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Talladega… Before the restrictor plates came into use it was probably the fastest track the NASCAR Cup Teams ever had to face. (Yeah, I know some will argue with that statement, but honestly, that doesn’t matter that much to me.) It is wider than Daytona and it has more banking than Daytona and the speeds are fast, even with the restrictor plates. Besides all of the facts just mentioned, it has also been the track where some of the most dramatic finishes in NASCAR have taken place and probably the most memorable one was last year when eight cars finished less than a quarter of a second apart.

Usually, qualifying has very little drama and it is more important for the one that wins the pole and gets to claim the number one pit stall. Yesterday’s qualifying session appeared as though it was going to go much as expected… that is, until Jeff Gordon took his turn in the session. He didn’t run the expected lines during his two qualifying laps but he did end up with the fastest qualifying time. For today’s race, Jeff Gordon sits on the pole.

If anyone needed a boost from something good happening, it would be the #24 team and its driver. It’s not that they haven’t had fast cars most every weekend nor has it been that the driver hasn’t run strong in almost every race this year. He just seems to be going through one of those times that many drivers and teams face (usually more than once) throughout their careers. No matter how strong or good they have been running, something has happened to keep them from finishing a race with the results it looked like they deserved. Whether it has been blown engines or getting accidently put in the wall by one of their Hendrick team-mates, things have just not gone well.

I don’t know what you think about it, but from my view, no matter how a season is going, Jeff Gordon always appears have a positive attitude. Now, I’m not saying he doesn’t show signs of being discouraged, but he doesn’t throw his team under the bus. He continually looks at how they are performing and what they are doing right and what’s going wrong.

From this fan’s view, it shows the character of the driver and the team. When tough times come, they don’t blame each other, they suck it up and look how they can use the positive and improve on the negative things they do each week. To me, that is why the #24 team and its driver are champions and I expect they will come out of their slump soon. In fact, even though starting on the pole doesn’t mean much when it comes to restrictor plate racing, it could be today.

No matter how you look at it, the drama in today’s race will be exhibited from the drop of the green flag until the checkered flag falls. I don’t look at it as being an “on the edge of your seat” race every lap, but there is a lot of stuff going on in the minds of the drivers and crews that will make it dramatic, even thought the action on the track may appear to wane at times.

Over-heating is the biggest concern of many of the teams for today’s race and it will be one of the biggest performance factors for every team all day. Add to that the expected temperatures of the air and track and it could prove to be the “perfect storm” for some that otherwise could finish up front.

A J Allmendinger surprised many by taking the outside pole position and will start next to Jeff Gordon on the front row. In fact it was a surprise to some that the Fords didn’t qualify up front much as they did at Daytona. From this fan’s view, that doesn’t mean they won’t be the ones to beat this afternoon, but it could mean the “pack racing” could be much more exciting than it even usually is.

Since the rule changes NASCAR made to try and break up the “two car tandem” that brought back “pack racing” to the Super Speedways has worked (more because of over-heating concerns than anything else) there is the possibility of the “Big One” taking out possible contenders for the victory. That doesn’t mean we won’t see the two car draft, but it is highly expected it will be saved mostly for the laps near the end of the race.

It is hard for anyone to pick a winner for a restrictor plate race, especially Talladega. I won’t even try to do that but there are some I would like to see win and some I would rather not. I do expect to see the usual ones at the front fighting for position especially in the closing laps. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and the Bush brothers should be there along with Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and, of course Dale Earnhardt Jr. Of course, I can’t leave out Michael Waltrip Racing’s teams either.

With the way all of the teams have been running, it is anybody’s race. I expect the last 25 laps to be very intense and the finish to be as dramatic and intense as any we witnessed in recent times. Of course, there is also the possibility the end could come with a bunch of torn up race cars sitting, smoking and steaming and someone totally unexpected sitting in Victory Lane.

But, I reckon we won’t know that until the checkered flag drops… will we?

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© May 6, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Denny Hamlin won the STP 400 in Kansas last weekend and, if you listened to many about this weekend at Richmond, they had already declared him or his team-mate Kyle Bush as the likely winners of tonight’s Cup race. The problem is, there are several other drivers that are making a strong case that that just might not happen. In fact, Mark Martin is sitting on the pole and Carl Edwards is sitting next to him on the front row and one of them would like nothing better than to put an end to the regularity of the Joe Gibbs teams success at RIR.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that there is more than one driver in the Cup Series that is hungry for a victory. So far, 2012 seems to be a year to expect the unexpected and, personally, this fan doesn’t expect the race tonight to be any different. Even during qualifying the unexpected happened. Many of the ones with the faster lap times in the first practice didn’t fair well when it came time to qualify. Even though the expectation is for the late qualifiers to run faster, it didn’t happen that way for several, (except of course, Mark Martin) and they will start in mid pack.

