2007: what do you expect will happen next year

[harvick#1]

hopefully they will push Speed to be on a normal Cable package, that way I can finally get it

[harvick#1]

ESPN will only cover the 7 Nextel Cup races just before the Chase :

anything is better than NBC, they are the worst broadcasting team in US television

[jeffconn]

The ABC races will be branded "ESPN on ABC" like they've been branding the college football broadcasts this season. The ABC and ESPN teams should be exactly the same.

[Labonte Massa]

My predictions...

A) The ratings will drop.
B) The racing will be boring.
C) The TV coverage will still be bad.
D) I won't be watching.

It's a shame that all four of those will be true...what happened to the old NASCAR?

[harvick#1]

what happened to the old NASCAR?

it ended when Earnhardt died

[RaceFanStan]

harv, that is sad but true.
Dale Earnhardt wouldn't have stood still for some of the changes NASCAR has made.
In fact Bill Jr probably wouldn't handed-off to Butthead Brian if Dale had lived.
Some of the safety changes are a ripple effect of Dale Earnhardt's passing.
It isn't the same NASCAR as it was in 2000.

[RaceFanStan]

People have ridiculed me for saying Dale Earnhardt could have stopped some NASCAR changes.
Bill Elliott may have consistantly gotten "Most Popular Driver" but Dale Earrnhardt had the biggest fanbase.
When Dale Earnhardt spoke, NASCAR listened.

When we lost Dale Earnhardt, we lost a friend & spokesman for the fans.
Now all you have are policitally correct drivers who blindly eat what NASCAR serves.

[dwboogityfan]

Things to happen in 2007 (possibly!)

- Ginn Racing to be the surprise success of the season. If Sterling and Joe can qualify well for the first few races I see them (along with Mark Martin) contending on a weekly basis.
- Michael Waltrip to miss the Daytona 500, along with both the Red Bull Racing cars.
- Bobby Labonte to win a race for Petty Enterprises and possibly make the chase.
- Juan Montoya to be rookie of the year and finish top 15 in points.
- Martin Truex Jr and Casey Mears to win their first races
- Dave Blaney to be the highest Toyota car in points but outside the top 20.
- Robert Yates to choose another rookie to drive the #88 (possibly David Starr from the Truck Series) and struggle to keep both cars in the top 35.
- Carl Edwards to win the Nextel Cup.

[SmokeFan20]

1. Knaus & Johnson will be caught cheating again. NASCAR will slap Johnson on the wrist and send Knaus on vacation again.

2. Petty Enterprises will win a COT race at Martinsville.

3. Carl Edwards will be the only Ford & Roush driver to make the chase. Matt Kenseth will win only two races. Greg Biffle & Jamie McMurray will both pull off single pit strategy wins
David Ragan will fall out of the top 35 after the fifth race and never recover.

4. Robby Gordon Motorsports will be the best Ford team outside of Roush.

5. Robert Yates Racing will merge will Wood Brothers just to keep their teams alive.

6. Michael Waltrip will retire at the end of the season and take a booth job.

7. Toyota will win at least two races.

8. Penske will announce that he's switching his team to Toyota for '08 during the chase next year.

9. Juan Pablo Montoya will win his first race at Talladega.

10. Kevin Harvick will win the most races of the season, but Dale Earnhardt Jr will win the championship.

11. Tony Stewart will win the Daytona 500 and will repeat as IROC Champion *if IROC is around next season that is*

12. Carl Edwards will lose the Busch Series championship to Kevin Harvick, who announces after winning the Hershey Product 300 at Daytona that he will run another full season in Busch.

13. Toyota will drop support on the Truck Series after Todd Bodine repeats.

14. 50% of the races ratings will be up from last year but the other halfs ratings will match or worse than 2006.

15. People will complain about NASCAR no matter what they do.
Examples:
-People complained about Kenseth winning the Cup by a million points. NASCAR changed the point system. People complained about that.
-People complained about drivers racing back to the caution. NASCAR changed that. Now people complain about it.
-People complained about races ending under caution. NASCAR created "Green-White-Checkers". People complain about that too.
-People whined about drivers leading and winning by over 5 seconds. NASCAR starts throwing cautions to bunch the field back up. People cry about that.
-People complain about Cup races and comment about how great the Trucks are. NASCAR creates the "COT", wich borrows from the Trucks design. Now people are complaining about the COT before it has even seen it's first race.

[Mark in Oshawa]

My picks for next year will be pretty simple.


First off, Toyota will be competitive right off the top. REAL quick....other teams will squak and NASCAR will be lobbied to handicap the Toyota teams in some way, likely led by Jack Roush will who will be vociferious in his argument.

Tony Stewart will lay a beating on the rest of the world as he goes into 2007 with something to prove. A motivated Tony Stewart means Smoke will win his 3rd championship in 2007.

Roush's team will lose its focus and struggle with all 4 cars hanging on to the top 15. Maybe only 2 make it to the chase.

Mark Martin will get a taste of reality as he struggles to get his car in to the top 20 race after race. MB2 (now Ginn) is NOT Roush Racing. Reality will set in for Mark, and by the end of the year, he will be looking at just running CTS or maybe Busch races only for DE2.

Jr and Gordon, despite being the two most popular guys will do ok, not great and both will likely not like it but not be looking for big changes either.

Jimmie Johnson will struggle. Now that the mountain has been climbed, Knaus will discover getting on top is one thing, staying there is something else again...

Bobby Labonte will put the 43 into the Chase. This is my most ambitious pick and yet I believe all the money and people the Petty's have hired will make an impact. That and Dodge has been good about supporting all their teams, and seeing the 43 be competitive will be a boost for Dodge.

Oh yes, the COT? Well, it wont look as funny looking as we originally thought. It will work and I suppose us fans will get used to it. I don't know what was wrong with the cars we had, but that is NASCAR's call.

Oh yes, ABC will do ok at the TV side of things, but I predict by next year, we will spend a lot of time complaining about Rusty Wallace's color commentary. Some will like Rusty, and a lot might just wish he would shut up.