SI.com's experts weigh in with their predictions for this Saturday's race in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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LARS
ANDERSON |
MARK
BEECH |
TOM
BOWLES |
| The winner of the Pepsi 400 will be ... |
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Jeff Gordon
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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| Why? |
| This weekend Little E's crew chief Tony Eury Jr. returns to the team after a six-week suspension. Eury has spent a large chunk of his time over the last month preparing a car that should run in the front on Saturday night. Earnhardt has won here twice, and given how well he and his teammate Martin Truex Jr. have performed over the last five races, DEI appears poised to recapture its restrictor-plate dominance.
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In 29 trips to Daytona, he's got six wins and 16 top-10 finishes, so it's rare that he doesn't run well. Though his driver rating at the track (92.2) is nearly 30 points lower than that of Tony Stewart -- who's 120.5 is the best on the circuit -- Gordon's average finish is three places better (14.2 to 17.2). Besides, he probably feels as though he should have won last week.
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By the way everyone talks about how Junior runs at Daytona, you'd think they'd just hand him the trophy already every time NASCAR comes here. But with DEI hitting on all cylinders and Tony Eury, Jr. poised to make a triumphant return after his six race suspension, the time is ripe for Junior to win here again for the first time since 2004. |
| Keep an eye on ... |
Tony Stewart
In February Stewart had by far the fastest car in the field, but he got caught up in a wreck early and wasn't a factor in the end. If he keeps his fenders clean on Saturday night, he'll be in the lead pack in the final laps.
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Tony Stewart
I don't think I can pick him again until he breaks his frustrating run of winless starts. Besides the aforementioned driver rating, Stewart has been as close to dominant at Daytona as you can be, finishing in the top 10 in seven of his last eight races, and winning the Pepsi 400 both of the last two years. His only bad recent run at Daytona came in February, when he crashed 55 laps from the finish while leading the race.
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Kurt Busch
People say Tony Stewart had the best car at this year's Daytona 500, but don't forget it was Busch who led a race-high 95 laps before the two drivers took each other out with 48 laps to go. Whether Busch is able to repeat that performance will be critical to his rapidly fading chances to make the Chase.
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| Don't expect much from ... |
Carl Edwards
Edwards has never felt comfortable at Daytona. In five career starts at the superspeedway, his average finish is a pedestrian 30.0.
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Carl Edwards
In five starts at Daytona, his best finish was 12th back in the 2005 Pepsi 400. His average finish is 30.0, and in his last three runs he hasn't come in higher than 23rd. Edwards is probably looking ahead to next week at Chicago.
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Denny Hamlin
While Hamlin is bound to have momentum after winning New Hampshire, restrictor-plate tracks are always his Achilles' heel: in six career starts at Daytona and Talladega, he's never finished better than 17th.
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| Mythical SI.com Cup |
TOTAL POINTS: 2,145
Last week: 135 (Kyle Busch) |
TOTAL POINTS: 2,321
Last week: 127 (Tony Stewart) |
TOTAL POINTS: 2,395
Last week: 139 (Kyle Newman) |
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