The real surprise so far this year, at least from this fan’s view, is the strength of the Michael Waltrip Racing teams. They have shown up every week with strong cars and have performed extremely well in this first part of the season. Martin Truex Jr’s second place finish from last week didn’t really tell the whole story. He led a bunch of laps and looked like he was going to pull off the victory until the last pit stop. That’s when his car fell off the pace just enough for Denny Hamlin to catch and pass him and stay out front.

Over the last four weeks in particular, Martin Truex Jr has finished in the top ten and always been in the hunt for the victory. He hasn’t won yet, but it is only a matter of time from this fan’s view. He and Mark Martin have been very impressive and either one of them could win tonight.

Now, Clint Bowyer is another story for MWR. He is kind of in the same boat as Jeff Gordon of Hendrick MotorSports when it comes to how he’s finished. Both he and Gordon have been competitive almost every week so far but have little or nothing to show for it. Both have experienced blown engines and both are outside the top ten in points, although Bowyer is just outside in eleventh. Both of them like this track and either one could end up in Victory Lane tonight, (but, I’m not picking any winners yet.)

The Jack Roush teams of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle continue to run consistently fast each week and could be up front at the end of tonight’s Capital City 400. Since I’ve been talking about expecting the unexpected, I don’t really think one of them is going to win tonight but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in there fighting for it. I mean, Biffle is still sitting at the top of the points and Kenseth is in third. If something disastrous doesn’t happen to them I expect they will make a good showing tonight.

The Hendrick Teams will be looking for that 200th win for their boss, Rick Hendrick tonight and once again, Dale Jr looks like a possible victor in this short rack race tonight. He has been running very consistent lately and he really does run well at RIR.

Jimmie Johnson just hasn’t looked confident in his car on the track this weekend but when it comes down to crunch-time, I expect the five time champ to be pressing toward the front and possibly be leading at, or near the end of the race. As for four time champ Jeff Gordon, well… it is definitely a possibility and I expect he and his crew chief, Allan Gustafson will be doing all they can to bring home number two hundred for Hendrick.

When it comes down to the end of the race, there are several I haven’t mentioned yet that I expect to be possible takers of the checkered flag. One would be AJ Allmendinger and a real shocker would be Marcos Ambrose. Of course I do think AJ has a better chance than Marcos, but then… we are talking about expecting the unexpected… aren’t we?

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© April 28, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Yeah, I know he was only one of fifteen drivers that broke the old track record set last year by Matt Kenseth but, he was still the fastest of those fifteen. I also know there were a lot of cars showing a lot of speed in the last practice Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, some of the faster cars showed there are some treacherous spots at LVMS and two of the the top ten starters will be starting in the back in backup cars. Kyle Bush qualified second but will be one of those starting in the back while Jimmie Johnson is the other. Even though Johnson qualified sixth, he will also be in a backup car to start the race. Both of them will have their work cut out for themselves if they expect to have any chance at ending up in Victory Lane. Since we are talking about Kyle Bush and Jimmie Johnson, neither one can (or should) be counted out for being up front at the end of the day, but if they do, they will definitely have to work for it. Plus, there are forty one other drivers ahead of them that I don’t think will be just waiting around for them to catch up.

Once again, the Fords didn’t qualify all that well but they are expected to run well during the race. After all, the 1 ½ mile tracks are supposed to be their forte. Carl Edwards had a fast car but didn’t qualify as he had hoped and starts twenty first. His teammates, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth did a little better at ninth and eleventh. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ruling out the Fords but I do think the Chevy’s and Toyotas are looking a bit stronger (at least in the practice and qualifying sessions.)

So you may be asking why I think the Chevys are going to make a good showing this afternoon. Well, that is a good question and I would just point you a couple of obvious reasons. First, until Jimmie Johnson had his problems, the Hendrick camp had three cars in the top six starting spots. Second, the Childress team of Kevin Harvick was another fast Chevy. He ran fast in practice and qualified third. With as consistent as he has been over the last two races, I would not be surprised to see him contending for the win at the end of the day.

