NASCAR by Design - Farewell, for Now

School started this morning, which means it is the end of summer. The three months I thought would be filled with boredom quickly disappeared when I started this blog. I knew that I would enjoy writing about my passion, but once I started, I found an endless supply of ideas.  I said at the end of my opening blog post that I thought this would be a great summer.  It has, even more than I had ever expected.

Writing "NASCAR by Design" made this summer a good one, but what happened last month made it one to remember. I was given the opportunity by NASCAR veteran Mike Calinoff to become a Development Journalist for his new website popularspeed.com! This completely surprised me! I never thought at the beginning of summer, I would be looking back on all of this! I feel so blessed. I have only published a few articles so far, but it has already been an amazing experience. I look forward to what is yet to come. If you want to check out the articles I have written, the links are at the bottom.

Now, this new opportunity and the end of summer doesn’t mean this is the end of "NASCAR by Design". I will be still be posting articles here occasionally that are my personal thoughts on NASCAR topics, so please check back here every once in a while!

See you soon,
Stephanie Adair

:)

http://popularspeed.com/will-tv-deal-help-nascar-branding/

http://popularspeed.com/were-more-than-just-a-sport/

http://popularspeed.com/tales-of-the-trickiest-track/

http://popularspeed.com/has-tony-flipped-out-of-sprint-car-racing/

http://popularspeed.com/michigan-advantage-to-hornish/

Top Contenders for Pocono

Don’t know who to pick for your NASCAR Fantasy team? Well, here are some drivers I think could be top contenders, with the stats to back them up.

Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon would have to be the top pick for Sunday’s race, especially since he won the fall race last year. Jeff holds the record for most win at Pocono at six. In his 41 starts, he has 28 top 10’s and 18 top 5’s. He does have 5 DNF’s but the last on was in 2010. Jeff will start 22nd on Sunday, so he will have to work his way up from the back during the first part of the race.

Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson has already presented a strong showing by claiming the pole position this week. His stats aren’t that bad either. In Jimmie’s 23 starts, he has 16 top 10’s, which is almost 70% of the time. He also has ten top 5’s, three wins, and the best average finish at 9.0. What is even more stunning is Jimmie has no DNF’s at this track! Coming off an almost win at Indy, it’s hard to go against the 5-time champ.

Denny Hamlin
Another one to watch would be Denny Hamlin. This place is special for Denny since it is where he claimed his first Cup Series victory. Since then, he has scored three more. With 15 starts he has ten top 10’s, eight of them being top 5’s. His average finish is pretty good too, with a 10.5. Denny only has one DNF at this track, which came last year. On Sunday, he will be starting 9th, so keep an eye on him.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You might not realize it, but Dale Jr. might be a good pick for Sunday too. In 27 starts, he has ten top 10’s and six top 5’s. He only has one DNF, but an average finish of 16.7. What is interesting though is that four of Dale’s top 10’s came in the last five races. Something has apparently changed in the way he drives the track. He’ll be starting 25th, but look for Dale to be a dark horse this week at Pocono.

Tony Stewart
You might not think of Tony when you think about Pocono, but he actually has some really good stats there. In his 29 starts at Pocono, he has 21 top 10’s. That’s 72.4% of the time! He also has 12 top 5’s, two wins, and an average finish of 11.0. Tony will start 20th on Sunday, but I would expect him to be in the top 10, maybe even top 5 as the laps wind down.