Dale Earnhardt Sr. Hoax - The Daytona 500 Deception Exposed (Part 2)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. By all appearances another Speedweeks romp was on, with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez again putting their own self-interests aside for the greater good of the organization in last weeks exhibition The Clash. Just as what occurred a year ago in the daytona 500 when toyota-backed drivers worked together and led 156 of 200 laps to ensure the manufacturer won for the first time in NASCARs biggest race.
For an extended period of time during the Clash, Hamlin, Busch, Kenseth and Suarez held the top four positions. Such was their stranglehold up front, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion the teammates dictate the outcome amongst themselves.
But as the Toyota quartet ran nose-to-tail, Team Penskes Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano finally linked up their Fords and went to work on escaping the middle of the pack where they were currently mired. With Keselowski leading and Logano pushing, the two incrementally picked off one position at a time executing a well-crafted strategy to counteract the Toyotas teamwork.
The Penske plan, if you will, fit the strong suits for each driver.
A thinker, whos good at anticipating whats going to happen in advance, Keselowski is tasked with taking the point. That way he can determine where to run on the track, to find and exploit the holes in the aerodynamic draft and how to best breakup drafting partners like the pack Hamlin, Busch, Kenseth and Suarez formed. Keselowski refers to this as island hopping, a term the military history buff incorporated from how Allied forces defeated Japan in World War IIs Pacific Theater.
Loganos role is follow Keselowski and bump and push his teammate as they move forward. The efforts by Logano provide the needed momentum to build enough of a run where they can maneuver around other cars as Keselowski sees fit.
Brad is probably the best at doing that leapfrog, Logano said. Hes really good at that, probably better than anybody at it. I feel like my strength is being a very aggressive, strong pusher and able to use runs quick.
The tenets of restrictor-plate racing have long been that success at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway largely centered on luck. To finish well or win, drivers needed fortuitous circumstances to avoid the multi-car wrecks that frequently occur.
Tired of feeling as if they were at the mercy of forces outside their control, the Penske camp developed a game plan placing an emphasis on skill. From that came the island hopping strategy thats become the backbone of Keselowski and Logano combining to win six of the past nine restrictor-plate races.
You have to take one island at a time, destroy it, move to the next one until you get to the main prize, which is first, Keselowski said. And that takes a very specific set of tactics. You have to do everything just right. You have to have a good horse underneath you. You have to have good people working with you.
Penskes synchronization and Toyotas unselfishness is expected to be prevalent throughout the Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, Fox). Together Keselowski and Logano form the best restrictor-plate tag since the heyday of Dale Earnhardt Inc., while the Toyota drivers understand their best chance is by tightly lining up and feverishly blocking any charge Keselowski and Logano mount.
And according to Hamlin, Toyota is also devising a secondary plan than what was used in last years Daytona 500, which saw Hamlin beat manufacturer-teammate Martin Truex Jr. by .010 seconds -- the closest finish ever in the 58-year history of The Great American Race.
We have an alternate plan, Hamlin. The same ideas are not going to continue to work over and over. You have to come up with something new, something to keep them off guard.
Not just Penske, but there are going to be many other contenders in the mix of it that are not just going to allow us to go out there and lead all the laps. We got to be ready for it. We got to come up with a new plan. That"s what our job is to do.
Of course, plans can and often do change in the Daytona 500, a race frequently won not by outright speed but by those who can best adapt.
In Thursdays Can-Am Duels, Hamlin was pushed to the win not by a fellow Toyota, but by Austin Dillons Chevrolet. And in the second qualifying race, among the drivers Chevrolets Chase Elliott surprisingly held off was Keselowski.
No Longer is restrictor-plate racing about outright speed, its now a game of chess at 200 mph.
The game has changed a lot, Logano said. And, to be honest, I think the Gibbs cars have changed the game more than anything. The only way you pass them is youve got to have a team thats stronger thats able to pick them apart one at a time and thats what we were able to do.
Daytona 500 starting lineup
Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2017/2/26/14739862/2017-daytona-500-starting-grid-lineup-drivers-preview
