NASCAR Predictions for 2008: More of the same
The beginning of a new year often brings predictions of all sorts. Followers of sports, politics, entertainment and other fields gaze into the crystal ball and attempt to guess what the future may hold. Last year, this writer took a shot at looking into the future and failed miserably. Hopefully, no one took those predictions too seriously. If so, there were some surprised readers at season's end in 2007.
Unfazed, however, I will try again. Perhaps this year will provide better results.
The theme of this season's predictions is domination. I believe this year the NASCAR Sprint Cup series will serve as a playground for two teams. If the end of last season is any indicator, and I believe it is, the teams of Hendrick Motorsports and Roush-Fenway Racing will be making numerous trips to victory lane.
Drivers from those teams won the last nine consecutive races and 12 of the last 13 events on the schedule last year. I see no reason for that to change.
It is important to remember that the so called Car of Tomorrow will be utilized in every race on the schedule in 2008. Teams who have the most resources and have had the most success with the new machine will be starting a few steps ahead of the competition in this new season. That again points to domination by the two previously mentioned teams.
With all of that being said it is time to get more specific. First, for the season opening Daytona 500 I am going out on a little bit of a limb, but not too much. I believe Matt Kenseth will be celebrating in victory lane on February 17. Matt Kenseth finished with a strong run at the end of the 2007 campaign. His run could have been a phenomenal one had it not been for the unbelievable streak by Jimmie Johnson.
Kenseth has run well on restrictor plate tracks although he does not have a win to show for it. In the last race held in Daytona a Roush-Fenway car driven by Jamie McMurray took the win. The Ford team under new crew chief Chip Bolin will make it two in a row for the "Cat in the Hat" on the historic speedway.
Last year, one of the few things I did get right was to guess that Juan Pablo Montoya would make a splash by winning at least one race. This year I am going to predict another foreign newcomer to make a splash, but not the foreigner everyone make think. I believe Australian Marcos Ambrose will do well in the limited number of races he plans to run. I do not necessarily believe he will win but he will be competitive, particularly on road courses. As for the other foreign newcomers, it is going to be a long, trying season.
In regard to the most popular driver in NASCAR, I believe Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will find more success with Hendrick Motorsports than he did with his previous team over the past couple of years. Junior will take somewhere between two and four checkered flags in 2008.
Last year, I predicted one major star would not make the Chase for the Championship. I guessed it would be Jeff Gordon. Gordon responded by having a stellar year.
I am going to again pick a major star not to make the Chase, probably assuring him of a good season. I do not believe Tony Stewart is sold on his team's move to Toyota. He still maintains close ties with Chevrolet through his sprint car team. If the season does not start well for the often volatile driver he may be more concerned with getting himself back into the GM camp than rescuing a poor season. So, I predict Tony Stewart will miss the Chase for the Championship.
Finally, I predict Jeff Gordon will wind up hoisting the championship trophy when the season ends. Gordon has been frustrated with campaigns that were good but not quite good enough in recent years. I believe the "Rainbow Warrior" will be determined to do what he has thus far failed to do, win a championship under the Chase format.
Jeff Gordon will be joined in this year's Chase for the Championship by Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.
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