track should give us a little bit of everything; high speeds, bumping, and good racing.

Kyle Busch
With the win last week Kyle Busch trimmed Jeff Burton’s points lead 58 points, down to just 22. Kyle has done really well at Richmond in his career. In six races he’s only finished out of the top 5 once (20th last year). Even though his two worse finishes of the season came on the short tracks at Bristol (17th) and Martinsville (38th), don’t look for him to finish that bad in Richmond. The D shaped track should fit Kyle’s aggressive style, so he should continue to do well.

Denny Hamlin
The third year driver has been having a solid, but fairly quiet year so far. He’s fourth in points with six top 10s, four top 5s and one Win. In four career races at Richmond he’s finished in the top 10 three times. His worst qualifying position has been 7th, so look for him to do well and run up front most of the night.

Kevin Harvick
Harvick’s career started out kind of rough at Richmond. In his first eight races (2001 – 2004) he only finished in the top 10 twice. Since then he has six consecutive top 10 finished with three top 5s. It’ll be hard to bet against those numbers.

Jeff Burton
Not much gets said about the Sprint Cup points leader and his chances to win races. It seems that Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, or the Hendrick drivers take a lot of the spotlight. Jeff has had a solid season so far with one Win and his worst finish being 13th in Daytona. Unfortunately I don’t think that success will translate to Richmond. Since 2004 (a span of 8 races) Jeff has only finished in the top 10 once. In the eight races before that (2000 – 2003) he had finished in the top 10 six times. That’s quite a drop off in performance. He may do okay and finish in the top 15, but I don’t see him challenging for a victory.

Tony Stewart
Smoke needs to start heating up. After the crash in Talladega and a 38th place finish Stewart dropped to 9th in the standings. Historically he’s done well at Richmond, and should have a shot at success on Saturday night. He has twelve career top 10s and three Wins at the track in 18 races. Look for him to be aggressive and push to the front.

4 with a real shot to win
· Kyle Busch – He’s been hot all season, and he does well in Richmond.
· Jimmy Johnson – Won last two, and is looking more like the Jimmy that dominated last year
· Denny Hamlin – He has a 6th, 3rd, 2nd in 3 of the last 4 in Richmond.
· Kevin Harvick – Six consecutive top 10s at a track is hard to ignore.

2 others that could do well
· Tony Stewart – 2nd, 8th, 6th in 3 of last 4, and ready to make up points after last week’s wrecks
· Jeff Gordon – Finished 4th in the last two races here, looking to get back in the top 12

Sleeper
· David Ragan – He’s only had two career races at Richmond, but finished 3rd in last fall’s race. He may be able to get another top 5 or 10 finish this weekend if he can avoid wrecks.

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.

Race 8 – Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix Preview

Well, let's hope the racing action in Phoenix is better than Texas. Last week was a snoozer of a race. The "experts" think that Phoenix will have 2 and 3 wide racing, giving it more action than the last couple of races. I don't know if I believe them or not. Texas was suppose to be an exciting race too, but it was far from it. ...on to the driver selections.

Jeff Burton is leading the points chase and historically he does pretty well at Phoenix. In his last six races here his worst finish has been 15th, so look for him to have a solid run this week.

Greg Biffle has been struggling lately finishing 20th and 39th in the last two races. Can his team turn it around? They’re usually hit and miss at this track. Over his last 6 trips to the track he’s finished as high as 2nd, and low as 41st. What’ll he do this week?? Who knows, but I won’t pick him for my fantasy team.

Can Jimmy Johnson continue his run of top 5 finishes? In the past two weeks he’s moved up 7 spots in the standings to 6th. Will be able to continue the momentum on Sunday? I think so. He’s finished in the top 10 in his last four races here, and top 5 in 3 of them.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Kevin Harvick – 6th, 10th, 1st, 1st in last 4. He qualified 17th, which isn’t great, but with his record at Phoenix you can’t go against him.
· Jimmy Johnson – 1st, 4th, 2nd, 7th, in last 4 here. After qualifying 7th, you should expect him to be in the lead pack all day long.
· Matt Kenseth – 3rd, 3rd, 5th in 3 of last 4. He qualified 27th and will need to get off to a good start, but he should be able to. If anything, his pit crew should be able to keep him on the lead lap for an extended period of time until the car is dialed in.
· Tony Stewart – 4th, 2nd, 2nd in 3 of last 4, qualifying 12th.

