Most Surprising and Most Disappointing Driver of 2014

StandOnIt said:
Oops, I meant start a new 2015 prediction thread Yota, I should have worded it better I guess. BTW those are good predictions. I will go with Dillion too. he was only a couple finish places behind Larson in the year's standings and he actually won a little more prize money than Larson. I agree with the 88 prediction but to be different, I will go with another Hendrick driver that will draw the venom from the peanut gallery as most disappointing..the 24. don't think he can put together a season like he had in 2014. He hasn't had a 4 win or better season in 7 years.
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If the thought that the '15 car will swing to the loose side, your prediction about the 24 might be correct. You have to put Jr. and Champion Harvick (to a lesser degree) in that mix. I also agree that Dillon did fine. The expectations have chilled with him while the expectations for Larson are off the charts. Should be interesting...
 
I don't think the car is going to be that big a deal myself, but that is debatable I suppose. I haven't heard a thing about ride height changes and to me a change in center of gravity would make more of a car handling change than what they are doing. They didn't do what the drivers wanted them to do. The went with what the engineers wanted. we'll see, can't wait.
 
Revman said:
If the thought that the '15 car will swing to the loose side, your prediction about the 24 might be correct. You have to put Jr. and Champion Harvick (to a lesser degree) in that mix. I also agree that Dillon did fine. The expectations have chilled with him while the expectations for Larson are off the charts. Should be interesting...
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I think Harvick will be a threat for two in a row. Rodney Childers is the best chief in Nascar right now IMO and Harvick's clock is ticking, he ain't no spring chicken, he is pushing 40. Their all a wanking on Gordon and he is 44.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think Harvick will be a threat for two in a row. Rodney Childers is the best chief in Nascar right now IMO and Harvick's clock is ticking, he ain't no spring chicken, he is pushing 40. Their all a wanking on Gordon and he is 44.
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I think that NASCAR's intent in screwing with the rules is not to necessarily take away the tight that Champion Harvick loves, but to widen the margin for tuning to include taking the car loose for those who must have such a car. This will not slow the Champ down, but speed many others up. The challenge of a repeat got much, much more difficult for him. This will push Childers as well. Gonna be great.
 
StandOnIt said:
I don't think the car is going to be that big a deal myself, but that is debatable I suppose. I haven't heard a thing about ride height changes and to me a change in center of gravity would make more of a car handling change than what they are doing. They didn't do what the drivers wanted them to do. The went with what the engineers wanted. we'll see, can't wait.
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Good point, but we all know that these are puzzle pieces that work together. Power, aero, weight, driver tools....all messed with. Could be nothing like you said, or could be nothing. Gonna be a blast to find out.
 
Letting the drivers have some control over the handling should be interesting to see just how much they can change a car up during a run. Should be a crowd favorite change for next year.

Revman said:
I think that NASCAR's intent in screwing with the rules is not to necessarily take away the tight that Champion Harvick loves, but to widen the margin for tuning to include taking the car loose for those who must have such a car. This will not slow the Champ down, but speed many others up. The challenge of a repeat got much, much more difficult for him. This will push Childers as well. Gonna be great.
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The changes to the car last year surprised me. Usually the top chiefs are on top of the changes and the lesser teams struggle. The 48 and the Gibbses were out to lunch. The win and you are in format saved them.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think Harvick will be a threat for two in a row. Rodney Childers is the best chief in Nascar right now IMO and Harvick's clock is ticking, he ain't no spring chicken, he is pushing 40. Their all a wanking on Gordon and he is 44.
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I sure agree with that statement. I base my opinion on not just him being freeky fast and winning the championship but also what he was able to do with 3 drivers in the 55 car at MWR.
 
Pete:Team Penske said:
I sure agree with that statement. I base my opinion on not just him being freeky fast and winning the championship but also what he was able to do with 3 drivers in the 55 car at MWR.
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yeah bingo, that is when I started paying attention, the 55 car was the best car Waltrip had and when Tony hired him for Harvick that was a winning move. Stewart is sharper than many give him credit for being. Being a team co owner hasn't helped Toy's driving career, he has taken some hits for the team with personnel. Made a good change switching Kurt's and Danica's chiefs around. I think Kurt will do a lot better this year.
 
StandOnIt said:
Letting the drivers have some control over the handling should be interesting to see just how much they can change a car up during a run. Should be a crowd favorite change for next year.



The changes to the car last year surprised me. Usually the top chiefs are on top of the changes and the lesser teams struggle. The 48 and the Gibbses were out to lunch. The win and you are in format saved them.
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Yeah, but I keep going back to why NASCAR tweaked the rules again for '15. Many are suggesting that this was the best season ever. Why change? The only thing I can come up with is that the '14 package made the box way too tight...pun intended. There was only so much that the teams could do to get the tight out, and that wasn't much. You can have the greatest crew chiefs and best people, but if you can't get that car right for the driver, what can you do? Not much. I do believe that Childers is a great, great crew chief, but I also believe that he was in the right place at the right time with a driver that could drive a fairly exclusive package.
 
