NASCAR told the teams they would be given three more pounds on the engines’ pressure release valves, from 25 to 28 pounds per square inch. NASCAR will continue to monitor engine water temperatures and might make additional adjustments after Thursday’s Duel, several sources said.

“That’s just a good thing for us [because] it increased the boiling temp about 5 degrees, basically,” Roush Yates Engines head Doug Yates said. “That’s always a concern because when you do run hot, you want that protection and that limit to be a little bit higher.”

Yates said the teams in his charge didn’t get much chance to feel its effects Wednesday in two 90-minute practice sessions for Thursday’s Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races, however.

“Some of the guys were out there pushing each other around a little bit, they watched the water boil off and they watched the temperature gauge go up,” Yates said. “But at the same time, it’s practice. The guys aren’t going to push it and they don’t want to end up tearing up a car.”

Protecting cars is one thing, but another consideration would be the variable weather conditions, from relatively cool last Saturday night during the Budweiser Shootout, to in the 70s for Wednesday’s practices to a forecast of highs in the mid-80s for Thursday.

“It drives us extremely wild,” Yates said. “It’s always the most recent memory of a race, and the problem we had at Talladega with the [Roush Fenway Racing] 6 car. We lost an engine in the 6 car — overheated it, basically — and that’s fresh on our minds and why I say any change in pressure in the system is good for us.”

Probably the most graphic example of risk versus reward that’s played out in the Duel was demonstrated in 2011. Trevor Bayne had a potential race-winning car in his Duel, but he wrecked with Jeff Gordon at the very end. His Wood Brothers’ team fixed the car and Bayne won the Daytona 500.

Sunday, Eddie Wood said his team would approach Thursday’s first Duel no differently. Most teams queried felt the information that needed to be gained by racing legitimately in the Duel outweighed holding back. Pole winner Carl Edwards said his crew chief would make the call on how hard he ran in the first Duel, after pronouncing himself satisfied with his car after 24 laps in Practice 1, the only session he ran.

“I think it depends on Bob Osborne … how much he can stomach,” Edwards said. “Just in practice [Wednesday] I started having a little bit of fun out there and I think it made him a little bit nervous. I think it would probably be entertaining to tune into Bob and our radio conversation [Thursday].

“For me, this might sound dumb but I am not too worried about if we crash the car. We have a good backup car and it is identical and should be just as fast. I think there is value in learning something from that 150. I think you are going to learn things you can apply the last five laps at the [Daytona] 500 that could make a difference.”

Edwards said any discretionary decisions would be made when he had to.

“I would like to race pretty hard in that 150,” Edwards said. “Obviously, if it gets really crazy then maybe I would think about trying to give myself more room but right now the mission is to go race and learn.”

Brad Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, agreed.

“You’ve got to be as smart as you can but at the same time, we’re here to race,” Wolfe said of the risk-reward factor in the Duel. “You’ve got to limit your risk the best you can. We have a strategy that we feel like will put us in the least amount of risk but knowing that’s still there we’re prepared to have a backup car for Sunday if we need to.”

Related:
Duel practice: Kahne to backup, Wolfe on what might have been
Rodman: End of drought only a momentary relief for Yates
Edwards, Biffle sweep Daytona front row for RFR

Last weekend’s first events of Speedweeks 2012 forecast plenty of mayhem every time Sprint Cup cars took the track in groups. But Wednesday’s two 90-minute practice sessions under-delivered on chaos.

Gatorade Duel

Practice 1

Pos.

Driver

Speed

Time

1.

M. Kenseth

200.852

44.809

2.

T. Bayne

200.817

44.817

3.

Stenhouse

200.673

44.849

4.

M. Ambrose

200.280

44.937

5.

M. Martin

200.196

44.956

Complete Speeds

Complete Speeds

But they were not without incidents. And the two, two-car accidents — one in each session — graphically showed how critical timing and placement can be.

The first crash happened in the opening 10 minutes of the initial session when, in a large pack drafting off Turn 2, Keselowski appeared to close up on Ryan Newman with Clint Bowyer behind Keselowski pushing him. Bowyer’s car upset Keselowski’s, which twirled off across the infield asphalt and grass and slid several hundred yards before driving back to the garage.

“To a certain extent, I thought that one probably could have been avoided,” Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, said. “I actually watched them both and they both [accidents] looked pretty similar. There are some drivers that are more patient than others.

“Everybody gets out there and they want to run hard, but you’ve got to know when, and when not to and I felt like the issue probably got pushed a little harder than it should’ve for the beginning of a practice session but we’re prepared and that’s the main thing.”

Keselowski’s team adjusted his car and it completed 20 laps in the session, which was led by Matt Kenseth with a lap averaging 200.853 mph.

“It was a little bit of damage, it could have been a lot worse, obviously, but we were fortunate we didn’t have to bring out a backup car after already destroying one,” Wolfe said. “We can go race hard [Thursday] if we want and now we’ve got a good car available as a backup, which is the way we like it.

“It just bent the splitter bar up a little bit. That’s something that can be easily fixed here at the track. We’re obviously prepared and we brought some good fabricators down here that are capable of fixing issues like that.”

Six cars, those driven by Tony Raines, David Stremme, Kurt Busch, Landon Cassill, David Reutimann and Mike Wallace didn’t run in P1, but they all ran in the second practice. In the second session, only 25 of the 49 cars entered turned a lap, and neither Keselowski nor Bowyer’s were among them. In fact, nothing ran on the track for at least the last 20 minutes of practice. Teams instead tended to pre-event preparation.

Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crew was working overtime, however, preparing a backup car and fixing Kahne’s former primary car. Kahne and Juan Montoya got together while drafting off Turn 4 less than 15 minutes into P2, which knocked Kahne into a slide that included a long stretch through the soft turf inside the speedway’s tri-oval.

“There’s a way to [push] and a way not to do it if you’re going to wreck or not — and it’s not intentional, it’s just part of the racing and what we have right now and the way the cars are,” Kahne said. “It’s where you push them and where you’re at on the race track.

“Your car gets the lightest off of Turn 4 here and it’s the transition and it was about the same time that Montoya got to the back of me. It was perfect timing for a wreck, you know — just where it all happened.

“It’s hard to point fingers at anyone, you know? It’s just that everybody is trying to get speed and go. But I didn’t spin out by myself. But it’s not like he was trying. He was trying to push you and get you going.”

When the lower-front splitter on Kahne’s car dug into the grass, it deranged the car’s nose — tearing the left-front fender off — necessitating a backup car. Kahne’s team also had to do a lot of work preparing the new car’s engine, which Kahne’s crew chief, Kenny Francis, explained.

“It’s just part of the package and if you slide through the grass at 190 [mph] and you’re that low to the ground stuff’s gonna get tore up — it’s just part of the game and nothing to get upset about,” Francis said.

Kahne will have to drop to the back of his line on Thursday’s pace laps for going to a backup car. Francis confirmed teams would all be allowed to make an engine change after the 150s, without penalty.

Francis dismissed any concern over not getting any laps of practice on the car Kahne would race in the second Duel. And he also provided some insight into just how intensely teams such as owner Rick Hendrick take Speedweeks.

“We don’t have too many concerns because we tested this car at the [January] test and it seemed like it was pretty good, so we feel good about it,” Francis said. “The car we wrecked in the Shootout is already fixed. We’re reassembling it back at the shop now.

“The one we just wrecked is really not too far away from being fixed. We just have to send it back to North Carolina and get them to work on it up there. Even though we’ve gotten in a couple wrecks we feel like we’re in decent shape.”

