Looking for a Barnburner

While we’ve been focused on the run-up to Speedweeks…which opens this weekend with the Budweiser Shootout, by the way…there’s a tendency to forget that once the applause dies down on the beach, the teams will pull out for the great Southwest.

There’s a race seven days later in Phoenix, and another Speedweeks fades into the background. Four more races follow, on a 1.5-mile, a .533-mile oval, a 2-mile oval and a .526-mile oval. Arguably, those are just as important, contribute just as much in the way of points as does Daytona, and they are too important to gloss over.

It might be that way, but what the heck…it’s the DAYTONA 500!

We’re a year out from the repave job at Daytona, and the track has aged a bit. Not enough to suit guys who do well on the slick, but some. Last year, the ARCA race on Shootout weekend was huggy-pole, with no one stepping out of line for fear of getting freight-trained. The Shootout was good, and the Speedweeks races were good as well, even though they were more about working as a two-car tandem than anything else.

So the repave is not going to be a story.

The new configuration is, however, and we’ll see just how much the teams were able to do to combat the smaller radiators and spill cups, the softer springs, the new plate and so on. My guess is they’ll be more ready than anyone save NASCAR will believe.

These weren’t huge changes; they were tweaks and goalpost moves designed to break up the two-car drafts. What people forget is that NASCAR legislated that into being with rule changes surrounding the COT, and the lack of horsepower from the plate means they have to do SOMETHING to go fast.

I think you’re going to see an old-fashioned plate race, with a big emphasis on using the two-car draft for short stints at the end to win the race. That implies that someone among the lead pack will grenade the engine coming for the checkered, and Katie, bar the door!

We can sit here and sift through scenarios for an hour and not come close to what will actually happen. That’s the beauty of Speedweeks…sort of a Forrest Gump box of chocolates thing.

So, I’ll be in front of the tube on Saturday, watching the Budweiser Shootout for clues as to whether I’m choosing a toffee or a cream, so to speak.

I just hope whatever happens, it will match the hype. Last year’s did, and so have many of the previous races. Whatever we’re going to get will be good enough, I suppose…but I’m hoping they’re hammer down and flying from green to checkered!

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