F
fastfordfan
Guest
The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is wide open with new team affiliations, new crew chiefs and a few rookies mixed in. Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR Sprint Cup debut at Daytona and if she makes the field she has a solid opportunity to score a great finish in the first Cup race of her career.
Despite the arrival of Danica in NASCAR Sprint Cup and her full-time schedule in NASCAR Nationwide, she is not going to be one of the top five stories in 2012. The following are my predictions for the best stories and most talked about drivers in 2012.
No. 5 Kurt Busch will win two races this season for Phoenix Racing
Kurt Busch will be driving for Phoenix Racing but the team is far from independent. James Finch, the owner of Phoenix Racing gets technical support and engines from Hendrick Motorsports. The company that has supplied horsepower to the last six NASCAR Sprint Cup championship teams.
Busch will win one of the road races and he will win one race at Dover, Bristol or Loudon. Busch is a smart driver and if he lures some good pit crew guys away from Penske Racing, he will have an advantage Finch has never experienced since becoming an owner.
No. 4 A.J. Allmendinger will win his first career race this season at Dover
A.J. Allmendinger has been on the verge of his first win for a season and a half and now he is racing with one of the best owners in all of professional racing, Roger Penske. Allmendinger is the type of driver that puts his head down and digs and Dover is the perfect track for a driver willing to go the extra mile.
No. 3 Brad Keselowski will battle Carl Edwards for Sprint Cup title
Brad Keselowski had a stellar season in 2011. He joined the elite No.2 Miller Lite Penske Dodge team and hit another gear after breaking his ankle in a horrific head-on accident with the wall at Road Atlanta. Keselowski was lucky enough to limp away from that accident and proceeded to win the same weekend.
Edwards and Keselowski gave NASCAR fans a great battle for the NASCAR Nationwide title a few years ago and this season the two will battle to the end for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Give the edge to Keselowski in this battle.
No. 2 Kyle Busch will get flack from the press for being boring
Kyle Busch will give the media nothing in 2012 and they will ridicule him for being so bland. Don't blame Kyle Busch, blame NASCAR for their return to boring interviews and boring non-controversial drivers in 2012. No one will put themselves out there in 2012 but the younger Busch will get the most blow back for being boring.
No. 1 Jimmie Johnson will struggle to make the NASCAR Chase
Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus showed kinks in their armor in 2011 but in 2012 they will begin to come apart at the seams. The two have been together longer than any crew chief driver combination and they are both are ready to prove themselves with other teammates.
Johnson already doubts Knaus' decisions during races and Knaus is too ****y to get second guessed by anyone, including a five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ. The No. 48 garage is not big enough to house both these huge egos and they will go their separate ways soon.
*Todd Jacobs is an avid race fan who grew up watching sprint car racing legends race at Ascot Park in Gardena and Indy cars and NASCAR Cup cars at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Southern California. He has followed all forms of motorsports from open wheel sprint car racing to Formula One and all disciplines in between. He also attends NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sonoma and Fontana, California every season.
Sources:
NASCAR Integrated Media: Stats and news information
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
Despite the arrival of Danica in NASCAR Sprint Cup and her full-time schedule in NASCAR Nationwide, she is not going to be one of the top five stories in 2012. The following are my predictions for the best stories and most talked about drivers in 2012.
No. 5 Kurt Busch will win two races this season for Phoenix Racing
Kurt Busch will be driving for Phoenix Racing but the team is far from independent. James Finch, the owner of Phoenix Racing gets technical support and engines from Hendrick Motorsports. The company that has supplied horsepower to the last six NASCAR Sprint Cup championship teams.
Busch will win one of the road races and he will win one race at Dover, Bristol or Loudon. Busch is a smart driver and if he lures some good pit crew guys away from Penske Racing, he will have an advantage Finch has never experienced since becoming an owner.
No. 4 A.J. Allmendinger will win his first career race this season at Dover
A.J. Allmendinger has been on the verge of his first win for a season and a half and now he is racing with one of the best owners in all of professional racing, Roger Penske. Allmendinger is the type of driver that puts his head down and digs and Dover is the perfect track for a driver willing to go the extra mile.
No. 3 Brad Keselowski will battle Carl Edwards for Sprint Cup title
Brad Keselowski had a stellar season in 2011. He joined the elite No.2 Miller Lite Penske Dodge team and hit another gear after breaking his ankle in a horrific head-on accident with the wall at Road Atlanta. Keselowski was lucky enough to limp away from that accident and proceeded to win the same weekend.
Edwards and Keselowski gave NASCAR fans a great battle for the NASCAR Nationwide title a few years ago and this season the two will battle to the end for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Give the edge to Keselowski in this battle.
No. 2 Kyle Busch will get flack from the press for being boring
Kyle Busch will give the media nothing in 2012 and they will ridicule him for being so bland. Don't blame Kyle Busch, blame NASCAR for their return to boring interviews and boring non-controversial drivers in 2012. No one will put themselves out there in 2012 but the younger Busch will get the most blow back for being boring.
No. 1 Jimmie Johnson will struggle to make the NASCAR Chase
Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus showed kinks in their armor in 2011 but in 2012 they will begin to come apart at the seams. The two have been together longer than any crew chief driver combination and they are both are ready to prove themselves with other teammates.
Johnson already doubts Knaus' decisions during races and Knaus is too ****y to get second guessed by anyone, including a five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ. The No. 48 garage is not big enough to house both these huge egos and they will go their separate ways soon.
*Todd Jacobs is an avid race fan who grew up watching sprint car racing legends race at Ascot Park in Gardena and Indy cars and NASCAR Cup cars at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Southern California. He has followed all forms of motorsports from open wheel sprint car racing to Formula One and all disciplines in between. He also attends NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sonoma and Fontana, California every season.
Sources:
NASCAR Integrated Media: Stats and news information
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