Teams practiced much less extensively in the second session. Busch, who didn’t run in P1, had the session-high of 26 laps in the second. Aric Almirola had the best lap, 199.712 mph, one of only 10 laps he ran.

by Eric Forster on February 22nd, 2012

The iRacing.com V8 Supercar Series presented by Big Pond came to America last week, with a thirty-lap event at Watkins Glen. The track was set in its Cup configuration, so the large, heavy Ford Falcon would need to negotiate the Inner Loop chicane.

As has become the custom this season, V8SC Americas kicked off the week with the first official race, at 02:45 GMT Friday (9:45 PM EST).  29 sim racers made the grid, strong enough attendance for the race to split. Canadian Curtis Chippeway won, for the second straight week, with Charlotte-based Jeremy Burris and Californian Ray Butcher completing the podium. Same time the next day, and the Americans were at it again; this time, however, Chippeway was joined on the podium by Dutchman Thomas van Bussel (the winner) and Aussie Curt Bond (in third).  Van Bussel then went on to win the best-attended European time zone race of the week (18:45 GMT Sunday), taking victory over Trevor Johnson, Kevin Duwel and 18 other drivers.

Hamstead was in a class of his own at the Glen.

The biggest events of the week, as always, were held Monday evening, Australian/New Zealand time: the 08:45 GMT early event, and the 10:45 GMT big race. The top split of the earlier race, (Strength of Field 3352) was won by Richard Hamstead, who was joined on the podium by Mitchell McLeod and Cal Whatmore. John Latham won the second split, and Graeme Phyland the third.

The big event split four ways, with Stephen Jenkins and Richard Stamenkovic winning the lower pair of races, while Josh Smith won over a powerful field (SOF 2400) in the second split, with Latham and Mitchell Boulton also on the podium.

Hamstead sat on the pole for the top split (SOF 3846), with McLeod joining him on the first row, Rens Broekman and Stuart Wood on the second, three-time series defending champ Madison Down and Whatmore on the third and Fujitsu V8Supercar and V8 SuperTourers Series driver Scott McLaughlin sitting to the inside of Simon Madden on Row Four.

Hamstead led the field into the first turn (“The 90”) in a clean and fair start. Down had a strong start initially, but then couldn’t get a fast line through the Esses, losing momentum and positions to Wood, Whatmore, and McLaughlin. Racing was tight into the Inner Loop, and Mick Claridge made a big pass on Madden on entry, only to have Madden gain the advantage again on the way out to the Carousel. Compared to the previous two races there was little opening lap drama, however, with positions settling quickly. Hamstead crossed the start-finish line first, followed by Broekman and McLeod, then Wood, Whatmore, McLaughlin, Down, and Joshua Muggleton—a group that was to provide some excellent action in the coming laps—with Madden and Justin Ruggier leading the chase pack.

Hamstead leads Broekman, McLeod, Wood, Whatmore into The Inner Loop on the opening lap.

On Lap Three, Whatmore was heavily pressuring Wood for fourth position, having a look underneath him into The 90, with Down giving McLaughlin a “good to see you mate” push in the braking zone right behind. Yet Down’s car just didn’t seem to be carrying the momentum through the Esses, and his TTR teammate, Muggleton, was able to move by easily on the exit to the Back Straight: Muggo now had McLaughlin, Whatmore, and Wood in his sights.

At The 90 next lap on, McLaughlin made a huge move to the inside of Whatmore, scrubbing some speed with a flick of the tail and placing himself into fifth position; Muggo played a bit of “follow the leader” on the pass to get by him too, with Whatmore losing a bit of momentum toward the Esses—and three spots in the bargain.

As the field came to the Inner Loop, Claridge and Ruggier, among this same group of drivers but battling for tenth, got together at the entry to the Chicane with Claridge getting the worst of it.  Off-line and out of momentum, he and Emerson (running twelfth) subsequently touched in The Carousel, and the first major incident of the race occurred as both cars spun.

Muggleton has a ringside seat as McLaughlin has a go at Wood in the final corner.

