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fastfordfan
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http://www.scenedaily.com/blogs/jeffowens/Ten-questions-sure-to-generate-headlines-in-2012.html
A busy offseason is almost over, a bevy of driver and team moves have been made and it’s finally time to get back to racing, with Sprint Cup teams hitting the track for preseason testing Thursday at Daytona.
With a new season comes a myriad of questions.
Here’s 10 that could dominate the headlines in 2012:
1. Can Jimmie Johnson bounce back?
Johnson won just two races in 2011 and finished a career-worst sixth in the final standings.
Even more surprising, he never really was a factor in the Chase and was eliminated from championship contention prior to the season finale.
Yes, Johnson’s five-year championship reign came to a screeching halt, but can he start another streak this season, continuing his assault on the record book?
Answer: It would be foolish to bet against him. Five-time will be working on a new nickname come November.
2. Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. snap that long winless streak?
Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase last year and finished seventh in the final standings, both significant achievements given his struggles the previous two years.
But Earnhardt Jr. has not won a race since June of 2008 – a span of 129 races. Can he finally snap that streak and get his fans, the media and everyone else in the NASCAR world off his back?
Answer: If he doesn’t win this year, nothing else matters. He and crew chief Steve Letarte came close three times last year. They’ll find a way to get it done this year.
3. What can Tony Stewart do for an encore?
He was already one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, a two-time champion and arguably one of the greatest competitors in American motorsports history, but Stewart will be forever remembered for his remarkable charge to last year’s championship.
Stewart barely made the Chase, declared his team didn’t deserve to be there, released his crew chief (unbeknownst to nearly everyone) and yet won five of the final 10 races to win his third championship.
Can he do it again?
Answer: Stewart wasn’t even considered a serious championship contender for most of last season and his title-winning crew chief – Darian Grubb – is now gone, so it’s hard to imagine him sustaining the momentum or putting together another late-season charge.
He will be a contender with new crew chief Steve Addington, and likely return to the Chase, but repeating a miraculous season like that will be difficult.
4. Can NASCAR break up the two-car draft?
The restrictor-plate races developed into the two-car tango last year, producing two upsets at Daytona and one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at Talladega.
But most of the drivers and fans didn’t like the new style of racing, forcing NASCAR to work on trying to break up the two-car tandems and recreate the more traditional style of restrictor-plate racing.
NASCAR has made all sorts of changes to try to break up the tandems a bit, and a three-day test at Daytona later this week will help NASCAR officials determine if they’ve made any progress. Will it work?
Answer: No, not entirely. The best NASCAR can hope for is reducing the amount of time two cars can stay hooked together without having to swap positions.
The two-car draft appears here to stay for the immediate future, and while it will make for some odd racing, it could continue to lead to upsets and thrilling finishes.
5. Can Kurt Busch succeed at Phoenix Racing and resurrect his career?
Busch signed with Phoenix Racing after parting ways with Penske Racing amid the fallout from a series of emotional outbursts and embarrassing incidents.
Busch, the 2004 champion, had few options after essentially being released after the season and chose an unsponsored team that finished 30th in owner points last season and typically doesn’t run the full Cup schedule.
Busch is one of the most talented drivers in the sport, but his temper and people skills are a huge problem.
Can he learn to corral those emotions and make the best of a bad situation?
Answer: He might win a restrictor-plate race with Phoenix Racing – which won at Talladega with Brad Keselowski in 2009 – but he won’t fair well overall. There will be more bad days than good, and Busch has virtually no chance of returning to the Chase.
But he’ll be on his best behavior, much like he was when he first arrived at Penske. He has to if he hopes to secure a better ride for 2013.
6. Can Kyle Busch behave and contend in the Chase?
The youngest Busch has his own demons to fight. In a year when Kyle was supposedly more mature, he: was placed on probation for a pit-road confrontation with Kevin Harvick; got nabbed for driving a sports car 128 mph through a residential area; got punched in the garage by team owner Richard Childress; and was suspended for a Cup and Nationwide race for intentionally wrecking Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday at Texas.
And to make matters worse, he suffered through a typical late-season collapse, which knocked him out of championship contention and, along with the one-race suspension, left him last in the final Chase standings.
So Busch starts back at square one this year, trying once again to clean up his public image, earn respect from his peers and prove he can be a legitimate championship contender.
Can he do it?
Answer: Eventually, Busch is going to win a Cup championship. Eventually, his team will work out all the kinks, get some breaks and he’ll be in the title hunt until the very end. But it won’t happen overnight.
The rest? Only time will tell. It would be foolish to declare once again that he’s finally grown up and matured. And given his aggressiveness on the track, he’ll probably always have issues with other drivers.
The question is, can he learn to deal with all that baggage and still contend for a title?
7. Will Danica Patrick succeed in the Nationwide Series and be ready for a full Cup schedule in 2013?
Patrick will run her first full Nationwide schedule this year for JR Motorsports along with 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing.
