I wanna pick Jeff Gordon to win at MIS on Sunday, but he starts 36th, which is too far back to win from. I mean, it's possible, but Jeff will probably end up losing it late in the race again.
So, I pick Kasey Kahne to win his first race of the season, because he's starting on the pole and he finished second here in June with that new Ford engine.
There will be challengers, of course. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, and a couple of Roushkateers like Biffle and Kenseth will play a role in the outcome of this race.
Showing posts with label sprint cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sprint cup. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Lots of Stuff To Go Over...
I've been gone for a week, so there's a lot to cover....
Pocono:
Greg Biffle winning was the greatest thing that could've happened to Roush-Fenway Racing and Ford Motor Company. Roush of course, was involved in a plane accident earlier in the week (again!), but he is doing good recovering. Ford debuted the R9 engine back in June at Michigan, but this is their first win this year, which makes this the latest in a year Ford has won since like 1983 or something.
The Elliott Sadler/Kurt Busch wreck late in the race was unnecessary. The inside wall Elliott hit was sticking out at an odd angle, and needs to be straightened out, as well as have the SAFER barrier installed. And how about that hit??? His entire engine came out! That was huge!
Points leader Kevin Harvick continues to racking up top-fives...but can he win on something other than a restrictor-plate track?
Watkins Glen:
After 113 races, Juan Pablo Montoya has won again! Granted, it's on a road course, but Montoya dominated the day, leading 74 out of 90 laps, and running away at the end from challenger Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Busch. Montoya's other win came at Sonoma in his rookie year in 2007.
Marcos ran with Montoya all day long, lead eight laps, but missed the setup slightly at the end, which allowed Juan to pull away. Poor guy, he'll get his win soon! And perhaps next year will be a breakout season for him, as it is rumored that he will replace Kasey Kahne in the #9 Ford. Kahne is rumored to go to Red Bull Racing, the year before he will take over the #5 Hendrick Chevy.
And guess who finished fourth??? A.J. Almmendinger! It's good to see him run up front. His only other top-five came at the 2009 Daytona 500 (third).
Carl Edwards finished fifth after starting from the pole, and after the last couple races, Carl is starting to look real strong, and I wouldn't be surprised if he won a race or two here when the Chase starts.
Jamie McMurray once again had a good finish in sixth, and is less than 100 points out from a Chase berth, but he is much too streaky for me to pick him to make it.
Jeff Gordon finished tenth after a mediocre day, and the winless streak continues.....I pick him to break that streak here in the next few races, possibly at Bristol. We'll see, but until then, the FRUSTRATION continues.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT???? I hear Chicago is going to host the opening Chase race, moving New Hampshire from it's place in September 2011. And Kentucky might get a date, and Kansas will likely pick up another date???!!!
It's so stupid that NASCAR is giving Kansas a second race, as if we need more cookie-cutter tracks! At least they took away Fontana's second race...but what the hell?
Pocono:
Greg Biffle winning was the greatest thing that could've happened to Roush-Fenway Racing and Ford Motor Company. Roush of course, was involved in a plane accident earlier in the week (again!), but he is doing good recovering. Ford debuted the R9 engine back in June at Michigan, but this is their first win this year, which makes this the latest in a year Ford has won since like 1983 or something.
The Elliott Sadler/Kurt Busch wreck late in the race was unnecessary. The inside wall Elliott hit was sticking out at an odd angle, and needs to be straightened out, as well as have the SAFER barrier installed. And how about that hit??? His entire engine came out! That was huge!
Points leader Kevin Harvick continues to racking up top-fives...but can he win on something other than a restrictor-plate track?
Watkins Glen:
After 113 races, Juan Pablo Montoya has won again! Granted, it's on a road course, but Montoya dominated the day, leading 74 out of 90 laps, and running away at the end from challenger Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Busch. Montoya's other win came at Sonoma in his rookie year in 2007.
Marcos ran with Montoya all day long, lead eight laps, but missed the setup slightly at the end, which allowed Juan to pull away. Poor guy, he'll get his win soon! And perhaps next year will be a breakout season for him, as it is rumored that he will replace Kasey Kahne in the #9 Ford. Kahne is rumored to go to Red Bull Racing, the year before he will take over the #5 Hendrick Chevy.
And guess who finished fourth??? A.J. Almmendinger! It's good to see him run up front. His only other top-five came at the 2009 Daytona 500 (third).
