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| RPM BLOG By Bob Potosky Saturday, 2-23-13 Race day is almost here...well, it's here if you follow the Trucks and Nationwide series, they have gotten their openers taken care of. So now, we get set for the 55th edition of the Great American Race. Danica is on the pole, Jeff Gordon next to her. Let me give you three to watch on Sunday... 1. Kevin Harvick. He won the Sprint Unlimited, and captured one of the Duels on Thursday. His car has been on rails. I look to him to have a big day on Sunday. 2. Kyle Busch. He claims he has A new and better attitiude this year after a tough 2012. He captured the other Duel on Thursday. He's been very racy over the years at Daytona. 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. I'm never been a Junior fan, but Daytona is one of his better tracks. He won in '04, And has been 2nd two out of the last three years. So, who will El Poto pick? My heart wants Tony Stewart to take it, and he's done everything at Daytona except win the 500, but I'm gonna go with the man of Speedweeks....I'm taking Harvick to win on Sunday. Enjoy the race, and follow me on Twitter @BobPotosky for my thoughts on the race. See you all there! Friday 2-22-13 Starting grid for 2013 Daytona 500 1 Danica Patrick (10) Chevy 2 Jeff Gordon (24) Chevy 3 Kevin Harvick (29) Chevy 4 Kyle Busch (18) Toyota 5 Greg Biffle (16) Ford 6 Kasey Kahne (5) Chevy 7 Juan Pablo Montoya (42) Chevy 8 Austin Dillon (33) Chevy 9 Jimmie Johnson (48) Chevy 10 Clint Bowyer (15) Toyota 11 Kurt Busch (78) Chevrolet 12 Matt Kenseth (20) Toyota 13 Tony Stewart (14) Chevrolet 14 Mark Martin (55) Toyota 15 Brad Keselowski (2) Ford 16 Paul Menard (27) Chevrolet 17 Casey Mears (13) Ford 18 Jeff Burton (31) Chevrolet 19 Dale Earnhardt Jr (88) Chevrolet 20 Jamie McMurray (1) Chevrolet 21 Joey Logano (22) Ford 22 David Ragan (34) Ford 23 Bobby Labonte (47) Toyoya 24 Marcos Ambrose (9) Ford 25 David Gilliland (38) Ford 26 Aric Almirola (43) Ford 27 Joe Nemecheck (87) Toyota 28 Ricky Stenhouse Jr (17) Ford 29 Michael Waltrip (26) Toyota 30 Dave Blaney (7) Chevrolet 31 Scott Speed (95) Ford 32 Josh Wise (35) Ford 33 Trevor Bayne (21) Ford 34 Ryan Newman (39) Chevrolet 35 Denny Hamlin (11) Toyota 36 Carl Edwards (99) Ford 37 Martin Truex Jr (56) Toyota 38 Michael McDowell (98) Ford 39 Terry Labonte (32) Ford 40 Regan Smith (51) Chevrolet 41 JJ Yeley (36) Chevrolet 42 David Reutimann (83) Toyota 43 Travis Kvapil (93) Toyota BTW, this Sunday, follow me on Twitter and I’ll be posting / re-tweeting everything about the Daytona 500. Any questions and / or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. You can also follow me on twitter @BobPotosky Thursday 2-21-13 Today is the Gatorade Duels at Daytona, which set the field for Sunday’s Great American Race. Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is, how shall I put it, unique. During the only qualifying session, only the front row is set. Hence, Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon have nailed their starting spots for Sunday. Spots 3-36 are determined by today’s Duels. The first Duel will settle the inside of rows 2-18, while the second duel fills the outside. For those that just miss out on qualifying through the Duels, then the rest of the field falls back on qualifying time, plus owners points from 2012…only the top 35 in owners points from the end of the 2012 season are guaranteed a starting spot in the field. Those not in the top 35 better hope they have a fast enough time from qualifying. And there’s one last possibility, say a past season champion doesn’t meet the above criteria, then there’s a past champions’ provisional that can be used to start 43rd on Sunday, for someone like a Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte or the like. While this has been how Daytona does it every February, give me my fastest 33 every May (at least that procedure), and call it a day… BTW, this Sunday, follow me on Twitter and I’ll be posting / re-tweeting everything about the Daytona 500. Any questions and / or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. You can also follow me on twitter @BobPotosky Tuesday 2/19/13 My apologies for not being more consistent in writing this. Normal job has been quite hectic, and with a bit of a lull this week, I should be more frequent. Anyhow, Daytona is this weekend, and the hype machine, while not in full throttle, will be. The princess, Danica Patrick, became the first woman in NASCAR Sprint Cup history to capture the pole position for any race…and it just happens to be the biggest one in NASCAR. As a lifelong Indycar fan, I was excited when Danica broke through into the mainstream in 2005. She nearly won the Indy 500, and had a couple of decent years with Rahal-Letterman. Then making the move to Andretti-Green in ’07, she was in prime position to win, which she finally broke through in 2008 at Montegi Japan. Sure her detractors will she say ‘She won on fuel milage!!!!’ Ask Darrel Waltrip about his Daytona 500 win, and he’ll probably kick your behind. After a top 5 finish in the points in 2009, Danica started to struggle. Why? Indycar got away from the ovals, which is here strong suit and became more of a balance between Ovals, streets and road courses, which is not one of her strengths. Also, Go Daddy became her primary sponsor in ’10, and looking at the return on investment, Indycar makes more sense. So she started to test the waters and eventually left open-wheel after 2011. Just 1 win in the ‘bigs’ since breaking in the big time in 2005. Are we to believe the hype? She has a fast car, but we shall see. Thursdays Gatorade duels could be a test, but with her teammate / boss Tony Stewart behind her, she will be in position to have a real good weekend. BTW, this Sunday, follow me on Twitter and I’ll be posting / re-tweeting everything about the Daytona 500. Any questions and / or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. You can also follow me on twitter @BobPotosky Wednesday 1/23/13 We continue our team review / previews for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season by looking at the team who many are still somewhat surprised at how they ended up with a driver second in the final standings in 2012…. MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING 2012 Drivers: Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, Michael Waltrip MWR fielded three-full time teams in 2012. Bowyer and Truex started every race while Martin started 24 races with Vickers and Waltrip splitting the rest of the rides in the #55. Bowyer responded with a career year in 2012, qualifying for the Chase and edging Jimmie Johnson by a single point to finish 2nd in the 2012 standings, 39 markers behind Brad Keselowski. Bowyer won a career- high three races in 2012 (Sonoma, Richmond and Charlotte). Truex didn’t find victory lane, but was consistent enough to qualify for the Chase as well. Recording seven Top-5’s and 19 Top-10’s, Truex finished 11th in the final Sprint Cup Standings. 2013 Drivers: Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, Michael Waltrip MWR will again field three full-time teams in 2013, with Bowyer and Truex running the entire schedule. Bowyer will compete in the #15 5-Hour Energy Toyota. Truex Jr. will fly the Napa Auto Parts colors for his #56 Toyota. Martin will again run a limited schedule. He will pilot the #55 Aarons’ Toyota in 24 races. Vickers will pilot the car at the short track and road course events. Owner Waltrip is expected to run a handful of races in ’13. Any questions and / or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. You can also follow me on twitter @BobPotosky Monday 1/21/13 Hello folks. Welcome to the newest blog here on www.midamericabroadcasting.com. For the better part of the next 10 months, I’ll be writing about the world of racing, keeping a focus on NASCAR, INDYCAR, Formula One and we’ll try to keep an eye out on the NW Indiana scene. NASCAR season is a little over a month away with the season-opening Daytona 500 scheduled for February 24th. Indycar season is 62 days away from their first drop of the green flag in St. Petersburg FL. Formula One will also get their season revved up around that same time down under in Australia In the meantime, we’ll start the blog by doing some NASCAR team previews, and we’ll begin with the team that won the big trophy last season….. PENSKE RACING 2012 Drivers: Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr Known for the dominance in the open-wheel ranks (15 Indy 500 wins, multiple CART and Indycar titles), Roger Penske finally broke through and won his 1st NASCAR Sprint Cup championship behind Michigan native Brad Keselowski. The driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge. Keselowski won five races and the championship by 39 points over Clint Bowyer. AJ Allmendinger started the 2012 season in the #22 Dodge, but after failing a drug test in July, Allmendinger was suspended indefinitely. Sam Hornish Jr finished out the remainder of the season recording just one top five finish. 2013 Drivers: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano Logano comes over from Joe Gibbs Racing after finishing 17th in the 2012 Sprint Cup Standings. Logano , who has 2 career wins, will pilot the #22 Shell-Pennzoil machine. Keselowski looks to defend his Sprint Cup title and enters 2013 with nine career wins. The big news for Penske Racing South will be the switch to Ford as Dodge has withdrawn from NASCAR for the forseeable future. Hornish Jr and Keselowski will compete for Penske in the Nationwide Series in 2013. Any questions and / or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. You can also follow me on twitter @BobPotosky |
| Mid America Broadcasting auto racing expert Bob Potosky, bring you the RPM Blog, covering all things fast! Whether you like stock cars or are more of an open wheel, the RPM Blog has it covered! |
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