One and Done: Coke Zero 400

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

July 2, 2009 12:39 am CDT 1 Comment

The Coke Zero 400 signals the halfway mark of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. When the winner crosses the finish line on Saturday night, we’ll be 18 races into the 36-race season, and only eight events away from the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The venue is historic Daytona International Speedway, site of the season-opening Daytona 500 and the birthplace of the sport.

Daytona, like its restrictor-plate superspeedway cousin Talladega, is often wildly unpredictable, with top cars often getting taken out of the race due to the “big one.” Surviving a restrictor-plate race is all about luck. It’s about not getting shuffled to the back of the pack at the wrong time, and not running into the back of another car during the wrecks.

But, assuming we have one of those rare restrictor-plate races where no crash occurs and everybody survives, here are some picks:

Marcos Ambrose: It’s Daytona. Crashes happen. Crazy things happen. Anybody can, provided they avoid the big one, win this race. Ambrose avoided trouble in his first Daytona start, has run solidly all season, and could, just as easily as anybody, avoid the wrecks this time around and win. Then again, so could anybody. It’s always a crapshoot.

Matt Kenseth: Well, he did win the Daytona 500… At the same time, he’s also got an incredible record in summer Daytona races, finishing in the top 10 in five of the past six races.

Kyle Busch: You know how it is with Shrub. He’s a factor to win every week, and the defending champion of this race. And if we know anything about Shrub, just because he triggered a melee last weekend, doesn’t mean he won’t be afraid to set off an even bigger one on the superspeedway. He’s going to make every move available to win the race.

Jeff Gordon: You know, neither Gordon or teammate Jimmie Johnson has been too stellar over the past few years at Daytona, aside from a fifth by Gordon in this race two years ago. But Gordon’s led laps in his past four Daytona races, and 12 of his past 15 starts at the track. It’s a solid bet that you can’t keep him down for long.

Tony Stewart: At this stage of the game, Stewart-Haas is one of the top teams on the circuit, and Smoke’s the undisputed leader. He’s won at Daytona before, and this is traditionally the time of year he starts to heat up. Imagine Smoke getting even better? That’s a scary thought for the opposition.

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Coke Zero 400, Daytona International Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Comments

One Response to “One and Done: Coke Zero 400”

Charlie Turner on July 4th, 2009 10:56 am

You’re right about the crap shoot aspect of Daytona. Hard to pick anyone with confidence. I’ll take the “other” Vegas native - Kurt. He’s wiley as hell at this place.

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