I don't..he made the 55 Toyota competitive with three completely different drivers. and you know how I just loooove Toyotas. So I pay attention when one of them starts doing something. I determined that it was that blasted Rodney Childers that was the problem.:D
 
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StandOnIt said:
I don't..he made the 55 Toyota competitive with three completely different drivers.
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He did that in '13--pre 0 Ride Height--a different beast. Champion Harvick was reportedly 1/2 to 3/4 of a second better than everyone in his first test with Childers using the 0 Ride Height package. Is Rodney Childers worth 3/4 of a second?
 
Revman said:
He did that in '13--pre 0 Ride Height--a different beast. Champion Harvick was reportedly 1/2 to 3/4 of a second better than everyone in his first test with Childers using the 0 Ride Height package. Is Rodney Childers worth 3/4 of a second?
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he was fastest almost all year long in tests, not just the first time out. and like I said, he made the 55 competitive with Martin who had retired twice by that time.:D and with Vickers, who isn't that great a driver IMO..sorry Vickers fans, and Waltrip had two top 5's driving the car.
 
StandOnIt said:
he was fastest almost all year long in tests, not just the first time out. and like I said, he made the 55 competitive with Martin who had retired twice by that time.:D and with Vickers, who isn't that great a driver IMO..sorry Vickers fans, and Waltrip had two top 5's driving the car.
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That's my point.....and the deal with the 55 was a completely different package. I think if we put Rodney on the 48 for example, he wouldn't have turned him into the world beater the Champ was. I think the 48 team worked a miracle with four wins in a car he hated BTW. The 4 will not be worse next year IMO, but many others will be better.
 
I think Knaus was distracted last year with the new girlfriend. no way of proving it, but the 48 showed up at many race practices like junk, didn't handle and didn't have any speed. That isn't the driver's problem
 
StandOnIt said:
I think Knaus was distracted last year with the new girlfriend. no way of proving it, but the 48 showed up at many race practices like junk, didn't handle and didn't have any speed. That isn't the driver's problem
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That's the problem with the '14 package that benefitted the 4 IMO. Why else would they change it? The 48 looked a lot like the 5 and the boys I follow. Decent short run speed that went to **** when the tires when to ****.
 
sorry this package stuff doesn't hold any waters in my world. You have a set of parameters whatever the "package" is. I believe it doesn't make a bit of difference what they do, a good team and driver will do well. Speaking of crew chiefs, I predict that Kahne will do much better this year with a new one, never was a fan of his old one. He made some dumb calls.
 
StandOnIt said:
sorry this package stuff doesn't hold any waters in my world. You have a set of parameters whatever the "package" is. I believe it doesn't make a bit of difference what they do, a good team and driver will do well. Speaking of crew chiefs, I predict that Kahne will do much better this year with a new one, never was a fan of his old one. He made some dumb calls.
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I hear ya man, and honestly, I'm not an engineer so I don't pretend to know. It's just interesting that NASCAR feels the need to change the package while several drivers fell off the map last year. I have always been fascinated by the driver's need to adjust and the crew chief's ability to meet the needs of a driving style....In other words, at what point does the CC simply say, "Shut the **** up, and drive the car!"?
 
Quite a bit I believe. That is why the driver adjust thing this year is going to be so interesting. I think some of them will have their lever attached to nothing. Kind of like the race car rides out in front of the grocery store.:biggrin:
 
StandOnIt said:
Quite a bit I believe. That is why the driver adjust thing this year is going to be so interesting. I think some of them will have their lever attached to nothing. Kind of like the race car rides out in front of the grocery store.:biggrin:
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Agreed.
 
with some teams, the driver is a necessary evil you have to have to race. Enzo Ferrari was really hard on drivers. Many drivers back in the day wouldn't drive for him.
 
Most surprising: Kyle Larson - because I wasn't expecting him to be so competitive as a rookie, particularly stepping into a car that had not been that competitive the few years before him.
Most disappointing: Jimmy Johnson - because he just didn't seem to "have it" this season. Statistically, 2014 was his worst season to date.
 
Most disappointing - Bad Brad
The most surprising - J. Gordon

Brad was so desperate to win Texas, he made a desperation move and forced his way passed the 48 and 24 wiping out the left rear tire on the 24, which took Gordon out of contention to win the race. That legal all the while, also stupid move didn't win him the race and he fell out of finishing in the top 4 along with Gordon. He finished one point ahead of Gordon in the point standings. :dunce:

Jeff Gordon was the most surprising since he'd just concluded back to back ****** years with the worst bad luck I've ever seen in a top tier team. :D:cool:

For someone that was advertised by his haters as over the hill, proved that age hasn't a thing to do with driving talent and skills.
 
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