Picks/Daytona 500/Sun.Afternoon
#1
02-19-2012, 09:09 AM
Picks/Daytona 500/Sun.Afternoon
THIS IS NOT WHERE WE WILL PICK FOR THE GATORADE DUELS THAT IS ANOTHER THREAD, LINKED BELOW
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/na...14/#post423287
^LINKY^
Points, Intro, Congratulatory Remarks
It's time for the big one!!! Lots of pride at stake here for this race. The defending winner is a man who claimed to know nothing about NASCAR, picked an all Dodge team, and won with 85 measly little points.
Defending Winner: Nocturnx
Congratulations to our Budweiser Shootout winner, Hunter (Silverfish33), who ironically enough, is not old enough to drink. Not even close.
I will add the Gatorade Duel winners when the information is available Thursday afternoon
Intro to this Race
If the Shootout was any indication, we're in for the best Daytona 500 since NASCAR brought out the COT in my opinion. There are two fatal flaws that we have seen though.
1) Any car that gets bumped in that left rear corner is going around. Having a driver who can save the car, like Kyle Busch now has plenty of experience with, is key.
2) The closing rate between cars when they get more than about 3-4 car lengths apart is crazy. No one pointed out how Tony Stewart and Pyle Busch slungshot past that 3 car draft with a lap and a half to go at a ridiculously fast speed..... and there were several near crashes over it.
3) The track is very smooth, yet broke in enough to have some grip. This results in a very tight pack race that we saw in the Shootout and may see in the Duels.
4) Let this be noted.... I applaud Nascar!!! They have done what they intended. The two car draft cannot be done away with forever, but it will not be used throughout an entire race, it is a tool, not a required method. But it is such a dangerous tool that we probably won't see a lot of it until late in the race.
Advise for this Week
With everything above noted, I think the guys to pick may be those drivers who talk about laying back in the Daytona 500. Just make sure you have some picks who are going to be driving at the end of the race. A guy who gets taken out at the end diving through the field is still going to finish better than a guy who crashes in the middle of the race racing. I may revise my strategy and pick the Daytona 500 with my head.
Hendrick Motorsports
Those Hendrick cars are strong. We saw 3 of the 4 Hendrick cars at the front Saturday night in the Shootout, and may have seen 4 had Kahne not been taken out in that lap 9 crash. With the new type of racing back with a little of the two car draft mixed in, Jr is a key player again.
EDIT!!! I do'ntk now about those Hendrick boys. STewart and Jr swept the top two in Duel 1, but look how many Hendrick cars were getting hot in the Duel 2. Gordon got hot, Johnson was a tea cooker at the end, Kurt Busch was too warm, so to were a few other cars. The Ford's, however, had excellent cooling and not a single one has been hot all speedweeks!!!
Richard Childress Racing
Harvick showed that he still remembers how to wheel a car through the pack. Unfortunately, it seems like Jeff Burton still has some of that lingering bad luck from last year. It's just weird how some of these guys get to an age and hit this Dale Jarrett/Bill Elliott/Darrell Waltrip stage of their career where they work so hard yet can't get the results.
I have, however, seen Paul Menards Daytona 500 car when I visted RCR a few weeks ago... and I ran my finger across the right rear quarter fender, which passes on my good luck to it. So you guys may want to pick it. Or maybe I'm bad luck, considering how I did i nthe Shootout. Maybe Menards bad luck rubbed into me. I don't know.
Stewart Haas
Stewart has that Hendrick equipmetn and knows how to use it. Stewart is a threat anytime you go to Daytona, and he has tried 13 time sto win this race now... can he do it this year????
Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch just seems to get better and better at this restricter plate stuff and he seems excited and running well now that we have the old method back. Not only that, but Joey Logano was making a lot of noise and running really well out there until he was tied up in that crash. Dennis Hamster snuck in there and was a factor at the end too, but he doesn't seem to have the ability to shoot to the front like his teammates do right now. Watch how they do in the duels.
Penske Racing
I saw this team playing it conservative in the Shootout, and I can't help but think they will play it safe in the Daytona 500. Keselowski and Allmendinger will play it safe to make sure they have a car with 4 fenders on it at the end of the Daytona 500. That may just make them excellent picks for this race. It was an all Dodge team that gave Nocturnx a win last year.
