After banking most of the offseason on the idea Hendrick Motorsports cars will dominate the 2013 Sprint Cup, team Hendrick sputtered at Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited. Now down a fake 50 dollars before the first real race of the season, it’s time to regroup for Sunday’s Great American Race.

 

 

Daytona is a wild card. Qualifying in actual race environments helps whittle down the field. But racing at  a superspeedway negates the precision of a pick. Plus, it’s Daytona. Everyone goes all out for 500 miles. It’s probably one of the three toughest races to pick all year. But I will, with the same simple rules from last year:

 

With that in mind, fake picks for the sake of entertainment purposes alone. 

 

Kenseth won Daytona last year in a Ford. This year, his Toyota looked to be the fastest car during the Sprint Unlimited before getting caught in traffic.  It would be quite the start to his Joe Gibbs Racing career.

There isn’t a drive alive who has done better and Datyona over the last five years than Stewart. The 500 is the only monkey on his back. His employee’s car is on the pole. Stewart will have a fast car and the experience to use it correctly Sunday.

 

Kahne hasn’t excelled at Daytona but does well at bigger tracks. I have the believe Hendrick cars will do well with the Gen-6 and think his numbers are most appealing.

 

A good starting position and that amount of experience….why not?

 

A good track record, Toyota technology and twice the number of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. 

 

There are 20 drivers who can win Sunday. I only hope my new strategy evens up the season. Here’s what The Spread thinks. Enjoy the race Sunday, and insert random catchphrase here.

 

Results

For the season: 0/1

Fake Profit/Loss: Down 50 fake dollars

 

Kevin Harvick +900

Tony Stewart +1000

Kyle Busch +1000

Matt Kenseth +1000

Kasey Kahne +1200

Dale Earnhardt Jr +1200

Brad Keselowski +1200

Jimmie Johnson +1200

Jeff Gordon +1200

Denny Hamlin +1500

Clint Bowyer +1800

Greg Biffle +1800

Carl Edwards +2000

Jeff Burton +2500

Jamie McMurray +2500

Martin Truex Jr +2500

Ryan Newman +3000

Paul Menard +3000

Kurt Busch +3000

Joey Logano +3000

Mark Martin +3000

Danica Patrick +3000

Marcos Ambrose +4000

Austin Dillon +4000

Ricky Stenhouse +5000

Juan Montoya +5000

Trevor Bayne +7500

Aric Almirola +7500

Bobby Labonte +10000

David Gilliland +20000

Dave Blaney +20000

Casey Mears +20000

Travis Kvapil +20000

Field (Any Other Driver) +2500