But it is now the most
exciting time of the year, time for the Sprint Cup’s biggest event, the Daytona 500!
And the winner will be
(drum roll please…) DALE EARNHARDT JR!
Here is how I got there:
Dale Jr. is in a
Hendrick car. Undisputedly the Hendrick cars were the Car of Tomorrow (COT) leaders last year, and as evidenced by Earnhardt’s
win in the Bud Shootout and Jimmie Johnson’s pole effort, have lost nothing to the other Teams over the winter.
Earnhardt apparently
has inherited his father’s ability to “see” the air. Put simply, when cars move through the air at 200mph,
they create a “wake” in the air, much like a boat moving through the water. Earnhardt Jr. is among the best, if
not the best at reading this invisible phenomenon.
Earnhardt has three teammates
that are ready and willing to draft with him, and all three understand just how big it would be to have Junior pull off the
biggest win of the year for Hendrick Motorsports. They will beat him if they can, but there will be no Rusty Wallace/Ryan
Newman on track antics. Additionally, unlike a few others that will be taking the green flag, Earnhardt has many other drivers
that will draft with him, notably Michael Waltrip and Tony Stewart.
Earnhardt also has Tony
Eury Jr. as his crew chief, and that continuity blended with the level headedness of the Hendrick organization will be a bonus.
And finally, and most
importantly, Dale Jr. has untied the sometimes tumultuous knot with his stepmother and has replaced unrest with the smoothness
of racing for a truly good guy and father figure, Rick Hendrick.
2006 StockCar Review.