Plus, I've got to think that AJ Allmendinger wants nothing more than to win a 24 Hours of Daytona and a Daytona 500 in the same year. That monkey is off hi sback and he should have a new sense of confidnece after winning that race and starting a year with a new team with the best equipment Mopar has to offer.
Roush Fenway Racing
Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle seem to have it all figured out right now.. .can't say the same about Kenseth though. Greg Biffle was leading on one of those restarts i nthe 2010 Daytona 500 when Jamie McMurray won, and the guy is an underrated restricter plate racer, as is Carl Edwards. Edwards has been there at the end of several of these races yet has never closed the deal. Plus, Edwards and Biffle are those guys who will lay back until the end ot make sure they have a race car to race with. They raced in the shootout well, proving they can run up front, yet in most of these races they don't run up front with the racers.
Petty Motorsports
Ambrose showed that he knows how to run a restricter plate race too. It's hard to say what ol' Almirola will do other than crash.
Michael Waltrip Racing
What we learned Saturday night: Don't get in front of Truex!!! The guy nearly wrecked Bowyer once on a straightaway and then really did spin him out the next lap.
Bowyer is an established and accomplished driver at Talladgea... yet he never seems to get the job done at Daytona... it's weird.
That team that Kurt Busch drivers for
Hendrick equipmetn and this is the race they could accomplish something at. I know there is enough money in the Daytona 500 to carry a team for teh whole season, and that is what this team needs. Plus, a win for this guy would mean a lot for putting some bad stuff from last year.
EDIT: Refer back to what I said about the Hendrick cooling systems. This may nto be good news if the weather is warm on Sunday, although it is calling for low 70s (Gatorade Duel was in the mid 80s).
My Picks
Picks for all Daytona Races, 2012-1/1 - YouTube
I have revised my strategy. Speedweeks appears to be turning this race back to the days when a good car, a strong driver, and a little luck won the race, not a randomosity two car draft. But I'm also remembering what I saw in the Bud Shootout, and I'm picking drivers who are going to hang towards the back and try to avoid those initial crashs.
1) AJ Allmendinger, a sentimental favorite for me since he won the 24 hrs of Daytona
2) Carl Edwards, on the poll, a Ford engine, and a solid, underrated driver at Daytona.
3) Brad Keselowski, another underrated restricter plate driver who will put his nose in and hope it sticks at the end.
As it stands now... heavily subject to some editing.
https://montecarloforum.com/forum/na...14/#post423287
^LINKY^
Points, Intro, Congratulatory Remarks
It's time for the big one!!! Lots of pride at stake here for this race. The defending winner is a man who claimed to know nothing about NASCAR, picked an all Dodge team, and won with 85 measly little points.
Defending Winner: Nocturnx
Congratulations to our Budweiser Shootout winner, Hunter (Silverfish33), who ironically enough, is not old enough to drink. Not even close.
I will add the Gatorade Duel winners when the information is available Thursday afternoon
Intro to this Race
If the Shootout was any indication, we're in for the best Daytona 500 since NASCAR brought out the COT in my opinion. There are two fatal flaws that we have seen though.
1) Any car that gets bumped in that left rear corner is going around. Having a driver who can save the car, like Kyle Busch now has plenty of experience with, is key.
2) The closing rate between cars when they get more than about 3-4 car lengths apart is crazy. No one pointed out how Tony Stewart and Pyle Busch slungshot past that 3 car draft with a lap and a half to go at a ridiculously fast speed..... and there were several near crashes over it.
3) The track is very smooth, yet broke in enough to have some grip. This results in a very tight pack race that we saw in the Shootout and may see in the Duels.
4) Let this be noted.... I applaud Nascar!!! They have done what they intended. The two car draft cannot be done away with forever, but it will not be used throughout an entire race, it is a tool, not a required method. But it is such a dangerous tool that we probably won't see a lot of it until late in the race.
