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Coke Zero 400 Preview
July 3, 2008
T. Jay Maddox - SCR
Recent finishes in the Sprint Cup Series have produced winners who didn't necessarily have the fastest cars.
Kurt Busch won last week at New Hampshire with help from pit strategy and Mother Nature. Two races before that, Dale Earnhardt
Jr., broke through for his first win of the season at Michigan aided by fuel strategy.
This week's race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) could produce another surprise winner.
While running in the draft cars are constantly shuffled forward and backward. The winner may not the fastest car but may be
the one with the most help at the right time.
The most recent winners at
Daytona were not the most likely. Jamie McMurray won last's year summer race, leading only three laps. Ryan Newman won
the 2008 Daytona 500 and led just 8 laps. Nonetheless, there are drivers who are expected to run well and they will have to
see if they get help at the end of the race or are hung out to dry.
Kyle
Busch:
He led 86 laps in the race last February and finished fourth.
He finished second in each of the last two July races at Daytona. He has just one DNF and three top five's in seven starts.
He's already won five races this season, so look for him to be up front on Saturday night.
Tony Stewart:
While Stewart's
start to this season has been slow, he typically picks up the pace as the tracks get hot and slick. He has won this race two
times in 2005 and 2006. He started on the pole in 2005 and second in 2006. He started sixth and finished third at the 500
in February. He's had four DNF's in 19 races and led 531 laps. He has 10 tops 10s and six top 5s at DIS.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.:
Daytona
has been a very good track for Earnhardt, but much of his success in finishes occurred during a six race stretch beginning
with the July race in 2003 and ending with Daytona 500 in 2006, where he won once, had three third place finishes and finished
no worse than 8th. He's won twice at Daytona; he won the summer race in 2001 after his father was killed on the last lap
of the 500 that year. He finished 36th at last year's night race. He has completed almost 98% of the laps in 17 starts
and has led 331 of them. His average start is 11.4 and his average finish is 13.9 ranking him third best among active drivers.
With the consistency his team has shown this year, and having started third and finishing ninth in February, look for him
to be strong.
Jeff Gordon:
Questions loom around his performance this season which has been sub-par by his lofty standards. He hasn't been
that strong in recent races at Daytona either. In the last six races has finished 26th or worse in the three including 39th
in February. He did start from the pole in last year's summer race and finished fifth. His historical numbers are stellar.
In 31 races at DIS, he completed almost 96% of the laps and led 511. His average start is 10.8 and average finish is 14.7
He has 17 top 10s and 11 top 5s.
Other drivers to consider include Clint
Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson. Bowyer has only five races at Daytona, but he has the highest average finish at 13.0 with three
top 10s. He has led 59 of the 925 laps he's completed. Johnson has the second best average finish 13.2. In 13 races he
has won once with five top 5s and eight top 10s.
Dark Horse picks could
include David Gilliland, Terry Labonte and Sterling Marlin if he makes the race. Gilliland has three starts and the eighth
best average finish among active drivers at 15.7. Labonte and Marlin are veterans of the track and have had 47 top 10s in
104 races between them. While there equipment may not be as strong as previous years, they certainly know how to get it done
at Daytona.
My pick to win: Tony Stewart
Questions, Comments:
Email Jay
The views and opinions in this article are that of the writer(s)
and not necessarily that of SCR
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2006 StockCar Review.
