Week 18 Preview

Daytona International Speedway: Night Race 2013

Well we are fast approaching Fourth of July weekend and that means that Nascar is heading back to Daytona International Speedway for the second time. This time Nascar runs under the lights and its most resent winner of the July race was Tony Stewart. Smoke is once again back in a spot where he needs a win or good finish to get back on track as do many other drivers.

2012 July Daytona winner Tony Stewart

Restricter plate races can bring some big surprises and it could be a big week for someone to make a move that no one saw coming. Take a look at last years visit to Daytona in July here. Lets get on to our Good, Middle, and Bad drivers at DIS as of late.







The Good:

• Matt Kenseth- Surprise, surprise Kenseth -last weeks winner- is back on the Good list. In the last 10 starts at DIS he is one of two drivers (Smoke) to have multiple wins. He also has 7 top 10's and 5 top 5's. Best Chance Forecast: Look for him to improve on his bad luck finish at the 500. Another top 10 is likely for Kenseth.
•  Dale Earnhardt Jr- In Jr's last 3 races at Daytona he has an average finish of 6.3 with 2 top 5's (both of those were runner ups), Best Chance Forecast: Daytona is hard to call, but I will take a shot and say he is one of the top contenders to get a win.

The Middle:

• Tony Stewart- The other guy to have multiple wins in the last 10 races, Smoke only has one other top 10 in that same 10 race stretch.

The Bad:

• Kasey Kahne- This maybe a case of bad luck and I wont be picking him to finish poor, but the fact is he is in a weird every other slump (last finishes: 37, 7, 29, 4, 25, 2, and 30).  If you look at the bright side though, he is in for a good finish this time around.
• Martin Truex Jr- One of the hotter drivers right now, Truex only has one top 10 in the last 10 races. In fact that top 10 was in 2010 and in the next 6 races he only has one top 15. Maybe the hot streak is what he needs to get out of a Daytona slump.

2013 Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson

Who I like for the win this weekend?

• Hasn't won in over a year, but I'll take those bad odds and put my money on Jr Nation.

Dark Horse I like for the win?

• Ryan Newman. Back to back top 5's, thinking he has to bust out eventually

My top 5 (realistically and in no order):

• Earnhardt Jr, Kenseth, Edwards, Hamlin, and Menard (yes a long shot)

Rounding out the top 10:

• Johnson, Newman, Stewart, Gordon, and Bowyer

Where do I have Danica finishing this time around?

• I will take 24th. I think an over/under 15 would be an interesting line (Considering it's Daytona)

Need more from Daytona International Speedway?

• DIS Entry List
• July 2nd was the Kings B-Day, check out Nascar's article on him.
• Nascar Behind the Wall's: Birthday Fit For a King.
• Check out NBTW's latest Power Rankings