WITH LESS THEN A MONTH BEFORE THE DRIVER'S RESPOND TO THE FIRST "DRIVER'S START YOUR ENGINES", THERE HAVE BEEN HOURS TALKED AND MILES WRITTEN ABOUT WHO WILL WIN THE 08 CHAMPIONSHIP. WILL J.J. REPEAT, WILL JEFFY GET HIS REVENGE, WILL HENDRICK'S SWEEP OVER HALF THE RACES THIS SEASON? BUT BY AND FAR VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT HOW WILL THE ORGANIZATIONS DO. I KNOW RACING IS BASICALLY A TEAM THING, BUT LET'S FACE IT THE OWNERS HAVE TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT TOTAL SUCCESS OR FAILURE.
LOOSELY BASED ON DRIVER FINISHES FROM LAST SEASON I HAVE TRIED TO GUESS HOW THE ORGANIZATIONS WILL FAIR DURING THE 08 SEASON. AND LIKE IT OR NOT, MEANING ME , I HAVE TO SAY THAT HENDRICKS RACING WILL MOST LIKELY COME OUT ON TOP. THEY ARE GOING TO GET SOLID RUNS OUT OF J.J. AND JEFFY, I THINK CASEY WILL STAY ABOUT THE MIDDLE OR A LITTLE ABOVE, THE REAL QUESTION IS JR. IF HE CAN GET THE HELP HE NEEDS , DURING THE RACES, FROM HIS CREW CHIEF, THEN JR. WILL BE RIGHT THERE WITH JJ AND JEFFY. IF EURY JR. CONTINUES AS HE HAS IN THE PAST, THEN JR. IS STILL GOING TO HAVE TROUBLE AND HAVE NO BETTER A SEASON THEN HE DID LAST YEAR.
IN 2ND OR MAYBE 2ND&3/4'S I HAVE JOE GIBBS RACING. TONY WILL RUN WELL AND WITH A FEW LESS PIT MISTAKES HE CAN WIN 6 OR 7 RACES THIS SEASON. DENNY HAMLIN WILL BE AMONG THE LEADERS ALL YEAR LONG AND I THINK SO WILL THE LITTLE BUSCH. IF TOYOTA HAS POURED AS MUCH MONEY IN THAT PROGRAM AS WE THINK THEY HAVE, THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY CAR PROBLEMS. COACH GIBB'S BIGGEST PROBLEM MAYBE KEEPING HIS 3 BIGGIES FROM KILLING EACH OTHER, IF THAT PROBLEM DOES NOT SURFACE THEN GIBBS IS GOING TO BE HOT ALL SEASON.
I FIGHURE #3 BELONGS TO THE CHILDRESS ORGANIZATION, ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW IT WORKED OUT, LAST SEASON IT SEEMED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT ALL 3 CARS RAN WELL, BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME, AND THERE WAS A SMALL PROBLEM WITH CONSISTENCY. IF MR CHILDRESS CAN SOLVE THAT PROBLEM AND SETTLE CLINT DOWN JUST A TAD, THEN THEIR ORGANIZATION SHOULD DO WELL IN 08.
#4 GOES TO DEI, MARK MARTIN AND MARTIN TRUEX WILL RUN WELL ALLSEASON AND CARRY THE LOAD FOR DEI. PAUL MENARD, I THINK , WILL RUN HOT AND COLD BUT WELL ENOUGH TO CONTRIBUTE A FEW POINTS TO THE TEAM EFFORT. BUT IF THE MEDIA CONTINUES TO RIDE THE JR. HORSE AND HOW HE HAS BEEN SO MISTREATED , IT JUST MIGHT SINK THE WHOLE SHIP BEFORE IT GETS AWAY FROM THE DOCK.
GOING TO GUESS THAT ROUSH WILL FINISH TEAM WISE IN 5TH. I THINK THERE IS STILL GOING TO BE SO MUCH TROUBLE BETWEEN THE 5 DRIVERS THAT NO ONE IS GOING TO CREATE A VERY BIG FIRE. I DO THINK CARL WILL CONTINUE TO DO WELL ON THE CONCRETE TRACKS AND MATT, LIKE THE TURTLE IN "THE TURTLE AND THE HARE", WILL CONTINUE TO JUST PROD ALONG ON HIS WAY TO THE CHASE. THE OTHERS ON THE ROUSH BOAT MORE OR LESS ARE JUST SORT OF TAKING UP SPACE AND LOWERING THE TEAM POINT AVERAGE.
LEADING OFF THE BOTTOM IS PENSKE RACING IN 6TH PLACE. KURT BUSCH AND RYAN NEWMAN WILL BOTH RUN WELL, BUT WITH ONLY 2 WHIZ #### DRIVERS IT'S HARD TO COLLECT A BOAT LOAD OF POINT EACH WEEK. IF RYAN COULD CONVERT A FEW OF THOSE POLE POSITIONS INTO WINS IT WOULD SURE HELP A TON.
THE 7TH PLACE TEAM I FEEL WITH BE CHIPPY AND THE FORMULA 1 BOYS. NOT SURE WHAT MR. G IS TRYING TO PROVE BUT I THINK HE IS GOING ABOUT IT ALL WRONG. I MEAN EXPECTING THESE FORMULA 1 GUYS TO JUMP INTO A STOCK CAR AND PREFORM IS LIKE ASKING A BMX BICYCLE RIDER TO DO ALL THE SAME FEATS ON A FULL DRESSED HARLEY HOG. BESIDES THAT THE SEASON HASN'T EVEN STARTED AND HE HAS ALREADY PUT ENOUGH PRESSURE ON MONTOYA TO MAKE THE BOY EXPLODE.
