NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie Recap: Daytona 500

during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The 2016 rookie class is one of the strongest in recent years. The average age of Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brian Scott is 23. The experience these four drivers have includes two NASCAR Xfinity Series champions, one Owners championship in the NXS  and 18 combined wins in NASCAR National series.

Yes, they are rookies in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series but their success in both the NXS and Camping World Truck Series means that the yellow stripe on the back of their cars are just a formality as they battle for Rookie of the Year in 2016.

Ryan Blaney

The highest finishing rookie of the race had a fairly uneventful day. After starting seventh, Blaney was stuck on the outside which struggled to get going for much of the afternoon. As he worked his way though back into the top 10 after the first stop of the day. He continued to impress as he ran top 10 for much of the day. On the final green flag pit stop they intended on taking two tires but Blaney slid and flat spotted his tires. They were forced to take on four.

Track position was everything so the last minute audible on their final stop saw them starting outside the top 10. Blaney would settle for 19th but their finish wasn’t telling of how well they ran for most of the Daytona 500.

 

Brian Scott

After being forced to a back up after a crash in the Can-Am duels, Scott and his team started 35th for the Daytona 500. Scott has missed and made the Daytona 500 so he has experienced the highs and the lows that Speedweeks can bring. Their goal this year was to just be there at the end. Usually we see multi car wrecks that eliminated teams but on Sunday that was not the case. There was only to multi car wrecks so attrition never came to fruition.

On the first green flag stop of the day Scott had a speeding penalty and the team were forced to play a little strategy for track position. As the race wore on handling and anticipating the “big one” saw Scott and team play conservative and come home a solid 24th.

Chase Elliott

during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

After earning the Daytona 500 pole and setting a new record in the process as the youngest driver ever to start on the pole; all eyes were on Elliott. After leading three laps early on Elliott slipped back to just outside the top five.

His day took a turn for the worse on lap 20 when he got loose after going three wide and being stuck in the middle. As Elliott spun he hit the grass and destroyed his entire front end. Impressively the team were able to repair damage and put on a new nose in 30 minutes. He lost 40 laps but when back on track was able to keep up with lead draft. Elliott finished 37th.

Chris Buescher

The NXS 2015 Champion was making his Daytona 500 debut on Sunday. After starting 17th, Buescher found his way to the bottom and  but struggled with a vibration for much of the first run. After pitting for fuel and tires the vibration went away but the handling continued to be a struggle.

Buescher’s day turned for the worse on lap 93 when Matt DiBenedetto and him made contact near the back of the pack. Both drivers take hard hits into the outside wall. After taking some time to get out of the car; Buescher was checked and released. He finished 39th.

Next up for the rookies is Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 28th.

NASCAR: Promising start turns to disappointing finish for Hendrick Motorsports

A week ago the racing world was focused on a rookie driver who was taking over an iconic ride. Not only did Chase Elliott have everyone buzzing after setting a record as the youngest pole sitter ever for the Daytona 500, many picked him to be a contender for the win.

Fast forward to Sunday and the Daytona 500. His day started off strong after leading the first three laps of the race. Elliott settled into the top five and worked with teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Elliott’s day turned quickly after Kevin Harvick made a save after getting loose. As the lanes began to shuffle Elliott got stuck in the middle lane.

As we would see all afternoon drivers would fight the handling of their cars especially coming off of turn four. Elliott got loose and unable to save it spun across Austin Dillon’s nose. Elliott spun into the infield and as he did his nose dug into the grass and tore up his race car.

His crew got to work quickly and made repairs and got him back on track but 40 laps down. He would end up finishing 37th in his Daytona 500 debut.

Earnhardt who started in third after winning his Can-Am duel on Thursday night would lead 16 laps early in the race. Unlike in years past Earnhardt struggled for much of the day with handling issues. After getting shuffled out of the lead, Earnhardt struggled back in traffic and was unable to make the moves necessary to get back to the front.

After a round of green flag pit stops Earnhardt worked his way back into the top five but  as the laps began to wind down, Earnhardt began making moves to get back to the front but as he was side drafting got loose off of turn four and spun on front of traffic. He said, “I was aggressive trying to side-draft guys and move forward. We were making some ground on the leaders a little bit so that was looking pretty good because the outside line really hadn’t been doing anything all day. Just busted my butt there. Driver mistake.”

He nosed the wall and saw his day over with 30 laps to go. He would finish 36th.

Jimmie Johnson started at the back of the field after a wreck on the final lap of his duel on Thursday. Track position was everything today but getting to the front or even top 10 wouldn’t be an issue for Johnson. Within the first 50 laps he had worked his way well into the top 10 and top five. He ended up leading 18 laps.

After running top 10 for much of the second half of the race Johnson made his green flag stop too many men went over the wall. He had to do a pass thru penalty under green. He was able to stay on the lead lap but lost all his track position. If not for Earnhardt’s wreck Johnson’s day was theoretically over.

Even after making some headway on the final restarts and run Johnson was unable to crack back into the top 10 and finished 16th.

The only driver from Hendrick Motorsports who had a an uneventful day was Kasey Kahne. He spent most of the day running just inside the top 10 and at times made runs toward the front but was never able to lead laps.

After getting shuffled back after pit stops Kahne worked his way back inside the top 10. After the final restart of the race though Kahne was unable to make up much ground to challenge for the lead and win. He would end up finishing 13th and the best of his HMS teammates.

Restrictor plate races are a crap shoot. Picking the top 10 is like picking the winning lottery numbers. This one race won’t make a season or decide any of these four drivers championship hopes.

Still for HMS a organization has been the team to beat at Daytona in recent years their struggles were surprising today as a slick track and different track conditions caught them all off guard.

Earnhardt said, “It caught me by surprise,” he said. “I was trying to side-draft a guy beside me and boy, it pinned the right front. All the downforce there. We have been working on the balance all day. That was our problem. We really underestimated how important handling was going to be today.

The real season begins next Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With the new low downforce package that everyone will be running there are a lot of unknowns ahead for everyone.

After lagging behind Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske Racing in the second half of the 2015 season on the intermediate tracks, this weekend at AMS will be a big test for them as they look to bounce back after a disappointing start to 2016.

Quote: USA Today

Picture: motorsport.com