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2007 Previews Redux
Topic Started: Jan 19 2007, 01:47 PM (39 Views)
Deleted User
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Decided to go back to the '06 preview format. Going in order of car number, reviewing 2006, previewing 2007, and giving a general verdict on the driver. Did four for this set so I'll probably do four for the rest, meaning the next ones will be Ward, Shrub, David Ragan, and Robby.


#01 Mark Martin - US Army Chevrolet

2006: Mark went winless in his final (?) full season of NASCAR Nextel Cup competition, but his trademark consistency was with him throughout the season. A lean stretch in the summer kept him from locking in a Chase for the Cup spot until the Richmond event, and hard accidents at Charlotte and Atlanta doomed his chances at finally taking a championship. Mark announced at Talladega that he was leaving Jack Roush's organization after 19 years and joining the MB2 Motorsports (since renamed Ginn Racing) #01 team as co-driver.

2007: Mark is scheduled (keyword: scheduled) to run twenty-two races this season: twenty points races, the Budweiser Shootout, and the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge. Young Regan Smith is to drive the other races. Mark's competitive spirit and drive is among the strongest in NASCAR history, and if the time comes for him to pull out of the Army Chevy for Bristol in March and he decides to race anyway, I wouldn't be suprised. If he runs the scheduled twenty-two races, he might not win but with his talent and tenacity, he could get the #01 car back to it's frequent top ten position during events in the '05 season. If the luck is better this time around, the car might actually finish there.

The Verdict: Championship or not, Mark is a champion of a human being and one of the most talented racers in NASCAR history. He is also one of the smartest, racing quietly and clean while his competitors are driving their cars apart. Once the checkered flag falls, even if he doesn't claim it first, Mark is usually there somewhere in the top ten. His prematurely aged look (he turns 48 in 2007 but looks at least 20 years older) only further serves the diminutive racer's image as the wise and wiley old veteran.



#07 Clint Bowyer - Jack Daniels Chevrolet

2006: If Bowyer could have bought a handful of good luck he would have probably been a top-fifteen, if not top-ten, finisher in the standings. Luck was non-existent, from blowing motors late to getting wrapped in accidents not of his own making to being victimized by vigilante justice to losing a wheel and crashing into the wall. Bowyer showed more than a flash or two of brilliance, and was a top five threat on a number of occasions only to have bad luck drop him deep into the finishing order. It was a respectable coming out party for the Kansas native.

2007: Bowyer has the talent and the team to make the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. His first career victory will probably happen (after Carl Edwards' 2006 season I take nothing as a sure thing) and he'll probably win more than once. Not being the best rookie of 2006 might play into his favor, along with the other rookies Denny Hamlin trounced last year, as while Hamlin is now expected to run up front and doesn't really have the luxury of being a still-learning youngster, Bowyer and company still have the opprotunity to be taken as learning racers and then sneak up on everyone and start finishing up front consistently. I don't expect that from Bowyer, though. He'll come out of the gate strong at Daytona and then make a strong bid for his first career win on the three intermediate tracks that follow and set himself up for a drive towards the Chase.

The Verdict: As said earlier, while Hamlin is expected to run up front after his rookie romp, Bowyer can gradually take steps towards being a top-tier driver without being scorned in the public eye as Hamlin will should he struggle in '07. Also as said earlier, if Bowyer's luck is better, he won't have to take steps. He's got the talent to make the giant leap to race winner within the first four races of 2007, and of the rookie class from last season that didn't win, I'd give Bowyer about a 75% or higher chance of being the first to do so in 2007.

#1 Martin Truex, Jr - Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet

2006: Expected by most to win the rookie of the year award, Truex struggled to find any consistency throughout the first two-thirds of the season. As the year wound down, however, Truex found himself consistently racing among the top ten and even the top five in some cases. Luck was a major issue, as engine failures and accidents not of his own making took the two-time defending (as of his rookie season) Busch champ out of contention nearly every time. Still, by season's end Truex and the Kevin Manion-led group were considered legitimate contenders for race wins.

2007: Truex will probably win at least once in 2007, and while he is a little behind Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer right now, he could take a decent step towards being at the level of those two by the time 2007 is over. The ever constant luck factor is thrown into the mix, and if Truex and company have a little more blessings from Lady Luck this season the might make a strong bid at making the Chase for the Championship. Taking a safe-route, expect at least one victory and a 11-15 point finish, but don't be suprised if Truex is on the stage at Richmond with the other Chase contenders, especially if twelve and not ten drivers are included.

#2 Kurt Busch - Miller Lite Dodge

2006: Busch couldn't buy a break on many an occasion in 2006. Parts broke, tires blew, and Busch wrecked a few Dodge Chargers. A miserable result at Watkins Glen was perhaps more notable than Busch's Bump-and-Run win on Matt Kenseth at Bristol.. At the Glen, Busch dominated from the pole and probably would have won. Roy McCauley, Busch's crew chief, shot himself and the entire team in the foot by gambling when nothing was on the table. His decision to call Busch down pit road after a Joe Nemechek's crash, hoping to beat the yellow flag, was not only unneccessary, as Busch either would have beaten everyone off pit road under scheduled stops or been more than strong enough to pass the two or three cars that beat him out, but it also was costly as Busch pitted after yellow had been displayed. He ended up in an accident and ended with a dismal result. Ultimately Busch was forgotten by season's end, save for his crash that nearly, shall we say, Buschwacked Jimmie Johnson's Championship drive at Homestead.

2007: If the 2004 Cup champ puts his worst season since his 2001 rookie campaign behind him, he can make a drive towards at least making the Chase. Dodge isn't particuarly the car to have if you want to win a Nextel Cup title, and his team will be in only their second year of Nextel Cup competition (they were the "development" crew of Ryan Newman when he won all those Busch races late in 2005). Those factors could play against Busch, but the equalizer could be the Car of Tommorow, which is a new situation for everybody. Those races in which the COT runs could allow Busch's talent, which is among the best in Nextel Cup, to dicate his finishes rather than an inferior car or crew.

The Verdict: As I just said, Busch is among the most talented drivers in Nextel Cup. One of only five drivers (Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Mark Martin being the others) with the talent to win on any, every, and all weekends given a car matching his ability, Busch could be a threat if Dodge works out its competitive issues and his team matures into a bona-fide contender. Whether he wins on the track or not, he'll probably still lead the way in boos recieved at the track on any given weekend.
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Ram Jam
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Glad to see you finally got the 2 on this thing. :shifty: :D
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Ram Jam
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But good stuff. :up:
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