Advise for this Week
With everything above noted, I think the guys to pick may be those drivers who talk about laying back in the Daytona 500. Just make sure you have some picks who are going to be driving at the end of the race. A guy who gets taken out at the end diving through the field is still going to finish better than a guy who crashes in the middle of the race racing. I may revise my strategy and pick the Daytona 500 with my head.
Hendrick Motorsports
Those Hendrick cars are strong. We saw 3 of the 4 Hendrick cars at the front Saturday night in the Shootout, and may have seen 4 had Kahne not been taken out in that lap 9 crash. With the new type of racing back with a little of the two car draft mixed in, Jr is a key player again.
EDIT!!! I do'ntk now about those Hendrick boys. STewart and Jr swept the top two in Duel 1, but look how many Hendrick cars were getting hot in the Duel 2. Gordon got hot, Johnson was a tea cooker at the end, Kurt Busch was too warm, so to were a few other cars. The Ford's, however, had excellent cooling and not a single one has been hot all speedweeks!!!
Richard Childress Racing
Harvick showed that he still remembers how to wheel a car through the pack. Unfortunately, it seems like Jeff Burton still has some of that lingering bad luck from last year. It's just weird how some of these guys get to an age and hit this Dale Jarrett/Bill Elliott/Darrell Waltrip stage of their career where they work so hard yet can't get the results.
I have, however, seen Paul Menards Daytona 500 car when I visted RCR a few weeks ago... and I ran my finger across the right rear quarter fender, which passes on my good luck to it. So you guys may want to pick it. Or maybe I'm bad luck, considering how I did i nthe Shootout. Maybe Menards bad luck rubbed into me. I don't know.
Stewart Haas
Stewart has that Hendrick equipmetn and knows how to use it. Stewart is a threat anytime you go to Daytona, and he has tried 13 time sto win this race now... can he do it this year????
Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch just seems to get better and better at this restricter plate stuff and he seems excited and running well now that we have the old method back. Not only that, but Joey Logano was making a lot of noise and running really well out there until he was tied up in that crash. Dennis Hamster snuck in there and was a factor at the end too, but he doesn't seem to have the ability to shoot to the front like his teammates do right now. Watch how they do in the duels.
Penske Racing
I saw this team playing it conservative in the Shootout, and I can't help but think they will play it safe in the Daytona 500. Keselowski and Allmendinger will play it safe to make sure they have a car with 4 fenders on it at the end of the Daytona 500. That may just make them excellent picks for this race. It was an all Dodge team that gave Nocturnx a win last year.
Plus, I've got to think that AJ Allmendinger wants nothing more than to win a 24 Hours of Daytona and a Daytona 500 in the same year. That monkey is off hi sback and he should have a new sense of confidnece after winning that race and starting a year with a new team with the best equipment Mopar has to offer.
Roush Fenway Racing
Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle seem to have it all figured out right now.. .can't say the same about Kenseth though. Greg Biffle was leading on one of those restarts i nthe 2010 Daytona 500 when Jamie McMurray won, and the guy is an underrated restricter plate racer, as is Carl Edwards. Edwards has been there at the end of several of these races yet has never closed the deal. Plus, Edwards and Biffle are those guys who will lay back until the end ot make sure they have a race car to race with. They raced in the shootout well, proving they can run up front, yet in most of these races they don't run up front with the racers.
Petty Motorsports
Ambrose showed that he knows how to run a restricter plate race too. It's hard to say what ol' Almirola will do other than crash.
Michael Waltrip Racing
What we learned Saturday night: Don't get in front of Truex!!! The guy nearly wrecked Bowyer once on a straightaway and then really did spin him out the next lap.
Bowyer is an established and accomplished driver at Talladgea... yet he never seems to get the job done at Daytona... it's weird.
That team that Kurt Busch drivers for
Hendrick equipmetn and this is the race they could accomplish something at. I know there is enough money in the Daytona 500 to carry a team for teh whole season, and that is what this team needs. Plus, a win for this guy would mean a lot for putting some bad stuff from last year.
EDIT: Refer back to what I said about the Hendrick cooling systems. This may nto be good news if the weather is warm on Sunday, although it is calling for low 70s (Gatorade Duel was in the mid 80s).
