clash debrief

​Pic from www.teampenske.com

​A few quick thoughts after watching the Clash today.

• Handling will be a major factor during the 500.  With only 17 cars out there today, you could still see many of the cars really struggling to stay pointed in the right direction.  The 42 of Kyle Larson in particular seemed on the edge of control the whole race and he almost wrecked several times before the last lap incident.  On the flip side, the 2 of Brad Keselowski and 22 of Joey Logano looked pretty solid throughout.
• It seemed like it was easier than the last few years to get a run on the car in front and complete a pass.  (At least until that long single file run late in the race.)  It's unclear what this could mean for the race.  It's possible someone decides to go back to an older strategy of riding around at the back of the draft the first half of the race in hopes of avoiding the "big one."
• The Fords look strong once again at a plate track, sweeping the top four finishing spots.  Remember, Fords finished 1st & 2nd in both Daytona races last year.  And a Ford car has won the last six plate track races.  Fords have shown very, very strong in those last six races:
  • October 2017 Talledaga - Fords finished 1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th
  • July 2017 Daytona - Fords finished 1st & 2nd
  • May 2017 Talledega - Fords finished 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th
  • Feb 2017 Daytona - Fords finished 1st & 2nd
  • October 2016 Talledaga - Fords finished 1st, 2nd & 5th
  • July 2016 Daytona - Fords finished 1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th
• The wreck at the end shows, once again, why playing fantasy games for plate track races is a crap shoot.  A number of drivers looked like they were having a real good run, only to have it ruined because they got caught up in a large wreck through no fault of their own.  I just hate to see those wrecks -- both as a fan and also a fantasy racing player -- but they are a fact of like at the plate tracks.  
• I continue to like several drivers I mentioned earlier this week -- particularly Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon.  We'll also need to be careful not to downgrade Stenhouse too much.  He got a tough penalty call for passing below the double yellow line, but still looked pretty fast when he was in the lead pack.

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