Most fantasy racing leagues only allow you to pick 5 drivers for any given weekend. Lucky for you, I find way too much time in my weekends and weekdays to give you 6 drivers who should perform well in the upcoming race. That gives you (those of you brave eough to take fantasy advice from me) 6 drivers to fill 5 spots. Here are my picks starting with 6 for this weekend's Daytona 500.
6. Reed Sorenson 5. Juan Pablo Montoya 4. David Stremme
-If you like taking risks with a few of your picks, then pacing all of these guys on your team wouldn't be a bad idea. I put them together because I picked them for all teh same reasons. They all drive for Chip Ganassi. They all looked good in qualifying. Montoya and Stremme qualified 4th and 3rd, respectively. While Sorenson's 44th best time doesn't look impressive to the naked eye, it was to me. His first lap was on pace with his top-5 teammates; however, a problem heading into the second lap caused the team (who was locked into the 500 by owners' points) to side with caution and pulled the car into the garage. Sorenson should make a statement in his Gatorade 150 on Thursday. None of the 3 may win the race, a top-5 or top-10 is definitely a possibility.
3. Ricky Rudd
-The 50 year old is back and appears to be rejuvinated after a year off. Powered by the Yates/Rousch engine in his 88 Snickers Ford Fusion Rudd secured a front row start for the 500 by qualifying second to his Yates teammate David Gilliland. Gilliland came close to making my list, but this is his first trip to Daytona; and, his performance last fall at Talladega after claiming the pole award was less than stellar. Look for Rudd to seriously contend for the resurgent Robert Yates Racing.
2. Jimmie Johnson
-The defending NEXTEL Cup and Daytona 500 champion is back for another attempt to claim it all. He has a lot going for him and seems poised to defend his title. When the series heads to Daytona the Hendricks' teams will be the favorites. just like at Talladega, DEI is always favored. The Lowe's team looks to get off to a great start in order to become the first team/driver since Jeff Gordon and the Dupont team claimed consecutive titles in the late-90s. Winner? Quite possibly. Top-5? Definitely.
1. Jeff Gordon
-I know that I am going to be called a homer on this for sure, but the fact is that just as Dale Jr. is always teh favorite heading into Talladega, Gordon will almost always be the favorite at Daytona. He has won more restrictor plate races than any other active driver and has 3 Daytona 500s to his name. He will definitely finish near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday and may very well walk away with the win. The only challengers that I really see are Rudd, Johnson, Tony Stewart and maybe Dale Jr. (if he can be given the opportuinty by the media to concentrate on racing instead of his status at DEI). Gordon is always a solid pick at just about any track except Texas and Phoenix. So, picking him here will definitely get you some points and quite possibly a season opening win.
None of this stuff is guaranteed. That is what makes sports great! They're like politics without the real world consequences of war, taxes and election scandals. It's all fun and entertainment. It should make an exciting weekend for all 2 or 3 of you who read this junk and the none of you who will follow my advice. In any event...I'm never wrong. BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY...LET'S GO RACIN' BOYS!!
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