My Picks
Picks for all Daytona Races, 2012-1/1 - YouTube
I have revised my strategy. Speedweeks appears to be turning this race back to the days when a good car, a strong driver, and a little luck won the race, not a randomosity two car draft. But I'm also remembering what I saw in the Bud Shootout, and I'm picking drivers who are going to hang towards the back and try to avoid those initial crashs.
1) AJ Allmendinger, a sentimental favorite for me since he won the 24 hrs of Daytona
2) Carl Edwards, on the poll, a Ford engine, and a solid, underrated driver at Daytona.
3) Brad Keselowski, another underrated restricter plate driver who will put his nose in and hope it sticks at the end.
As it stands now... heavily subject to some editing.
Last edited by Cowboy6622; 02-23-2012 at 05:12 PM.
#2
02-19-2012, 09:53 AM
I'm picking these guys based on the shoot out. All 3 ran really well and qualifing position really don't matter at Daytona. Hopefully they can all make it through the wrecks.
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Gordon
Kyle Busch.
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Gordon
Kyle Busch.
#5
02-19-2012, 11:12 AM
Also a reminder: I'm leaving the rule in effect that you may still pick the same driver multiple times.
I also just watched my DVD's from the 1968-1970 era Daytona races. The Ford-Mercury's were dominate until those darned Superbirds showed up.
But I found this itneresting, forgotten about it until just now. Pete Hamilton in a Superbird won the 1970 500 with about a 2 lap to go pass on David Pearson. Pearson was on 2 tires after a caution, Hamilton on 4. Pearson got lose, comes o so close to the apron, and gathered the car back up in a move you would swear was made by Kyle Busch last night.
This footage is actually much more clear than mine is.
1970 Daytona 500 - YouTube
^LINK^
Incident starts around the 5:00 mark.
I also just watched my DVD's from the 1968-1970 era Daytona races. The Ford-Mercury's were dominate until those darned Superbirds showed up.
But I found this itneresting, forgotten about it until just now. Pete Hamilton in a Superbird won the 1970 500 with about a 2 lap to go pass on David Pearson. Pearson was on 2 tires after a caution, Hamilton on 4. Pearson got lose, comes o so close to the apron, and gathered the car back up in a move you would swear was made by Kyle Busch last night.
This footage is actually much more clear than mine is.
1970 Daytona 500 - YouTube
^LINK^
Incident starts around the 5:00 mark.
#6
02-19-2012, 11:20 AM
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 5,611
I'm picking them like the shootout
1. Dale Jr.
2. Dale Jr.
3. Dale Jr.
With this new rule in effect, the only way to get maximum points is to pick the winner 3 times. I swing for the fence. When you buy a lottery ticket, would you choose to put your 2 bucks on the smaller jackpot?
1. Dale Jr.
2. Dale Jr.
3. Dale Jr.
With this new rule in effect, the only way to get maximum points is to pick the winner 3 times. I swing for the fence. When you buy a lottery ticket, would you choose to put your 2 bucks on the smaller jackpot?
#7
02-19-2012, 03:40 PM
We all know that Casey Kayne can drive a race car but he needs to prove to Rick Hendrick that he made the right move putting him in one of his cars. If Kyle Busch can keep his temper in check he is just about unstoppable. The only one who can beat Kyle Busch is Kyle Busch. Maybe with a new year, his NASCAR beat down from last year and a renewed emphasis on the Sprint cup, Kyle Busch may have matured. Brad Kesolowski was on a roll last year that hopefully will continue. I also like to see a Dodge at the front. I would like to see Dale Jr win it just because it would be huge. In reality he does not have the talent that his old man had. Had Dale Sr not passed when he did then he could have taught Dale Jr a lot about what he knew and Jr would be a force to recon with. Dale Jr will always be popular and will have a ride for as long as he want to race and then become a team owner but I don't think he will ever be a champion.
1. Casey Kayne
2. Kyle Busch
3. Brad Kesolowski
1. Casey Kayne
2. Kyle Busch
3. Brad Kesolowski
#8
02-19-2012, 03:41 PM
Brent, you're not going to try to get a few points out of Danica Patrick as well?
Gregg, nice to see you joining forces with us!
Gregg, nice to see you joining forces with us!
