Green - White - Checkers

Stop #18: Daytona #2

By Ryan Frisco

That's right fans, buckle your seat belts 'cause we're about to go racing at Daytona for the second time this season!  This is the third restrictor plate race of the year, and we've seen already the excitement and surprises these tracks have to offer.  I love these races!

Let's cut to the Chase already: What is the race going to look like tomorrow night?!  

Photo Cred www.blogs.orlandosentinel.com

Excitement.  From start to finish.  You've got the gleam of the lights shining off the cars as they race around the track.  You've got 40 cars within half a second of each other on the track, banging on each other's doors.  You've got the potential for 20 cars to be caught up in a crash at any second of the race.  It's suspense.  It's craziness.  It's that feeling that you never know what's about to happen till it happens. I love it.  The fans love it.  Try it out, you'll love it!

Kyle Busch won the pole for the race, with teammate Matt Kenseth starting second.  Joe Gibbs Racing had three of the dominant cars in the Daytona 500 earlier this year until engine failures doomed them.  So far, it looks like they're going to be the cars to beat going into the second round in Daytona Beach.  Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin; keep your eyes on them.

Photo Cred www.draftingthecircuits.com

For Denny, this is literally do or die.  He has less than 10 races to get himself back into the Top 20 in points and win at least two races.  After missing four races due to a compression fracture in his spine, the going's been tough getting back into the picture.  He has no room to play it safe.  The team is calling crazy strategies to have a shot at the win, he's taking chances on the track...sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't.

You can't call a winner at Daytona.  Anyone has a shot until the checkered flag flies.  David Ragan won at Talladega earlier this year...he's 29th in points.  Trevor Bayne won in his second ever start two years ago in the 500.  Derrike Cope won two Daytona 500s...yes, you don't know who he is.  Just for that reason, I'm not going to predict a winner tomorrow night, I'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy the action!  

Ryan Frisco is a co-founder of Sports Eye View, as well as the Head NASCAR Analyst.  He can be reached at ryanafrisco@gmail.com