Racing Fan Club

It's Time for the Daytona 500!

The wait is over, Daytona is here, and this year's Daytona 500 brings with it a whirlwind of change. During the off-season, NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series got a huge overhaul! Starting with the points and championship system all the way down to the cars themselves, fans will be hard-pressed to find something that didn't change.

With many 2007 NASCAR drivers changing teams, old sponsors like GM Goodwrench leaving, and rumors of Jeff Gordon nearing retirement age, there is too much to talk about! Therefore, I want to narrow your focus to what I predict will be the top 5 stories of 2007 in NASCAR.

But before I give you the top headlines of 2007, let me first tune you in to this week?s schedule.

Next Week's Schedule:

Nextel Cup: @ Daytona International Speedway
02/11/07 - 02:10pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Bud Pole Qualifying (determines top 2 positions)
02/15/07 - 02:00pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Gatorade Duel At Daytona (qualifying races to determine starting positions 3 to 43)
02/17/07 - 01:40pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 500 Practice
02/18/07 - 02:00pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 500

Busch Series: @ Daytona International Speedway
02/15/07 - 09:30am NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 300 Practice
02/16/07 - 03:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 300 Qualifying
02/17/07 - 01:15pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 300

Craftsman Truck Series: @ Daytona International Speedway
02/15/07 - 11:45am NASCAR Chevy Silverado HD 250 Practice
02/15/07 - 07:00pm NASCAR Chevy Silverado HD 250 Qualifying
02/16/07 - 08:00pm NASCAR Chevy Silverado HD 250

The Future of Dale Earnhardt Jr & the Impact of Toyota

Headline #1) The future of Dale Earnhardt Jr and DEI. There has been much publicized banter between Dale Jr and Theresa revolving Dale's contract which is set to expire after this season. The latest release is that Dale wants majority ownership of DEI. If Jr doesn't get that, expect him to be driving the #3 GM Good wrench car for Richard Childress Racing next year...just a hunch!

Headline #2) The impact of Toyota. Many NASCAR hard-liners see the entry of a foreign car manufacturer as the culmination of many bad decisions that spell the end of NASCAR. These same hard-liners, however, believed the end of NASCAR came in the early 70's when NASCAR allowed custom-built as opposed to stock chassis. As we all can see, NASCAR is still here and thriving more so now than ever

What Toyota will do is pump enormous amounts of money into R&D to help propel one of its teams to a championship. This will force the US manufacturers, already feeling the strain of lower sales, to either pony up with more cash or simply pull out.

The Success of Open-Wheel Drivers & the Impact of the Car of Tomorrow

Headline #3) The success of open-wheel drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and AJ Allmendinger. For years, we NASCAR fans have always heard that any idiot with an IQ of at least 50 and two left feet could drive and be competitive in NASCAR. Well, this year will not be the first time, but perhaps one of the most publicized times this theory will be tested. With the defection of Juan Pablo Montoya, NASCAR inherited one of Formula-1's top young talents. Let's not forget about 2004 Champ Car World Series Rookie of the Year, AJ Allmendinger who will be piloting the #84 Red Bull Camry. These two drivers are some of the best open-wheel racing has to offer. Watch closely and see how they fair in 2007.

Headline #4) The impact of the Car of Tomorrow. Many negative things have been written about the Car of Tomorrow with little said about the positives the COT is supposed to bring. The main reasons NASCAR developed the COT were to 1) narrow the gap between the have and have nots in NASCAR & 2) encourage more passing at the super speedways. With 16 races slated this season to run with the COT, NASCAR will have ample opportunity to analyze performance before mandating a full season with COT in 2008.

Does Team Red Bull Have a Chance?

Headline #5) Can sponsor owned teams like Red Bull thrive in the modern world of NASCAR. Over the past decade, the number of single car owners has dwindled while the large teams continued to get larger. With competition and costs in NASCAR running at such a high level, teams have found the best way to survive is to field multiple teams and split the overhead of engine development, chassis department, etc... between the teams and their sponsors. How will a team like Red Bull survive? Perhaps they are banking on the COT.