The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Optimism in high gear at Daytona for top teams
Optimism abounds after the opening weekend at Daytona International Speedway, especially for NASCAR’s top teams. “The Great American Race” is setting up to be another unpredictable showcase event.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. » Optimism abounds after the opening weekend at Daytona International Speedway, especially for NASCAR’s top teams.
Teamwork at Joe Gibbs Racing appears as solid as ever despite adding rookie Daniel Suarez to the mix, evidenced by Denny Hamlin, Suarez, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch running 1-23-4 for much of the Clash at Daytona.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski look as if they could continue their recent dominance at restrictor-plate races, and with Stewart Haas Racing switching from Chevrolet to Ford in the offseason, they now have a few extra friends — Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick and Clint Bowyer — to help around NASCAR’s most famous track.
Hendrick Motorsports has the Daytona 500 pole again as well as another front-row sweep.
And the usual suspects — Hamlin, Logano and Keselowski — seem to be up front at every turn.
Combine all those notable nuggets, and the 59th running of “The Great American Race” on Sunday is setting up to be another unpredictable showcase event.
Some other things we learned from the opening of Speedweeks:
• HENDRICK HORSEPOWER: Hendrick Motorsports has the Daytona 500 pole-sitter for the third consecutive season and swept the front row for the fourth time in the last eight years. It’s a clear indication Hendrick has the horsepower — as usual — to be a factor in NASCAR’s opener.
Chase Elliott landed the pole for the second time in as many years, and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his triumphant return to racing by securing the No. 2 starting spot. Earnhardt missed the final 18 races of 2016 because of nausea and vision and balance issues after at least the fifth concussion of his career.
• TROUBLING TURN: Although much went right for Hendrick, the four-car team found cause for concern.
Seven-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson spun twice in Turn 4 during the Clash at Daytona on Sunday, adding to the team’s recent woes in the high-banked corner. Teammates Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had similar issues in the 2016 Daytona 500, both crashing in the final turn.
So what may have seemed like a one-year fluke is now a full-fledged trend for Hendrick.
“It’s a concern,” said Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Elliott. “We have things in place to try to improve that, and we’re very aware of it.”
Earnhardt sounded like getting the turn straight would be a priority during the week.
“We’re looking at our notes from over the years,” Earnhardt said, pointing specifically to 2015. “We’ll look at what we did then and what we’re doing now and sort of go through the process of elimination, and that’s kind of what we’ve been doing until we fix it.”
• PATRICK’S RUN: Danica Patrick did it again at Daytona.
Patrick has been solid at times at Daytona since her rookie season when she won the Daytona 500 pole and led five laps. She finished fourth at the Clash, a needed confidence boost following a dismal 2016. She finished 24th in the standings and failed to post a top-10 finish.
Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin crashed on the last lap, allowing Patrick to sneak through for the best finish of her NASCAR career.