Keep in mind the Ryan and Tony are in a Hendricks' cars too so don't know what happened there. I'm pretty sure they will share set up information before the race.

 

Brent, I was about to leave for somewhere when I was typing that Earnhardt post, and you're right with the correction. I'm leaving it wrong though so the post makes more sense later. I remember back then, everyone hated Jeff Gordon, and half the people hated Dale Earnhardt (it seemed) Earnhardt just had more loyal fans than the rest. A lot of guys liked Rusty Wallace. I remember meeting a lot of Darrell Waltrip and Bill Elliott fans.... yet I couldn't figure out why, becuase I came along and was remembering things well after these guys were winning races and championships. I remember some Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd fans.... not as many for them as Rusty, Darrell, or Bill though. My brother was always a Mark MArtin fan (until Martin became a traitor and went to Chevrolets for that whoever hte hell had the 01 at the time and now Hendrick), and I remember meeting a lot of other Mark Martin fans for awhile. I even had a Mark Martin back pack one year at school.

The one thing all these drivers had in common is that they were southern drivers. Someone pretty smart told me a few weeks back that what really made Dale Jr. popular was not so much his name, although it has helped, as much as that he is the last southern driver. THink about it.... all those guys in the last paragraph were southern drivers (ESPECIALLY BILL ELLIOTT!!!!)... and now, you've got all these California boys (Gordon, Johnson, Harvick), midwest guys (Edwards, Bowyer, Kenseth), even some guys from the northwest (Biffle, Kahne).... the only major southenr driver left is Dale Earnhardt Jr.... Mark Martin doesn't count becasue Arkansas is more midwest to me.

I wonder if Stewart-Haas is doing for Hendrick what Petty did for Roush... experiment with set ups and figure something out for the bigger team. The Roush guys admitted that the Petty team found some front-end geometry that worked for them and gave the information to Roush (probably so their cars wouldn't be repossessed, remember that whole debacle last year, where Roush wouldn't let the cars leave the shop or the track until he had his money?). I wonder if Stewart-Haas is doing the same for Hendrick... and now all 6 cars will be stronger as a result heading towards the chase.... which is what Jimmie has done 5 times.... heck, I remmeber in 2008, NO ONE thought Jimmie would win the title again... all the talk was about Carl and Kyle. In '07, everyone thought that was Jeff Gordon's year. In '09, it was looking like Mark Martin would give him the run.... now, no one is really talking about Jimmies drive for 6, but if Stewart-Haas setting the front row is a good indicator for Hendrick, then the 48 could have it all going his way again.... he was in contention at Kentucky and not many are talking about that. I'm sure Jimmie will miss having Cali in the chase... but he's just as good at Chicagoland!

I'm thinking editing my original picks too.... swapping out Dennis Hamster for Jimmie Johnson! I want to see another practice session too... might get rid of Bowyer instead, hard to say yet. Maybe both.... I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't second guess myself either.

 

Hi `Duane & `Brent,
Again, Super posts from you both.`Thanks!!..I always enjoy reading what falls outa your heads . `Duane, I never thought about the Southern Boy analogy, but it makes sense.

I still have not idea who to pick or guess for 2morrow race & my crystal ball isn't working this morning, so I shall post b-4 the race begins (Ok, an hour b-4 it begins: )

Wish you & readers a Super Fun Safe WeekEnd..
Enjoy the Race...`Space

 

I changed my picks in the first post: I now have Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick. Too much repetition and copycating to stick with the original set!

 

Those good ol' southern boys still are the best - great point to make Duane! Another important thing Junior has going for him is that he is still one and the last of a dying breed. And I honestly am a big fan of the good ol' south - my favorite place to be in the world. When I'm in Carolina or Tennessee or the like - I can't describe the feeling of "at-home-ness". It's in the air and all around me and I finally feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. Then I have to go home

But I'm glad someone dragged Martin into this. 2 points I wanted to make: I don't think Martin ever really did get "over", and probably cause he ain't one of "the boys". He's just been around for a long time and never really offended anyone. He really has earned the respect of fans and drivers alike. The other thing I wanted to mention about Martin is how few and far between are comments from him regarding Dale Sr. Why do you suppose that is? There isn't a driver in the field today who raced Sr. more, yet "they" never ask him about Dale Sr. Could it be because Martin was the polar opposite of Dale Earnhardt Sr, and that Martin never liked the guy on any level?

Back to thread:
I'm not disagreeing with Jimmie as a pick, but he sure seems like a long shot right now Cowboy! He'll actually have to be Jimmie Johnson to pull this one off.

I'm so unfirm on my picks. Its tough being at the top! There's more pressure!

1. Clint Bowyer
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Dale Jr.! (if Cowboy can let his nuts hang out, so can I!)

I don't pick the Toyota's (sorry Joey, but you failed me once). Picking with my heart has brought me to the dance...

 

Jr. is riding a string of bad luck which scared me away... that bad qualifying effort really threw me off. Jimmie and Harvick don't seem to matter... with Harvick, the further back he starts, the better he seems to run. Same with Kenseth, but that applies anywhere but New Hampshire... guy sucks here. Johnson will be there when it counts, me thinks.


By the way, Edwards has had some engine troubles in the Nationwide side.... plus that bad engine at Pocono. I wonder if Ford is having problems, or if where he is running in the Nationwide with no points, maybe the Ford guys are putting all their FR9 experiments on Edwards Nationwide car... if he blwos up, who cares, if he wins, great?

Either way, New Hampshire and Ford go together like Brent and Toyota's.... they don't. I bet the last Ford win here was with Jeff Burton or Mark Martin... and probably when Bill Clinton was the President.

 

Ima go with

Kyle Busch
Jimmie Johnson
Kevin Harvick

 

ok, here goes I guess. During this past week I had a dream and I was about 1 minute late making my picks and all I had to go on was car numbers. I was hurrying to make the deadline and all I had were numbers in my head, I did write them down twice. Not sure of the order though but here goes nothing.

1. 88
2. 29
3. 24

It's not rocket science to figure them out, if you need help I'll post the names tomorrow.



PS: Space buddy, I'm not going to sell or trade my Monte, I was just having a bad day and was just very frustrated. I went for a ride tonight and saw 2 sweet Montes out and I've got to be stupid for saying something like that. I told my brother what I posted and he said "stangs are like Mcdonalds hamburgers, over a million sold" I have to agree with him for once, stangs are a dime a dozen when seeing them on the roads compared to Monte Carlos..........

 

Space Picks
1. Kyle Busch
2. Kurt Busch
3. Joey Logano


* I do hope that Jr does good 2day & that member's enjoy
the Race....
(Brent & Duane)~> Really enjoy your posts/thoughts/opinions of "Southern Rac'in Boys"...
"Times, they are changing in Racing & in `Life" ~>4-Sure

 

1. Kyle B.
2. Carl E.
3. Brad K.