Carl Edwards finished fifth after starting from the pole, and after the last couple races, Carl is starting to look real strong, and I wouldn't be surprised if he won a race or two here when the Chase starts.
Jamie McMurray once again had a good finish in sixth, and is less than 100 points out from a Chase berth, but he is much too streaky for me to pick him to make it.
Jeff Gordon finished tenth after a mediocre day, and the winless streak continues.....I pick him to break that streak here in the next few races, possibly at Bristol. We'll see, but until then, the FRUSTRATION continues.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT???? I hear Chicago is going to host the opening Chase race, moving New Hampshire from it's place in September 2011. And Kentucky might get a date, and Kansas will likely pick up another date???!!!
It's so stupid that NASCAR is giving Kansas a second race, as if we need more cookie-cutter tracks! At least they took away Fontana's second race...but what the hell?
Friday, July 9, 2010
Chicago Prediction
I believe that Denny Hamlin will win tomorrow in the Windy City. He's really picked up his game this year on 1.5-mile tracks, and seeing as winning from outside the top-10 is more common than winning from a top-10 start, Denny starts 17th and will get his sixth victory of 2010.
Of course, you can expect to see guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, and Kurt Busch to challenge Denny. Oh, and maybe Jamie Mac will do good starting from the P1 position.
Of course, you can expect to see guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, and Kurt Busch to challenge Denny. Oh, and maybe Jamie Mac will do good starting from the P1 position.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
NASCAR Date Changes
Why is NASCAR considering all these stupid date/track changes???
Kansas is lobbying for a second date, which most likely would take a race away from California. Look, if Fontana's going back to one-race-a-year, they ought to give the date back to Rockingham, not give another to Kansas. Nothing personal against Kansas, the racing there isn't bad...but why must we have another cookie-cutter date? Same goes for Las Vegas.
In a perfect world, the schedule would look like this:
Racetracks losing a date:
1. Fontana
2. Texas
3. Loudon
Racetracks gaining a date (or a second one)
1. Rockingham
2. Darlington
3. Montreal
The road course Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal ought to be in the Chase, giving the champion more credibility. It would replace Texas in November. Rockingham would replace California in the Chase, and Darlington would replace Loudon in the Chase, as well.
The Chase would look like this:
1. Darlington
2. Dover
3. Kansas
4. Rockingham
5. Charlotte
6. Martinsville
7. Talladega
8. Montreal
9. Phoenix
10. Homestead
That way, there's a little of everything....high banked speedways, flat tracks, a short track, a plate track, cookie-cutters, and even a road course.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Daytona Recap
How 'bout that race at Daytona? The last one with the old pavement sure was a doozy, hehehe...
Kevin Harvick won from the provisional pole position after a series of late cautions due to wrecks.
One incident we saw that hasn't happened at Daytona in a while was the "Big One", which, in this case, took out 20 cars. Usually the crashes at Daytona don't involve that many cars, as they often do at Talladega. But 12 laps from the scheduled distance, we saw half the field wiped out in turn three, due to Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton tangling. The reason we don't see it as much is because the handling that comes into play during a race at Daytona spreads the field out a bit more, so it's easier to avoid a spinning car cuz everyone's not right on top of each other. Check it out here!
Even though Kurt Busch spun twice in the final 20 laps, he still managed to finish seventh! ...and Reed Sorenson in the #83 car, who was involved in the big one, still managed to finish 8th!
The driver I had picked to win, A.J. Almmendinger, wasn't so lucky, as he got wrecked early on. He finished 36th.
And how about Junior??? He won the Nationwide series race on Friday night in that special #3 Wrangler car! When I saw that he won, I thought 'what are the chances of that?' He runs a special one-off deal to honor his late father, and he wins! ...and to cap it off, he finishes fourth in the Cup race! I see him making the Chase, because it's an even year. He makes the Chase in even years (2004, '06, '08, and now 2010).
Kevin Harvick won from the provisional pole position after a series of late cautions due to wrecks.
One incident we saw that hasn't happened at Daytona in a while was the "Big One", which, in this case, took out 20 cars. Usually the crashes at Daytona don't involve that many cars, as they often do at Talladega. But 12 laps from the scheduled distance, we saw half the field wiped out in turn three, due to Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton tangling. The reason we don't see it as much is because the handling that comes into play during a race at Daytona spreads the field out a bit more, so it's easier to avoid a spinning car cuz everyone's not right on top of each other. Check it out here!
