2012 NASCAR Daytona 500 Race Preview
NASCAR fans have been waiting for this day to arrive for what seems like an eternity. The Bud Shootout was one of the best ever. The Gatorade dual qualifying races were subdued as always but were still good. The Friday Camping World Truck Series race was a wreck fest with an exciting finish. The only thing fans can take from those races is that the Daytona 500 will be as exciting as ever.
If you are new to NASCAR the Daytona International Speedway is a 2.5 mile high banked speedway. With 31 degrees of banking in the turns and 18 degrees in the tri-oval, cars are able to run around with the throttle wide open. NASCAR purposely restricts engine horse power so that the car cannot run faster than about 200 MPH. The reason is cars running over that tend to get air born like an air plane. Since all of the cars have about the same horse power they tend to run in packs. When cars run in packs there is less air resistance so the cars go even faster than they would alone. Cars in packs can run about 10 MPH faster than a single car.
In recent Daytona races drivers discovered that two cars tight together can run 4 MPH faster than a bunch of cars in a pack. NASCAR worked hard during the offseason to reduce or eliminate this two car tandem drafting. Fans overwhelmingly did not like two car tandem drafting. Some of the changes made to reduce this are a lower cooling system pressure, a lower radiator, and air intake opening on the front of the car. The main idea is if cars cannot stay hooked up together tightly then there won’t be an advantage in drafting this way. It appears from prior races that NASCAR was successful in this endeavor. However, don’t be surprised if some cars use the two car tandem at the end of the race to get to the front.
There will be many side stories to watch in the race. Of course everyone will be talking about Danica Patrick’s first Daytona 500 race. Will she live up to the hype? Can she get some respect from other drivers and more importantly a fast drafting partner or partners? She is on her way to prove all her doubters wrong by winning the pole for the Nationwide Series Race the day before. She will get a lot of air play during the race including her crash in the qualifying race.
Trevor Bayne was the youngest winner ever of the Daytona 500 last year. Can he repeat? Will he still get the respect and confidence of a driver like Jeff Gordon to draft with? Terry Labonte got into the Daytona 500 using the past Champions provisional in a controversial way. He started his qualifying race and then parked the car because it was the only car his team has. The big question is will he actually race or park in the 500?
There is an all Ford front row for the first time in years with Carl Edwards on the Pole and Greg Biffle in second. Matt Kenseth won his duel and starts behind Greg Biffle. It is hard to believe but his dual win was the first win for Roush Fenway Racing ever in the duals. Qualifying is one thing but can they back it up with a win?
The defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart won his qualifying dual race. That means the 2012 NASCAR season starts much like it ended but this time Tony Stewart will be following Carl Edwards. Could this possibly foreshadow the end of this season?
Drivers to watch in this race begin with the usual Daytona driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his teammates Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon and newest member Kasey Kahne. Look for the Roush drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to be a factor. This might be Greg Biffle’s year because he actually has a faster car than Carl. My prediction is that defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart will finally get his Daytona 500 victory after winning so many of the other Daytona races in the past.
If you can’t get to Daytona watch the race on Fox at 1 PM ET. If you are on Twitter follow me during the race @brian_jr1. If you don’t see any tweets it is because I am holding my breath.
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