This Week in Auto Racing February 14 - February 17

This Week in Auto Racing February 14 - February 17
Tue 12th, February 2008

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It's finally time to go racing and as is the custom in NASCAR, it opens with the most important event of the season - the Daytona 500.

Sprint Cup

Daytona 500 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

The long 36-week marathon season, which extends almost to Thanksgiving Day, begins this weekend in Daytona Beach, FL for the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

The question on every team's mind is are they good enough to compete with the "New York Yankees" of NASCAR - Hendrick Motorsports?

Hendrick Motorsports put on quite a display in 2007. Its four drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Kyle Busch (now with Joe Gibbs Racing) combined for 18 wins, 84 top-10s and $23,659,651 in winnings. Johnson won the championship, his second in a row, Gordon finished second and Busch finished fifth overall.

Subtracting Busch and adding Earnhardt Jr. can only strengthen the team. Busch was frequently a disruptive force and rarely in step with his teammates. Meanwhile, "Junior" has shown that he is happy to be a member of a team that works so well together.

Over his 25-year career, owner Rick Hendrick has accumulated 145 poles, 167 wins and seven titles (Gordon - 4, Johnson - 2, Terry Labonte - 1).

More importantly, he has made his company more "family" than team and it shows in the effort his employees put forth.

"You kind of have a template in place over the years," Hendrick said. "You might change the names and people, but having guys who have worked together for 10 or 15 years sure helps. You can go out and get stars, but can they work together? That's the key to being a successful organization."

Hendrick Motorsports has laid down the gauntlet for the other teams. They have set a high standard and its up to the other teams to come up to its level. No one should expect HMS to falter in 2008.

So its up to Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing to raise their "game."

Roush Fenway Racing struggled in 2007, particularly with the COT (Car of Tomorrow). But by the end of the season they had made great gains and in the off-season they continued to put in the work to return to glory. Matt Kenseth, 2003 series champion, despite working with a new crew chief and Carl Edwards are expecting big years as is Greg Biffle, who will be a "free agent" at the end of the season.

RCR put three drivers in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" - Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and a surprising Clint Bowyer. The team earned three wins including Harvick's dramatic win over Mark Martin in last year's Daytona 500.

The No.29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver took the checkered flag just ahead of Martin as a caution flag came to end the race. The final two laps were wild. Martin was busy holding off Kyle Busch, but Harvick made a great run on the outside. He avoided Busch and with Kenseth on his rear bumper caught Martin. They were side-by-side as they hit the checkered flag with Harvick edging Martin by about three feet.

"Kenseth just pushed the hell out of me there," said a jubilant Harvick. "I didn't let up off the floor, we kept hitting things and bouncing off...We were 30-something with 15 laps to go and we came up through there. I can't believe it."

Harvick swept both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races in 2007, but after such an amazing start he struggled the rest of the way. He has the team and the talent to challenge Hendrick Motorsports.

JGR certainly has driving talent as good as any team in NASCAR. With Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and the addition of Kyle Busch they can equal HMS's Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. But they have also changed manufacturers in the off-season and it might be cause to struggle early in the year. If they can get through to the All-Star break still close, they can run with anyone.

There are a few other drivers that can win on occasion - Martin Truex Jr., Martin, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya, but the championship will be fought amongst the "super teams."

One of the basic tenets of Sprint Cup racing which makes it so popular with its fan base, is that any of maybe 20 drivers can win on any given Sunday.

Not so with the series title. Only the really strong teams can win the series championship nowadays. Not since 1999 has a driver other than one from Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing laid claim to the title. That year Dale Jarrett won driving for Robert Yates Racing. In fact, since Dale Earnhardt won back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994 Jarrett's title is the only one that got away from the "big three."

The fun begins on Thursday with a pair of 150-mile qualifying races and the 50th running of the Daytona 500 is set for Sunday afternoon.

Nationwide

Camping World 300 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

The Nationwide Series (formerly known as the Busch Series) is preparing for another season in which the Sprint Cup drivers will dominate the series.

Defending Series champion Carl Edwards is back for another season and should vie for another title. His likely competition will come from RCR's Clint Bowyer and the Toyota of David Reutimann.

Bowyer has vowed to run in the Nationwide Series until he wins a title. It's an important career goal for him. Last season, Bowyer finished 12th overall, but only ran 22 of 35 events. He won twice and collected a stunning 19 top-10s. If he can manage to make it to every starting line, he can certainly compete with Edwards for the crown.

Reutimann finished second to Edwards although his numbers were not as consistent as Bowyer. He made all 35 starts, but earned just 12 top-10s and one win (at Memphis). Jason Leffler finished third overall, in another Toyota, giving the novice manufacturer a realistic chance at the title.

But the series should be more about the youngsters and developing talent for Sprint Cup racing. In that vein, the Rookie of the Year competition should be interesting to watch.

This year's crew is highlighted by Joey Lagano, but will also include: Landon Cassill, Bryan Clauson and Chase Austin. Logano will not be eligible to drive until May when he turns 18 years old, but he is already the talk of the series.

The list will also include "veteran racers" Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti, but they are in a different league. They are already excellent drivers trying to make the transition from open-wheel to NASCAR. They will drive in the series mainly for seat time and winning is less important than learning.

Last year, Kevin Harvick won the season opener as he swept both the Nationwide and Sprint events. Harvick edged Dave Blaney by 0.284 seconds. Edwards finished third, the first of 10 consecutive top-10s which propelled him to a huge series lead and eventually the championship.

Craftsman

Chevy Silverado 250 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

Last year's Craftsman Truck Series championship came down to the last race with Ron Hornaday Jr. and his No.33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet edging out Mike Skinner's No.5 Toyota team for the title.

"As racers, that was probably the most fun I've had in racing in quite a while," said Hornaday Jr.

They will both return for the truck series' 14th season of racing.

Three-time series champion Hornaday Jr. (1996, 1998, 2007) and Skinner (1995) will have a lot of competition this year, even from their own teammates. Joining Hornaday Jr. at KHI is three-time series champion Jack Sprague (1997, 1999, 2001). Veteran Johnny Benson will drive alongside Skinner. Benson finished third in 2007 and second in 2006.

Other former champions in the field will include: Todd Bodine (2006), Mike Bliss (2002) and Ted Musgrave (2005) making this year's collection of drivers as competitive as ever.

And that doesn't even take into account drivers like Dennis Setzer, David Starr, Rick Crawford and Erik Darnell, who bring it every weekend.

While the championship will likely come from the above group of drivers, like the Nationwide Series, the Craftsman Truck Series is there to develop talent.

Colin Braun, 19, driving for Roush Fenway Racing, should be near the top of the 2008 Rookie of the Year class. But there are other talented youngsters like Donny Lia (29), Justin Marks (26), Marc Mitchell (24), Phillip McGilton (29) and Brian Scott (20), who will all compete for the rookie crown.

Last year, it was Sprague who opened the season on top, winning the Chevy Silverado 250 a couple of feet ahead of Benson. But that might not be a good thing if you want to be series champion. No driver has ever won the opener at Daytona and gone to win the title.

And interestingly, the opener is usually won by a "grizzled" veteran. Carl Edwards, in 2004 at the age of 26, is the only driver under the age of 40 to win the event. Joe Ruttman was the oldest winner at age 56.

"I credit NASCAR for what they've done with this Truck Series, because it's so close, so competitive," said Hornaday Jr. "When the green flag drops, anybody can win."

It should be another exciting year of racing in NASCAR most closely contested series.