Two others that should do well:
· Jeff Burton – 9th, 10th, 9th in 3 of last 4. Qualifying 39th doesn’t help, but his average starting position this year is 21.4, and he usually ends up doing OK.
· Jeff Gordon – 10th, 1st, 4th in 1 of last 3 and qualified 11th.

Samsung 500 Review and Fantasy Recap

Carl Edwards was the car to beat, and dominated all day long. Kyle Busch and Jimmy Johnson tried to keep up with him in the race, but couldn’t get it done in the overtime laps.

The surprise finish of the race had to be Ryan Newman in 4th. This was only is 2nd top 5 finish of the season.

The drivers I said had a real shot to win did pretty bad.
Matt Kenseth did the best, finishing 5th.
Martin Truex Jr. had a top 10 run until his engine gave out with a few laps left.
Jeff Burton finished 6th.
Jeff Gordon was bad all day, and finished dead last.
Kevin Harvick did alright finishing 11th.

The two others that I said should do well, didn’t do so well
Jamie McMurray had a solid top 15 finish, placing 14th, helping him stay securely in the top 35 in standings.
Denny Hamlin had a good run finishing 5th.


On the fantasy side of things nascar_nug got the high point total with 580, moving up to 30th place. Buchsmoto is still leading the league by 45 points over highlife. Jusmony and Speedy both moved up 7 spots, to 3rd and 4th place.

jj24, who didn’t play the first week, and got 0 points, has overtaken Hessler for 48th place. Good job jj24! Hessler, you’re not so good.

7 races down, 19 to go until the chase begins. Check back on Friday or Saturday for a preview of the next race. 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.

Miscellaneous News and Notes From Around NASCAR.

Here’s some miscellaneous news and notes from around NASCAR.

Greg Biffle Contract:
· Biffle is in the last year of his contract
· He and Roush aregotiating a contract extension through 2011
· If there is no agreement, then he’ll test the market to see what other offers there are, but doesn’t expect that to happen
· Biffle’s contract extension is about 90% done, and they’re just working on the fine details. He did state that he wants it done by mid-season though.
· Could this become a distraction for him? It doesn’t seem to be so far, as he’s 3rd in points, but we’ll have to watch his performance on the track and see.

Jimmy Johnson’s rough season
· Chad Kanaus said he’s confused about the car and isn’t sure what’s wrong.
· Have they lost the magic? Last year everything came easy for them. Will they be able to battle through the rough times and come out on top?
· It looks like last week was a step in the right direction.
· We’ll see how it goes in Texas, but in an interview Jimmy said, “We don’t have what we all need on the big tracks.” It sounds like they’re searching for some answers.

Danika Patrick in NASCAR?
· On NASCAR Now, Danika said she’s not interested in NASCAR
· She asked the hosts what the advantages would be. I guess that’s a fair question considering she’d have to actually qualify for a race, finish 20th or worse about every time out, compete for sponsor dollars, etc.
· They said more races, more money, but less free time.
· She wasn’t buying it, and seemed kind of put out by the question. I never really liked her, but based on that interview I like her even less now.

Economics/Sponsorships
· Just like everything else in America, NASCAR is feeling the effect of a bad economy. There are several drivers and teams struggling to get sponsorship.
· Villeneuve is one guy who can’t find a sponsor. Bill Davis racing said that they have to find a sponsor before he’ll race again, otherwise he’s done for the season.
· Money is tight in NASCAR now, and it’ll create more disparity between the top tier teams and lower level.
· Look for Hendrick, Roush, and Joe Gibbs racing to pull away from the competition as the season wears on. It’ll be almost impossible for the smaller shops to keep up.

Race 6 - Martinsville Recap & Fantasy Update

Well, Martinsville is in the books, and it went pretty much as planned.

My four drivers with a real shot to win did very well, and Denny Hamlin did win. In addition to Hamlin, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished in the top 4. Although, Kyle Busch had some issues and finished 38th.

The two others that I said should do well did pretty good. Kevin Harvick finished 12th, and Stewart 5th.

And the pick I really called was my Dark Horse, Jamie McMurray. He made me look like I actually know what I'm talking about and finished 8th. 18% of the fantasy teams did have McMurray on their team, so good job by them to pick up some points.