She will create a buzz everywhere she goes and have a bright media spotlight following her. Her successes and failures will be magnified more than any driver, save perhaps her boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
How will she do as one of America’s most popular drivers embarks on her new career?
Answer: Patrick showed steady progress and flashes of potential in limited Nationwide action the past two years. We will see more of the same this year, with some stellar runs – and perhaps a win – and some days when she struggles.
Her Cup races will be a whole different story. She might struggle just to qualify and will have a rough go of it in the longer, more competitive races.
Patrick is destined to be a competitive Nationwide Series driver, and perhaps a frequent contender, but it could be years before she is competitive at the Cup level.
8. Can Carl Edwards make another championship run?
Edwards led the points standings most of the season, produced a record average finish of 4.9 in the Chase and still lost the championship to Tony Stewart.
Can Edwards be as consistent again and mount another championship-caliber run?
Answer: History and the odds are not in his favor. Unless you’re Jimmie Johnson, many title contenders suffer an off year after challenging for the title.
Edwards did it himself in 2009, going winless and falling to 11th the year after winning nine races and finishing second in the standings in 2008.
He’s capable, but he must win more races, and it’s hard to imagine a team being that bulletproof two years in a row.
9. Can Denny Hamlin bounce back from last year’s letdown?
Hamlin carried the points lead into the final race in 2010 and blew it when he wilted under pressure and wrecked early in the race.
Last year was a disaster, one that many attributed to the disappointment of 2010. Hamlin won just one race and barely made the Chase, finishing ninth in the final standings.
He has a new crew chief in Darian Grubb, who replaced Mike Ford, Hamlin’s longtime crew chief, and led Stewart to his remarkable championship run last year.
Can Grubb, the polar opposite of the fiery Ford, get Hamlin back on track and orchestrate another championship run?
Answer: Hamlin has finished in the top five in points three times – including third as a rookie – and has 17 career victories. He’s too talented not to bounce back and contend again.
10. Can Kasey Kahne win big at Hendrick Motorsports?
It seems like a no-brainer. Kahne has 12 career victories and is regarded as one of NASCAR’s most talented drivers, so it stands to reason that he should excel in elite equipment.
But it doesn’t always work out that way. Earnhardt Jr. had 17 victories when he joined Hendrick. Now he has 18 – just one in the past four years.
Answer: Kahne is an underrated driver with an underrated crew chief in Kenny Francis. They should excel at Hendrick. Think Mark Martin in circa 2009.
A busy offseason is almost over, a bevy of driver and team moves have been made and it’s finally time to get back to racing, with Sprint Cup teams hitting the track for preseason testing Thursday at Daytona.
With a new season comes a myriad of questions.
Here’s 10 that could dominate the headlines in 2012:
1. Can Jimmie Johnson bounce back?
Johnson won just two races in 2011 and finished a career-worst sixth in the final standings.
Even more surprising, he never really was a factor in the Chase and was eliminated from championship contention prior to the season finale.
Yes, Johnson’s five-year championship reign came to a screeching halt, but can he start another streak this season, continuing his assault on the record book?
Answer: It would be foolish to bet against him. Five-time will be working on a new nickname come November.
2. Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. snap that long winless streak?
Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase last year and finished seventh in the final standings, both significant achievements given his struggles the previous two years.
But Earnhardt Jr. has not won a race since June of 2008 – a span of 129 races. Can he finally snap that streak and get his fans, the media and everyone else in the NASCAR world off his back?
Answer: If he doesn’t win this year, nothing else matters. He and crew chief Steve Letarte came close three times last year. They’ll find a way to get it done this year.
3. What can Tony Stewart do for an encore?
He was already one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, a two-time champion and arguably one of the greatest competitors in American motorsports history, but Stewart will be forever remembered for his remarkable charge to last year’s championship.
Stewart barely made the Chase, declared his team didn’t deserve to be there, released his crew chief (unbeknownst to nearly everyone) and yet won five of the final 10 races to win his third championship.
Can he do it again?
Answer: Stewart wasn’t even considered a serious championship contender for most of last season and his title-winning crew chief – Darian Grubb – is now gone, so it’s hard to imagine him sustaining the momentum or putting together another late-season charge.
He will be a contender with new crew chief Steve Addington, and likely return to the Chase, but repeating a miraculous season like that will be difficult.
4. Can NASCAR break up the two-car draft?
The restrictor-plate races developed into the two-car tango last year, producing two upsets at Daytona and one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at Talladega.
But most of the drivers and fans didn’t like the new style of racing, forcing NASCAR to work on trying to break up the two-car tandems and recreate the more traditional style of restrictor-plate racing.
NASCAR has made all sorts of changes to try to break up the tandems a bit, and a three-day test at Daytona later this week will help NASCAR officials determine if they’ve made any progress. Will it work?