8TH PLACE GOES TO WALTRIP RACING, MAINLY BECAUSE I LIKE MICHAEL, AND I THINK THEY HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES THAT WILL GET THEIR CARS IN THE RACES THIS YEAR, SO THEY CAN AT LEAST HAVE A CHANGE TO SHOW WHAT THEY CAN OR CAN'T DO.
9TH PLACE GOES TO RED BULL, MUCH FOR THE SAME REASONS THT I PUT WALTRIP RACING IN 8TH. THEY HAVE ALSO MADE STRIDES THAT WILL GET THEM IN THE RACES. RED BULL GOT 9TH RATHER THEN 8TH CAUSE I LIKE MICHAEL BETTER THEN BRIAN VICKERS, I MAY NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR WRECKING JR.
10TH PLACE GOES TO PETTY RACING, JUST BECAUSE, NO NOT REALLY, I THINK BOBBY AND KYLE WILL PUT ENOUGH POINTS ON THE BOARD TO MAKE A SHOWING, AND KYLE HAS SO MCUH FIGHT AND UNWILLINGNESS TO GIVE UP AND THROW IN THE TOWEL THAT THEY HAD TO MAKE MY TEN.
BUT TO TELL THE TRUTH NOTHING WOULD TICKLE ME MORE THEN TO SEE KYLE BOW OUT GRACEFULLY AND JOIN DALE JARRETT IN THE BOOTH FOR ESPN. THOSE 2 ARE TOTALLY HONEST IN THEIR THOUGHTS AND WOULD TRUELY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR IN THE RACE CAR.
Gunny- Great blog, not sure how it ended up under the NFL but I found it!
The team approach is an interesting one. I think I would bop Roush up, I think Kenseth and Edwards are primed and ready to go and they clearly showed signs of having the COT figured out at the end of last year.
I would also bop up Penske, not only because they are my new favs, but I think the addition of Sam will help them with info and Kurt and Ryan can bring it.
I would drop Gibbs, not far but not 2nd. They will have a steep learning curve in the beginning figuring out the engines, fuel mileage and learning to be teammates...
Good to see ya! Are you going to enter HotFootLori's blogger contest? Hope so!
Nice blog, I'm kinda getting excited about the new season. There's a lot up in the air right now with Toyota, Jr., and some of the new drivers, especially the open wheel guys.
I've liked Roush for a long time and hope they do better than 5th. Hope Matt has a heckuva year for them. Being from KY, I've followed Michael Waltrip. I hope he has a better season than last year.
In regards to this comment fo yours:
BUT TO TELL THE TRUTH NOTHING WOULD TICKLE ME MORE THEN TO SEE KYLE BOW OUT GRACEFULLY AND JOIN DALE JARRETT IN THE BOOTH FOR ESPN. THOSE 2 ARE TOTALLY HONEST IN THEIR THOUGHTS AND WOULD TRUELY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR IN THE RACE CAR.....
That would be an awesome duo to see & hear do a race! I totally agree with you.
HEY GIRL, FORGOT ABOUT THE THIRD DRIVER AT PENSKE THIS YEAR, BUT ANYWAY IT WILL BE A LOT OF FUN TO SEE JUST HOW CLOSE I HAVE COME TO BEING RIGHT. I REALLY HOPE YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT CARL AND MATT, BUT SURE AM AFRAID THE ROUSCH HAS ALLOWED THE POT TO SIMMER WAY TO LONG.
A nice take on 2008...the team perspective. Even though I'm not an HMS fan, I do think they'll be hard to beat as a team again. I do think Penske will do better this year with the addition of Sam Hornish. I'm looking forward to seeing how he works with Busch and Newmann. Also Ganassi Racing is another team I will be watching, with Dario Franchitti in the mix now too.
If you didn't already know it, I follow the IRL also, and am pulling for both Franchitti and Hornish to have a decent showing this year. Montoya did a good job in NASCAR for his rookie season, and I would like to see one of the other open wheel stars win Rookie of the Year for NASCAR in 2008.
THANKS FOR THE NICE WORDS, AM HOPING WALTRIP DOES WELL THIS YEAR, I REALLY THINK HE GOT BUGGERED LAST YEAR, SEEMS STRANGE, A FOREIGN SUBSTANCE IN HIS CAR, AND THEY HAVEN'T SAID TO THIS DAY WHAT IT WAS AND HOW IT REALLY EFFECTED THE CAR.
AND I REALLY ENJOYED KYLE IN THE BOOTH LAST YEAR AND JARRETT IS A NATURAL LIKE HIS DAD.
WOULDN'T MIN D SEEING GIBBS IN NO. 1 MYSELF, BUT STILL HAVE TO ROOT FOR JR., BUT YOU WILL NOTICE I DIDN'T SAY FOR HENDRICKS.
I LEARNED ALOT FROM DW AND HAMMOND WHEN THEY ARE IN THE BOOTH. AND FEEL THE SAME WOULD HAPPEN WITH KYLE AND DALE AND IF YOU THREW "BOOTY" BARKER IN FOR THE CREW CHIEF SIDE IT WOULD BE OUT OF THIS WORLD.
I AM FROM OKLAHOMA AND HAVE WORKED IN THE FIELD OF YOUTH SPORTS AND RECREATION FOR OVER 25 YEARS.
I AM A FAN OF NASCAR, AND OU COLLEGE FOOTBALL. THINGS THAT ARE PUT ON THIS BLOG WILL USUALLY BE BASED ON THESE SUBJECTS , BUT NOT ALL THE TIME.
