NASCAR Quaker State 400: Preview and Prediction
Who’s Hot
At Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest all week. He was the fastest in practice and that earned him the pole with qualifying getting rained out. During the race, He led the most laps and did a great job of blocking out his teammate Jimmie Johnson for the win.
Simply put, Earnhardt Jr. is getting hot at the right time as there are just nine races until the chase. By picking up his second win of the season, he now is tied for the second most wins on the season. That is two wins behind his teammate Johnson for most on the year.
Not only has he been winning, but he’s been consistent with his good finishes, which has allowed him to move up to third overall in the points.
At this point, he has to be one of the favorites to win a Sprint Cup Championship this season.
Two weeks in a row Jimmie Johnson has had an excellent chance at leaving with a victory. While he fell just short at Sonoma and Daytona, he was great in both races and is showing off just how strong of a driver he is. Between the duo of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, the two have a master plan every week.
With the most wins on the season, Johnson may not have the points lead but he does lead the chase grid once NASCAR’s postseason begins. Under the new format, it’s all about winning races, and Johnson should be the odds-on-favorite because of it.
He may have four wins now, but nine races from now when “The Chase” begins, don’t be surprised if he has six or seven wins. At Kentucky, Johnson will have a chance to bring the first win at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson tends to perform well at 1.5 mile tracks and he should have a chance to win this season.
With a record-tying seventh championship in sight, Johnson will be more determined than ever.
Another driver that has two wins on the season, Kurt Busch has also been one of the strongest drivers recently.
After winning at Michigan, Busch followed it up with strong performances at Sonoma and Daytona with top-5 finishes. He is starting to look like an outside threat to be able to compete with Jimmie Johnson and others for a Sprint Cup Championship.
For Busch, if he was able to win his second title, it would him move into the next tier of NASCAR drivers with multiple championships, which is not a long list. That’s still a long ways off, but the stretch run begins now, and Busch is off to a hot start.
With the new aero package in place for this year’s race at Kentucky, it will be interesting to see how Busch performs out on the track. Will it be a performance that leads to a win?
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