Daytona
After a massively long rain delay, the Daytona 500 kicked off in primetime and was some of the best restrictor plate racing in years! Fans were holding their breath over the final few laps as Dale Earnhardt Jr. picked up his 2nd Daytona 500 victory, breaking a year and a half winless streak.Phoenix
Rain again, but this time it's Kevin Harvick, in just his 2nd race for Stewart-Haas Racing that picked up his 1st win of the year.Vegas
The Penske boys looked good early. Paul Menard made a huge charge to the front. But our winners, Jr. and Harvick, were the class of the field. Mechanical failures ended Harvick's day early and again, the fans were holding their breath as Dale Jr. took the white flag. Then.....CHAOS! Jr. runs out of gas on the back stretch and Brad Keselowski picks up the win.Bristol
Guess what? Rain again. After a long rain delay in the middle of the race they get the track dry and continue racing. Carl Edwards looks like he's going to win when a mystery caution comes out with 2 to go (apparently a light malfunction). As their preparing for the green-white-checker finish, rain begins to fall again and Nascar called the race giving Edwards the win.Fontana
Let's flash back to last year. Nationwide race, Kyle Busch and almost unknown rookie Kyle Larson duked it out on the last lap with Busch barely edging out the win. Next day, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, while running 1-2, wreck off turn 4 on the final lap giving Kyle Busch the win. This year. Nationwide race, it's the Kyle and Kyle show again, only this time Larson gets his revenge, beating Busch for his first Nationwide win. Next day, Kyle and Kyle show 3.0. The two duke it out again with Busch getting the victory, but Larson has now become a household name and the talk of the garage.Martinsville
A race that was completely dominated by Jimmie Johnson turned out to be redemption song for Kurt Busch as he took the lead from Jimmie with 11 laps to go. It was his first win in 3 years and put Haas Automation in victory lane for the first time.Texas
Surprise, Surprise. Rain again. Keselowski looked good early, but it was his teammate, Joey Logano, who proved to have the best car. As Joey comes off turn 4 to take the white flag the caution comes out, apparently for debris. Pit strategy puts Jeff Gordon in the lead and pushes Logano back to 6th, yet in an amazing run, Joey passes 5 cars in 2 laps to get the victory, making him the 7th different winner in 7 races.Darlington
Richmond
Kyle Larson, the rookie sensation, gets his first career pole, but is spun out by Clint Bowyer going into turn 1 on the first lap. Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski turn out to be the dominate cars leading most of the race. Toward the end of the race, Matt Kenseth catches Brad and Jeff and we have a wonderful 3 way battle for the lead with all 3 cars beating and banging on each other. As this is happening, however, Joey Logano catches and passes all 3 to go on to victory lane for the 2nd time this season. After the race Keselowski brake checked Kenseth and had some choice words for him and elsewhere in the garage Casey Mears get into a spat with Marcos Ambrose which leads to Ambrose landing a right hook on Casey's temple.Like I said, it's been a crazy start to the season.
Surprises
Lot's of so far this year. The biggest probably being that our top 2 in points last year, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, have yet to find victory lane. Neither has our current point leader Jeff Gordon. Even though these 3 haven't won, they are still running pretty well (for the most part). Here are a few more surprises...
Surprisingly Good
When you look at the biggest surprises of the year, the first person that has to come to your mind is Kyle Larson. Larson was relatively unknown when he made his Nascar debut in the Nationwide Series last year at Daytona. He immediately began to turn heads with his driving skills, but was unable to find victory lane. To say it was shocking when Chip Ganassi announced he would be driving full time in the Cup Series this year would be a huge understatement. I personally did not think he was ready for the Cup Series, but he has proved me wrong. He has 4 top 10's and 2 top 5's (including a near win at Fontana) and sits 13th in points. Keep an eye on this kid, big things are coming his way.
The other rookie (I know there are 8, but really we all know there are only 2 that matter), Austin Dillon, hasn't been as flashy as Kyle Larson, nor has he turned as many heads, but he has had a quiet consistent start. He only has 1 top 10 (9th at Daytona), but has only finished outside the top 20 three times and his worst finish is 27th. He has finished every race and completed all but 4 laps. Not a bad start for the rookie who sits 12th in points.
In continuing with the young guns, how about Joey Logano? I know he's been in the series for 6 years, but Joey is only 23 years old. He continues to prove why there was so much hype for him when he first came up. He has 5 top 5 finishes this year and has won 2 of the last 3 races. He's 6th in points and has virtually locked himself into the Chase for a 2nd straight year.
Quick! Without looking, who's 3rd in points? Give up? Carl Edwards. Carl hasn't quite been the same driver since he lost out on the Championship to Tony Stewart in 2011, but it looks like he may be back. He won at Bristol, has 5 top 10 finishes, and his only finish outside the top 15 was 17th at Daytona. He's putting together a very consistent run, very much like his old teammate Matt Kenseth used to. Carl could be a factor in the end.
Surprisingly Not Good
I know he's won 2 races and is pretty much locked in the Chase, but outside of that Kevin Harvick has been terrible. He only has one other top 10 this year (7th at Martinsville) and has 4 finishes of 36th or worse, which has him sitting 20th in points.
Clint Bowyer has as many finishes of 42nd or worse as he has top 10's....2. He's tied with Harvick for 20th in points, but I think he'll get back to his winning ways before the start of the Chase.
Kasey Kahne is another one of last year's Chase drivers that is off to a rough start. He had 2 top 10's in the first 4 races, but has an average finish of 25th in the last 5 races. He sits 22nd in points.
I was really excited to see Martin Truex Jr. in the Furniture Row car this year. Both parties were coming off of successful seasons last year. Truex had won his first race in 6 years while FRR made the Chase for the first time in their existence. The pairing has not had a good start to 2014, though. They sit 27th in points with an average finish of 23.8 and best finish of 10th last week at Richmond. The have a pretty big hole to dig out of if they want to make the Chase.
The Next Generation
The 90's brought us Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, and Dale Jarrett. The 2000's brought us Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth. So who's next? Obviously 2 of them are already here, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. It excites me to think of what these 2 young guys are going to do over the next couple of years, but they aren't the only ones...
Chase Elliott has been tearing up the Nationwide Series. The rookie has 2 wins and a runner up finish in his last 3 races and leads the points. Although Elliott is currently driving for JR Motorsports, he is under contract with Hendrick Motorsports. Hmmm...does that sound familiar? Several years back Brad Keselowski was driving for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series and was also under contract with Hendrick Motorsports. Unfortunately Hendrick's stable in the Cup Series was full with Gordon, Johnson, Earhnardt Jr., and Mark Martin. Roger Penske was able to take advantage of the situation and Keselowski became a Cup champion. The situation is the same now except that it's Kasey Kahne instead of Mark Martin. So where does that leave Chase Elliott? I absolutely think he is ready to come up to the Cup Series next year, but where does he go? Hendrick's stable is full. Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick's biggest ally, also has a full squad. I'm sure many other owner's are chomping at the bit to try and steal him. So what's Hendrick to do? It's possible that JR Motorsports could move up to the Cup Series as a 5th Hendrick team with major support from HMS. Or....it is quite possible that Jeff Gordon may retire and who better to replace him than Chase Elliott.
One thing I would definitely NOT expect to happen is Roger Penske to again steal a Hendrick driver away. I have no doubt that Team Penske will soon be expanding to a 3 car team, but they are saving that spot for another 2nd generation driver...Ryan Blaney. 20 year old Blaney already has a very impressive resume. 4 top 5's in 5 ARCA starts, a win and 5 top 10's in 8 K&N starts, 2 wins and 20 top 10's in 33 Truck starts (finished 6th in points last year and is currently 3rd in points), and has a win and 13 top 10's in 19 Nationwide starts. The kid is impressive and is set to make his Cup debut later on this season. Watch out for Logano, Larson, Elliott, and Blaney over the next 10 years.
Prediction Corner
Now it's time for everyone's favorite part, predictions!
Close but No Cigar
Marcos Ambrose, Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., and Jamie McMurray. These guys will have some solid runs and have more points than at least one driver that makes the Chase, but lack of wins will keep them out.
First 4 Out
Next 4 Out
Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Greg Biffle will be the 2nd group of 4 eliminated from the Chase.
Last 4 Out
Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, and Jeff Gordon will be the last 4 drivers eliminated from the Chase.
Final Four
That leaves Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick going into a one race shootout at Homestead. It's hard to pick one guy for just one race, but looking at the past stats at Homestead my championship pick is..................................
Clint Bowyer
That's all folks. Stay tuned after Daytona for the Drive to End Hunger Halftime Report presented by The Home Depot. Until then...HAPPY RACIN'!!!
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