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Nextel Cup Ready for Season 11

Daytona, FL - As you walk through the garage at Daytona you notice numerous things. Of course, 3 Time Champion Nick Phillips is there in the familiar #51 Mello Yello car. Two-time championship runner-up Rewbie Newsday is there looking to finally take home a title. Kai Collins is still in the #18 car, but the sponsor and car owner have changed, now he is a teammate with Paul Tracy. Two drivers, Kyle Kappe and David Yellope are making comebacks to the circuit after numerous seasons away from racing. And another solid class rookies, AJ Tucker, David Gonzalez and Tom Glaser are ready to race in the big leagues. But the biggest thing that you notice is that Chris Snow is not driving the #40 car any longer. After 10 seasons and 5 championships, Snow is here only as an owner now. Ren Snow has taken over the #40 car and Telle Snow is still driving the #79 car.

Predictions - Last Season finish in ( )

Normally we only predict the champion and the top ten finishers. This season we will be prediciting the entire 42 car standings.

1. (2) Rewbie Newsday - This is Newsday's year. He ended last season on a tear and finished only 4 points from the championship. He should at least equal his total of 2 wins and pick up a few more Top 5's and Top 10's this season as he picks up the title.

2. (3) Billy Bushinhimer - Now in third season in the FOFC Nextel Cup Season, 21-year old Billy Bushinhimer is looking to make a serious run at the championship. Last season he finished 3rd, only 38 back of the title. He led 17% of the laps for the entire season but 5 DNF's ruined his chances at a title. With more experience the DNF's should decrease.

3. (9) Jeeber D Mack - Jeeber D always qualified well last season picking up 3 poles. But no wins and only 1 Top 5 was all he could manage. This season expect the good qualifying to continue and the good finishes to pick up.

4. (5) Kevin Anderson - Last season Kevin tied for the series lead in poles, was 2nd in wins, 1st in Top 5's, 1st in Top 10's and 2nd in Laps Led. If he puts together those kind of numbers again this year he should be right near the top of the standings again, a championship is not out of the question at all.

5. (1) Nick Phillips - Last season Nick picked up his second consecutive championship, and third overall. But after he started the season very strong he looked average in the latter half of the season. I just don't see a third straight championship happening for Phillips this season, but he'll still be good.

6. (24) Ren Snow - Last season was a major disapointment for Ren Snow. A 24th place finish in the points with only 1 Top 5 was not what was expected from him. But with the retirement of Chris Snow and Ren now driving the #40, expect a much better season in which we'll see Ren find victory lane a couple of times.

7. (4) Telle Snow - Telle is always at the top of the final standings. Last year was no exception as she finished 4th only 42 points back. 3 wins and only 1 DNF was the key to the good season. She should be right up there again this year.

8. (11) Paul Tracy - Tracy is normally one of the more consistent drivers on the circuit. He always seems to finish just outside of the top ten though. He picked up only 1 Top 5 last season, a win, and 5 Top 5 finishes. But only 1 DNF was the key to his 11th place points finish. With the help of new teammate Kai Collins Paul should find himself in the Top 10 this season.

9. (34) Kai Collins - Did Kai Collins really finish 34th in the points last season? It's hard to believe but it did happen. It resulted in Snow Motorsports releasing him from his contract. ChampCar Motorsports ended up signing him just before teams were heading down to Daytona for Speedweeks. Expect a huge turnaround this season for Collins. A new team and new sponsor should be just what Collins needs to turn his career around.

10. (13) Sterling Silvers - Sterling had a very solid final half of the season last year and ended up finishing 13th in the standings. He never found victory lane last season but expect that to change this year. I expect to find Sterling in victory lane at least once this season as Sterling finds his way to the Nextel Cup Top Ten.

11. (15) Mike Tokunaga
12. (18) Mustafa Henderson
13. (16) Travis Elkin
14. (6) John Condor
15. (21) Johnny Benson
16. (19) Blade Tokunaga
17. (8) Shane Kormelink
18. (7) Rewbie Bluesday
19. (20) Sonny Daze
20. (NA) Kyle Kappe
21. (40) Jobu Mack
22. (35) Kool Breeze
23. (33) Jay Klayman
24. (29) It's Craptacular
25. (27) L. Jon Silvers
26. (23) Parris Duffus
27. (39) Al Kaholic
28. (NA) David Yellope
29. (30) Daniel Ertmann
30. (26) Rob Nielsen
31. (25) Antoine Marriucci
32. (22) Maximus Meridus
33. (R) David Gonzalez
34. (37) Bobby Mask
35. (42) Thomas Hudson
36. (R) Tom Glaser
37. (R) AJ Tucker
38. (31) He's Crapnificent
39. (32) Sloppy Joe
40. (36) Mark Christopher
41. (38) Mike Ritschel
42. (41) Dave Russell