- Bring your heavy jackets. Temps for the weekend will be in the upper 50's during the day and upper 20's at night. Track temperature will be a factor, as it will warm up rapidly from subfreezing temperatures the night before the race. The pit crews that adjust to rapidly rising track temperatures and adjust the cars accordingly will have those cars in the front.
- The cars that have good handling will move to the front quickly. AMS is the fastest 1.5 mile track on the circuit, and good handling is at a premium.
- Look for the usual suspects to run up front: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, and Carl Edwards.
- Thinking of you: Bill Elliott aka Awesome Bill from Dawsonville. (Too bad the Wood Brothers are running a part-time schedule; Elliott would still be competitive with major sponsorship for a full season, IMO.)
- The teams that are struggling now need to make a strong run here to kick-start their Chase chances. I look for Kurt Busch to make a strong run to move himself closer to the top 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr NEEDS a strong top 10 finish to put himself closer to the top 12, if not break into the top 12. Consequently, those teams that have a bad run that are outside the top 12 at the start of the race will have a much steeper climb the rest of the season.
- Juan Pablo Montoya is languishing in 26th place in the standings. He's been the victim of bad racing luck this season. A good run will be the tonic the #42 team needs to kick start his season. Consequently, a bad run will put him closer to 35th going into Bristol.
- Now begins the scramble to stay within the top 35 in points, because after Bristol next week, those that are outside the top 35 are not automatic entries.
Predicted race winner: Jimmie Johnson. The #48 team is hitting on all cylinders and rips the heart out of Kevin Harvick by passing Happy on the final turn to win. The rest of the top 5: 2) Harvick; 3) Kurt Busch; 4) Jeff Gordon; 5) Matt Kenseth.
Darkhorse top 10 finisher: Scott Speed. He has shown vast improvement and will finally crack the top 10. (And thus live up to his last name.)
Weather information courtesy of www.weather.com.
