Well the NASCAR season opener is hours away. The great American race or the Daytona 500. With all the rule changes we have seen over the off season, its going to be an interesting opener to the season. Two and half miles make up a lap and we should see around 200 laps of the finest racing NASCAR has to offer.
The big news would be that Kurt Busch has been suspended by NASCAR as a result of a protection order that was issued against him by a former girlfriend because of domestic violence. He has appealed the ruling and lost and apparently a second appeal was prepared and he lost that to. So Kurt will not be taking part in this years race and is being replaced by Regan Smith.
After a massive accident last night in the XFINITY series, Kyle Busch was injured and broke leg and a foot and he also will not be taking part. We hope that he makes a speedy recovery from his injuries. The accident itself was as a result of a big accident, but for Kyle he slipped through the infield and hit an unprotected section of concrete wall ... head on. There really should be no reason for that piece of infield wall should be solid concrete and with out a safer barrier in place.
It seems that two possible winners will be out without having started an engine.
The Favorites to win
Denny Hamlin. After what can only be described as a massively over aggressive display in the duels, you still have to say that he is a contender to win. For those of you that follow this blog you will know that I was very harsh on Danica Patrick for having moved over onto Hamlin's line during practice as I felt that this was partly to blame for the accident that put Danica into her backup car and facing the possibility of not qualifying. As it turns out Danica fought hard to get herself into the top 10 during the dual only to have Hamlin push then nudge her into a spin. It was only through pure guts and hard work that she was able to recover to 10th position and having her qualify for the race. Amazingly Hamlin tried to defend his actions as he and Danica had words after the race. After a review of the video footage Hamlin had to change his view. If he can keep out of trouble he is my pick to win.
Brad Keselowski. Brad has never won at Daytona but if we consider his performance in the chase in 2014, this could be his year. Having not made a huge amount of friends during the chase last year, you have to say thathe wants to win and wants to be champ again.
Dale Earnhart Jr. Always popular and in a phenomenal team. Last years winner. He has every thing he needs to win and who can really bet against him. I certainly would not.
Kevin Harvick. Twice a winner before at Daytona. Defending champ and very successful at Super speedways, Kevin has got to be a favorite to win.
The Outsiders.
These are the guys that can sneak a win if the favorites don't keep a close watch.
Jimmie Johnson. who has an incredible race to win average can never be ruled out.
Jeff Gordon. Loves to win on restrictor plate super Speedways, but has not won on one since 2007. This is his last year though before he retires, so its more than possible he is going to give it everything he has to win.
Austin Dillon. A pole winner at Daytona and a very fast driver. He could win here.
Kyle Larson. Young and very talented, his first win could be at Daytona, if not Daytona it cant be to far away.
Danica Patrick. A pole winner, very fast on Super Speedways. She has leading laps at Daytona and Talladega She could get her first win at Daytona. Starting way down on the grid she will have to work hard but its still possible.
Tony Stewart. He has won at Daytona 4 times. Loves to win at Super Speedways. His last 4 starts though at Daytona and Talledega have seen him finish outside the top30. Still never discount smoke.
What ever the results are though we will see an epic race and the start to another awesome season.
Go Danica!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment