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From this fan’s view it does look like NASCAR has managed to make the two car draft a lot less effective than it has been in recent Super Speedway races. The biggest problem seemed to be over heating in short order if they did try the two car draft and, at times, even when they were drafting in the pack. This fan wonders what kind of a problem that will be when the teams visit other tracks and Super Speedways and experience warmer temperatures than they had at Daytona.

As for the EFI addition, the jury is still out but, it did appear there were very few problems with it. One noticeable problem was fluctuating fuel pressures and it did affect more than one car. It does appear the problem is somewhat related to the fuel pickups in the fuel cells but more input is needed from different tracks before it should be considered a major issue, at least from my view.

As expected the Fords were fast and Matt Kenseth put his racing prowess and the horsepower under the hood to use to take the victory over Dale Jr and Greg Biffle out of the final turn. It does appear, at least for the time being, that one car is as fast (or maybe a little faster) than two when it comes to those final dashes for the flag. Side drafting works again and timing is everything in the last 1000 feet or so to the finish line. That was one thing that was evident, at least to this fan, in all of the Cup races this last weekend.

Danica Patrick had a rough start to her Speed Weeks and entry into the NASCAR circuit full time. Some said she was in over her head and others said she shouldn’t be there. I, however, disagree with the negativity she may have endured during Speed Weeks. From this fan’s view, her accidents had very little (or absolutely nothing) to do with her actions on the track. Her accidents were caused by others she was racing with and she suffered the crashes much as Jimmie Johnson did with a little help from Elliott Sadler in the first two laps of the 500 Monday night. There was nothing he could do and there was nothing she could do after the contact. Both of them were, “along for the ride,” and Danica more than once over the last weekend.

In this fan’s opinion, Danica is a good racer and a grand addition to both the Nationwide and Cup series and just a good addition to the overall picture of NASCAR. How she will do remains to be seen but it is this fan’s opinion she will do well. The more seat time she gets, the better she will do and let’s not forget, when it came to finishing the Daytona 500, hardly anyone believed she would finish ahead of four time Champion, Jeff Gordon or five time Champion, Jimmie Johnson, but she did. Yeah, I know Jeff’s engine blew near the halfway point of the race and Jimmie’s car was pretty much destroyed in the accident that took him out on lap two, but Danica was also caught up in Johnson’s accident. After her team put her car back in race-able shape, she ran well the rest of the night in “the pack” and finished 38th.

Well, as I said in the earlier article for Daytona, it was unpredictable. I don’t think anyone expected the postponement for rain and I know no one expected one of the Jet Dryers to be caught up in a collision with one of the Cup cars, burst into flames and delay the running of the last forty laps for two hours. All in all, Daytona didn’t disappoint this fan and, from the looks of the fan-filled stands on Monday evening, Daytona will always be Daytona.

As we look forward to this coming weekend in Phoenix, two things I’ll be looking forward to finding out. First – Will the EFI have any different effect on the competition than it did in Daytona? Second – Will the new racing surface have aged enough to cause any drastic difference in what the teams experienced on their last visit there?

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© March 01, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

If there is one thing that is evident to this fan, it is that this Daytona 500 is going to be about as unpredictable as any in recent history. Oh sure, there will be those that will tell you they’ve all been unpredictable, especially since the changes NASCAR made over the years like restrictor plates and then the COT cars, but though highly criticized, most everything they’ve done has made the race safer and more interesting.

With the introduction of Electronic Fuel Injection to the Cup cars, many didn’t know what to expect but it really didn’t change much. Yes, there a re still some unknowns as to how it will change the strategies and competition for the 500, but from this fan’s view, fans are going to see a great race. The EFI change will mostly be noticed by the engine builders and not from the stands.

Whether it was the Duels on Thursday afternoon, the Camping World Truck race on Friday night or the Nationwide Series race Saturday afternoon, racing this weekend at Daytona has been different, and yet, has remained the same. There has been plenty of action and drama along with a lot of torn up race cars.

Probably the most noticeable change this year was the return of “pack racing.” That in itself has brought back a dimension to the Daytona Super Speedway this fan has missed for a couple of years. Once the drivers discovered the two car tandem allowed them to go faster, the racing was interesting and good for a while but quickly became less exciting over the whole race. (Well, even I have to admit, the restarts were much more exciting while everyone tried to hook up with their chosen drafting partners.)

