Some NASCAR Points To Ponder Heading Into the Daytona 500

Speaking Of:

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:

As everyone who watched the Budweiser Shootout last weekend saw, everyone knows that the restrictor plate pack racing is back.  NASCAR has answered the fans ire about tandem drafting and the pack is back for sure.  Plus, with the tandem sets gone, that also allowed a classic pass for the win when Kyle Busch slingshot around Tony Stewart and won by a bumper.

So! What about that new EFI system?  Did you even forget about it during the race?  I did.

But the questions most prevalent about this upcoming Sunday's Daytona 500?

• -Can Trevor Bayne repeat?  (I don't think so, IMHO)*
• -After all the hoopla, can Danica Patrick win?
• -Will there be a different 1st time winner, for the 7th time?
• -Will Hendrick Motorsports finally nail its 200th win here? (That would be perfect, wouldn't it?)

*There have only been three repeat winners.  Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95)

I'm not holding my breath on seeing Patrick cross the checkers first.  She may be competitive, but this racing is a new beast.

It's anyone's win, depending on if or how the big one affects the field.  Trevor won last year because of a huge list of attrition.

Hendrick has one or two cars out there on the track on Sunday.  The odds are in their favor to get that 200th win!  It would be a storied win, indeed.


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Speaking of the NASCAR Nationwide Series... 

There are some great names competing in the NNS this year... starting with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona.

Roush Fenway Racing has the reigning series champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & Trevor Bayne.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports is bringing Danica Patrick to the Nationwide starter line full time.  There's also Cole Whitt joining her on the team.

Richard Childress's grandson, Austin Dillon, is bringing a black No. 3 back to the track.  His teammate will be Elliott Sadler.  To be honest, I think I'd love to see the No. 3 car put it's mark back on the scene, and Dillon behind the wheel, I think this will happen.

We'll also be seeing Sam Hornish Jr., Justin Allgaier, Brian Scott, Michael Annett and Kenny Wallace chasing the series points in the Nationwide series.

Despite the names noted above, guess what?  They ain't got a shot at winning the NNS DRIVE4COPD 300!  Why?  Because in the field competing at Daytona are nine full-time Cup series drivers, including

• Tony Stewart, (who has won six out of the last seven here)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
• Brad Keselowski,
• Kyle Busch,
• Denny Hamlin,
• Kurt Busch,
• Joey Logano,
• David Ragan and
• Kasey Kahne.

I just sayin'.

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Speaking of the Truck Series... 

Amongst the Truck series field, drivers competing on Friday at Daytona, we have

• Brad Keselowski,
• Ward Burton,
• David Reutimann,
• Travis Kvapil
• Brendan Gaughan, &
• Todd Bodine

I can't wait to see what Ward has for everyone.  It's been a long time since I've seen him on the track.

That concludes a few pointers from some news notes sent out by NASCAR.

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