More Fantasy Notes:

• Irish had the high point total of the week, and also moved up the most spots, 14, to 22nd.
• FYYFF had a rough week, only getting 427 points and dropping 17 spots to 34th
• Hessler still sucks....he's still in 48th, on my advise to him to pick up Arik Almirola. Hey, jj24, when you going to pass this bum up?
• The top 4 spots are only separated by 111 points. It looks like it'll be a close race this year.
• Eliminator - After 2 weeks 17 players have been eliminated, and we have 8 left.

Race 6 – Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Preview

Kyle Busch is leading the points chase by 30 points over Greg Biffle. Historically Busch has done very well at Martinsville. He’s finished in the top 5 in his last four races here. He’s definitely the driver to beat in NASCAR right now, and every time he goes out to race he can win. This week is no exception. Expect Busch to be contending for the lead the entire race, and don’t be surprised to see him take home the checkered flag.

Ryan Newman, the Daytona 500 winner, was having a solid season, but slipped a little after last week’s disappointing 33rd place finish. He dropped 4 spots in the standings, down to 8th place. Will the week off allow him to regain the focus and be ready for this week’s race? He’s only finished in the top 10 at Martinsville once in the last 4 races here. That was a 2nd place finish in the Fall of ’07 race. I’ll be cheering for Newman since he’s a Purdue grad, but I don’t have a good feeling about this race. He did qualify 13th, which isn’t bad, but he’ll need to do some good driving and stay clean to have a shot at a top 10 finish, which isn’t really his specialty.

The big mover in the point standings the past couple weeks has been Clint Bowyer. After 3 races he was in 23rd place. After a 6th place finish at Atlanta he moved up to 16th, and after a 3rd place finish in Bristol he moved up to 9th. Can he continue his hot streak and gain more spots in the championship standings? He’s finished 11th and 9th in his last two races at Martinsville, and qualified 12th this week, so he could do well.

Four drivers with a real shot to win. I know there’s not much creativity in picking the favorites, but you have to go with who you really think will finish well.
· Jimmy Johnson – Won last 3, and finished 3rd in spring ’06. This should be the week he gets back on track. A 10th place starting spot should help with that.
· Jeff Gordon – 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 2nd in last 4, and the pole position for this week’s race. He’ll be tough to beat.
· Kyle Busch – 4th, 4th, 5th in 3 of last 4. 8th place qualifying spot. Has this guy had a bad showing yet this year?
· Denny Hamlin – 6th, 3rd, 2nd in last 3. Qualified 2nd and should be a contender all day.

Two others that should do well:
· Kevin Harvick – 10th, 9th, 7th in 3 of last 4. Qualified 11th. Kevin is always a threat to win, and should be running up front in this race.
· Tony Stewart – 7th, 4th, 1st in 3 of last 4. Starting in the 9th position should help Smoke get his 4th top 10 finish in 5 trips to Martinsville.

Darkhorse of the race:
· Jamie McMurray – Has 2 top 10 finishes in his last 4 at Martinsville and qualified 5th. Hopefully he’ll be able to break out of the awful slump he’s in.

Race 3 – UAW Dodge 400 Recap and Fantasy Review

Overall it was an okay race, nothing spectacular. There were 19 lead changes, but a lot of them were during caution. I’m still waiting for that one race where they go side by side, rubbing to the line that makes you crave more. Hopefully Atlanta can provide that.

Two weeks in a row Carl Edwards has won a race, and two weeks in a row, no one picked him on their fantasy team. Carl now finds himself leading the points chase. Will that earn him some respect and make people pick him? We’ll find out next week.

Three of the four I picked with a real shot to win the race ran well, but in the end didn’t finish in the top 10. Jimmy had a horrible race, looking less than human. Kenseth ran strong most of the race, but ended up in 20th. Kyle Busch had the best finish, 11th, of the four, while Jeff Gordon had a great chance to win until he smacked the inside wall very hard, tearing his car to pieces. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him wreck like that before.

On the Fantasy side of things
jusmony builds on the lead, stretching it out to 57 points. Highlife had the high point total of the week, and jumped up 11 spots to 3rd place!

Buckeye65 jumped up the most spots, 13, this week moving into 13th place. Going the other way was spincycle, dropping 19 spots to 31st.

We’re only 3 races into the season, and there’s 23 left until the chase begins, so there’s a lot of time for those at the bottom of the standings to make up points, and those at the top to loose points. Nothing is set yet.

The next race is on Sunday in Atlanta. Good luck!