The two Duels revealed at least two possibilities for this afternoon’s race. The first showed how the changes made by NASCAR to the cooling systems and the aerodynamics made the cars a bit more unstable and did accomplish minimizing the two cars tandems. There was a lot of two and three wide pack racing, also two car tandems and again, a lot of torn up race cars.

The second showed how things can get a bit strung out at times and saw a bit more separation than the first but there weren’t as many torn up cars. It also showed how the changes to the cooling system might have an effect on the whole race this afternoon. Because the air temperature at race time for the second Duel was a bit higher than during practices, many drivers noticed their engines were running hotter than expected. They quickly found they (maybe I should say the Chevys in particular) couldn’t run the two car draft without highly elevated water temperatures. This caused some to lay back and lose ground to the front runners making sure they ran cool to the end. In the end it was a two car draft at the front in both Duels and that may be the only predictable thing about the 500.

As I said at the beginning of this article, this afternoon’s Daytona 500 will be unpredictable and I am standing by that. There are just too many variables. I expect to see at least one “Big One” but it will more likely be nearer the end. When that does happen, (and I’m sure it will) it could quickly lead to another one on the next restart. I do expect to see the Ford’s running strong all day and contrary to some, I expect most of the Hendrick camp to be right there in the mix at the end.

The salvation for the engines today just might be the cooler weather that’s expected. If it is cooler, it means we could see racing a lot like the Nationwide Series went Saturday afternoon. With cooler air temperatures we just may see a lot more of the mixture of the two and three wide pack racing along with more of the two car draft. However it goes, I expect the end of the race may not be pretty and there could be a major “Big One” coming at the flag stand.

Yeah, I know the Fords have looked strong all weekend and it is possible we could hear the name Carl Edwards a lot this afternoon. Although I expect her to make a good showing, I don’t think Danica will end up in Victory Lane this afternoon. This is anybody’s to win and everybody’s to lose.

Because I really do believe anybody can win this one, I don’t want to pick a winner, but it is very possible Jr Nation could come away from today very happy…

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© February 26, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Justafansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Speed Weeks at Daytona really picks up steam from now through Sunday afternoon and evening. Starting on Thursday afternoon with the Duels, there will be no lack of action over the next four days. Friday night will be the Camping World Truck Race and Saturday afternoon will see the Nationwide cars hit the track and then Sunday afternoon the Cup teams hit the track again for the Daytona 500.

Yeah, we all know there is a lot going on at Daytona right now and along with all of the action there are still a few unknowns. It still remains to be seen how the cars will handle in the packs and how the drivers will utilize the Two Car Tandem.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find someone that hasn’t taken some sort of interest in how Danica will do now that she’s full-time in NASCAR and shouldn’t have very many distractions other than making the laps. Personally, I am willing to give her time to learn as much as she can about these cars and racing stock cars at this level on a regular basis. I expect she will surprise a few and disappoint others but overall, I think she’s going to be a marvelous addition to 2012 NASCAR season.

As I wrote a few articles ago, the more NASCAR changes the more it stays the same. Even though this is going to be a year of many changes I expect the racing to be as good or better than it has ever been. With EF I (electronic fuel injection) now on the Cup cars and other changes and improvements that have been made over the last three months, I don’t see how it could be anything but better. Sure I know there will be those that disagree with me but, I think that the racing that we witness over the next 26 weeks in particular, will be very interesting and probably some of the closest competition we’ve seen yet.

Honestly folks, there’s a lot going on at Daytona and Daytona is only the first race track the NASCAR teams face. There are still a lot of unknowns ahead at the tracks they visit in the future. It is the hope of many that the Shootout wasn’t a fluke and that the competition and racing for the Duels and the 500 will see a lot of pack racing and of course, some of that Two Car Tandem stuff.

Once again, at the risk of sounding repetitive, I think the changes that NASCAR has made to break up the Two Car Tandem and return Super Speedway racing more to that two and three wide pack racing is one of the best things they’ve done in two years. I know that maybe a little bit of an overstatement because they have done a lot of things over the last couple of years that have been very good for the sport. I don’t know how you feel about it, but there is something to be said for “pack racing” over the “Two Car Tandem” and it will make the race more exciting as long as they don’t run a lot of single file laps.

