Fearless Forecast: Smoke Will Sweep at Talladega

Saturday, April 26th, 2008 by Jim Mc Coy


It’s just a hunch. By now, every serious NASCAR fan knows how Tony Stewart has finished 2nd 6 times in Cup competition. He’s been knocking on the door for quite some time….and tomorrow Tony Stewart’s kicking it down.

Here’s what I’m expecting tomorrow…..the teams that have put forward the stout engines will run up front. Look for strong (and victory worthy) performances from the HMS boys: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Casey Mears. Remember that Junior has won at ‘Dega 5 times and Gordon 6. There’s no reason to believe they won’t be in the mix.

This assumption also bodes well for Stewart and his Gibbs’ teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. In fact, I number Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman as my dark horses. Yes, I expect Dodge to be well represented tomorrow, so that means Kurt Busch could be a part of the action.

With that extra horsepower, I expect other Toyotas to run well…..you should not be shocked if Michael Waltrip (a super speedway specialist of sorts), Brian Vickers (also a former Talladega winner), or even A.J. Allmendinger make a substantial amount of noise. In fact, I considered using Mikey as my “upset special” pick. Now that’s a fearless forecast!

Of course, I wish good things for those unexpected front-runners. I mean, who here expected Joe Nemechek and Ken Shrader in the top 5? Hear that sound of silence?

All speculation aside (and Heaven knows I;ve heard more insane tea leaf reading than I care to think about this week), here’s what you need to know…..

Tony Stewart will win (again) at Talladega!!

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, Fearless Forecast, General, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joe Nemechek, Ken Shrader, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Talladega, Tony Stewart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Fearless Forecast: Smoke Will Sweep at Talladega”

Right on, Jim - I’m right there with you. I’ve had Smoke slated to win this race since I posted my preview on Thursday, and yesterday’s Nationwide win only makes me feel that much better about the prediction. Good pick.



Doh! We were robbed …



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