Even though Kurt Busch spun twice in the final 20 laps, he still managed to finish seventh! ...and Reed Sorenson in the #83 car, who was involved in the big one, still managed to finish 8th!
The driver I had picked to win, A.J. Almmendinger, wasn't so lucky, as he got wrecked early on. He finished 36th.
And how about Junior??? He won the Nationwide series race on Friday night in that special #3 Wrangler car! When I saw that he won, I thought 'what are the chances of that?' He runs a special one-off deal to honor his late father, and he wins! ...and to cap it off, he finishes fourth in the Cup race! I see him making the Chase, because it's an even year. He makes the Chase in even years (2004, '06, '08, and now 2010).
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
NASCAR Makes And Models Throughout The Years
I was talking today with my dad about all the different makes and models of cars that have been rotated through NASCAR throughout the years, and I'd like to share a bit of that conversation...
Chevrolet has been around NASCAR pretty much since the beginning. Today, when one thinks of Chevy, they think of teams like Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, who both have been around for years, and both have fielded Chevy teams for the majority of that time. Drivers that really found success with Chevy include Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, and Terry Labonte.
On the other hand, you have team owners such as Joe Gibbs, who has been successful with a variety of makes and models. Starting in 1992, Gibbs ran Chevy's, with Dale Jarrett as his driver in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevy. Of course, they won the 1993 Daytona 500, a huge accomplishment. The only other race Jarrett won with Gibbs was the fall Charlotte race in 1994. Starting in 1995, Jarrett left for Yates, in which he found most of his success with, and Gibbs brought in Bobby Labonte, who really is known for driving the green #18 machine.
Starting in 1997, Gibbs switched to Pontiac (Grand Prix). In that ride, Bobby won 19 races and the 2000 championship. Tony Stewart joined the team in 1999 driving the #20 Home Depot Pontiac, and he went on to win the 2002 championship.
Gibbs once again switched allegiances to Chevy starting in the 2003 season. Tony won the championship again in 2005, which makes him the only driver to win a title with both the old points format and the Chase format (so far).
Gibbs racing changed make/model once again starting in 2008, getting on board with the Toyota camp (Camry), and has been successful with it so far.
Ford has not been so successful this year (2010) in the NASCAR top series, with Carl Edwards' Nationwide series win at Road America two weeks ago being the lone victory. But Ford has been quite dominant at times in the past.
Ford used to run the Thunderbird in the 80's and 90's, with teams such as Alan Kulwicki single-handedly winning the championship in 1992 (they called themselve the "Underbirds"). Mercury ran in the 60's and 70's quite successfully, but starting in 1998, Ford switched to the Taurus. In fact, at Las Vegas that year, nine of the top-10 were Ford Taurus'. They were so successful early on, that NASCAR made a rule saying all Ford teams must change their rear spoiler so there would be less downforce on the cars compared to other teams. This evened out the competition.
Fords top teams in recent years have been Roush Racing (now Roush/Fenway Racing), Yates Racing (now merged/defunct), Penske (now runs Dodges), and the Wood Brothers.
Roush racing has produced good drivers such as Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, and Carl Edwards. For his entire career, Jack Roush has ran Fords consistently.
Dodge, which made a comeback to NASCAR in 2001 after 20 years or so, is thinking of running the Challenger, which would be different from the Charger they currently run. The only other model Dodge has run since their return was the Intrepid, used by teams such as Evernham Motorsport, Penske, and Chip Ganassi until 2005. As of right now, the only team running Dodges is Penske, with Kurt Busch (#2), Brad Keselowski (#12), and Sam Hornish Jr. (#77).
I wish Pontiac was still around. They gave us some good memories, such as Bobby Labonte's championship season in 2000, Tony's in 2002, and their final Winston Cup victory was nothing short of spectacular. Ricky Craven, driving a Pontiac Grand Prix for Cal Wells, beat Kurt Busch's Ford by .002 seconds at Darlington for NASCAR's closest finish ever (well, at least since the introduction of electronic timing in 1993).
Whew! There's much more to be said about all the different makes and models run in NASCAR throughout the years, but these are the things I know about the current models being run. It is interesting to note how some car owners have changed models over the years (Gibbs), while some have always stayed the same (Hendrick), and all have had success.
