With the NASCAR portion of SpeedWeeks kicking off Saturday with the Bud Shootout and continuing with Sunday’s qualifying (which will have more to do with Thursday’s Gatorade Duels than the following Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500), it’s time to look ahead to how the full-time drivers (according to Jayski) will do in 2006. This will leave out the likes of Tony Raines, who will take over the new-for-2006 Hall of Fame #96 TI DLP Chevy starting the 6th race (they’ll run past-champ Terry Labonte to ensure they make the first 5 races as well as the 2 road-course races, hope get into the top 35 in owners’ points to ensure a start, and then stay there), and Kenny Wallace, who will run most but not all the races in the new-for-2006 Furniture Row #78 Chevy.
Let’s start with the full-time drivers that will have to qualify their way in every week. This will actually start with 35th-place as I expect the HOF team to stay in the top 35 in owners’ points beyond the start of the season (in no particular order).
- Scott Riggs, driving the Evernham #10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge. Ray Evernham picked the wrong year to start a third team. They won’t be able to overcome the hole of missing an early race (most likely the Daytona 500).
- Derrike Cope, driving the McGlinn Racing #00 (we think) Chevy (again, we think). Derrike should’ve retired after the 1990 Daytona 500.
- Scott Wimmer, driving the Morgan-McClure #4 AERO Exhaust Chevy. The team got screwed when Doug Bawel teamed up with Michael Waltrip to keep Jasper Racing alive. They really could have used the break of Penske folding the #77 team.
- Robby Gordon, driving his own #7 Harrah’s/Jim Beam/Menard’s Chevy. Robby, not-so-affectionately known as “Crash” and “Rubby”, wishes every race was on a road course.
- Travis Kvapil, driving the PPI #32 Tide Chevy. One-car teams are a thing of the past in NASCAR.
- Randy LaJoie, driving the Front Row/Mach 1 #34 Chevy. Nothing like reinforcing failure with more failure. Neither Mach 1 nor Front Row could get a sponsor, so they decided to join forces and create a 2-car team. That’s something I’d expect Wile E. Thompson, suuuuper genius, to do.
- Michael Waltrip, driving the Waltrip/Jasper(/BDR) #55 Dodge. Driving 4th-rate equipment, Mikey will waste the opportunity he bought by buying his way into Jasper Racing and guaranteeing himself a start for the first 5 races.
- Kevin Lepage, driving the Peak Performance #61 Ford (or is it Chevy; they tested a Chevy at Daytona). Somewhere in Virginia, Hermie “The Other” Sadler is laughing.
- Morgan Shepherd, driving his own #89 Dodge. Odds of Grampa Shepherd making 5 races where there are at least 44 entrants; 50-1.
- Chad Chaffin, driving the Front Row Motorsports #92 (probably will be #192 in your NASCAR program once again). See my comments for Randy LaJoie. Further, Chad picked the wrong year to run for the ROTY.
25-34 will be up shortly.
