2011 AAA 200 @ Daytona Predictions

Pole: One of the the Simmons Racing cars. Brad Simmons is oen of the few real plate-track masters on the AERS tour, and will probably pass his knowledge of fast laps on to his protege. If not them, then Herb Cilantro. Yes, the man who qualified 3rd in both of his attempts here. Don't even tell me you're surprised by that prediction.

The Big One?: Considering that, as we've seen the past three years, the cars here sometimes get more spread out than is typical at plate tracks, the big crash will only collect around ten cars if it happens at all.

Competition: The 2009 S2 Daytona 200 featured 13 leaders, while last year's race featured a whopping 50 lead changes between 22 drivers, one of the highest counts in any race of that season. The conclusion? You best be prepared for some kick-bumper action the whole way this weekend.


Drivers To Watch:

1) #54 Jerry Richson - Richson has never finished worse than seventh at Daytona in his short career. He also led the most laps (10) in last year's running. Look for him to at least score a top-10, although the new Dodge Charger could provide him with a little extra power...(winks)

2) #40 Grant Jacobs - See above. Simmons' knowledge will be very useful to this young driver, and that's not even considering the momentum he's riding from a very solid two weeks at Livonia Raceway.

3) #09 Shawn Glossum - With his victory at Talladega last summer, Shawn Glossum has now won at least one restrictor-plate race for 4 of the last 5 seasons. The most recent triumphs, mind you, came in a two-year-old Pontiac and a completely-unfamiliar Ford Falcon. Thus, not even the new Ford Taurus equipment should be much of an obstacle in his quest to make it 5 out of 6.


Dark Horses:

1) #90 Aaron Fisher - The guy made up THIRTY SPOTS in his FIRST RACE here. That should speak for itself.

2) #0 Jonathan Ringer - It may take him longer than one race to get adjusted to Opp Inc., the second team he's ever driven for, but his debut with Mike Oppenheimer's operation comes at a track he has been known to run well at in the past. He was eight hundredths of a second shy of the victory in 2009 and would have scored a top 5 in 2010 if not for CJ Long's errant machine. He also has a 7th-place showing at Detroit, another restricted track, to back him up.

3) #12 Louis Tellez - Typically hit-or-miss on tracks like Daytona, with a win and two last-place finishes in the past two years. He must stay out of the Big One if he wants to come close to success.

Drivers to falter:

1) #14 Kenny Gerrelds - Won the pole last year and still finished in the 40s.

2) #48 Lorenzi Rossini - Has never finished better than 22nd in a plate race...that is, a plate race he even qualifies for.

My prediction...DEATH!

Weatherman wrote:

My prediction...DEATH!

What do you mean?

BTW Jates is the #1 on KGI this year, and 03 and 09 did not qualify.

Bruce Wilkinson's second start since last year's race at McKinley, and he DNQ'd at Livonia, so we'll see how he fares today...

Fisher might of gained 30 spots but it's still a restrictor plate track. He just happened to be in the right places at the right time.

Driver to falter?

I'm sorry, but last I checked, My driver does a hell of a job on Plate Tracks, Won last year, Ran well at Dega, survived Detroit, plus a 6th in the Q-race.

Falty? I think not.

I'm predicting a top 10 run, possibly a win.

lat8829 wrote:

Driver to falter?

I'm sorry, but last I checked, My driver does a hell of a job on Plate Tracks, Won last year, Ran well at Dega, survived Detroit, plus a 6th in the Q-race.

Falty? I think not.

I'm predicting a top 10 run, possibly a win.

Good point. I moved him.

Mr. Mech wrote:

Fisher might of gained 30 spots but it's still a restrictor plate track. He just happened to be in the right places at the right time.

Hey don't be talking smack about my driver lol jk.

Lautenschlager could be a factor I think, ran fairly well at Daytona last year, finished 11th at Detroit and won Lowell also a plate track. Lautenschlager also has momentum from a 3rd place finish at Livonia.