This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup season officially gets underway with the Daytona 500. Known by many as "The Great American Race", the 500 is widely considered by fans and drivers to be the Super Bowl of Racing. Winners of Daytona are known forever and careers are capped off by drivers being able to notch a win in the race that garners the most attention out of any run during the season. As Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig says, "This speedway is a venue that is known throughout the world as a place where everyone in motorsports wants to claim a victory."
The Daytona International Speedway is a 2.5 mile super speedway centered in the middle of an enormous 480 acre motorsports complex known as the "World Center of Racing." This event is 200 laps and speeds will top the 200 mph mark as drivers make their way down the backstretch. While this is a fast track, it is one that offers a great challenge to drivers to negotiate the track by drafting with other cars and for crew chiefs to get their car set up properly during qualifying and the race. Horsepower is the number one key to success at this track, along with having a car that is good aerodynamically with a good engine package. The Hendrick bunch had some issues in Wednesday's practice with their engine package and all 4 drivers had to go to a different one, thus starting at the back for today's Gatorade Dual races. Another important element in this race is drafting, as drivers must have a sixth sense on knowing when and with whom they should draft with to get to the front. If you lose the draft, you'll more than likely lose a lap and then you'll have an uphill fight to get back into the race. This is a restrictor plate race where speeds are controlled by restricting air flow into the carburetors and that in turn, causes the cars to bunch up and get into pack racing. That means, that the "Big One" could rear it's ugly head at any time, forcing even the best drivers with the best cars out of the race.
A couple of guys from DEI once owned this track but recently Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and even Jamie McMurray have joined the victory circle to break the DEI dominance. Gordon and Stewart have each won 2 races in the last 3 years here while Johnson won a Daytona 500 and is always tough on this track. Kevin Harvick is the defending champ in this race but will have his work cut out for him trying to deal with the Hendrick and Gibbs bunch. Regardless of the engine problems, Hendrick drivers will more than likely be the class of the field, seeing as they have the most dominant COT program in the series. That means, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr will likely be near the front throughout the day. Hendrick is already off to a great start, with strong performances in the Bud shootout that resulted in a win for teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. With this being the first week for fantasy nascar, those 4 guys should be on your team. However, if you are looking for something different in an attempt to save those starts for later in the season, check out below as I breakdown some other drivers to watch.
Others to Watch
Tony Stewart - Gibbs racing has switched over to Toyota and Toyota has looked tough in everything they have done at Daytona. Stewart is historically good here, winning twice. He's also notched top 10 finishes in six of the past ten restrictor plate races.
Kyle Busch - Has moved over to the Gibbs camp after having one of the better COT records last year at Hendrick. He only has two top 5's in the past 10 races at Daytona but he should reap the dividends of Toyota wanting to make their cars more competitive.
Michael Waltrip - He too will benefit from Toyota progressing after a terrible first year in the series. Waltrip already has qualified on the outside pole and with his experience and success in restrictor plate races, Waltrip could surprise on Sunday
Mark Martin - finished second last season to Kevin Harvick in this race and this year, he's driving with DEI. He didn't drive alot of COT races last season but in the ones he did, he had some success. He is a patient driver and it will be interesting to see if the DEI engines can hold up better than they did for the other #8 guy
My pick - Jimmie Johnson - the two time reigning series champion has started this season right where he left off from last, dominating the field in testing and practice. Johnson has already won the pole for the Daytona 500 and had the 2nd best COT average last year. Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knauss are arguably the best driver-crew chief combo and combined with driving under the Hendrick umbrella, you have a team that is hard to beat.
Sleeper pick - Casey Mears - the "fourth" wheel in the Hendrick stable has looked very good so far at Daytona. He will benefit from a year under his belt with Hendrick and from the arrival of Earnhardt Jr into the fold. If he can stay up front and out of trouble, Mears could be the Hendrick driver that pulls into the winners circle.
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