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Rusty's replacement among many questions
Owner Childress, now with drivers Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, had his first winless season since 1997 while drivers Jarrett and Labonte failed to win a points race for the first time in a season since 1992 and 1994 respectively.
Who will replace Rusty?
As Rusty Wallace prepares to run his final Daytona 500, there have been stories that Miller is already starting to ask Roger Penske about his plans for the 2 car in 2006. Miller wants to have a role in picking who goes in the car because they are tired of being overshadowed by the Budweiser car.
When I was with the Lowe's team, they wanted to win races, but they really wanted to make sure that they outran the Home Depot car. It was a thorn in their side if that Home Depot car beat us week in and week out. A lot of weeks, it did beat us because those guys have been strong ever since they started in 1999.
No matter who the put in that 2 car, it would be hard to top Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Budweiser car when it comes to publicity and a fan favorite. So what's the next best thing? Outrun him on race day. Not taking anything away from Wallace or the 2 team, but that hasn't happened a lot over the last couple of years. The 8 car has overshadowed the 2 for the last two or three years not only in popularity but in on-track performance so it'll be interesting to see who Penske picks.
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Head to Head Before you make your fantasy picks, compare up to five drivers at Daytona, restrictor-plate tracks and more. |
Roush certainly has that capability. We've had six different champions in the last six years, which goes to show you how hard it is to stay on top in Cup. A lot of guys are going to try to dethrone Kurt Busch as champion.
Not to sell anyone else short, but there should be an awesome two-way rookie battle between Travis Kvapil and Kyle Busch. And unlike 2004, can a rookie win a race in 2005? Last year was the first year since 1998 that a rookie didn't win a race, and there wasn't a first-time race winner for the first time since 1993.
Now teams really know what it takes to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. At the end of 26 races, I firmly believe more than 10 teams will be within 400 points of the lead and will qualify for the Chase.
We always have a lot of questions going into the season. Normally after race four or five, you have a pretty good feel for what the answers will be so stay tuned.
FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.
"Larry McReynolds: The Big Picture" is on bookstore shelves now, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.
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