McLaughlin started pressuring Wood for fourth spot by Lap Seven, and on the final corner made his move: track camber proved difficult at this spot, however, and instead of gaining a position to Wood, McLaughlin lost fifth to Muggleton on the ensuing straight. Wood was clearly battling his setup a bit, however, losing tiny bits of momentum here and there, and Muggo seemed intent on making a better go of it this week than the previous two.  While the top three—Hamstead, Broekman, and McLeod—were having a clean open drive up front, fourth through tenth positions—Wood, Muggleton, McLaughlin, Down, Whatmore, Madden, and Ruggier—were poised for drama, tragedy or both.

Muggleton makes the save of the day in Turn Six.

As if on cue, Muggleton nearly lost it all on the exit to Turn Six, as the rear stepped far out on to the curbing, but he was not going to let it all go wrong this time—willing his car back into line with an exquisite bit of skill. By Lap 13, Wood’s car was not getting power onto the pavement with enough consistency: he wiggled on the front straight and Muggleton made a move into The 90, taking fourth position in the Esses, while Wood dropped back to sixth behind McLaughlin and Whatmore slipped inside of Down for seventh.

By Lap 14 the tires were starting to show some wear, and more action occurred at The 90: McLaughlin tried to nab fifth from Wood, got loose, and gave up a position to Whatmore in the Esses, as errors in the first corner continued to be paid in full.

Truth in advertising. “Speedy” Whatmore gets by McLaughlin on the run to the Esses.

With clean running for the front four—Hamstead, Broekman, McLeod, and Muggleton—and tires dropping off, the fifth through eighth spots were still close and taking chances: on lap nineteen, McLaughlin lost it a bit going into The 90, and he would have gone off had he not given Whatmore’s Ford a hard slap in the side to straighten out and make the pass. Whatmore lost momentum into the Esses, dropping to tenth place behind Down, Madden, and Ruggier.

On Lap 22 McLaughlin nearly passed Wood into Turn Six, but Wood continued to hang on. Three laps later, McLaughlin got inside Wood in The 90 and held momentum through the Esses to take fifth.

Meanwhile up front, Broekman just got onto the inside grass exiting the Esses, and McLeod, who had been applying increasing pressure for some time—including an excellent but unsuccessful pass attempt in the Carousel—pounced to take second place away from him.

Broekman’s late bobble enabled McLeod to snatch second place.

With no one in his mirrors at this point, and having led every lap from pole while setting fastest lap (1:11.308), Hamstead cruised to victory, with McLeod and Broekman on the podium as well. In fourth, Joshua Muggleton may as well have been in comparison to the start of his season, and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top five.

Several other drivers, not already mentioned as having done so, won official races at Watkins Glen last week: John Briggs; Thomas Guerrini; Muggleton; Robert Rosengreen; Adam Surplice; and Kris Tarrant all had honors (or honours, as the case may be).

Next week the series returns to home ground Australia for the race at Phillip Island.

by David Phillips on February 22nd, 2012

Want to get a jump on “Smoke,” Carl, Dale Jr., JJ Co in 2012? And get a crack at a new gaming computer, NASCAR Superstore cards and a subscription to iRacing.com in the bargain? Here’s your big chance.

“How big” you might ask?

Round 3 of the iRacing.com World Tour — aka the iRacing.com Daytona 500 — is so big we’re running it on Thursday, February 23 AND Saturday, February 25.

Each day’s online racing action will be split into two classes. Thursday’s Oval Rookie and D License race starts at 7:30 PM EST (00:30 GMT Friday) with the green flag waving on the Oval C – Pro License race at 8:30 PM EST (01:30 GMT Friday). Similarly, Saturday’s racing starts at 5:00 PM EST (23:00 GMT) with the Oval Rookie and D License race and continues with the Oval C-Pro License event at 6:00 PM EST (23:00 GMT).

