NASCAR preview: Storylines, suggestions, favorites and more
Sorry, Kyle, the party’s over.
NASCAR has one of the shortest off-seasons of any sport, flipping the page just when it seems that a reigning champion, such as Kyle Busch, is finally letting his title sink in.
Then there’s the reality that Jeff Gordon won’t be driving the No. 24 car for the first time since 1993 when the green flag drops at the 58th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 21. But that’s racing and a new season brings about new storylines and intrigue.
Storylines
Turn 1: Busch’s defense. Kyle Busch finally won his first championship after years of fading in the Chase. It was a remarkable story considering he broke his right leg and left foot in a horrific crash during the Xfinity Series opener and missed the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup season, including the Daytona 500. But Busch responded with five wins and capped his stellar season with a championship.
Turn 2: Flare for drama. The knockout-style Chase format has provided plenty of fireworks in two years, and is sure to provide more this season. Last year, Joey Logano appeared to be the odds-on favorite to win his first championship until Matt Kenseth spun him out in Martinsville, essentially costing Logano a spot in the championship round. There should be more fights and drama in this year’s Chase, although NASCAR is walking a fine line in how far drivers should and can go.
Turn 3: Fresh faces. NASCAR is in the midst of bringing in a fresh wave of talent, and the hope is that they connect and draw in young fans. Much attention will be placed on Gordon’s replacement, Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. But he’s just one of a strong group of rookies. Texas native and reigning Xfinity Series champ Chris Buescher is also making the jump, driving for Front Row Motorsports. Ryan Blaney has gotten a ride with Wood Brothers Racing, which is returning on a full-time basis, and Brian Scott is taking over for Sam Hornish Jr. at Richard Petty Motorsports. And who can forget about Jeffery Earnhardt, Dale Jr.’s nephew, who is set to drive a handful of races for Go FAS Racing?
Turn 4: Farewell, Smoke. Three-time champ Tony Stewart is calling it quits after this season, becoming another familiar face to hang it up. And Stewart’s final season is already off to a unfortunate start after he sustained a back injury in a sand buggy accident last month and will miss at least the Daytona 500 and possibly more races. Stewart has never won the Daytona 500, the only thing missing from his résumé. But this feels like the right thing for Stewart — he has a 77-race winless drought and simply hasn’t been the same driver since August 2014, when he was involved in a dirt track incident that killed driver Kevin Ward Jr.
5 favorites
Kyle Busch: Hard to pick against the defending champ, right?
Jimmie Johnson: He’s had disappointing days in the new Chase format, but he’s still among the best.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: The only thing missing from his résumé is a Cup championship. Is this the year?
Joey Logano: He continues to trend upward, and must not let others decide his fate, like they did last season.
Kevin Harvick: He won his first title two years ago, and remains one of the dominant drivers every weekend.
3 dark horses
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Can Danica Patrick’s boyfriend finally live up to his potential? He won two Xfinity Series titles, and it seems only a matter of time before success finds him in the Cup Series.
Kasey Kahne: The forgotten Hendrick driver had a forgettable 2015 with no wins, but he could be poised for a bounce back season, always a possibility with powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.
Clint Bowyer: He made the Chase a year ago before fading quickly. But maybe he’ll have a Martin Truex Jr.-type rebound after signing on with HScott Motorsports.
Memos to NASCAR
NASCAR isn’t a fan of changes. Just ask TMS president Eddie Gossage about hosting a precious race weekend the same weekend the Final Four came to town a few years back.
But here’s two suggestions:
1. Shorten the season. The 10-month marathon from February to November is grueling, and is hard to keep the interest of today’s casual sports fan.
Ideally, the racing season should start in February with the Daytona 500 and end in early September, just before football season really gets underway. That seems to be the logical season in today’s sports calendar world.
This, of course, would mean that some tracks would lose a second date, and Gossage would be the first in line to oppose that.
But here’s something NASCAR could do to soften the blow (and an example of how to eliminate a month of the season off the bat).
Much like the NFL awards cities the Super Bowl, NASCAR can do something similar for is championship race. After all, NASCAR envisions this becoming racing’s “Super Bowl.”
So let’s say there are four tracks on a rotating basis for the championship race — its home, Homestead-Miami, plus Texas, Phoenix and Charlotte.
Homestead-Miami would need to be added for a race weekend in non-championship years, as they only host the season finale. But this format would eliminate three weeks by taking away second dates from Texas, Phoenix and Charlotte.
Sure, they wouldn’t be happy about losing a race weekend three out of four years, but hosting the championship event should ease that pain. NASCAR and the tracks can turn it into a mega-event much like the Super Bowl, which should justify it being in the rotation once every four years as opposed to hosting a second race.
2. Shorten the races. This has been a long-debated subject. It’s time for NASCAR to finally bite the bullet and shorten the races.
The races go on for too long, and shorter ones should make for more competitive racing and more must-see TV. Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and NASCAR must evolve with the times if it wants to broaden its fan base.
TMS’ watch party
Texas Motor Speedway is putting on a Daytona 500 watch party Feb. 21, encouraging fans to come out and enjoy the season-opening event on its video screen.
The track infield opens at 8 a.m. Feb. 20 for fans interested in camping out for the weekend, and watching the Xfinity Series race at 2:30 p.m.. Interested campers must RSVP by Sunday, at texasmotorspeedway.com/DaytonaRSVP.
After the Xfinity race, the track will broadcast two movies. Fans who only want to tailgate during the races are not required to RSVP.
On Feb. 21, the infield again opens at 8 a.m. with the Daytona 500 scheduled for noon. The track will also offer free rides for fans in the speedway’s official pace cars from 10 a.m. to noon.
Duck Commander 500
6:30 p.m., April 9, FS1
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:50 AM with the headline "NASCAR preview: Storylines, suggestions, favorites and more."