Jimmie Johnson (2010 Chase Driver)

Denny Hamlin (2010 Chase Driver)

Kevin Harvick (2010 Chase Driver)

Carl Edwards (2010 Chase Driver)

Matt Kenseth (2010 Chase Driver)

Greg Biffle (2010 Chase Driver)

Tony Stewart (2010 Chase Driver)

Kyle Busch (2010 Chase Driver)

Jeff Gordon (2010 Chase Driver)

Clint Bowyer (2010 Chase Driver)

Kurt Busch (2010 Chase Driver)

Jeff Burton (2010 Chase Driver)

John Andretti (Coke Zero 400)

Geoff Bodine (Daytona 500, Budweiser Shootout)

Kevin Conway (Series rookie of the year)

Derrike Cope (Daytona 500)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)

Bill Elliott (Series champion, Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout)

Kasey Kahne (Series rookie of the year)

Bobby Labonte (Series champion)

Terry Labonte (Series champion, Budweiser Shootout)

Joey Logano (Series rookie of the year)

Sterling Marlin (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)

Mark Martin (Budweiser Shootout)

Jamie McMurray (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Series rookie of the year)

Juan Pablo Montoya (Series rookie of the year)

Ryan Newman (Daytona 500, Series rookie of the year)

Ken Schrader (Budweiser Shootout)

Regan Smith (Series rookie of the year)

Michael Waltrip (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400)

Qualifying

46 Teams will be attempting to qualify for the Southern 500. Since there is no past champion outside the top 35 in owner points, 11 drivers will be attempting to qualify for 8 available spots. Those drivers are listed below. Drivers in bold are the ones I predict will not make it into the field.

#09-Sterling Marlin
#13-Max Papis
#25-Brad Keselowski
#36-Scott Riggs
#41-Jeremy Mayfield
#64-Todd Bodine
#66-Dave Blaney
#71-David Gilliland
#78-Regan Smith
#82-Scott Speed
#87-Joe Nemechek

Race Predictions

Winner: The three drivers that have the best chances of winning this week are Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, and Carl Edwards. But, since there can only be one winner, I have to go with Kyle Busch.

Dark Horse: I was going to go with Tony Stewart or Ryan Newman here, but I have decided to go way, way out on a limb and say Dale Earnhardt Jr. You can laugh if you like, but Jr. has an average finish of 6.3 at Darlington, and has finished well there the last few years. Could this be the week for Little E?

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

More and more, even  his fans are saying the same thing. For the longest time, whenever an article or blog post was written about Dale Jr. running poor or that his driving is not what makes him a fan favorite, the comments were so mixed. You had the Jr. Nation defending him and the Jr. Haters bashing him. The further it gets into the season and the lower  he falls in the standings, it seems as if the two groups have come together. His fans are a lot nicer on how they put it, but it’s still the same. Changes MUST be made.

An article I read today, called How Bad Is Dale Jr.? , is really what brought me to write about this. I wasn’t going to since everyone who has a NASCAR related blog has done so already. Actually, it wasn’t as much the article, but the comments that really struck me. The two common solutions to Dale Jr’s problems were to split him and Tony Eury Jr. up, and get Dale Jr.’s head out of all the business ventures, and back in the car. Here are a few from the article.

Well, well all of the JR bashers are awake. I’ll admit it hasn’t been a good season but he’s posted his wins in the car all by himself. The problem is that he doesn’t want to hurt a relatives feelings. Maybe Eury Jr is one of the best but the duo just isn’t working in the best interest of the team, the fans or the owner.

I’m a manager and kind of dumbfounded that an owner with this overwhelming success is willing to let this situation roll-on. It just seems that once the car starts moving the team becomes dis-jointed. The adjustments are off. The it crew is hap-hazard at best. It just seems that no one is in charge.

If Jr likes Tony Jr on his pit box so well maybe they should buy a Nationwide team or a truck team. I think that would be a waste of talent. It’s time for Rick to do what he knows he needs to do and break-up this mediocrity.

There is something not working with the 88 team and it is not equipment or resources… Hendrick has one of the best organizations in NASCAR…. You aren’t going to get rid of Junior, so Tony Eury Jr needs to be replaced NOW before it becomes a ANOTHER lost season for Junior. If Junior doesn’t start winning, it is not good for NASCAR.

Dale Jr is a far better driver than what is showing as of late. I don’t think Tony Eury Jr is a bad crew chief, I think its time for those to divorce. They are hindering each other. Also, Junior seems to be set in his ways, he has to learn to embrace changes. He needs to communicate better.He needs therapy.