All races will feature the Chevrolet Class A Impala (open setup) on iRacing’s “new” Daytona International Speedway in daytime lighting. Races will be 200 laps in length with up to 43 drivers per split.

A brand new gaming PC and a one year iRacing subscription will be given away to one lucky winner of the iRacing.com Daytona 500, thanks to Michael Main, of Main Performance PC.  In addition, three participating drivers will be chosen at random to receive a $100 NASCAR Superstore gift card.   Although iRacing encourages everyone to race both nights, as with the PC contest, there will only be one entry per participant in these contests, regardless of whether they race on Thursday, Saturday or both.

See the Oval Rookie-D series page, the Oval C-Pro series page and/or the forum post complete for details on the iRacing.com Daytona 500 and the exciting prizes.

by Allen Krier on February 22nd, 2012

For Week Three the NASCAR iRacing.com Class B Series (NiCBS) traveled to the famous track known as “The Lady in Black.” The famed South Carolina track has a rich history and sim racers looked to add their own history as they pursue an iRacing championship. 241 racers would attempt at least one race during the week while 63 drivers turned at least one qualifying lap at Darlington . . . the track too tough to tame.

Ben Burnett leads Macklin and the NiCBS field to the green at the Lady in Black.

Week Three’s Strength of Field race took place on Thursday at 9:30pm EST as have all the SoF races this season. The 3997 SoF race paid the winner 252 points to win and was broadcasted live on ETV (http://www.etv-eplay.net/wordpress/?review=iracing-thursday-nite-thunder-3#2). Brad Mahar (New England) would find himself in victory lane when was all said and done. Mahar qualified third but opted to start from pit road. He quickly made his way to the front and made the winning pass on KPM teammate Brian V Macklin (Atlantic) on Lap 74. Mahar led 45 laps in all and received 252 points for his victory.

“I want to thank my Kingpin Motorsports teammates for putting in a ton of effort to get the car driving flawlessly at such a tough track like Darlington,” Mahar said after his victory. “Brian dominated the early part of the race while I tried to figure out what line he was running, then towards about half way I started picking it up and after a few tire pressure adjustments my car was a rocket ship. I got lucky with a good restart and was able to make the pass on the high side in Turn One and we just set sail from then on.”

“After a few tire pressure adjustments my car was a rocket ship.” — Brad Mahar

Macklin went on to finish in the second position after leading 51 laps during the race. For his efforts, Macklin netted 238 championship points. Jeffrey Parker (Florida) finished in the third position after starting 15th and collected 224 points. Season point’s leader Brandon Buie (Atlantic) had a disappointing race, finishing ninth after starting 14th and only gaining 140 points.

Mahar (#7) makes the winning move on Macklin in Turn One.

Not only was Buie able to maintain his first position in the point’s standings despite the disappointing week at Darlington, his lead grew from six to nine points. Parker made the jump in to the second position after his third place finish in the SoF race, bringing his season point total to 493 points. John Bunton (Carolina) dropped to third after a less than stellar week at Darlington, earning Bunton a pair of top two fiinishes in lower SoF races while also finishing 14th in the week’s high SoF race. Bunton only gained 134 points at Darlington, bringing his total to 490. Phil Juhring (New Jersey) and Armando Vargas (California) rounded out the top five with 480 and 434 points respectively.

At the end of the week, Jared Crawford (Michigan) was on top of the speed charts. Crawford set a blistering lap of 27.982s, nearly two tenths faster than second fastest Ben Burnett (Carolina), who finished the week with a 25.155. Macklin turned a 28.186s, good enough for third, with Gary Cooksey and Mahar rounding out the top five in qualifying with a 28.187s and 28.199s respectively.

Week Four sees the NiCBS traveling to the Sunshine State where drivers will compete at the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway. This will be the first time the NiCBS will visit Daytona with the new aero package. Excitement will be high as racers will look to tango their way to the front. Who will finish the week on top? Find out next week at InRacingNews!