Personally, I can’t wait for the drop of the green flag and see where the rest of the season takes us. I’m looking forward to the Duels if for no other reason than to see what Sunday’s race might be like. I’m relatively sure the drivers will be a tad bit more cautious during the Duels than they were during the Shootout, but from what I can tell from listening to them, they’re gonna go out and be competitive and some are going to press the envelope more than others. Does that mean we might see a Big One in each of the duels Thursday afternoon? Well, that is a very real possibility and along with that possibility there could be some teams that tear up some more cars.

Each one of the Duels is 60 laps of differing agendas. Some will be trying to race their way into the 500 while others are just racing and putting in the laps hoping to learn something that will help them on Sunday afternoon. The ones that are trying to get into the race will probably take more chances than the others and could very possibly cause something to happen that may take out someone’s favorite car for the 500 and cause them to have to go to a backup. Of course you know, this is all pure speculation from this fan’s view and there is the possibility that there could be 120 laps of racing take place without a Big One happening. From what we’ve witnessed in the practice sessions and the Shootout on Saturday night, I think there’s more of a chance there is going to be more wrecked cars than there is a chance of them all coming away unscathed.

There is no doubt that everyone is going to have to make at least one pit stop for fuel and probably tires. I think most will take four tires but, I imagine there will be a few that take two. As to who might win in each of the Duels, I don’t even want to venture a guess – there are just too many variables.

The only thing I hope doesn’t happen is that the cars all line up in single file and play follow the leader for most of the 60 laps in each of the races. I don’t think it’s going to happen that way simply because everyone seems to be feeling really good about their cars and how competitive they’re going to be. When it comes down to it, I really think we’re going to see a fair amount of what we witnessed during the Shootout and that would be two and three wide pack racing and maybe a couple of breakaways at times but, no matter what, I intend to be watching to see what does happen…

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© February 22, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

I don’t know how you feel about it, but from this fan’s view, the more things change, the more they stay the same when it comes to NASCAR. This fan thinks that NASCAR 2012 is gonna be a lot like last year even though there will be some very big differences. What with the driver changes, the loss of some sponsorship dollars and some drivers and teams determined more than ever to win their first or another Cup Championship, I don’t see how there could not be change. But even though there will be a lot of differences in the coming year, I think a lot of things are going to stay the same. I believe the drivers and the teams are likely to be just as competitive, if not more so than last year, and I expect to see some real excitement all throughout the first 26 races and the last 10 races when we get to the Chase.

But wait a minute… I may be getting way ahead of myself.

It may sound strange to make this statement at this time, but even though there has been a major change to the power plants under the hoods of the cars, I still expect the competition to be as close, or even closer than it was last year. Of course, everyone knows the major change in the power plant is fuel injection and it still remains to be seen how it will affect the individual Cup teams over the long haul. I expect there will be some challenges along the way, but I also think the engine builders and engineers will have it all figured out in very short order (if they haven’t already done that.)

Personally, I am glad they had the testing sessions in January at Daytona and can’t wait to see how the teams and NASCAR put it all together for speed weeks at Daytona this February. (In reality, I don’t expect there to be much of a change in performance (which was pretty much proved out at the test sessions), but with some of the changes NASCAR is making to try and break up the now expected and continuous two-car-drafting at the Super Speedways, it could prove to be a very interesting Daytona 500. What effect that may have on the other tracks will remain to be seen, but at Daytona and Talladega, fans could see at least a partial return to pack racing and less tandem drafting.

I really don’t think we as fans will know until they get down to the actual racing and, if I know anything about the Cup teams, they will find the fastest way around the Super Speedways, even with any changes NASCAR may make to the rules. Believe me when I tell you, that is NOT a statement against NASCAR. Over the years, they have proven they want what is best for the fans, the teams and the competition amongst those teams. (And just as a side note, they do seem to learn from and correct their mistakes, but maybe not as fast as some fans think they should…)

Yes, it’s true, 2012 could prove to be a very, very different year even while the level of competition remains quite the same. All of us are going to have to learn to associate different driver names with different car numbers and team owners (and let’s not forget, Danica Patrick is going to be full time in NASCAR, too.) Even though she was involved part time in the Nationwide series last year, this year will see her focusing on the NASCAR Nationwide and Cup series instead of the Indy cars and all of us expect a lot of attention to be focused on her, at least early in the season.

I’ve been listening to all the speculation from many sources about the 2012 season over the last month and a half or two and I agree with some and disagree with others, but overall, I’m ready for the season to begin and can’t wait to see how things pan out… How about you??

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© January 30, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Just A Fan’s View and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions