Welcome to The Pace Lap, your catchall preview post! Let's get you started on race weekend with a metric truckload of stats, facts, opinion and innuendo.
The race: AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2:15 p.m. Eastern
The specs: 400 laps on a one-mile track
The broadcasts: ABC, plus the live chat right here on Yahoo! Sports.
Defending champ: Greg Biffle, who posted what's been the last highlight in his career to date.
The standings leaders: Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson (-35), Denny Hamlin (-35)
The history: The concrete "Monster Mile" falls right into the gap between short track and superspeedway, so some people dig it and others loathe it. Races used to be 500 miles here before NASCAR altered the rules to permit 500-mile races only at tracks longer than one mile in length. And "Miles the Monster" is hands-down the coolest character in NASCAR. Can't we have him deal with Digger?
The appropriate video: From 2004: Dave Blaney causes a 19-car pileup. After this race, he learned that "start-and-park" means "park your car in the garage, not on the track."
Guy with the most to gain: Denny Hamlin. We knew Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson were going to be running at the top of the standings, but with Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon struggling, Hamlin has the opportunity to graft himself to the Hendrick frontrunners. Not literally, of course..
Guys with the most to lose: Jeff Gordon. Kasey Kahne is already out of the Chase, effectively speaking, and Gordon could be next to join him. On the radio last Sunday, Gordon was throwing around more profanity than a middle-schooler who just learned some brand-new words. Another rough finish would bring to an early end a promising season.
Our pick to win: Biffle. Yes, I know I'm insane, but hear me out. The guy hasn't finished outside the top 10 at Dover since 2005, back when Joey Logano was still in diapers, and he's got absolutely nothing to lose this weekend. So I'm throwing the Hail Mary here and backing him to win.
All right, you're up. Who's your pick for this weekend? Go!
No comments:
Post a Comment