McLaren have announced on Wednesday that British teenager Tom Blomqvist, son of 1984 world rally champion Stig Blomqvist, has joined the select group of young talent on their driver development programme.

“I’m thrilled to get this opportunity with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,” said Blomqvist. “The competition gets fiercer every time you step up a category, and having this level of support will really improve my strength and confidence.”

The 18 year-old has made outstanding progress in single-seater racing since graduating from karting in 2009. In 2010 he became the youngest driver ever to win the Formula Renault UK Championship, a feat which earned him the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s Henry Surtees Award for the most outstanding performance by a young racer. Carrying that race-winning form to the Formula Three Cup for 2011, Blomqvist was shortlisted for the highly prized McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

“Tom is rightly considered to be a very bright prospect in single-seater racing, as demonstrated by his presence in the shortlist of finalists for the 2011 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, the ultimate accolade for young drivers and a programme which McLaren has had the pleasure of supporting for more than two decades,” explained McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

“Tom is also now a member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme. On-track results are the ultimate measurements of a driver’s merit, and in this regard Tom is already delivering on his potential. As a winner of the Formula Renault Championship, he’s following in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton, who passed this career milestone just three years before graduating to Formula One with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. We’re therefore watching Tom’s progress with great interest.”

As part of the McLaren driver development programme, Blomqvist will benefit from a wealth of personalised guidance in the off-track skills demanded by his craft, as well as building on his race performances as he continues to climb the motorsport ladder.

For tickets and travel to 2012 Formula One races, click here.
For Formula One and F1 team merchandise, click here.

NASCAR has other considerations than keeping gamers happy. They want to put on a good show that causes the fans to pack the grandstands. And if Saturday night’s Bud Shootout was any indication, they have tweaked the rules’ package to create the most exciting race in the past two and a half years. That is little consolation to those tasked with identifying and selecting a fantasy roster and it has long been one of the ironies of this sport that the first race of the season is the least predictable.

There is nothing in the statistics that is truly predictive about Daytona. Some of the old standbys such as a driver’s record or his years of experience hardly matter when dark horses such as Trevor Bayne and David Ragan can win as easily as the most grizzled veteran. Average running position and the number of laps spent at the front of the field also are of little help after multiple Big Ones erupted at the head of the pack in the Bud Shootout.

Now more than ever, the best strategy for Daytona is to spread the wealth around. In fact, fantasy players want to set their lineup from the bottom up by selecting the dark horses they think will be the strongest and then waiting to see how much that leaves them in salary cap for marquee drivers. It’s not that they don’t want a Tony Stewart or Carl Edwards, but the difference between their potential and that of David Gilliland or Bobby Labonte is much narrower this week than at any time in the season.

All stats are not created equal

It is true that nothing is particularly predictive about Daytona, but after looking at all the factors, some stats seem to be more useful than others. Yes, the Big One can happen among the leaders, but with the return of pack racing, simple mathematics dictates that an accident is more likely to occur deeper in the field. In the top five, there are only three or four drivers who can make a mistake in front of your roster picks. In the top 20, that number swells to 18 or 19, which means that average running position should be considered even though it is not a magic bullet.

Gamers need to bring their experience into play, as well. Drivers such as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have subpar average running positions on the big tracks, but that is because they choose to run around in the back of the pack for much of the race at Daytona and Talladega and only charge to the front when money is on the line.

* Sound Off: Johnson weighs options of running up front, hanging back

Races are won in the pits

This year, there has been a tweak to the NASCAR Fantasy Live game. The architects removed the bonuses for pass differential and replaced that with positions gained or lost on pit road. After all, in fantasy sports as in NASCAR, races are won and lost in the pits.

