BRO RATINGS: DAYTONA EDITION

BRO RATINGS: DAYTONA EDITION

Uncle Clark’s:

1. Kurt Busch (#22 – Dodge): Wow, Clark. The guy that won the Budweiser Shootout; the same guy that didn’t even get an HONORABRO mention in your first BRO RATINGS is now at the top of your list? Groundbreaking. I have to admit: I missed this one.

What Kurt was able to do is incredible. He took the only Dodge in the field to the summit of a huge Benjamin pile. He wrote the next chapter on the politics of racing at Daytona; working with drivers from every garage in the draft and negotiating the final turn with Jamie MacMurry. What we thought was PR spin was as honest as the Bible – Dodge’s consolidation of resources really has produced a competitive race program. Their engineers could handle the record-setting pace of the Shootout. Other programs like Red Bull Racing were left wondering if the 22-team could spare any parts.

Now with the Daytona 500, Kurt Busch has his teammate Brad Keselowski (#2 – Dodge) back in the mix. Brad’s teeth are jacked, but his driving is quality. In the last practice Brad and Kurt posted the best average speed of drivers who completed 10-consecutive laps. Brad is the same guy that posted the fastest time back in testing. Kurt was pushing him the whole way.

2. Joey Logano (#20 – Toyota): Ol’ “light-in-his-loafers” didn’t exactly have both oars in the water during the Shootout, but most of that was outside of his control. He posts ridiculous numbers, as proof with his 200.062 MPH practice speed yesterday, which was second to only Kasey Kahne (#4 – Toyota). Problem for Kasey is their engineering department only has a Leatherman where as Logano and the Gibbs team posts up in the corner of an Ace Hardware. Joe Gibbs had all they needed for their race setups after testing a couple weeks back. They’re using practice to try aggressive setups and yesterday’s finish proved their program is ready for Sunday. Logano, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin – all Joe Gibbs teammates – finished in the top-10.

3. Denny Hamlin (#11 – Toyota): First of all, Denny…you’re an idiot. Your ignorance at the Budweiser Shootout cost you 160-grand in straight cash.  If you would have waited until the end of the corner you would have had a choice of either the high side or low side to get around Ryan Newman (#39 – Chevy). Worse yet, you would have had the side draft to make it easy. Haven’t you seen Talladega Nights? It’s the standard Sling-Shot move. Shit works. Instead you go out of bounds. Out. Of. Bounds. Remember Denny: Shake it before you bake it. You’re still in the BRO RANKINGS because I bet you won’t make that mistake twice.

4. Jamie McMurray (#1 – Chevy): For some reason BRONAMETH writer Corey Rose doesn’t like this guy. But the BRO shows up. Last year he won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, which are two of the three pillars of the Sprint Cup circuit. He finished second in the next two biggest races, the Southern 500 at Darlington and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also proved to be a smart player by pushing rival Kurt Busch to the finish at the Budweiser Shootout last Saturday. Denny Hamlin should be taking notes. Jamie is a skilled driver at this track and has plenty of friends in the garage. I wonder if Kurt will pay it forward.

5. Kyle Busch (#18 – Toyota): Take a look at the video C-Rose is talking about (down the page). No further explanation is necessary. His practice speeds are strong. His testing numbers are promising. His reputation is pure Kyle Busch. He will be around the front, as long as Mark Martin (#5 – Should be Retired) doesn’t spin him out – again.

Honorabros:

Brad Keselowski (#2 – Dodge) – He is fast as an individual and redneck fast when he hooks up with his teammate Kurt Busch. Brad will be around the front on the final lap, but the lack of respect in the garage will have him put in the wall before the finish.

Kasey Kahne (#4 – Toyota) – Your boy. His numbers are solid – great top-end, solid average speed. As BRONAMETH SPORTS predicted, his downfall is in the engineering. Pick it up Red Bull. If he and teammate Brian Vickers (#83 – Toyota) can get together things will get interesting.

Stewart-Haas Racing: Either Tony Stewart or Ryan Newman could make it rain. We saw some solid indicators in the Shootout.

Corey Rose’s:

1. Jamie MacMurray: the dude is always fast on plate tracks, he won the 500 last year, and came damn close Saturday night to taking home a mil plus. Questionable mannerisms aside, this guy knows how to push from behind…wait a second.

