COLUMN: Some NASCAR season predictions
Ah, the one week of the year in which I get to do something I scarcely ever can without contradictory stares: talk NASCAR.
Yes, I understand there will forever be endless debates engrossing sports bars, college apartments and “ESPN First Take” desks the universe over on the subject of whether or not auto racing should be considered a sport.
To this bustle I give two responses. First, if nothing else, it is always better than the World Series of Poker — which still makes me a little uneasy — and second, at least for this week, who cares?
It’s the Daytona 500 — the full-swing kickoff to the racing season and easily the largest stock car-related event of the year. And after a rousing, exciting finish from the 2011 season, it is only in good taste to leave a few thoughts and predictions for the circular struggle in hand this season.
Now, here is my holdup. I see no need to crown a winner without considering pit-stop mishaps, possible crashes or any other method of heated-and-paved tomfoolery. In lieu of this, I have decided to map out three possible winners. Let’s see if I can make the cut.
Possible winner: Denny Hamlin
Hamlin, owner of the FedEx 11 car, has always been one to get in a hot streak and stay there just long enough to make some noise. This is evidenced by his falling one race short of upending Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup Championship in 2010.
The biggest issue with Hamlin is starting off the year hot. Well, with Johnson finally deemed human after last year and no foreshadowed screaming favorite to take the field, this may be his chance. Expect the man in black and purplish blue to make a run for the first relevant checkered flag.
Possible winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Avid racing fans may call me crazy for taking a shot with the keeper of a current 129-race losing streak and nothing to highlight him but a pseudo-recent controversial team switch and jeans commercial aside Brett Favre. But, if Earnhardt Jr. can get his mind straight, he does have one big thing going for him.
He owns this track, and I mean owns it. The kid boasts a 2004 win, a 2001 Pepsi 400 win that he received on the same track his father died on just months earlier, well over 10 top-10 finishes and is a perennial top-five qualifier in Daytona.
If he has any chance of turning his more than dismal recent history around, it needs to start now where he has the momentum.
Oh yeah, did I mention he qualified for the third position this Sunday? Don’t call it impossible.
Possible Winner: Carl Edwards.
One word, my friends: vengeance. If I know anything about NASCAR’s resident back flipper, it’s that he doesn’t take losing lightly. After falling to Tony Stewart for the 2011 Sprint Cup by a measly point off of a rulebook technicality, can we be sure he’ll even take it harshly?
He already easily nabbed the top qualifying spot and only worked to improve his pit team. This sucker could get vicious, and it just might end in growling, bloodshed and that 99 car in the winner’s circle. We’ll soon see.
– Steve Schwartzman is a junior majoring in speech communications. He has had almost every job in sports writing, including blogs, analysis, statistics and fantasy football tips, and especially loves making bold picks. Think you can out-pick Steve? Let him know: steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu.