Budweiser Shootout

[scottie33]

Waltrip driving the 'sod plow' through the Daytona infield

[CyCrazy]

Waltrip driving the 'sod plow' through the Daytona infield

That seems about right

Retire and work for Napa Waltrip...............

[jdoggivjc]

for the first time?
I still think he is living off his fathers coat strings.

I think it's "coat tails". And as someone who only follows NASCAR intermittently, I have this opinion as well. When was the last time the dude won a race?

I don't necessarily think this is the case anymore, even if he hasn't had much on-track success over the last couple of years. Yes, he got his start riding his father's coat tails - his talent probably wouldn't by itself have gotten him to Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup, so he got put in better machinery than a racer with his talent would have started out in, and he saw early success in his career. The reason why he sticks around, though, is he's a cash cow. Hendrick would obviously love to see him win on the track, but as long as Junior brings in the sponsorship and advertising dollars that he brings in without winning (and he's been doing that for the last however many years), do you really think Hendrick cares where he finishes on the track? I don't think so - as long as he's bringing in the coin. He has Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon around to win. Yeah, I know what the next argument is - Junior wouldn't be bringing in that amount of coin if it weren't for his father's name. Okay, there's some to that argument - a lot of Junior's innate fan base were originally his father's fans. However, if all that mattered was the Earnhardt name, why was Kerry Earnhardt such a flame-out? Because it's not just about the name. Junior has some advantages that Kerry doesn't - the good looks, the charisma, the ability to sell that to advertisers (and he can thank his sister for some of that), but what he also has is enough on-track talent to be able to sell those other attributes.

Sure, unless something significant happens over the next decade on the track for Junior, his on-track career is going to look like a failure. However, I would counter by saying look at how many commas are used in his various checking and savings accounts - those would indicate that his career has hardly been a failure, regardless of what the results at the track say.

[ISUcy08]

Its always been this way, you are faster in pairs and catching the draft. Ever seen a single car get hung out and moved back 20 spots in a heartbeat?

Totally incorrect. There has always been drafting, but never a bunch of separate two car packs. Even the drivers are talking about how different it is. NASCAR is making the grill smaller and installing a pressure valve for the 500 so the cars overheat faster just so they can't drive around in these two car packs. The 500 should look different from the Shootout.

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Totally incorrect. There has always been drafting, but never a bunch of separate two car packs. Even the drivers are talking about how different it is. NASCAR is making the grill smaller and installing a pressure valve for the 500 so the cars overheat faster just so they can't drive around in these two car packs. The 500 should look different from the Shootout.

Yes, the drafting was vastly different than before. This looked so different than before when you had 2 long lines bumper to bumper for most of the race. The last lap is going to be real interesting, and unfortunately I believe those changes are going to lead to another big wreck on the last lap and then the dreaded Green White Checker finish.

[Tre4ISU]

Earhardt now has Steve Letarte as a crew chief so if he doesn't have success this year we can determine that maybe he just isn't a very good driver. The complete reshiffling at Hendrick in terms of crew chiefs could have a huge effect on this season along with Junior now being in the same garage as Jimmie Johnson.

[Tweedt4Cy]

GO STEWART!