I agree with most of the comments. Jr. makes $20 million every year on endorsements without winning a race. Obviously, a product of his father. He did help himself by winning fairly immediately after Sr’s death. Naturally, all his dad’s fans just gravitated toward him after he showed signs of carrying the torch. I think it’s a combination of all said above. He has too much money in a society that says if your rich, then your successful. And his team is very average. Remember, he changed teams in 03(I think) when at DEI. His crew chief is his cousin and there is obviously a loyalty to him that is hendering. You can see how crappy his team is on the adjustments they make during the race. Compare like Jimmy Johnson’s crew to his. You can just about gaurantee that Jimmy’s car will be good on the last run of every race. They may not get it right at first but, eventually, the car will be in the top five. That shows the crew chief knows his stuff. Now, look at Jr.’s. Time after time, his car gets worse and worse as the race goes on. Unless, it’s at a superspeedway like: Daytona, Talledega, or Atlanta. This crew only knows how to go fast on big tracks. It shows they are very one dimensional and Jr is suffering from it. I can promise is not the driver. To me, it shows maybe they are not listening to their teammates. Week in and week out, Gordon, Johnson, and Martin are in the top ten. Why isn’t Jr.? They have the same equipment. Diff is the team. You give Chad Kanauss a bicycle and he will make it competitive. You give Tony Eury Jr. a rocket ship fueled with nitrous and he’ll figure out a way to make it worse. Put Jr. in a good car and he wins. Plain and simple.

I personally disagree with part of the last comment. I don’t think Tony Jr. is a bad crew chief. He could be great with another driver. It’s the combination of the two together. Dale Jr. wants what he wants, even if it’s not the right move. Tony Jr. won’t stand up and say “hey this is what we’re doing,” or “this is how many tires we’re changing.”

Two moves I believe would turn Dale Jr.’s season around would be to put him with another crew chief, and for him to allow his sister to handle more of the business side of his career and put his head and heart back into driving the car.

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

I’m not by any means a Kyle Busch fan, but it was cool to see the guy win on his birthday. It’s not officially a NASCAR record, but Kyle is only the second driver in history to win a race on his birthday. Cale Yarborough is the only other driver to do it. Cale did it twice, and I’m sure Kyle will do again.

Surprises in The Top 10

The winner wasn’t much of a surprise, but Hornish Jr, McMurray, Mears, and Montoya finishing in the top ten was. It’s nice to finally see some of the Open Wheel crossovers have a good run.

Lots of Yellow, No Fights

Although there were a lot of cautions, we didn’t see any of the “saturday night short track fights” we’re used to seeing. I think a lot of people were hoping to see the fued between Busch and Earnhardt Jr. continue. Jr. did manage to get into another car and spin them, but it was Jeff Burton this time. Although this time, it wasn’t intentional. The race was very exciting, but I miss the days when the drivers would get out of the car and beat the crap out of each other. Somebody needs to piss Tony Stewart off so we can get some of that back.

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

In preparing for this post, I was reading a few articles and blogs about last years battles between Jr. and “Shrub”. I have to disagree with the notion Bush is out to get Jr. just because he was replaced by Jr.. At first, I’m sure there were some hard feelings, but Busch has shown that he doesn’t need to be in a Hendrick car to win. On the other hand, Jr. has proven that being in a Hendrick car doesn’t give you a better chance of winning. If the two get together again this year at Richmond, it will be simply for the win or a better position, not because of who is in what car.

One final note. I want to make it clear before the Jr. Nation hunts me down. I am not a Jr. hater. I personally like Jr. and don’t really care too much for Busch. I just think the notion that Busch is jealous is nuts.

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

Now, he has been on some news shows that maybe he wouldn’t have been on if it wouldn’t have been for the wreck. But this is just a big story due to the fan injuries, and the safety in NASCAR is coming into question again. News channels like CNN never utter the word NASCAR unless something like this happens. It was the same case as when Dale Earnhardt was killed in 2001. I recorded that Daytona 500 that year and kept the tape in the VCR so I could record news stories and interviews. If hadn’t been for the death of Earnhardt and the safety of NASCAR being questioned, the race would never have even been mentioned on places like CNN. The next thing we’re going to hear is that the only reason Edwards called the injured teenager in the hospital was to make himself look good. It doesn’t matter that it was the girl’s father, not Edwards, that informed the media of the phone call.

Another comment on the post does bring up something that I’ve been thinking the last week. Brad Keselowski got his first win. The media seems to be leaving that part out. Going back to the 2001 Daytona 500, the same thing kind of happend with Michael Waltrip. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Earnhardt owned the car that Waltrip was driving and that Earnhardt’s son pushed Waltrip to the win, the winner would have been hardly mentioned.

All I’m saying is that it’s time to move on. The drivers are fine, the injured fans are recovering, and there is another race this week.

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook

If NASCAR had stuck to it’s original version of “The Yellow Line Rule”, this wreck may have never happend. I can totally understand not allowing drivers below the yellow line in the turns, but this should be allowed on the frontstretch & backstretch, atleast on the final lap. If this had been the case, Keselowski would have simply moved down below the line and out of Edwards’ way.

From what I’ve read so far, NASCAR has no plan to change the rule. I guess Carl was right, maybe somebody does have to die before NASCAR steps up.

Ultimate Nascar Autograph Request Resource

RacingIncome.com

Classic Car Restoration Ebook