2. Kurt Busch: it may seem bass ackwards to put the winner on Saturday night behind the runner-up but hear me out. While he has the best average finish at Daytona of 5.25 since NASCAR went to the car of tomorrow, there’s one glaring weakness I see. Kurt and his teammate, Brad Keselowski, are the only Dodge’s in the field. While manufacturers’ and teammates’ alliances didn’t seem to matter much at the Shootout, I’d expect that to change when there 43 cars on track instead of 24 and we go to points racing instead of straight cash.

3. Kevin Harvick: no matter who he worked with on Saturday, he was at the front of the pack until the end. I wouldn’t expect that to be the case on Sunday. He’ll be around at the end. Those Childress cars are just too good especially if they can find each other on the track. Plus, that black Bud car looks badaaaaaaassss.

4. Jeff Burton: ditto the above except for the Bud car part.

5. Kyle Busch: he had a rough go of it after that strange spin with Martin, but damn was he fast. All three of the Gibbs cars were fast but my money is on this guy. He’s the ballsiest of the 3 Gibbs boys and he’s matured enough that this may be his year.  Plus, he deserves mention alone for that well timed worst to first restart he pulled off in the Shootout restart. If you didn’t see it, check the video below. He’s the car that comes out of nowhere if you couldn’t figure it out. See what I’m talking about? Balls and brains.

Honorabros:

1. Denny Hamlin, Joe Logano, and Clint Boyer all deserve mention because their cars were great Saturday night, they’ve showed speed in testing, and their teammates are in the power rankings above. At Daytona, having a fast teammate can be more important than being fast yourself.

2. Everybody but Junior. Here’s why: the dude could not find success if it bit him on the ass, and until he does, he ain’t getting ranked. Yes, he was fast Saturday but he ended up behind the wall. Yes, he won the pole yesterday but who had the pole at last year’s Daytona 500? Exactly. It doesn’t mean squat. Junior Nation is citing his past Daytona and Talladega success but chew on this. Since the car of tomorrow was introduced, Dale’s average finish at Daytona is 20.75. Maybe he’ll be out by lap 3 so he can witness the tribute to his father, a true ‘Merican race hero. Plus, his Hendrick teammates didn’t make a whole lot of noise on Saturday night either. Again, thank you Jesus.

Fast Speeds Bring Fast Reaction from NASCAR

Fast Speeds Bring Fast Reaction from NASCAR

Budweiser Shootout Recap, Speedweeks Preview, Drafting Explained

By Corey Rose

Well unless you’re a Dale Junior or Kasey Kahne fan (sorry Uncle Clark), Saturday night must have been pretty enjoyable for you race fans out there. We had speeds faster than we’ve ever seen at Daytona thanks to literally a laser-straight pave job in the offseason, a much improved look to the cars and a new breed of racing that had fans changing their shorts. The “Two-Car Tango”, as it quickly came to be known, is a much different approach to the double-file lines from front to back we are accustomed to seeing at Daytona. For today’s article, I’ll put on my Bill Nye VHS and explain a little of the science behind the draft and what NASCAR is doing to slow it down.  We’ll talk about the week’s events and will give you some insight into the release of tomorrow’s BRO RANKINGS.

“The Two-Car Tango” – The name sucks, but the speeds are incredible (206+ MPH).

If you happened to accidentally turn on Fox on Sunday afternoon forgetting that football is over, you would have subjected yourself to Daytona qualifying - the most pointless and boring event in NASCAR. In three hours of coverage, they set two spots for the race. Sorry NASCAR, but this has to go.

You would have also noticed these guys were running 20 MPH slower than they were the night before at the Budweiser Shootout. The only reason why? They didn’t have that second car glued to the back bumper.

DRAFTING EXPLAINED

Reduced Drag = Redline Speeds - Thanks to Desktop Engineering for the visual

The first car in line is essentially working as a fullback by clearing a hole in the air. The resistance faced by doing so puts a great deal of drag on the car, which significantly reduces its speed. Now, when a second car lines up and lays the front bumper against the rear of the other, the train ride begins. With no resistance, the speed the second car is able to travel is greatly increased thus propelling the front car forward at the same speed.

Pull out of line and you drop like a rock. We saw it multiple times Saturday night and even saw it come into play at the finish line. Had Denny Hamlin stayed glued to Ryan Newman’s bumper, Newman’s wallet might actually be fatter than his head.

Newman’s Fat Head – I feel bad for his mother.

 

Instead old Hambone went for the win as he should have in a cash-only race. That opened the door for Kurt Busch in the double-deuce (#22) with the quee-I mean nice guy, Jamie MacMurray, in the #1 pushing him to victory. Passes at the finish on these restrictor plate tracks have to be perfectly timed, and these guys work on it throughout practice all week long. Hambone’s timing was dead on but the double yellow line, equivalent to out of bounds, kept him out of victory lane. Either way, you can expect a similar finish on Sunday. BroNameth Prediction:  The guy leading the start of the last lap won’t be leading at the end of it.