Race 3 – Las Vegas Preview

The series moves to Las Vegas this week, the home of Kurt and Kyle Busch. Both have done well here in the past, and look to have solid runs again today as Kyle Busch qualified in the pole position, and Kurt in 9th.

Last week’s winner, Carl Edwards, is trying to build on his success by qualifying second.

Jimmy Johnson who has dominated Las Vegas, winning the last three races qualified all the way down in 33rd spot. Will he be able to get more speed out of his car during the race? He had some quick times in practice, but nothing like the qualifying times of the top 20.

4 Drivers with a real shot to win:

• Jimmy Johnson – Must overcome a bad qualifying run, but if anyone can do it, he can.
• Matt Kenseth – He’s the last driver to win here not named Jimmy Johnson. He has also finished 8th, 2nd, & 4th in the last 3 races at Las Vegas.
• Kyle Busch – He loves his home track. He’s on the pole, and the last 3 years he’s finished 2nd, 3rd, & 9th
• Jeff Gordon – He’s always solid here. Finishing in the top 5 the last 3 races here.

2 others that should contend for the top 10

• Greg Biffle – He qualified 6th, and has a 6th and 8th place finish in 2 of the last 3 here
• Denny Hamlin – He’s been in the top 10 in both of his Vegas races.

California Review and Fantasy Recap

First some pre-race notes from way back on Sunday when the race first started:
- Seeing ZZ Top play a couple of songs was pretty cool. Look for NASCAR to continue those type of performers as they try to get their “core” fans back.
- Did anyone besides me notice Mark Martin’s hat he was wearing in the interviews? It had #8 on the side, but on the back it looked like it still had a Dale Earnhardt Jr. signature embroidered on it. Am I wrong, or was that really what I saw?
- Did anyone ever hear who the guy was walking around the pit area in his pajama bottoms, bath robe, drinking coffee during the rain delay? That was funny stuff.

Now onto the race…
It started off pretty good and had nice action. The Casey Mears wreck was unexpected, but I never though he was a good driver, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. Gordon had the dominant race car, and if they could have ran the race yesterday, he probably would have won it running away, but mother nature wouldn’t let that happen. He still had a good car today, but Carl was just a little better than Jeff and Jimmy.

The favorites for this race came through and did well. Hendrick rebounded with Jimmy Johnson finishing second, Jeff Gordon 3rd while Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were taken out in an early wreck.

As expected, Ryan Newman had a solid follow-up to his Daytona 500 victory with a 10th place finish.

Of the Four drivers I gave a real shot to win, Edwards did win the race (no one picked him for their fantasy team), Jimmy Johnson was 2nd, Kyle Busch 4th, and Matt Kenseth 5th. Too bad they were all in the chase last season, so you could only choose one of them for your fantasy team.

The other two recommendations, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Burton did pretty good also. Kahne finished 9th and Burton 12th. 38% of the fantasy owners had Kasey Kahne. Good pick up by those folks.

Jusmony won the high point total of the week award, and with it took first place from browere. Those two have put some early distance between them and 3rd place speedy, but will they continue to pick the right drivers and build on the gap to third place?

California - Auto Club 500 - Preview

Since qualifying was rained out the race lineup is a bit jumbled as they start in the position they finished last season…for the most part.

One of the main story lines will be if Hendrick racing can bounce back from the bad showing in Daytona. Outside of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick racing had 27th, 35th, and 39th place finishes. Look for them to do better today and get a couple of top 10 finishes.

Another story is Ryan Newman. He took advantage of the opportunity in Daytona to take the win, now can he keep that momentum and get a top 5 or 10 finish? California is a wide open track, which suites his style, so look for him to stay focused, avoid crashes and have a good finish.

As I stated, this is a wide open track that gives the drivers lots of room to maneuver. There are a lot of guys that do well here, but below are 4 drivers that have a real shot at the win.
· Matt Kenseth - He’s been great at California in his last 4 races with two wins and two 7th place finishes
· Kyle Busch – He has finished in the top ten in the last 4 races in California, and had the top car in Daytona. Look for him to continue the good runs.
· Jimmy Jonhson – Don’t forget about the defending series champ. He’s finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 3 of the past 4 races here.
· Carl Edwards – Cousin Carl has 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes recently and is looking to rebound from a somewhat disappointing 19th place finish at Daytona

Others that should do well:
o Kasey Kahne - finished 1st, 4th, 10th in 3 of the last 4
o Jeff Burton – two 4th place and one 5th in 3 of last 4

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.