Answer: No, not entirely. The best NASCAR can hope for is reducing the amount of time two cars can stay hooked together without having to swap positions.
The two-car draft appears here to stay for the immediate future, and while it will make for some odd racing, it could continue to lead to upsets and thrilling finishes.
5. Can Kurt Busch succeed at Phoenix Racing and resurrect his career?
Busch signed with Phoenix Racing after parting ways with Penske Racing amid the fallout from a series of emotional outbursts and embarrassing incidents.
Busch, the 2004 champion, had few options after essentially being released after the season and chose an unsponsored team that finished 30th in owner points last season and typically doesn’t run the full Cup schedule.
Busch is one of the most talented drivers in the sport, but his temper and people skills are a huge problem.
Can he learn to corral those emotions and make the best of a bad situation?
Answer: He might win a restrictor-plate race with Phoenix Racing – which won at Talladega with Brad Keselowski in 2009 – but he won’t fair well overall. There will be more bad days than good, and Busch has virtually no chance of returning to the Chase.
But he’ll be on his best behavior, much like he was when he first arrived at Penske. He has to if he hopes to secure a better ride for 2013.
6. Can Kyle Busch behave and contend in the Chase?
The youngest Busch has his own demons to fight. In a year when Kyle was supposedly more mature, he: was placed on probation for a pit-road confrontation with Kevin Harvick; got nabbed for driving a sports car 128 mph through a residential area; got punched in the garage by team owner Richard Childress; and was suspended for a Cup and Nationwide race for intentionally wrecking Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday at Texas.
And to make matters worse, he suffered through a typical late-season collapse, which knocked him out of championship contention and, along with the one-race suspension, left him last in the final Chase standings.
So Busch starts back at square one this year, trying once again to clean up his public image, earn respect from his peers and prove he can be a legitimate championship contender.
Can he do it?
Answer: Eventually, Busch is going to win a Cup championship. Eventually, his team will work out all the kinks, get some breaks and he’ll be in the title hunt until the very end. But it won’t happen overnight.
The rest? Only time will tell. It would be foolish to declare once again that he’s finally grown up and matured. And given his aggressiveness on the track, he’ll probably always have issues with other drivers.
The question is, can he learn to deal with all that baggage and still contend for a title?
7. Will Danica Patrick succeed in the Nationwide Series and be ready for a full Cup schedule in 2013?
Patrick will run her first full Nationwide schedule this year for JR Motorsports along with 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing.
She will create a buzz everywhere she goes and have a bright media spotlight following her. Her successes and failures will be magnified more than any driver, save perhaps her boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
How will she do as one of America’s most popular drivers embarks on her new career?
Answer: Patrick showed steady progress and flashes of potential in limited Nationwide action the past two years. We will see more of the same this year, with some stellar runs – and perhaps a win – and some days when she struggles.
Her Cup races will be a whole different story. She might struggle just to qualify and will have a rough go of it in the longer, more competitive races.
Patrick is destined to be a competitive Nationwide Series driver, and perhaps a frequent contender, but it could be years before she is competitive at the Cup level.
8. Can Carl Edwards make another championship run?
Edwards led the points standings most of the season, produced a record average finish of 4.9 in the Chase and still lost the championship to Tony Stewart.
Can Edwards be as consistent again and mount another championship-caliber run?
Answer: History and the odds are not in his favor. Unless you’re Jimmie Johnson, many title contenders suffer an off year after challenging for the title.
Edwards did it himself in 2009, going winless and falling to 11th the year after winning nine races and finishing second in the standings in 2008.
He’s capable, but he must win more races, and it’s hard to imagine a team being that bulletproof two years in a row.
9. Can Denny Hamlin bounce back from last year’s letdown?
Hamlin carried the points lead into the final race in 2010 and blew it when he wilted under pressure and wrecked early in the race.
Last year was a disaster, one that many attributed to the disappointment of 2010. Hamlin won just one race and barely made the Chase, finishing ninth in the final standings.
He has a new crew chief in Darian Grubb, who replaced Mike Ford, Hamlin’s longtime crew chief, and led Stewart to his remarkable championship run last year.
Can Grubb, the polar opposite of the fiery Ford, get Hamlin back on track and orchestrate another championship run?
Answer: Hamlin has finished in the top five in points three times – including third as a rookie – and has 17 career victories. He’s too talented not to bounce back and contend again.
10. Can Kasey Kahne win big at Hendrick Motorsports?
It seems like a no-brainer. Kahne has 12 career victories and is regarded as one of NASCAR’s most talented drivers, so it stands to reason that he should excel in elite equipment.
But it doesn’t always work out that way. Earnhardt Jr. had 17 victories when he joined Hendrick. Now he has 18 – just one in the past four years.
Answer: Kahne is an underrated driver with an underrated crew chief in Kenny Francis. They should excel at Hendrick. Think Mark Martin in circa 2009.
