.jpg)
1. Is This Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Year For the Championship?
We will go ahead and roll with the strongest topic for this week. Is this Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s year for the championship? If you don't live under a rock, you know that Junior won the 2014 Daytona 500 just one week ago. Earnhardt has been the talk of the media and NASCAR fans alike this week as being just on the rim of winning the title. Earnhardt has also looked to have a complete attitude change. He was extremely pumped after winning the 500 as he rode around the track and waved at the fans. Plus, he looked extremely happy to talk with the media and start his Twitter account, which has made sound waves over the Twitter universe. But I also want to put in my input on whether I think Earnhardt will win a championship this season. Honestly, it looks like this is his year. I mean, he usually takes a while to grab his first win of the season if he actually does manage to win a race throughout the year. Now, he can go ahead and check that off. Also, this new Chase system bodes well for him. For one, he would have won the championship last year had the system been used. Finally, a win practically guarantees a spot in the title run and Junior has it already. That to me just makes it obvious this could be his year. Maybe Junior wins the title this year and everybody realizes that he wasn't over rated after all.
2. Group Qualifying Format; Is It Working?
NASCAR's new qualifying system has been talked about a lot in these first two weeks of the season. If you recall, NASCAR came up with the idea to have group qualifying sessions instead of the usual one car format. This meant qualifying would be basically a race within itself with tracks smaller than one and a fourth mile having two sessions and tracks larger than that having three sessions of qualifying. To me, I think the system is working really, really good. The one complaint has been that the drivers don't have a chance to cool their cars between runs on track. That is it. Everything else is great. I mean, look at the racing. I didn't have a chance to watch Cup qualifying on Friday, but I watched Nationwide qualifying on Saturday. Boy, it was great. The drivers were absolutely battling to make it in the top twelve and then the twelve drivers who made it battled hard for the pole. It was just a great show and it is definitely now worth watching qualifying compared to the past format. Plus, it does kind of even out the pack honestly. I mean, other drivers now have a chance to take the pole at a track they may not have the chance at with the single car runs. Hopefully, the system continues to work and qualifying is still fun to watch for every single race.
3. Was Kasey Kahne Wronged By NASCAR at Daytona?
I have had this question on my mind since the middle part of the Daytona 500. Was Kasey Kahne wronged by NASCAR at Daytona? If you guys haven't heard or didn't see the problem, I will recap it. Kahne made the move to pit road during a round of green flag stops around the middle part of the race. Michael Annett followed behind Kahne and the rookie made a slight mistake. He was going too fast and he locked up the car. His Chevy began to slide and it slid right towards Kahne's side. Kahne saw Annett out of his side window and he began to speed up. He sped up just enough to avoid Annett and Annett spun harmlessly to a stop on pit road. Both drivers made it to their pit boxes and performed routine stops before returning to the race. Then, the problem started. Kahne was handed a speeding penalty by NASCAR, but get this. The penalty was because he sped up to avoid Annett's spinning race car. The team was extremely angered and Kahne was furious. He made his way down for a pass through penalty and returned to the track, but he had lost a ton of time. Now, I will go ahead and say this. Kahne is my favorite driver and I am a bit biased, but I would say the exact same thing if it happened to somebody like Jimmie Johnson. That was the worst call I have ever yet to see in watching NASCAR. I mean, I can't begin to describe it. It is just like if a wreck happened and cars speed down pit road to avoid it. It was the exact same situation. NASCAR even acted like they couldn't take the penalty away. What kind of bull is that they are trying to spread? I mean, it is just crazy the way they handled that. Just completely erroneous behavior for intelligent people to be performing, in my opinion. Oh, well, I guess. But today is a different day and maybe everything will go okay from a penalty side for NASCAR.
4. Are the Fords Back This Year?
This topic may be too early to completely talk about considering we are only one race through the year, but I feel like it is time to talk about it. Are the Fords back this year? If you recall, the entire Ford camp struggled last year with Brad Keselowski, the 2012 champion, missing the Chase and also a lot of the drivers not finishing well in the championship standings. It was definitely a struggle last year, but I feel something is going good this year for Ford. For one, they have been really fast thus far this year. Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle, and Joey Logano brought home great finishes for the Ford camp along with great races to go along with it. In qualifying at Phoenix, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano swept the front row for the Ford camp. Greg Biffle and other Ford drivers looked really good in qualifying and practice thus far at Phoenix. The final reason I feel the Fords are back is Brad Keselowski. Keselowski absolutely looked horrendous last year. I mean, his cars were not the same from 2012 to 2013. This year, he looks amazing. I mean, he looks better now than he did in 2012. He really could take another title this year if the Fords continue this same success. All in all, the Fords are back and the other drivers are going to have to contend with them throughout the year.
5. My Pick to Win
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has arrived in Phoenix for a race in the desert. Thus far, a good many drivers have contended in practice and qualifying, but I am looking to last year's race for race contenders. Carl Edwards won the first race at the track a season ago and was in position to win the second race, but the tank ran out and Kevin Harvick walked away with the trophy. One key thing I noticed from the races last year is the front is where to be. Most of the drivers who started in the top 10 actually finished there. I feel like the winner will come from the top 20 or top 15, but I am not going to pick a complete winner this time. I will give you guys some drivers to look at. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. look like they have a chance to win today. Hopefully, we are left with a great battle for the win in this race and it is definitely worthwhile. Unfortunately, I won't be able to write about the race today, but I will happily watch the first part of the race. Well, that is it for me today and until we meet again.
Credits:
-Image:
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/wibx950.com/files/2013/03/163024907-630x370.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment