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(Photo Credit : Review Journal of Las Vegas) McDowell Wins BIG As much as I love American stock car racing, there are races that are so bland we may never mention them again in a social setting. Other events stand out in our hearts and we talk about them every chance we get. This year's running of the 'Great American Race' is a story that we will always remember. Expect to see videos of McDowell cheering with the fans at the start finish line, and the wild last lap of the 2021 Daytona 500 forever. He's done it. It took him a long time, but Michael McDowell has won at NASCAR's greatest stage. While the race itself is being labeled as an underdog win, a small amount of research is all it takes to realize that the pieces have been there for the #34 team to get this win for some time now. Ford has shown consistent speed on the large tracks for years. Front Row Motorsports has won and recorded several top 5's at Daytona and Talladega in the current generation car. Plus, McDowell is a common threat for fantasy league participants, and media predictions every time we hit the high banks. So why is this race so special? The answer is McDowell himself.,,, not the driver, but the man. There are few competitors in the sport that can keep driving in NASCAR despite average success. McDowell's dedication and loyalty has given him the opportunity to be a mainstay. Outside of the car, he is a convicted Christian racer and has spent his time serving Christ and being a steward to the other drivers. His influence has reinforced the religious beliefs of people within the world of motorsports as well as introducing religion to those who had not been believers. In addition to his spirituality, McDowell has been a mentor to younger drivers. The driver roster in general has shown a true love and care for McDowell and he has been a quiet ambassador to the sport for many years despite only being in his 30's. He has chased success in NASCAR's premiere series for nearly 14 years. He has competed in sports car and other stock car racing outside of his cup career too, but for 14 years his name has been on the entry list at the most prestigious level of racing. Through a career that has allowed him to race for 10 teams, and four manufacturers, he settled with Front Row Motorsports and Ford in 2018 and has improved his performance each season. The teams he has raced for aren't typically recognized as top-tier. He outperforms expectations most weeks by taking good care of his equipment and works hard to continue growing Front Row. The win has now put Front Row in the playoffs for the second time. (Chris Buescher 2016) I'd like to hope this is a wonderful surge of energy and a newfound chapter of success for the driver from Arizona. Race Review The race started and ended in calamity, and I'm appreciative that no driver was injured. After a lengthy rain delay, we saw a race that was primarily dominated by Daytona expert Denny Hamlin. A total of 13 different leaders led at least one lap, including the race winner who only led the checkered flag lap. The event was shown late on television and will go down as one of the smallest viewing audiences on FOX due to the delay and late evening restart. Their broadcast overall was remarkable all things considered. I was appreciative of the efforts of their social media teams, they covered nearly every minute of the rain delay online, while providing hourly updates on their network coverage. In between the live update portions, FOX aired interviews, racing highlights, and their famous documentary chronicling the movie Days of Thunder. One thing I didn't particularly care for was their new graphic suite that included each driver's likeness being promoted as a animated super hero. No complaints, not necessarily my taste...although I get it. When their marketing theme for the 2021 season is ''greatest-year-ever'', they gotta try to touch base with an all-ages audience. Speaking of a broad audience, the new short film from Toyota followed a young black female driver who is inspired by driver Darrell Wallace's career and push for a more inclusive, justified world. I was proud of the new ad series and loved that it was the brand they continued to promote throughout the program. Their side-by-side coverage known as 'All-Out' broadcasting was also a success. Fans missed almost no green flag action in this one. My biggest critique came to me out of respect for the die-hard fans. The post-race coverage did not include an interview with Michael McDowell in victory lane which I certainly thought was unusual. They went off air somewhat abruptly, but it was just after 1 in the morning local time. I'm excited to see more media revolving around McDowell and his team as we return to Daytona this weekend for the road course. I was able to tune in to SirisuXM radio during the event's rain delay as well. Claire B. Lang's coverage was wonderful. She used her trust with the drivers to ask them questions that aren't usually covered. I admired most her commitment to her interview with Corey LaJoie. LaJoie was in the Motor Coach lot, which is notorious for dropped cell phone calls and his phone repeatedly cut out. She painted a wonderful painting to the ears of the casual fan tuning in for the first time, filling in the blanks in areas he was unable to be heard. To the long-time fan, it reinforced our love for her. Between the social media elements, driver interaction at the track (and away...a la Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain's food runs), television, and radio coverage, this was one of the best races overall I've witnessed in a long time. To accomplish so much while following awkward guidelines, poor weather, and evolving schedules. Kudos to EVERYONE involved. Reflection on Speed Weks For some fans, Speed weeks is the Daytona 500. For others, it is a total of 3 races..the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup events. To me, Speed Weeks consists of pre-season media, the hangar shoot, the Rolex 24, Clash, Duels, ARCA, Trucks, Xfinity, Cup, and the post-500 media frenzy, amongst even other things that aren't listed. Personally, I would typically even include the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction typically held in January. This year's Speed Weeks had to fight hard to make sure that they earned the trust of fans spending their hard-earned money to attend events. FOX and NBC covered the sport well over the month for those who were unable to visit in person. This is a Speed Weeks to remember. Each race was better as the week went on. I'm eagerly awaiting the next pieces of the 2021 racing season. FOX network may just be right, though...it might be 'The Greatest Racing Season Ever'.

Welcome to our NASCAR Cup Series Projections page. The Playoff Forecast is where you will find the probability of each 2021 charter making the playoffs, their chances of advancing to future rounds, and also their odds of winning the Championship. Projections are calculated by simulating the 2021 Cup Series schedule 50,000 times, using a top-secret predictive formula that is based on 3 important factors: Driver History @ Each Track, Driver Recent Overall History, and Team Performance. This page will be updated every week, incorporating each week’s real results to (ideally) make the formula more accurate as the season continues. Keep checking back to see how your favorite driver’s odds change from week to week! Forecast – Pre-Season Daytona 500 Forecast

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 20th Place – Christopher Bell – 678 pts By the Numbers: 4 DNFs – In a decently competitive year for rookies, Christopher Bell scored the least amount of DNFs of them all, with four. John Hunter Nemechek had 5, and both Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer each had 6. 2 Top 5s – For a rookie season in some subpar equipment, managing even a single Top 5 would be quite a feat. Christopher Bell doubled that by collecting Top 5s at Pocono 1 (4th) and Texas 2 (3rd). His Top 5 and Top 10 numbers are the exact same as Rookie of the Year Cole Custer, but as Custer was the only rookie to win in 2020, he automatically won the prize. +275 Pass Differential – Christopher Bell didn’t just score the best pass differential out of all the 2020 rookies, he actually had the 2nd best out of all drivers, only to be beat by eventual Cup Champ, Chase Elliott (+307). This means that Christopher Bell, while under green, passed other drivers 275 more times than he was passed, himself. 1,425 Quality Passes – While Bell may have one of the better pass differentials of all the drivers, it’s important to compare that passing rate with the number of quality passes he made (in other words, the number of passes that were made in the Top 15 under green). 1,425 Quality Passes in 2020 ranks 18th out of all drivers, meaning much of his passing was done against lesser competition in the back half of the field. 7 Straight (ish) Races Starting 30th or Worse – Aside from the Double-Header weekend at Pocono, where the starting lineup was decided by the previous race’s finish, the stretch of races between Martinsville 1 through to Texas 1 featured a random draw to help determine qualifying order. Bell fans were starting to think there was a conspiracy against their driver. Christopher Bell will move from the now-folded Leavine Family Racing Team to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota in 2021, taking the ride from Erik Jones. Coming up in two days – Tyler Reddick Follow us on Twitter @StatChat_RR

--Press Release From Michael Shank Racing-- The Music City Grand Prix will be Castroneves’ second of six IndyCar races with Meyer Shank Racing Pataskala, Ohio (12 February 2021) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) NTT INDYCAR Series driver Helio Castroneves will aim to add to his record of street racing success this August as he looks forward to racing in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville. Transcard ( https://www.transcard.com ) will partner with Meyer Shank Racing and utilize Castroneves as part of a focused marketing program surrounding the event weekend. Castroneves is slated to compete in six NTT INDYCAR Series races with MSR this season onboard the No. 06 MSR Honda IndyCar, starting with the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May. Castroneves will return to action for MSR in the Music City Grand Prix (August 8), the August Indianapolis Motor Speedway event (Aug. 14), the Grand Prix of Portland (Sept. 12), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 19) and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (Sept. 26). Transcard will use its partnership with Meyer Shank Racing during the Nashville event to actively market the company’s position as a leading global provider of solutions that help businesses, consumers, banks, and financial technology providers accelerate payments and related data. Helio Castroneves and Meyer Shank Racing will also visit Transcard’s headquarters in Chattanooga, TN, prior to the Music City Grand Prix. The Music City Grand Prix is expected to be one of the largest events on the IndyCar calendar. The new 2.17-mile street circuit features the first-ever motorsports course to cross a major body of water as competitors will race race across 553 yards of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge. The event is expected to deliver a wide range of entertainment beyond the racing, making for a three-day celebration of music, food and fan culture that is unique to Nashville. “We’re very excited to have Transcard come onboard for the Music City Grand Prix,” said MSR co-owner Mike Shank. “The race in Nashville will hands down be one of the biggest races that we compete in this year. The event itself will give us a big platform to represent Transcard well and in front of a very large audience of people. The race will be Helio’s second one with us. Hopefully we will be coming off of a big and successful month of May so that we can move into Nashville with some momentum.” “Transcard is pleased to partner with Meyer Shank Racing and NTT INDYCAR Series driver Helio Castroneves during the Music City Grand Prix,” said Transcard President Chris Fuller. “As a Chattanooga-based company, it means a lot to be a part of this inaugural event in Nashville. The attributes of a great NTT INDYCAR Series driver like Helio – speed, control and strong results – are what Transcard brings to every transaction, whether it’s for a business, consumer, bank or technology provider. By partnering with Meyer Shank Racing and Helio Castroneves, we hope to introduce Transcard to those looking for those attributes in their payments.” “I’m so excited to be racing in Nashville,” said Castroneves. “It will be the first street course that I’ve competed on since 2017, but I really love street courses. They bring a certain type of excitement that not many other tracks can do. And I couldn’t be happier to do this with Transcard on the No. 06. The Meyer Shank Racing crew and I will do everything to get the Transcard Honda on the top of the podium at the end of the weekend.” The Music City Grand Prix will be a three-day fan-centric event to combine music, food and racing on August 6-8, 2021. from News – Meyer Shank Racing https://ift.tt/3d4bIa4 via IFTTT

-- Roush Fenway Racing Press Release -- DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2021) – As the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off this week, crew chief Luke Lambert begins his sophomore season with Chris Buescher at the Daytona 500 – a track where the pair is no stranger to success. “We felt like we were poised to be in the right position at Daytona last year and really at a lot of the other speedway races,” Lambert explained. “At the 500 we were in the top-three for most of the closing laps. As it wound down, we were in the spot to take the win and it didn’t quite play out like we needed it to. Everything got crazy and unfortunately, we had that very bad crash that scared all of us with Ryan.” The duo ultimately finished third in last year’s Daytona 500 and recorded three of their eight top-10 finishes at Superspeedways on the rest of the schedule. “We definitely felt like the No. 17 Fastenal Mustang was a hot rod and I feel confident that we can repeat that this year,” Lambert explained. “We’ve been able to keep the same race car intact and ran it in all four speedway races last year. Chris has done a fantastic job with those tracks and I think we can be in contention and have a shot at it.” In his nine years as a crew chief in the Cup series, Lambert boasts 26 top-fives, 80 top-finishes and one win. He hopes to both expand on his record this season and help Roush Fenway improve as an organization under the new leadership of Jimmy Fennig. “Jimmy brings a lot to the table in the way of being a hard-nosed racer and really being relentless,” Lambert said. “He leaves no stone unturned. He’s a racer and true racers always figure out a way to excel in every environment. He’s one of those and we’re looking forward to having that opportunity to work with him this year.” Speedweeks continues tonight with the Duel qualifying races. Buescher and Lambert will compete in Duel Two. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. EST on FS1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. from News – Roush Fenway https://ift.tt/2NjgplD via IFTTT -- Syndicate Post --

In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020. 2nd Place – Brad Keselowski – 5035 pts By the Numbers: 2 Best Seasons – A simple metric for measuring how good a driver’s season has gone is Average Finish. For those who have followed this Countdown to Daytona Series, you will have seen it referenced a lot. Brad Keselowski has an anomaly among his career Average Finishes in that 2020 was TIED for his best year ever. His 2020 Average Finish of 10.08 is the exact same as his Average Finish from 2013, a year which saw him earn one less Top 10, but one more win than in 2020. 3rd Best Average Finish – Keselowski, just like he did at Bristol, can sneak up on you out of nowhere and surprise you (sorry Chase Elliott fans). In a year when it really was the Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin show, Brad Keselowski quietly put together a really great year. His 10.08 Average Finish ranked 3rd among all drivers behind those two. 4th Best Average Running Position – It didn’t matter where – Brad Keselowski liked to be up near the front all year. Ranking 4th out of the only 4 drivers whose Average Running Position was under 10, Keselowski spent 2020 (on average) in 9.9th place. 29th Best Career Record @ Daytona – It’s hard to believe that a driver with the pedigree of a Brad Keselowski might have such a bad record at Daytona International Speedway. But it isn’t that Brad has less finish at Super Speedways, as his record at Talladega is quite a bit better. In the Cup Series, Brad Keselowski has an Average Finish @ Daytona of 23.22 – 29th best of all drivers in 2020. Compare that with an Average Finish just over 7 places better at Talladega – 16.21 (10th best of all 2020 drivers). 2,397 Quality Passes in 2020 – Further evidence to back up the claim that Brad Keselowski enjoys hanging out up front, he had the most quality passes of any driver in 2020. A quality pass is a Green-Flag pass that is made in the Top 15. In order to rack up Quality Passes, one must first of all be in the Top 15, but also be good enough once there to pass others around him. In 2020, there was no one better at it. There was some talk that Brad Keselowski might leave Team Penske at the end of 2020 and be a free agent heading into the offseason. However, in August it was announced that Brad would return in 2021 to the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. Keselowski should be good for at least one win in 2021, but we wouldn’t count on it coming at the first points race of the season! Coming up in two days – Chase Elliott Follow us on Twitter @StatChat_RR