Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark, in his annual predictions for the NASCAR season, looks for Tony Stewart to bounce back in a big way from the broken leg he suffered in a sprint-car crash last year.
“Look for him to win at least four times and be a factor for the season championship,” Clark said.
The veteran promoter also expects big performances from the rookies in NASCAR this year, both in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series. He said Austin Dillon, who will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet fielded by his grandfather Richard Childress, and Kyle Larson, who will step into the Chevy previously driven by Juan Pablo Montoya for Chip Ganassi, will emerge as strong Cup contenders.
“Both of these guys have an awful lot of talent,” he said. “Add in the fact that they are driving for race teams that are putting a strong amount of support around them, and odds are good that at least one of these guys will contend for a win or two this year.
“Keep an eye on (rookies) Justin Allgaier, Alex Bowman and Ryan Truex this season, as well.”
Clark also looks for big things from Dawsonville’s Chase Elliott as he carries his father’s famous No. 9 on a NAPA-sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in his rookie season in the Nationwide Series.
“Fans who enjoyed watching ‘Awesome Bill’ race the No. 9 car will have lots to cheer about,” he said. “I predict that Chase will win a Nationwide Series race and finish in the top five in the points standings.”
Clark said Team Penske, with former series champion Brad Keselowski and former Alpharetta resident Joey Logano, will see both win races and make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But he said the title will go to one of the drivers at Joe Gibbs Racing — either Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth or Kyle Busch.
“All three teams at JGR know how to put themselves into position to win a title, and the new Chase format plays very well to the strength of all three,” he said.
Planned double: There have been numerous NASCAR drivers over the years who have run full schedules in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series in the same season, but John Wes Townley of Watkinsville is attempting a double that is just as logistically challenging as running NASCAR's top two circuits at the same time.
He plans to return to the Camping World Truck Series while running the full ARCA schedule. He also plans to run as many as 10 races in the Nationwide Series and some Late Model events, all with sponsorship from Zaxby’s, the chicken chain co-founded by his father, Tony Townley.
Townley, 24, kicks off his quest Sunday with a defense of his 2013 victory in the Lucas Oil 200 ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, a race in which Townley started from the pole.
He said the 22-race truck schedule left many open weekends, so he decided to fill most of them with ARCA events. And, he said the schedule can be worked out without too much conflict.
“There will be one or two races where I’ll miss some practice,” he said.
On the NASCAR side, he’ll drive Toyotas for a team owned by Richie Wauters, with veteran Mike Beam as crew chief. In ARCA he’ll run for Venturini Motorsports, with Rick Lushes as crew chief.
Last year, Townley had seven top-10 finishes and finished 11th in truck points while driving a Toyota for Red Horse Racing.
Another change to qualifying: NASCAR officials announced a tweak to the new knockout-style qualifying format that will be used at every track other than Daytona and Talladega. One crew member will be allowed on pit road to make minor adjustments to the team's car during the qualifying sessions. Under the initial rules, no adjustment would be allowed while the green flag was out.
“If it’s during the round when the track is hot, there will be one crew member over the wall that must wear a helmet, and he can perform the adjustments which are tape, tire pressures and wedge,” NASCAR’s vice president for competition Robin Pemberton said Thursday. “And then during the breaks, it will be three crew members when the track is cold, and they’ll go over to perform those duties.”
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