In just about 45 minutes, the 2012 NASCAR season will kick-off with the Great American Race down in Daytona Beach, Florida. As much as I want to debate everyone on whether or not this is a sport, what with is highly competitive atmosphere, requirements of team strategy and cohesion, playoff system which rewards a team/players consistency throughout the season; I unfortunately don't have enough time.
Today will also mark the Sprint Cup debut of Auto-Racing pinup model Danica Patrick, who has chosen to make the move to NASCAR after years in the IRL. Danica is a great racer, as evidenced by her furthering the sport among women drivers. But, does she have the chops to race with some of the roughest dudes around? Especially since she is in a backup car after two wrecks in three days of practice. Having Tony Stewart as her team owner and racing buddy will help, but her story will be the talk of the season.
Speaking of Smoke, the defending Cup Champion is still just as dangerous as he was going into the Chase last season. I'm not a big fan of him personally, but watching him drive is a lot like watching Kevin Durant play basketball. You know at any given moment he can do something that will separate him from the pack.
The Daytona 500 is also the return of "pack racing" in NASCAR. What this essentially does is allow for groups of racers to join together with strategy instead of the "tandem racing" we saw last year where you are limited to just one partner to draft off of. It puts a bigger emphasis on the individual driver and brings a much higher risk of the big crash. If you enjoy the excitement of watching paint scrape off, this year will be the year for you.
Sure there are other talking points for this year, when will Jr. win again? Can JJ get back to the top? How much juice does Edwards have left after last seasons playoffs? But all of those will be sorted out in the coming 36 races.
Before we go, here are my predictions for today's top five finishers:
5. Dale Jr. - NASCAR's most popular driver can still put it together, and he always races well here.
4. Carl Edwards - He has a lot fire in his belly the way last year ended and of course I'll pick a guy who races for Rousch Fenway.
3. Kevin Harvick - One of the most underrated drivers in the sport, Harvick has the ability to win at any venue.
2. Kyle Busch - I really hate this man but he is a high level racer and will most certainly bring it, if he doesn't wreck.
1. Tony Stewart - The guy OWNS Daytona the last few years on the Nationwide Circuit and with his finish last year, that will only carry over to today.
So enjoy the race folks and then go the complete opposite direction by watching the Oscars or NBA All-Star Game. Either way, they won't be as exciting as 500 miles of racing.
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