Speedweeks, NASCAR, and the Budweiser shootout

[dksuddeth]

Since hockey season died before it ever started this year, my winter sports selection sucked ass. Tonite kicks off at daytona with the shootout and its looking good. Any predictions or wishes from anyone out there?

sentimental champion wish for me is mark martin. he's never won it and this is his last year.

[archer2371]

Hendrick Motorsports will be the team to beat this year, not DEI.

[laconic1]

Dale Jr. just ran his qualifying lap, 8th out of 11 cars so far. Haha. Hendrick is going to be tough everywhere, especially on the plate tracks this year. The Roush organization is going to be good this year too. DEI will be lucky to put either car into the chase for the championship.

[dksuddeth]

i got a feeling jr will make it in the chase. hendricks will indeed be tough as will roush.
I think evernham teams will surprise alot of people this year though.

[Jrock]

Jr's going to have a rebuilding year, with all the crew switches he's had. It'll probably be mid season before they're as good as they were last year. Jr's a good driver, and can probably make the chase on talent, so he may still have a shot at the title. But I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and be yet another to say this is Hendrick's year. Johnson was near unbeatable near the end of last year, won the shootout this year, and is sitting on the front row at the 500. If he's as good as last year, he'll make the chase again for sure. Same with Gordon. Great driver, he'll be in the chase almost for sure.

I expect Kahne to make the chase too. Last year was a great rookie season, with a full Nextel season's worth of experience, he'll be even better this year. McMurry will be fun to watch this season too. He was awesome the last ten races last year, but didn't get as much attention as he should have because he missed out on the chase. I'm a Newman fan, so of course I'm pulling for him. He'll make the chase, as long as he doesn't get too many DNFs.

As for predictions for the 500, Hendrick is an obviose choice again, with Johnson and Gordon qualifying second and third, and both looking good in the shootout. Biffle looked good in the shootout too. I was very impressed with Newman in the shootout. Even on two tires, he was able to pull off a second place finish. His car seemed to suck up very well, I don't think he'll have any problem running up front. Traditionally he's not very good at plate races, but I think this may be his best shot to win one. I can't wait to see the qualifying races.

[loonatic8her]

Racing... I hated racing my whole life until my son started to make me watch it. Now that football is over... sob sob sob... I will at least have something to watch since those dipshits that run Hockey cant find a way to get their heads out of their asses. But my prediction will be..... Dale Jr will have an off year, Gordon will have a tremendous year along with Newman and Johnson... but what do I know... I still dont think of racing as a sport.!

[laconic1]

I don't like this new qualifying format, guaranteeing 35 spots each week. Admittedly at some of the races last year where only 43 cars showed up it wouldn't have made a difference, but I always hate it when a faster qualifier goes home so a regular that is way off the pace can ride around in the way on race day. Last year only two cars failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and both of those were hopelessly uncompetitive cars. This year it looks like some good race cars might be going home before race day.

[dksuddeth]

I think that the 35 spots is for the daytona 500 only, or am I wrong on that?

[laconic1]

No, it's for the whole season. Daytona is especially bizarre with the twin 150's thrown into the mix.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/14717/
this artice kind of explains it.

[dksuddeth]

thanks for the link crazybill. I have my doubts about this working as well as the new chase format did.

[Jrock]

Originally Posted by crazybill5280

...I always hate it when a faster qualifier goes home so a regular that is way off the pace can ride around in the way on race day...

The same argument can be made for both the new qualifying system and the old provisional system. How many times last year were faster qualifiers turned away becasue Joe Ruttman or Kirk Shelmerdine had the provisional? Then Joe or Kirk runs ten laps and pulls the car into the garage. At least this year those last eight (or seven plus champion) will be based on qualifying time so you don't have slower cars make the field just because they had a provisional. I personally think both systems have their pluses and minuses. I'm going to wait and see how it plays out before I pass judgement.

I do think 35 is too many guaronteed spots. When this thing was first discussed, I thought 20 or 25 would be a good number. 25 is enough that realistic championship contenders won't worry about missing a race, but leaves enough spots open that new teams have a good shot at making the race. I'm also completely against this system for bush and truck series. Busch and truck are were new teams get their start. Limiting who's able to race in the lower series limits the talent pool that feeds into cup. For cup, the highest level of stock car racing in the country, if not the world, I'll wait to see how it works before I make up my mind. But for lower series, I can't see how limiting the talent pool will do anything but shoot nascar in the foot in the long run.

edit: As I think about it some more, I think the same argument I make for not using this format in busch and truck series. This format may keep existing cup teams around past their prime, just because they were good the previous year. Getting an automatic start for the first six races makes it easier to get into the top 35, so you get an automatic start for the rest of the season, which makes it easier to finish in the top 35. I'm still not entirly against it, but now I'm less sure.