It’s true, there are a lot of fast cars and one thing this fan has noticed this year is, the competition between teams appears to be even closer than it was last year and that in itself makes it difficult to choose possible winners, especially at the Vegas track. From this fan’s view, this will be another fuel mileage week and once again, the pressure will be on the crews to perform flawlessly and help their driver make up as many spots in the pits as they can. Because the track is so fast, track position will be crucial to the eventual winner today and that puts even more pressure on the pit crews. Although I expect the competition to be tight, passing may be more difficult and that could lead to a bit more bumpin’ and runnin’ and maybe just a little bit of short tempered impatience by the end of the race. That could mean more yellows and possibly more vehicle carnage during those double file restarts and open up even more opportunities for a surprise winner.

Now, I really do hate to keep bringing this up week after week but, Dale Jr looked mighty strong in all of the practice sessions and with his qualifying spot of fourth. Since Kyle Bush is having to move to the back, doesn’t that mean Dale Jr will be starting on the front row, right next to Kasey Kahne? I know that is not as big a deal as it might seem but, that is a very strong Hendrick front row if it turns out that way.

From my view, this could very well be the week Dale Jr (and crew chief, Steve Letarte) break that string of non-wins he’s been enduring for a while now. If that happens (and it very could) Jr Nation will be very happy when they leave Las Vegas and you can be sure it will be one thing that may happen in Vegas but won’t stay in Vegas…

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© March 11, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Well, its that time again and the Shootout at Daytona tonight should give us all a good look at how things might shape up for next weekend at the super-speedway for the Daytona 500. Of course we all know the Shootout is a bit different than the race next weekend but, as a fan, I think it will give insight as to what we can expect when it comes down to the actual racing.

NASCAR has done all it can to minimize the two car draft (or the two car tandem as some still like to say) and that means we should see a whole lot more pack racing. That means we should see two and three wide racing with a little bit of the two car draft thrown in at strategic moments for a couple of cars to hopefully blast by the rest. At least, that is the word around the Daytona Super Speedway at the moment.

Personally, I like the fact there could be more two and three wide pack racing because as a fan the two car draft is relatively boring to watch for 500 miles. Of course, if you listen to the drivers they would also rather do pack racing them the two car tandem draft. They also say it is less stressful than the two car draft. One thing I notice about the pack racing is at any moment they can have the “Big One” and that has to weigh on their minds. From this fan’s view, I have to admit that I have always liked the pack racing much better than the two car draft.

I think NASCAR made a good move when they decided to try and minimize the two-car draft during the Super Speedway races. I also am happy that they’ve eliminated communication between the drivers in case they do want to do the two-car draft. It will be good to see them get back to racing for the win themselves rather than having to depend upon a partner to get or stay up front. That doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to use the two-car draft to go forward or take the win but, it does mean that the two-car draft will be used as a tool rather than a strategy. It is still very obvious that when two cars look up via the two-car draft, they’re noticeably faster than a single car or a line of cars.

As expected, electronic fuel injection isn’t, and won’t be, very noticeable as far as performance on the track is concerned. However, there may be some situations that arise because of the electronic fuel injection, whether it be during pit stops or at other times, simply because some of that information won’t be gained until it’s in the heat of the battle. I’m not really looking for that to be a difficulty for the engineers for the teams because they seem to have no trouble figuring things out at any other time. I’m just glad that they’re not doing it in the middle of the season. I’m also glad that all the teams are facing the same problems at the same time.

This fan is looking forward to the race tonight and is certainly glad that the 2012 NASCAR season is starting. With all of the changes that have been made since Homestead in 2011, I think it will prove to be a very interesting season. Yes, there are still 26 races to go and then 10 in The Chase but there are also a lot of unknowns as we go forward into the year.

Will this year be as exciting as last year last year? Who’s going to win tonight? Will they have a Big One tonight? All of that remains to be seen but one thing is certain – anything can happen tonight and probably will, but, only part of what we get to watch tonight will carry over into next weekend. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get started…

By the way, just in case you’re wondering who I think is going to win tonight, I’m going to stick my neck way out and say it is going to be one of the Hendrick drivers. Dale Jr? (Yeah, could be.) Kasey Kahne? (Uh, maybe.) Jimmie Johnson? (Hm-m-m.) Jeff Gordon? (Possibly…) Of the four, probably Dale Jr is the most likely in my book followed by Jeff Gordon, but my picking the winner for the Shootout is like naming the Champion for the year before the first race is run… If it happens the way I say, it would just be dumb luck.

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© February 18, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman JustAFansView.com and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions