Plate Proficiency Eludes Earnhardt In Recent Seasons And Notebook

Plate Proficiency Eludes Earnhardt In Recent Seasons

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a top pick to win whenever the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series goes restrictor-plate racing. Seven victories at Daytona and Talladega – including a win in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 - have earned Junior a contender’s mantle.

Statistics, however, can be deceiving.

All of Earnhardt’s plate wins took place nearly a decade ago, during a time in which Dale Earnhardt Inc. and its Chevrolets was virtually unbeatable at NASCAR’s most formidable layouts. The organization, which paired Earnhardt and Michael Waltrip, won 11 of 16 races held at the two tracks from 2001 through 2004.

Both drivers are winless at both tracks in subsequent seasons.

Earnhardt’s Coke Zero 400 record has been relatively ordinary since taking the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2004. Earnhardt, 15th a year ago, averages a finish of 14.0 as an HMS team member – his best a fourth in 2010. His No. 88 Chevy has led just a single lap in Daytona’s July race since 2009.

The drought, however, could be coming to an end. Junior looked like the plate driver of yesteryear in February as he chased Daytona 500 winner and HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson to the checkered flag. The runner-up finish was Earnhardt’s best at Daytona since the 2010 Daytona 500. 

 

A Reversal Of Fortune At Penske Racing

Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski began 2013 as a favorite to hoist the championship trophy at Homestead in November. Joey Logano came over to Penske Racing from Joe Gibbs Racing during the most recent offseason with expectations of running decently and working closely with his new teammate, Keselowski.

However, with nine races remaining before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is set not many people expected Logano to be in better position to make the Chase than his champion teammate. An early wreck in Sunday’s Kentucky race that took him off the track temporarily relegated him to a 33rd-place finish and dropped him from ninth to 13th in the standings. A solid fourth-place finish at Kentucky jumped Logano from 14th to 10th in the points standings, the last guaranteed spot in the Chase.

Keselowski, with zero wins this season, sits outside the two Wild Card spots reserved for the two drivers between 11th and 20th in the standings with the most victories. Currently, those spots belong to Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart.   

In eight starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Keselowski has one top five and two top 10s. His best finish came in the 2013 Daytona 500 where he finished fourth. Logano has two top fives and three tops 10s in nine starts at Daytona. He finished third in the July 2011 race. In this year’s Daytona 500, his first race with Penske, he placed 19th.

Penske Racing drivers have found Victory Lane at Daytona only once in the NSCS, but it was a big one: the 2008 Daytona 500 with Ryan Newman.

 

Danica Returns To Make More History

Danica Patrick has big shoes to fill – her own.

During the season-opening Daytona 500, she unfurled a long list of superlatives: first female pole winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; best finish by a female (eighth) in the Daytona 500; first NSCS top-10 finish by a female since Janet Guthrie in 1978; became the 13th driver to lead laps in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.

Patrick already holds the record for best finish by a female in NASCAR national series competition (a fourth at Las Vegas in 2011 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series). Now she looks to break the record for best finish by a female in NASCAR premier series competition, currently held by Sara Christian (fifth).

She returns to Daytona 500 with a good bit more experience, running her first full season and competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.

Her races since the season opener, however, haven’t exactly been as successful. Since the Daytona 500, she has notched two top-15 finishes – a 12th at Martinsville and a 13th at Michigan. She has kept out of trouble, registering only two DNFs – accidents at Phoenix and Talladega.

Currently 27th in points, Daytona provides Patrick an opportunity to vault back into the top 25 (she’s currently 16 points behind Denny Hamlin).

In her last six races at Daytona, in both Cup and the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Patrick has scored a Driver Rating over 100 three times.

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

After missing last week’s race at Kentucky, Bobby Labonte ended the second-longest active start streak in the series. Jeff Burton, with 609 consecutive starts, is now second behind Jeff Gordon’s 706 straight starts. … Joey Logano, who scored his 49th top 10 last weekend, aims to become the 117th driver to reach 50 career top 10s. With his next top 10, he’ll tie Charlie Glotzbach on the all-time list.