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Daytona, Just What The Doctor Ordered For Chase Contenders

An Opinion


June 30, 2011

By Nicholas Schwartz

Nicholas Schwartz









After an exciting weekend in Sonoma that saw Kurt Busch dominate on Sunday, and Chase hopeful Jeff Gordon solidify his spot inside the top 10 with an expectedly good run on a road course, the series now shifts back to southern Florida -- potentially the perfect antidote to those few big name drivers still trying to claw their way into the Chase.

Through 16 races in 2011, the usual battery of suspects appear at the top of the Sprint Cup standings, with perhaps Dale Earnhardt Jr. providing the only real surprise in what has been a rock-solid first year partnership between he and new crew chief Steve Latarte. The high-profile names outside the top 10, however, begin to raise some eyebrows.

Denny Hamlin, a popular preseason pick to contend for the championship after his second-place finish in 2010, has found his way to victory lane once this year, but has only managed six top-10 finishes so far, placing him on the outside looking in, currently 12 points behind Ryan Newman in tenth. He appeared to right the ship at Michigan, but struggled at Infineon after qualifying fourth, and left California with an ugly 37th place finish, earning him a paltry eight points in the standings.

Though he’s never won at Daytona, Hamlin has had some success in previous iterations of the Coke Zero 400, finishing third in 2009. But with an average finish of 22.9 at the superspeedway, he’s also been bitten by the wild-card nature of restrictor-plate racing, and will have to run a smart race if he hopes to survive.

Tony Stewart had an even worse weekend in wine country, as Brian Vickers’ payback bump entering Turn 11 resulted in Stewart’s car resting on top of a tire wall, leaving him a 39th place finish for the two-time champion. Currently suffering a winless season with just one top-5 to his name, Stewart is in desperate need of a mid-season jump start. For him, Daytona is just the place that can happen. Smoke has routinely run well at Daytona, especially in July, where he has won in 2005, 2006 and 2009. In two of those wins, Stewart cruised to victory from the pole position, and in his 2006 triumph, he started second. There’s a good chance that if Stewart can qualify well -- which has been an ongoing problem for his team this season -- he can parlay the track position into a solid outing.

Drivers with shakier reputations, such as Greg Biffle and Juan Pablo Montoya, who currently sit in 13th and 16th in the points standings, respectively, could also view Daytona as a way to steal a big day if they can avoid any major accidents.

As we commonly see, it only takes one mistake for a good portion of the field to be left for dead at a superspeedway, meaning if any of the above drivers play their cards right, it could pay dividends as the series hurtles toward Richmond and the Chase cut is made. And as the only driver from 11th to 20th in the standings with a win is Hamlin, having even just one race victory could prove to be enough to qualify for the Chase under the new “Wild Card” system, which rewards race victories over all else.

Biffle won this same race in 2003, and Montoya is carrying momentum from a strong showing at Daytona in February.

With so much to race for, the Coke Zero 400 should see sparks fly under the lights.

You can contact Donalde z Smith at .. Insider Racing News

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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