I always enjoyed being in the Budweiser Shootout, mainly because it meant that you were a Bud Pole winner last year or you were a previous winner of this race.
The 70-lap/175-mile race is a good test session because it's a live race condition. Even when teams were in drafting configuration during last month's test, teams may not have had their best stuff. Now, they do.
Who to Watch
Dodge: All eyes will be on the Dodges because seven of the 19 cars in this race are driving Chargers, including Bill Elliott, Casey Mears and Ryan Newman. The manufacturer is well-represented by different organizations like BAM, Evernham, Ganassi and Penske.
Greg Biffle: Biffle runs well at restrictor-plate race tracks, and I watched him during the Daytona test. He was good in single-car runs and drafting runs as well so he will be awfully strong. Biffle will have a Roush Racing teammate, 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, in the race as a drafting partner.
Dale Jarrett: The three-time Shootout winner defends last year's victory without a Yates teammate but look for him to work well with another Ford who uses Roush-Yates engines, Ricky Rudd, last spring's Talladega pole-sitter. I think you might see those guys work together as teammates. Of course Roush has two cars in it with Biffle and Kurt Busch who got that pole at the final race of the year at Homestead.
Tony Stewart: The two-time Shootout winner always seems to run well in this race. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte, who sat on the pole at Texas last year, will be in the race so we may see those Chevrolets work together.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Even though Earnhardt Jr. did not sit on a pole last year, he will be in the race because he won it in 2003. Aside from Earnhardt Jr., the two cars to beat are going to be...
Jeff Gordon and
Jimmie Johnson: Not only are they Hendrick Motorsports teammates, but they are strong individually at the restrictor-plate tracks. Johnson had three top-five finishes in the four plate races last year, and Gordon won two, at Talladega in the spring and the Fourth of July race at Daytona. A lot of teams will try to prove me wrong, but I believe that Gordon is going to be tough to handle all week long at Daytona.
What to Watch
Charting the Chargers: For the first time in race trim, we will know how the new Dodge Chargers, which replace the old Intrepids, stack up against the Chevrolets and Fords. Dodge crew chiefs will try to gain as much information as they can from this test. They want to see how the cars will drive in the middle of the pack, out front and following another car. They will try to determine whether they ran too much tape or need to run more tape on the nose. I'll bet the Dodge crew chiefs that aren't in the Budweiser Shootout will go to teammates and others in the Dodge camp to gather as much information as they can.
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Speed Mail Larry McReynolds |
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Roush-Yates power: Last year at this time, Jack Roush and Robert Yates hadn't totally capitalized on their engine collaboration, but Roush Racing's Greg Biffle and Yates Racing's Elliott Sadler swept the front row. Yates driver Dale Jarrett won the Bud Shootout, and Sadler won a Twin 125 race. Those two teams could be even more successful this year. At last month's Daytona test, Jarrett and last year's pole-sitter Biffle looked awfully strong. Engine builder Doug Yates and his engine shop are loaded for bear. I took a toured their facility two weeks ago and walked away talking to myself. Yates will build about 50 engines for Daytona Speedweeks. They're building engines for 10 cars, including John Andretti's No. 14 Cup car. On their durability dyno, they raced an engine for two Daytona 500's.
Who will reign?: Teams like Roush and Yates and manufacturers like Dodge have pulled the hammer all the way back as they try to dethrone the Chevrolet/Dale Earnhardt Inc./Hendrick Motorsports dominance at restrictor plate race tracks. Stay tuned to see who winds up on top.
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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