NASCAR Listening to Fans But Scared of Lawyers

With speeds topping out around 206 or 207, NASCAR is sweating bullets trying to find a way to bring them down to a level they’re comfortable with. Frankly, I’m all for dumb-and-fast no matter what we’re talking about. The problem is the “have at it boys” style of racing at 207mph isn’t dumb. It’s asinine and is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

While improvements have been made, we’ve seen too many cars go airborne at high speeds the last few years and NASCAR can’t afford for one of them to land on Junior Nation’s seating area.

Dale Sr. placing Tony Stewart gingerly into the wall. ©Comcast

No disrespect but just ask The NHRA (drag racing for you uneducated ones out there) how a fan’s death has affected them. They now run 1/8-mile runs instead of ¼-mile. The Result: It’s like watching firework duds go off side by side over and over; it’s promising for the first 2 seconds and then you feel like someone pissed in your cereal bowl. If you’re on a Saturday night binder and find yourself up at 7am on Sunday, you can watch some NHRA and see what I’m talking about

To slow the cars down, NASCAR is mandating changes to the airflow and cooling systems of the cars. The anticipated result is that those cars pushing another car from behind will be able to do so for a shorter period of time. Limited airflow equates to higher engine temperatures. Guys aren’t going to push as hard if their engine is about to blow. In theory, this will not slow the cars down when in open air or when drafting. It will simply limit the amount of time they can stay glued together.

If NASCAR doesn’t see an acceptable change in practice and in the Gatorade Duels on Thursday afternoon (set your DVR by the way), expect to see changes in the size of the restrictor plate. This is the metal plate that sits on top of the carburetor-opening to limit the amount of airflow to the engine. The more air, the faster you go and vice versa. We should all be hoping it doesn’t come to that. Dear little, baby Jesus, please don’t let it come to that. BRO NOTE: As of press time, NASCAR announced all teams will be issued a smaller restrictor plate for all remaining events at Daytona. Details to follow…

Speedweeks - Schedule

Thursday, 2/17: Gatorade Duels, 2pm ET on SPEED

-These twin, 60-lap heat races will feature everyone in the 500 field minus Junior and Jeff Gordon because they already have locked in grid spots 1 and 2 by qualifying fastest on Sunday. The rest of the field will be set based on the duel results.

Friday, 2/18: NextEra Energy Resources, 250 7:30p, ET on SPEED

-This race will mark the beginning of the Camping World Truck series season. Truck racing on pavement didn’t make a whole lot sense to me when I first got into NASCAR, but then I actually watched one. They’re just like Mark Sanchez’ love life: short, rough, and filled with young talent.

Saturday, 2/19: Drive4COPD 300, 1pm ET on ESPN2

-This is the one event this weekend I’m willing to sacrifice for the greater good of my relationship with the ball-and-chain. Why? It’s longer and is not as exciting as the truck race and - worst of all - Danica Patrick is racing. That’ll just ruin my mood. Plus, how exciting is Nationwide racing really going to be this year? By forcing the drivers to compete for the championship in either Nationwide or Sprint Cup, we’re left with amateur hour in Nationwide. While it’ll serve as a great feeder series much like the minors in baseball and hockey, do I really want to watch a buncha nobodies go around the same track I’m going to watch the big boys go around on Sunday? That’s just me though.

Sunday, 2/20: The Great ‘Merican Race, 1pm ET on FOX

-200+mph bumper to bumper, 43 cars, Darrell Waltrip & Jeff Hammond commentary, Crank It Up, and a moment of silence through lap 3 as a tribute to the only Earnhardt that matters. Need I say more?

BRO RANKINGS: DAYTONA EDITION

Corey Rose and Uncle Clark will post their BRO RANKINGS for this weekend’s race. Check back Thursday Afternoon.

BRO RATINGS: Budweiser Shootout

BRO RATINGS: Budweiser Shootout

By Uncle Clark

The pavement is even. The banking is uniform. The paint is fresh. With the quality of Daytona Motor Speedway’s new racing surface even a Mack Truck could turn a fast corner.

Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout (FOX, 8 P.M.) is our first look at the 2011 season. This isn’t your typical race. This is the concentrated version of the best of NASCAR. It’s the racing equivalent of those frozen orange juice canisters a cheap mother would buy. Except in this case we add race fuel.  I’d be down to try that mix:

Here is why you will watch Saturday’s race:

1.       The FedEx Cup of Racing: This is an invitation-only event. Only drivers who raced in last year’s Chase, are former series champions or have won at Daytona are allowed in the clubhouse. You will see trademark names battling against each other in one of the fastest venues in the circuit.

2.       Straight Cash, Homey. The Average Purse of the Budweiser Shootout: $1,148,414. If you win this, fishing gets real affordable.

3.        0% Financing on Cars: Most of the teams have a car designated to race exclusively in the Shootout. They build the machine to be fast, they build it to win and they do not care if it comes back to the shop or leaves on a wrecker. You’re there to win.

4.       Quick and Dirty: The race is only 75 laps broken into two segments (25 and 50). There is a 10-minute session in-between segments for car adjustments. The last 50 laps promises to be some of the most exciting in Daytona’s recent history. The new pavement is sticky and will allow cars to race on all areas of the track. The result: Three- and four-wide racing comes standard.

5.       Racing Under the Lights: It’s like your paycheck…Everything goes faster at night.

BRO RATINGS:

A few weeks ago, NASCAR opened up Daytona for a weekend’s worth of testing so drivers and their teams could establish a direction with their racing setups. BroNameth Sports analyzed the statistics for each of the 5 testing sessions and developed an equation (mainly addition) to establish their BRO RATING. Here is how the drivers stack:

BRO RATINGS: The Budweiser Shootout

1.       Joey Logano #20: First of all, I do not like this guy. I am not sure if he switches dugouts and he has a better job than I do.  But he tore up the Nationwide Series and posted ridiculous numbers at testing. He finished in the top-10 in four of the five testing sessions, a statistic only Jeff Gordon could match. But even Gordon couldn’t hold a candle to Logano’s average speed of 191.583 MPH. Gordon’s average: 186.745 MPH. This kid can roll.

2.       Denny Hamlin #11: Consistency pays. Denny saw his lack of it lead to another Jimmy Johnson championship last year. Judging by his numbers at testing, he may have turned the corner. He finished second in Average Speed at 191.54 MPH to his teammate Logano. He posted a top speed of 197.737 MPH, which fell short to Brad Keselowski’s and Kurt Busch’s final segment speeds of 198.605 MPH and 198.579 MPH, respectively. Here’s the good news for Denny: The only reason Brad hit that pace was because his teammate Kurt was pushing him. Brad isn’t racing in the Shootout and Kurt – the only remaining Dodge – will have no help in the draft.

3.       Kyle Busch #18: The guy is good. He has matured over the last few seasons to cool his temper, but this race is built for his kind of attitude. He matched the top speed of his teammate, Denny Hamlin in testing at 197.737 MPH and posted a respectable average speed. You can be sure that Logano, Hamlin and Busch – all Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – will push each other to the front.

4.       Tony Stewart #14: Finally a driver not racing a Toyota comes into our BRO RANKINGS. Tony finished 6^th in the Average Speed category at testing. He did this without participating in the final session where Top Speeds were posted by almost every team. What does this mean: The 14 Car had all the information they needed. Tony went trolling for track women while his engineers collaborated with those at Hendrick Motorsports. They’ll be ready and Stewart will have plenty of Chevrolets to help push him to the front.

5.       Kasey Kahne #4: Your boy. Finished fourth in Average Speed at 189.902 MPH and with a Top Speed of 197.659 MPH. If you look at the numbers exclusively, he should be ahead of Tony Stewart in the BRO RATINGS. The problem: Like Kurt Busch, his drafting help in Brian Vickers will be riding the pine on Saturday. Although he too will be racing a Toyota, the engineering departments of Red Bull take a back seat to the reputation of Joe Gibbs Racing. Kahne put out some strong numbers and showed consistency at testing. His team will have to do the same.

HONORABROS:

-          Jimmy Johnson #48 – Don’t want to talk about it…He’ll be around and Chad Knauss will be arrogant.

-          Jeff Gordon #24 – (BroNameth Reader Nick Ball’s Driver) -  He and BRO RATINGS leader Joey Logano were the only drivers to post four top-10 finishes in the five testing sessions. His Top Speed is impressive. His Average Speed - meeehhhhhh.

-          Carl Edwards #99 – Because he’s dangerous

-          Kevin Harvick #29 – His new Budweiser car is top quality. And because she says so (Muh. Hum. Eh. Duh. Times 3):




UPCOMING TOPICS:

- Proper Rebel Yells

- Beer Opening Tricks

- Daytona 500 Preview