It’s hard to judge a season by two races, especially if one race is at Daytona and the other is Phoenix, two tracks that are atypical of the rest of the series. One is a restrictor plate track where almost anyone can win and the other a quirky one-miler with flat corners. Some are experts at restrictor plate racing and others are experts at the flat tracks, but these two races do not give us a barometer of what 2014 will be.
It looks like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is off to the start his fans want. He’s finished first and second in the two races, and all of NASCAR is filled with joy, but I wonder if depending on one driver to be successful is the sign of a healthy sport or a symptom of a dying sport. One has to remember that the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. started a slow decrease in attendance and television viewership. While the media has had a love fest with the memory of the number three and basically ignored the rest of the field, maybe it’s time to concentrate of those other drivers that might be making progress. You know, maybe like 42 very good drivers out there. It’s just a suggestion.
The fact that Kevin Harvick won early may put to rest the question about the Stewart-Haas Racing teams being a time bomb waiting to happen for now. It’s also noteworthy that both races have been won by Hendrick Motorsports Racing teams or satellite teams. I found it almost interesting that Rick Hendrick was shown on the race broadcast congratulating Harvick early and often. Is this a fifth team or did old Rick figure out a way to by-pass NASCAR’s rule of four teams per owner. Supply them the chassis and the engine and walk away. Same with Jack Roush and Richard Childress who supply multiple teams their engineering.
So what will happen at Las Vegas? The Fords dominated early in the track’s history. Fords has won seven races at Vegas, but Chevrolets have won six. Dodge and Toyota have won one each. All-time winner at Las Vegas is (surprise) Jimmie Johnson, but among active drivers, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth have won two each. Unless the Fords of Team Penske or the Gibbs Toyotas can find some speed, my pick is Johnson. Of course, like I said, it is early, but the season shows momentum. That momentum is clearly with Hendrick cars, as it has for as long as I remember. The Penske cars are strong and the Childress teams aren’t far behind, and the Gibbs teams which showed so much promise at Daytona seems to be lagging behind. As is the usual, Rick Hendrick’s teams haven’t missed a beat, and that’s my pick for Vegas.