The favorites

In response to an outcry from the fans, NASCAR changed its rules this season to discourage two-car tandems and a little background is necessary before jumping into the favorites. The tandems have been in vogue since the fall 2010 Talladega race when drivers discovered they could stay hooked together for several laps at a time and increase their speed. Ultimately, this style of racing might have become more predictable, but fans seemed to want the raw action of multi-car packs. The near-term effect of the rules’ changes is that last year’s stats need to be taken with a grain of salt, unless they are supported by an equally impressive string of finishes from the pack-racing era of 2010 and earlier.

Last year, no one swept the top 10 on plate tracks. Actually, none of the active drivers even posted three top-10s in the four races at Daytona and Talladega. Only five drivers managed to score two top-10s. That not only underscores how difficult it can be to handicap races on this style of track, but also that players need to look further back in the record books to select their favorites. In 2010, one driver swept the top 10 and since three of those were characterized by multi-car packs, Kevin Harvick will be this week’s favorite. He not only swept the top 10, but he won a race at Talladega in the spring and at Daytona in the summer. There is some speculation that two-car tandems will come into play in the final laps and Harvick is recommended in those circumstances, as well. He finished second in the 2010 f and scored two top-10s last year on plate tracks.

Since the inception of the Bud Shootout in 1979, five drivers have won that exhibition race and then went on to win the Daytona 500; Dale Jarrett achieved the accomplishment twice and he also is the most recent driver to do so, in 2000. Kyle Busch doesn’t care how long it has been, he believes he can sweep those two races this year. Late in 2011, he got a wake-up call from NASCAR, his sponsor and his team after getting parked for one race for aggressive driving. He came to Daytona with a new attitude, which caused many to question if he could race with kid gloves on his hands. Busch provided an emphatic answer Saturday night after getting involved in one accident and nearly spinning off the nose of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson and Gordon in the late stages of the race. He not only hung onto his car and kept from pounding the wall, but he made a dramatic last-minute pass on the frontstretch to nose out Tony Stewart. If the will to win could be factored into a statistical model, Busch would be the top pick every week.

Kasey Kahne could just as easily be considered a dark horse this week, but there are a couple of factors that should propel him to the top of the ranks. His new tenure with Hendrick Motorsports is going to give him the best drafting partners he has ever had at Daytona and he wants to prove how smart a decision it was to bring him into that organization. By the numbers, he has been hit and miss on the plate tracks, but when he hits his marks few are better. While he hasn’t yet won at Daytona, he came close in the 2009 summer race with a second-place finish that he backed up with a fourth in that same race last year.

Dark horses

Take your pick.

Dark horses are as prevalent on the plate tracks as mustangs once were in the Wild West. They roam freely and can be impossible to corral, which is to say hard to identify. No one expected Bayne to win last year’s Daytona 500 and Ragan was a surprise winner when the series returned in July. Bayne was not the only pleasant surprise in February, however, because he was joined at the front of the pack by David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte racing in the second two-car tandem before crossing the line third and fourth, respectively. Regan Smith finished seventh and Paul Menard crossed the line in ninth.

Daytona 500

Our experts pick the studs and duds for this week.

Watch

Even though all the plate races last year were characterized by two-car tandems, the most consistently strong driver from that group might well have been Gilliland. In addition to his Daytona top-five, he finished in the top 10 at Talladega and narrowly missed the top 15 when the series returned to Florida in July. One negative about his record last year was that it showed a downward progression, but his 22nd-place finish at Talladega wasn’t all that bad for a driver at his level. There is at least one good reason to put him back on the radar screen and that is because he has a new teammate in Ragan, who is another strong dark horse for this week.

Rookies are not supposed to run well on plate tracks, but Ragan disproved that in his first Daytona 500. He slipped through a multi-car accident that erupted in the shadows of the checkers and finished fifth in his inaugural attempt in 2007. Later that same season, he proved it was not a fluke by finishing 12th in the summer race. No one comes to Daytona for long without experiencing some crash damage and Ragan failed to finish his second 500-miler. However, his next four races all ended in results of 16th or better. There was another crash in the 2010 summer race, followed by a 14th in last year’s Great American Race and finally a victory under the lights in July. Fantasy owners don’t need to be concerned about his move to Front Row Motorsports because the draft is a great equalizer on plate tracks.