Chevrolet has been around NASCAR pretty much since the beginning. Today, when one thinks of Chevy, they think of teams like Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, who both have been around for years, and both have fielded Chevy teams for the majority of that time. Drivers that really found success with Chevy include Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, and Terry Labonte.
On the other hand, you have team owners such as Joe Gibbs, who has been successful with a variety of makes and models. Starting in 1992, Gibbs ran Chevy's, with Dale Jarrett as his driver in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevy. Of course, they won the 1993 Daytona 500, a huge accomplishment. The only other race Jarrett won with Gibbs was the fall Charlotte race in 1994. Starting in 1995, Jarrett left for Yates, in which he found most of his success with, and Gibbs brought in Bobby Labonte, who really is known for driving the green #18 machine.
Starting in 1997, Gibbs switched to Pontiac (Grand Prix). In that ride, Bobby won 19 races and the 2000 championship. Tony Stewart joined the team in 1999 driving the #20 Home Depot Pontiac, and he went on to win the 2002 championship.
Gibbs once again switched allegiances to Chevy starting in the 2003 season. Tony won the championship again in 2005, which makes him the only driver to win a title with both the old points format and the Chase format (so far).
Gibbs racing changed make/model once again starting in 2008, getting on board with the Toyota camp (Camry), and has been successful with it so far.
Ford has not been so successful this year (2010) in the NASCAR top series, with Carl Edwards' Nationwide series win at Road America two weeks ago being the lone victory. But Ford has been quite dominant at times in the past.
Ford used to run the Thunderbird in the 80's and 90's, with teams such as Alan Kulwicki single-handedly winning the championship in 1992 (they called themselve the "Underbirds"). Mercury ran in the 60's and 70's quite successfully, but starting in 1998, Ford switched to the Taurus. In fact, at Las Vegas that year, nine of the top-10 were Ford Taurus'. They were so successful early on, that NASCAR made a rule saying all Ford teams must change their rear spoiler so there would be less downforce on the cars compared to other teams. This evened out the competition.
Fords top teams in recent years have been Roush Racing (now Roush/Fenway Racing), Yates Racing (now merged/defunct), Penske (now runs Dodges), and the Wood Brothers.
Roush racing has produced good drivers such as Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, and Carl Edwards. For his entire career, Jack Roush has ran Fords consistently.
Dodge, which made a comeback to NASCAR in 2001 after 20 years or so, is thinking of running the Challenger, which would be different from the Charger they currently run. The only other model Dodge has run since their return was the Intrepid, used by teams such as Evernham Motorsport, Penske, and Chip Ganassi until 2005. As of right now, the only team running Dodges is Penske, with Kurt Busch (#2), Brad Keselowski (#12), and Sam Hornish Jr. (#77).
I wish Pontiac was still around. They gave us some good memories, such as Bobby Labonte's championship season in 2000, Tony's in 2002, and their final Winston Cup victory was nothing short of spectacular. Ricky Craven, driving a Pontiac Grand Prix for Cal Wells, beat Kurt Busch's Ford by .002 seconds at Darlington for NASCAR's closest finish ever (well, at least since the introduction of electronic timing in 1993).
Whew! There's much more to be said about all the different makes and models run in NASCAR throughout the years, but these are the things I know about the current models being run. It is interesting to note how some car owners have changed models over the years (Gibbs), while some have always stayed the same (Hendrick), and all have had success.
Monday, June 28, 2010
NASCAR Fanatics Unite!
Hey all,
I just switched over from a different blogging site, wordpress.com....I've decided to start using this site because it's easier, and also because I'm hoping to make a lil' money on the side (please help me out by clicking on the ads on the side of the page!)
If you would like to read my old blog (very interesting), click on the link below.
http://joey2448.wordpress.com/
Anyway, I am a NASCAR fanatic who closely follows the Sprint Cup series, and I like to talk about the race each week and who's gonna win...my favorite driver is Jeff Gordon (He's gonna win a few races before the year is out, trust me).
I just switched over from a different blogging site, wordpress.com....I've decided to start using this site because it's easier, and also because I'm hoping to make a lil' money on the side (please help me out by clicking on the ads on the side of the page!)
If you would like to read my old blog (very interesting), click on the link below.
http://joey2448.wordpress.com/
Anyway, I am a NASCAR fanatic who closely follows the Sprint Cup series, and I like to talk about the race each week and who's gonna win...my favorite driver is Jeff Gordon (He's gonna win a few races before the year is out, trust me).
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