Sometimes it’s difficult to be a NASCAR fan and remain impartial while running a site like FNP. This is one of those times. I don’t try to hide it. I’m a huge Jeff Gordon fan, which is why it hurts when I say that Jeff Gordon will struggle in 2010.
With that said, let me take a minute to clarify. Jeff Gordon will not have an Earnhardt-like season and finish 25th in the points. When I say struggle, I mean expect 2010 to be more like 2008, not 2009 for Gordon.
I’d like to say that part of Jeff is happy for teammate Jimmie Johnson and that another part, the competitive part, is fired up and ready end the 48’s streak. Unfortunately, Gordon’s age and back issues will keep him from contending for the 2010 championship.
For those of you who play in fantasy NASCAR leagues with preseason drafts, downgrade Gordon and slot him in the bottom half of the Top 10 in your preseason rankings. Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin should all be drafted before Gordon comes off the board.
Yeah, I can see Gordon struggling this year to meet the standards he’s set in the past. Should still be solidly in the Chase, though, even if he’s not showing championship material.
The guys I see most likely to continue with their struggles from last year are the Roush camp, I think. I’m sure one or two of them will make the Chase this year, but I’m not seeing the three make it like in year’s past.
They had some fast cars on the plate tracks last year, and if only compared to the rest of the field, they were pretty good on the intermediate tracks. There were some inconsistencies on those tracks too, though. Unless they under perform on those tracks the amount of them should ensure some Chase representation.
Where the Roush cars were really hurting, I thought, was on the short tracks and the flat tracks. Save for Biffle at Bristol, and Edwards (and Biffle, I guess) at Pocono, Roush was pretty much a non factor on most of those track types last year and really didn’t show any improvement as the year went on. Unless they show some unlikely drastic improvement on those, I think we’ll see whatever Chase representation they have finishing closer to 12th than to 1st when Homestead rolls around.
I would say an improvement is likely, but I don’t know. In reading some comments from the Roush camp during the off season, it seems like their still quite puzzled as to why they under performed last year and what they would have to do to improve for this season. You can’t fix the problem if you don’t know exactly what it is and how to do it.
I would have to agree with you on Gordon struggling with his year in nascar. Gordon’s back issues will be a bother for sure, and him now having two kids won’t really help him that much either. Now, will he make the Chase, more than likely, will he finish in the top 5? maybe, maybe not, I almost bet though that he won’t finish 3rd or better this year, maybe somewhere around 5th through 9th. I think Jeff is kinda becoming the other Jeff(Burton) in that, wherever he will finish is wherever he will finish and that’s that. Agree or disagree with me, this is solely my opinion.