Well, 2010 is over and 2011 is just beginning. It will only be about six weeks when we will all be heading to Daytona for two weeks of events. Everything will be building for the Daytona 500 on FOX Sports on Feb. 20. It’s been compared to the Super Bowl, but personally I think it’s even bigger. The Super Bowl is just one game, but with two weeks in Daytona we have a lot of great events leading up to the 500. I think it makes our Daytona 500 the Super Duper Bowl.
Naturally, all of us at NASCAR on FOX have been meeting since November talking about new ways to cover the racing. We also talk about the storylines that carried over from 2010 or the new ones that developed during our short offseason. That’s what you, the fans, are going to be interested in and talking about.
One of the first things that came to mind is the new surface at Daytona. Certainly that will have some effect on what goes on down there this year. You obviously have a good indication after seeing the repaving at Talladega. The surface there is ultra-smooth and has a lot of grip. Like I told you last week, all the teams will be testing Daytona Jan. 20-22. All your NASCAR on FOX guys will be there covering this important test for Speed.
That will give a good baseline for the teams to work from, but you have to remember that the track conditions will change after they run the 24-hour race down there. While I don’t anticipate a tire issue from a failure perspective, I do expect the tires will be a little too hard when the teams get back down there in February.
As I also mentioned, the evolution of the COT has been a great benefit to the racing. We all heard the complaints initially of how it looked and how it raced. Now it’s starting to come around and look pretty good. Getting rid of that wing last March cleaned the car up and made it look like a race car again. The new nose, the elimination of the braces and the splitter really make the car look nice. They are starting to look like race cars again and that’s always a good thing. The plan is to run this new body configuration for a couple years and then come 2013 we’ll see a new body design across the board.
One of the biggest changes will be to the ethanol fuel. I know it tested out OK but I still maintain there will be some unintended consequences to deal with as we go forward. I don’t think there will be issues that NASCAR and the teams can’t overcome, but I also don’t think it will be smooth sailing either. I think we will probably see some issues the first few races until they get the blend figured out.
The talk of moving to fuel injection continues. It keeps getting put off because, quite honestly, that will be a huge change. If you combined the change to ethanol and fuel injection, the engine builders for all the teams would be thrown some huge curves. So look for them to ease into that program.
We also go into the season with new crew chief and driver combinations. Hendrick Motorsports naturally comes to mind as three of their four teams will show up at Daytona with new folks. At first I wasn’t a big fan of what they had done, but the more I thought about it, well, it might actually be pretty good. Rick Hendrick never makes knee-jerk reactions, so I see this as a positive.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes to talk a lot on the radio and his new crew chief Steve LeTarte does, too. They’re both kind of hyper guys so that could be good with them firing each other up. I certainly like the combination of Jeff Gordon and Alan Gustafson. Jeff is a methodical kind of guy and I certainly believe that’s the way Alan is. I think that will be a great marriage.
Over on the No. 5, I think it is great that Lance McGrew and Mark Martin are together. I think it was good for Lance to get out from under the microscope of Dale Jr. and Junior Nation. Lance and Mark have very similar personalities. So I think Rick has hit a home run on all three lineup changes.
Naturally, his fourth team, the No. 48, is working to perfection and needs no changes between crew chief and driver. That will be another storyline we will be following: Can they actually make it six championships in a row. Can anybody knock him off and take the crown?
Carl Edwards and Roush Fenway Racing can’t wait to get 2011 started. Toward the end of the season they found their mojo again and they feel they are ready to take the fight to Jimmie Johnson. So that will be a storyline to watch. Another one I am interested in following is the No. 11. Can Denny Hamlin bounce back and go after the No. 48 again? I know from experience what its like to lose a close championship. It takes a lot of wind out of your sails, so it will be interesting to watch how the FedEx team handles that.
You’ve heard me say this many times, but you have to lose one to win one. What that means is you have to have that experience under your belt. You have to have been that close to winning something you wanted so badly, yet have it taken away from you. That’s going to make you a better race car driver because you will analyze what you did wrong and the good drivers, well, they won’t make the same mistakes again. It’s the old “Don’t Beat Yourself” theory. It’s just a proven theory.
Look for Kasey Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis to make a lot of noise in their Red Bull Toyota this year. You saw a good indication at Homestead -- when Kasey sat on the pole -- of what that combination should be able to do in 2011. Teammate Brian Vickers, who has been out of the car for a year due to health problems, will be back and that’s a great thing.
I keep saying it, but the Nationwide series is going to be a big storyline. So many people are up in arms to make it so that a Cup driver can’t win the championship. It simply is a bad idea. Like anything else, there are plusses and minuses people can point to but I still have a lot of concerns. I just have a problem telling guys they can’t run for the championship. That’s never been done before. I am just not sure that’s the right thing to do, but we’ll just have to see.
So there are a lot of neat things to look forward to as we roll into 2011. Again, we all will be in Daytona Jan. 20-22 for testing. I am excited to see how the cars handle that new green surface. You can catch all the coverage on Speed. So there’s a lot to do and get done in only six weeks. The Daytona 500 will be here before you know it. It’s the biggest race of the year and again, if folks want to compare it to the Super Bowl, well then Feb. 20 is the Super Duper Bowl.