Underdogs

If he continues to run with the same level of intensity, it is going to be hard to place Gordon on one’s roster. This veteran knows that there are only so many years remaining in his career and now is his best opportunity to win another championship and another Daytona 500. Unfortunately, that has him revving his engine a little too hard. His attempt at a bump-and-run on Busch in the final laps of the Bud Shootout ended catastrophically for him when he flipped the No. 24 Chevrolet and ended up on his lid (watch). And if he doesn’t calm down, the same thing could happen on Sunday; after all, he has sustained crash damage in four of his past five attempts at Daytona.

Denny Hamlin is another marquee driver that should be avoided this week. He has one top-five finish at Daytona, in July 2009, but that is his only top-10 in a 12-race career. The overwhelming reason for his lack of success has been crash damage because he’s been banged about in two-thirds of those starts on the 2.5-mile oval. He hasn’t had much better luck at Talladega and last year he was involved in at least one crash in all four plate races. The good news is that he held on to finish eighth in the fall race at Talladega, but fantasy owners don’t want to bet that will happen again.

Power Average Ranking

Restrictor-plate superspeedways (past three years):

1. Kurt Busch 9.74 (average finish); 2. Kyle Busch 10.66; 3. Jeff Burton 11.20; 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 11.63; 5. Juan Montoya 11.64; 6. Clint Bowyer 12.29; 7. Elliott Sadler 12.87; 8. Kevin Harvick 12.87; 9. Matt Kenseth 13.50; 10. Martin Truex Jr. 14.24.

11. David Ragan 14.33; 12. Denny Hamlin 14.64; 13. Joey Logano 15.00; 14. David Reutimann 16.23; 15. Kasey Kahne 16.49; 16. Jeff Gordon 16.93; 17. Jamie McMurray 17.24; 18. Jimmie Johnson 17.89; 19. Paul Menard 18.42; 20. Tony Stewart 18.45.

21. Casey Mears 19.22; 22. Brad Keselowski 19.47; 23. Carl Edwards 19.51; 24. Greg Biffle 19.70; 25. Trevor Bayne 19.76; 26. Kenny Wallace 20.00; 27. Landon Cassill 20.42; 28. Mark Martin 20.71; 29. Regan Smith 21.41; 30. Ryan Newman 22.56.

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 24.33; 32. A.J. Allmendinger 24.51; 33. Aric Almirola 25.33; 34. Michael Waltrip 25.97; 35. David Stremme 26.06; 36. Bobby Labonte 26.55; 37. Mike Wallace 27.43; 38. Robby Gordon 27.71; 39. Marcos Ambrose 27.92 ;40. David Gilliland 28.33.

41. Terry Labonte 31.66; 42. Dave Blaney 32.28; 43. Bill Elliott 33.94; 44. Robert Richardson Jr. 35.65; 45. Joe Nemechek 35.71; 46. J.J. Yeley 38.82; 47. Michael McDowell 39.81; 48. Tony Raines 41.75.

* The Power Average is the average finish during the past three years, plus the number of laps spent in the lead, in the top five and in the top 10 expressed as if they were finishing results. For example a driver who has led the most laps receives a hypothetical first-place finish, the driver who leads the second most laps receives a hypothetical second-place finish, and so on. This rewards drivers who competed at the front of the pack for the majority of the race, even if an unfortunate event takes them out of contention at the very end of the race. A driver’s recent record in the support series also is factored in, as is his average running position as provided by NASCAR Statistical Services. Failures to qualify are credited to the driver as if they were a finishing position (i.e. the first non-qualifier is assigned a 44th-place finish).