03-24-2007, 08:01 PM
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NASCAR 2007 - Food City 500 - Bristol
Starting Grid
Code:
1 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet
2 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge
3 Elliott Sadler 19 Dodge
4 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet
5 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford
6 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet
7 Dave Blaney 22 Toyota
8 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge
9 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet
10 Denny Hamlin 11 Chevrolet
11 Greg Biffle 16 Ford
12 Regan Smith 01 Chevrolet
13 M Truex Jr. 1 Chevrolet
14 Ward Burton 4 Chevrolet
15 Ken Schrader 21 Ford
16 Casey Mears 25 Chevrolet
17 Tony Raines 96 Chevrolet
18 Clint Bowyer 07 Chevrolet
19 Mike Bliss 49 Dodge
20 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet
21 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet
22 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge
23 Jeremy Mayfield 36 Toyota
24 Ricky Rudd 88 Ford
25 Brian Vickers 83 Toyota
26 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge
27 Kenny Wallace 78 Chevrolet
28 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge
29 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet
30 Dale Jarrett 44 Toyota
31 D Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet
32 Carl Edwards 99 Ford
33 David Stremme 40 Dodge
34 Robby Gordon 7 Ford
35 David Gilliland 38 Ford
36 J P Montoya 42 Dodge
37 J.J. Yeley 18 Chevrolet
38 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford
39 Reed Sorenson 41 Dodge
40 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet
41 David Ragan 6 Ford
42 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge
43 AJ Allmendinger 84 Toyota
My Fantasy Five
Code:
#20 Tony Stewart
#24 Jeff Gordon
#2 Kurt Busch
#19 Elliott Sadler
#01 Regan Smith
Food City 500 Preview
Quote:
Bristol Preview
VegasInsider.com
This week’s race at Bristol marks the debut of NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow”. NASCAR will run 16 races this season in the new car, including next week at Martinsville as well. The changes to the car were all made in efforts to make the drivers safer.
There is a larger cockpit, more steel plating by the doors, and the fuel cell is a much thick container. So far the car has been met with a tremendous amount of approval from the drivers.
2007: The 16 speedways prepared to feature the new cars are Bristol (2), Martinsville (2), Phoenix (2), Richmond (2), Dover (2), New Hampshire (2), Darlington, Infineon Raceway, Watkins Glen and Talladega (fall).
"The first thing about it is the car is safer,” Kevin Harvick said. Whatever it is after that is a bonus. The drivers have more room inside. There is a lot of things built into the car to absorb energy when they hit the wall. That's just the starting point. ... The bottom line is, NASCAR has to make the best decision for them. They felt it was time to evolve the car and make it safer, and the teams will figure out the rest."
Obviously with the changes, there is bound to be some kind of change with what we have come to expect, whether it’s an increase or decrease in performance. All the past performance data that we have may be able to be tossed out the door. Or they could run very similar. We’ll have to wait and see for ourselves and trust the drivers who tested the cars in Bristol at the end of February.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks the cars may even run a little better.
"The Impala SS actually drives better than our other cars do here. The car is an inch wider, it has a little more grip. I am really pleasantly surprised really. It has exceeded my expectations at this point and how the car is driving. I anticipated it to be a little more of a struggle get the car to turn, to work, to get it up off the corner. Our lap times are comparable with the other chassis we have been running here the past couple of years. I think we are ahead of the game a little bit, as far as I thought we would be, we are ahead of that."
So how do we handicap this week’s race with all the changes? To start with, I think you still have to look at the drivers and use past trends to guide you. Drivers who do well at Bristol always do well at Bristol. It’s not a coincidence that the same drivers seem to finish in the top five twice a year and that the same few drivers win in every Bristol race. They are just better. I wouldn’t imagine the changes to the car affecting the select few drivers who dominate at Bristol.
The first candidate to win this week is Las Vegas native, Kurt Busch (6/1). He has five career wins at Bristol in his last 10 starts there. He has won with Jack Roush and did it last season with Roger Penske showing that Busch can do it at Bristol in nearly any situation.
The next driver to keep an eye on is Kevin Harvick (6/1). Since his rookie year in 2001, no one has a better Bristol average finish position than Harvick. He won this race in 2005 and finished second last season.
Matt Kenseth (9/1) has won the last two Bristol night races in a row. In this race last year, Kenseth finished third. Since 2002, his worst finish has been 16th with nine top 10 finishes.
After you throw out all the wins of Kenseth, Harvick, and Busch you’re left with three other drivers that have won in the last 11 races; Tony Stewart (7/1) in 2001, Jeff Gordon (10/1) in 2002, and Dale Jr. (14/1) in 2004.
Sometime soon, some driver is going to step up and show the Bristol heavyweights that they’re ready to become chief. Kurt Busch was that guy to do it when he gave Jimmy Spencer the business in crunch time a few years ago. Greg Biffle has come close, but I believe the next in line is Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin so we’ll throw them in our top 5 this week.
Kyle Busch would seem like the logical choice not only because of his team, but because he just doesn’t care about offending anyone. Much like his brother, he just wants to win and will take whatever baggage comes with it. The short track racing is where both Kurt and Kyle got their racing experience at the Bullring inside Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The irritated plenty of people racing there as well, but the Busch brothers are the ones racing in NASCAR’s top series now. These boys definitely got something that many others don’t have.
TOP 5 Bristol Finish Prediction:
1) #29 Kevin Harvick (6/1)
2) #5 Kyle Busch (12/1)
3) #2 Kurt Busch (6/1)
4) #17 Matt Kenseth (9/1)
5) #11 Denny Hamlin (22/1)
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