Pit Picks – Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Finally! After a long and very interesting off-season, the NASCAR world has descended upon Daytona Beach for the biggest race on the schedule. Trying to keep up with who is driving for who, sponsored by whom, was enough to make your head spin over the winter. Fortunately that’s all in the rear-view mirror now, and we’re headed for what will no doubt be another great season.
I’m back again this year with my race-by-race picks for one of the pickem pools I’m in. Each week I’ll try to get out my roster before qualifying, with all 8 possible drivers, but I wont announce who I’m starting for the race (I think a couple of my competitors know about this site), and then I’ll recap who I went with and how I did sometime in the days following the race.
**The numbers beside the drivers names are how many races I have them available for (9 starts per driver)
Group 1 – Kevin Harvick(9) & Mark Martin(9)
Daytona and Talladega tend to be the two toughest tracks to pick for, thanks to the draft packs, and the ample opportunity for wrecks taking out half the field. For that reason I tend to try and stay away from some of the bigger names. Harvick and Martin are both big names (as is everyone in this group), but compared to the Johnsons, Gordons and Edwards’ they aren’t as popular, fantasy wise. Harvick has won at Daytona before, besting Martin by a nose in ’07, and he took the Shootout title on Saturday night. Mark Martin has looked great every time he’s been on the track in his new #5 Chevy, qualifying on the front row, and finishing second to teammate, Jeff Gordon, in the second Duel on Thursday. Starting on the front row, don’t be surprised to see Martin lead a lap early and pick up the 10 bonus points that go along with that.
Group 2 – Tony Stewart(9), Brian Vickers(9), Dale Earnhardt Jr.(9), Jamie McMurray(9)
Dale Jr is pretty much a guaranteed start every time the Cup series hits a restrictor plate track, no matter what group he is in. This race is definitely no exception. Jamie McMurray tends to run well at Daytona and has won here in the summer race, plus this is a big year for him with Roush having to get down to 4 teams for 2010. He looked great at the end of last season after teaming up with former crew chief Donnie Wingo . Look for that to carry over to this year. Brian Vickers had a much improved 2008 and I expect him to continue that progress in 09. I don’t think he’ll be a Chase car, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t far off. Toyota’s (from the bigger teams) tend to get up front on these tracks, so hopefully he can get out and lead one. I’m not 100% on Tony here, and may still change it before Sunday’s race. I’m definitely looking forward to see what he can do with that Stewart-Haas team this year.
Group 3 – AJ Allmendinger(9), Bobby Labonte(9)
All of the guys I leaned on last year in this group have moved up to the second group, so this year should be a little tougher. Bobby Labonte is not Group 3 talent…and I don’t think going from an uncompetitive Petty organization to Hall of Fame/Yates will drop his performance any. I’d suspect he’ll be close to where he finished last season, if not a little better, which would be a solid season for this group. Allmendinger was probably the most improved driver over the second half of 2008, and it was a shame he was cut loose by Red Bull. It’s good to see him get a shot with RPM, for who knows how many races. As it is right now, he’s for sure running the first 5. Might as well use him now, in case he’s not in a car later.
So that’s the roster for the 500. I’ll let you know on Monday which 4 drivers I went with. Good luck to you and your teams this season!
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