It’s a little over a week until the Bud Shootout, signaling the beginning of the new NASCAR Nextel (Winston) Cup season.
So, as the season approaches, what’s the outlook like from where you sit?
Personally, I think the new points format is gonna be interesting, mainly because it doesn’t really fix the problem, which is that you can still run 15th the entire year and win the title as long as you lead enough laps.
As far as the title itself, I don’t think Kenseth will repeat. It’s too hard to do in this day and age, especially with Roush’s tendency to “over-engineer” his motors at times. The management shakeup at DEI is gonna affect Jr.'s chances, and I don’t think Gordon’s got the title this year either. My pick, as much as it bothers me, is Ryan Newman. He’s young, fast and wins all the time.
My pick for the Bud Shootout is Junior, just because #1. It’s Daytona, #2. It’s primetime and #3 he won it last year.
500 first-round qualifying is the next day, and I think the usual suspects will top the speed charts, not that it matters. The 125s will shake out like they usually do (i.e. an Earnhardt wins one, and the other is a crashfest.)
As for the 500 proper, my guess is that the Earnhardt curse will strike again and deny Junior the win, but I’d like to be wrong.
I’m OK with the “playoffs” this year. As Bruce_Daddy said in his linked thread, we’ll see how I feel about it after race 26.
My pick for the year, believe it or not, is Harvick. He showed that he grew up quite a bit and got smarter since 2001, and this year it’ll pay off.
I really hope that Rusty Wallace wins a race so that he’ll shut the hell up already about deserving to win one. He seems to feel that Victory Lane is his birthright, and that he should be allowed to park his car there after the race just because he’s Rusty Wallace. He’s a bigger baby than shooters in the NBA who whine about every tiny little slap foul.
Yeah, Kerry has a history of running over people (and walls, and guardrails, and catchfences, and infields, and tire walls…). Looks like Junior got the talent, Kelley got the looks and Kerry’s, well…, I’m sure he’s a nice guy.
The points system is kinda goofy, but who knows. I’m not gonna pass judgement for sure until I see it in action.
Norris only quit before he got fired. Teresa and Steve Hmiel couldn’t stand him. My question is, will Ty still be on the rooftop on Sundays? That could seriously change things, especially if Kerry’s not going to be available full-time to spot.
According to jayski.com, Richie Gilmore will be taking over Ty’s responsibilities, which I’m assuming will include spotting. Bad news for Jr. I subscribe to NASCAR InCar which gives you team audio and in-car camera for the whole race and Ty is an excellent spotter, good at calming Junebug down, etc. I’ve heard Richie as an additional spotter at some of the larger tracks and he sucks. He should stick to building engines.
I have a feeling that behind the scenes Teresa is a bitch.
