Picks/Budweiser Duels/ThursNight
 

Intro and Congratulatory Remarks

Congrats to Devin (MnteCrloSS47) for winning the Sprint Unlimited, and congrats to Brent (JuniorCar) who is returning from a year off and has won the pole for the Daytona 500! Have fun leading us to the green! Last time he participated in this race, he did win!

Budweiser Duels Entry List

One year, this got all screwed up.... but the way this should work is this:

All drivers with an odd numbered starting position (1,3,5,7, etc.) will run Budweiser Duel 1. All drivers with an even numbered starting position (2,4,6,8, etc.) will run Budweiser Duel 2.

That begin said, this is the Daytona 500 qualifying results on NASCAR.com, linked below.

Daytona 500 qualifying results | NASCAR.com



Rundown

Traditionally, you won't see a "big one" in this race, since guys don't want to go to backup cars. But they do happen. Usually, drivers take a more conservative approach and tyr to save the car for the 500, while being aggressive enough to try to lead a line nad get to the front if their car is strong. STrong cars tend to run well in these races for that reason, whereas in the 500 you have accidents and goofy mess that mean anyone can win

So far, the Childress cars have shown a ton of speed in practice and qualifying. Also, in the Unlmited, we saw teh Gibbs and the Penske cars show a lot of speed. Jr seemed to be the only fast Hendrick car, and Edwards seemed just "ok" in the Roush car.

Until the crash in the Unlimited, the Stewart-Haas grouped looked strong. But it's all speculation.

The group I ahven't seen a lot of speed out of yet, mysteriuosly, is the Hendrick group. Even though they crashe,d I just didn't see them flexing a lot of muscle. Kahne hasn't been that great in the past year on these tracks, Johnson got to the front and crashe,d and Jr and Gordon didn't seem to be able to get to the front and stay there.

That being said, Jr was fast in qualifying this time.... and the Toyota Teams were very slow in qualifying.


The draft is a great equalizer... sooo ALL this could be in vain. The Toyotas drafted fast in the Unlimited but they practiced fast too. They didn't practice fast. The other Chevrolets (Childress related) and the Ford's (Pensek anyway) along with the Gibbs cars seemed fast in the Unlmiited. With more cars out, it's hard to say what would happen.




REMEMBER, pick for two races. Remember the even/odd number thing as you do so. I won't be checking behind you.


Duel 1

1 3 Austin Dillon # Chevy pole winner
2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3rd in qualifying
3 31 Ryan Newman Chevy 5th in qualifying
4 88 Dale Earnhardt. Jr. Chevy 7th in qualifying
5 17 Ricky Stenhouse. Jr. Ford 9th in qualifying
6 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 11th in qualifying
7 43 Aric Almirola Ford 13th in qualifying
8 22 Joey Logano Ford 15th in qualifying
9 20 Matt Kenseth(PC5) Toyota 17th in qualifying
10 5 Kasey Kahne Chevy 19th in qualifying
11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 21st in qualifying
12 4 Kevin Harvick Chevy 23rd in qualifying
13 10 Danica Patrick Chevy 25th in qualifying
14 47 AJ Allmendinger Chevy 27th in qualifying
15 36 Reed Sorenson Chevy 29th in qualifying
16 38 David Gilliland Ford 31st in qualifying
17 30 Parker Kligerman # Toyota 33rd in qualifying
18 14 Tony Stewart(PC3) Chevy 35th in qualifying
19 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 37th in qualifying
20 26 Cole Whitt # Toyota 39th in qualifying
21 95 Michael McDowell Ford 41st in qualifying
22 98 Josh Wise Chevy 43rd in qualifying
23 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Toyota 45th in qualifying
24 23 Alex Bowman # Toyota 47th in qualifying
25 77 Dave Blaney Ford 49th in qualifying





Duel 2

1 78 Martin Truex. Jr. Chevy outside pole
2 99 Carl Edwards Ford 4th in qualifying
3 2 Brad Keselowski(PC2) Ford 6th in qualifying
4 24 Jeff Gordon(PC6) Chevy 8th in qualifying
5 27 Paul Menard Chevy 10th in qualifying
6 33 Brian Scott(i) Chevy 12th in qualifying
7 48 Jimmie Johnson(PC1) Chevy 14th in qualifying
8 13 Casey Mears Chevy 16th in qualifying
9 7 Michael Annett # Chevy 18th in qualifying
10 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 20th in qualifying
11 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 22nd in qualifying
12 42 Kyle Larson # Chevy 24th in qualifying
13 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Ford 26th in qualifying
14 41 Kurt Busch(PC4) Chevy 28th in qualifying
15 51 Justin Allgaier # Chevy 30th in qualifying
16 40 Landon Cassill Chevy 32nd in qualifying
17 66 Michael Waltrip Toyota 34th in qualifying
18 35 Eric McClure(i) Ford 36th in qualifying
19 1 Jamie McMurray Chevy 38th in qualifying
20 34 David Ragan Ford 40th in qualifying
21 32 Terry Labonte(PC8) Ford 42nd in qualifying
22 52 Bobby Labonte(PC7) Chevy 44th in qualifying
23 83 Ryan Truex # Toyota 46th in qualifying
24 93 Morgan Shepherd(i) Toyota 48th in qualifying


Your picks should look something like this.

Duel 1:
1) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr
2) Greg Biffle
3) Joey Logano

Duel 2:
1) Carl Edwards
2) Brad Keselowski
3) David Ragan

Duel 1
Austin Dillon
Carl Edwards
Denny Hamlin

Duel 2
Greg Biffle
Brad Keslowski
Jeff Gordon

Duel #1

1. 88 Dale Jr.
2. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3. 22 Joey Logano

Duel #2

1. 1 Jamie McMurray
2. 99 Carl Edwards
3. 2 Brad K

Duel 1:
Kenseth
Kyle Busch
Jr


Duel 2:
Brad K
Larson
Johnson

Duel #1
1.Harvick
2. Logano
3. Newman

Duel #2
1.Kurt Busch
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Clint Bowyer

Duel 1:
1) 88 Dale Jr.
2) 16 Greg Biffle
3) 31 Ryan Newman


Duel 2:
1) 11 Denny Hamlin
2) 78 Martin Truex
3) 2 Brad Keslowski

My Picks
 

Duel 1
#1 JR.
#2 Harvick
#3 Kyle Busch
Duel 2
#1 Hamlin
#2 J. Johnson
#3 Keselowski

I freaking hate my browser right now. Had to go back and forth between tabs and it refreshes every time I come back to type into MCF and I lose my entire typing. Anyway *deep breath*

Duel 1
Dale Jr
Biffle
Logano

Duel 2
Keselowski
Truex Jr.
Menard

Btw guys, for those of you who picked Biffle, he qualified third and will be in the first duel. Couldn't in good conscience let that go without saying after noticing a few guys picked him for the second duel.

Duel #1

1. #88 Dale Jr.
2. #18 Kyle Busch
3. #4 Kevin Harvick

Duel #2

1. #78 Martin Truex
2. #41 Kurt Busch
3. #48 Jimmie Johnson

Thanks for the very sporting conduct. I ahven't double checked like I have in years past, but it would do well to remind everyone...


CHECK WHICH DUEL YOUR PICKS ARE IN!