SM Pick ‘Em: Jeff Byrd 500

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March 19, 2011

Kyle Brandt

Who I think will win: Carl Edwards.
Dark-horse: Regan Smith.
Carl has all the momentum in the world right now, including starting from the pole for Sunday’s race. Regan has had strong cars every week since the season has started. With all the technology his team is getting from Hendrick and Childress, as well as starting near the front, Regan is poised by a strong run on Sunday.

Barry Albert

Who I Think Will Win: Kyle Busch
My Dark Horse Pick: Jimmie Johnson

Roberta Cowan

Who I Think Will Win: Dale Jr.
My Dark Horse Pick: Ryan Newman

Mark Odor

Who I Think Will Win: Kyle Busch
My Dark Horse Pick: Joey Logano

Ryan O’Hara

Who I Think Will Win: Kurt Busch
My Dark Horse Pick: Tony Stewart
Comments: Busch dominated this race last year and Stewart is looking for redemption.

Matt LaFlair

Who I Think Will Win: Kyle Busch
My Dark Horse Pick: David Ragan
Comments: One word for the #18 pick…DOMINANCE! Each year, a group of folks from the Syracuse area make the trek to the great state of Tennessee, and each year they watch Kyle run circles around all their own drivers ALL WEEKEND. This race weekend will not be any different. Watch for the #18 to lead the majority of laps both Saturday and Sunday. As for the David Ragan pick, his luck has to turn soon. He has run well at Bristol in the past, and I see him somewhere towards the front come lap 500 on Sunday.

Jeffrey Boswell

Who I Think Will Win: Clint Bowyer
My Dark Horse Pick: Joey Logano

Ed Coombs

Who I Think Will Win: Carl Edwards
My Dark Horse Pick: Kasey Kahne
Comments: Carl Edwards is back and with the first pit stall, a fast car and a hot streak I can\’t bet against him. It is Bristol and anything can happen but when this guys on a rail at Bristol, he\’s tough to beat, if he can stay out of trouble.

Kahne is another guy that if he can stay out of trouble will be a factor. I\’d love to also throw Martin Truex Jr. in this mix too, he does well on concrete too…

should be a fun time …

Keys For Succes At Bristol

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SM Archive

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March 19, 2011

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the Pole for Scott’s EZ Seed 300

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SM Staff

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March 19, 2011

Carl Edward’s jumped to the provisional pole as he went out 22nd qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race with a speed of 125.052 mph. But the idea of Edwards grabbing both poles was short lived.

[media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”106″][/media-credit]Two cars later, Edwards’ teammate Trevor Bayne pushed Carl to the outside as he posted a lap of 125.461 mph, .050 seconds faster. A few spots later, it was Jason Leffler hitting the top spot with a speed of 125.939, but the very next car out would be Edwards’ and Bayne’s teammate Stenhouse Jr. who took the top spot for the day with a speed of 126.071 mph. This will be Stenhouse Jr’s second pole of his career, the first one coming at Iowa in 2009. This will be his third top 10 start in 2011 and his third race at Bristol.

When the qualifying session was complete, Edwards was bumped back to 7th. Start on the outside of the front row will be Leffler, followed by last year’s winner Justin Allgaier, Bayne, and Kyle Busch starting 5th. Rounding out the top 10 will be Elliott Sadler, Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano.

Only one car will miss the race, Chris Lawson who crashed during his qualifying run. It should also be noted that these cars did qualify on the tires from yesterday as they had no practice on the new tires.

Bristol Tire Fiasco

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SM Staff

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March 19, 2011

(BRISTOL, TN) Carl Edwards turned in the fastest lap of NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying to earn the Pole for the Jeff Byrd 500 (presented by Food City).Edwards’ teammate Greg Biffle secured the #2 spot for an all Ford all Roush Fenway Racing front row but that effort was overshadowed by the tire woes experienced Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”283″][/media-credit]From the beginning of the first NASCAR Nationwide Series practice Friday morning, it became obvious that there was a problem with tire wear. As NNS teams reported excess tire wear Goodyear was quick to acknowledge that something was amiss with the tires brought to the track.

In addition to the excessive wear, another problem also became evident. The track surface did not ‘Rubber up”, a build up of rubber imbedding into the track surface. That was obvious to all as the normal blackening of the track was not at all occurring. That lack of build up effects the long term wear of the tires as, under normal conditions it cushions the tire wear and reduced the ability of the track surface to grind rubber off the tires.

Goodyear was quick to notify NASCAR that it intended to bring an entire compliment of new tires to the track on Saturday. The scheduled practices continued with the current tires as did the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying. The only major victim of the wear Kevin Lepage in the NNS #24 car who had a right front tire go down putting him into the wall. The damage to the car was extensive and the crew was working feverishly to read a back up car.

With the new tires arriving Saturday morning, and the Nationwide Series not having any practice on the new tires, NASCAR decided that it would be best to conduct qualifying on the old tires. Both the Scotts EZ SEED 300 and the Jeff Byrd 500 will have a NSACR mandatory competition caution early in the race to check tire wear on the new tires.