S/H LOOKING GOOD! SUNDAY QUALS.........

I thought for sure Newman would be slow as a turtle but was happily surprised by how fast his car was for quals. All three S/H cars were good....thank goodness!

Newman will be side pole next to Jeff Gordon this coming Thursday for the Dual II!

Danica on the pole.....HUH?....congrats to her and her fans!

See, Yee of little faith!..... Good Things come to those who wait! I can't believe it......SHR was incredible! They Smoked'em!

See, Yee of little faith!..... Good Things come to those who wait! I can't believe it......SHR was incredible! They Smoked'em!

I can appreciate your positive enthusiasm Annalee!

Being a Ryan Newman fan all these years has made me a cautious fan emotionally. So many years of pretending things are ok when they were not at all! Newman fans have never experienced a Championship win or even a close run at it. Many years Newman was not even in the Chase! So much disappointment honestly.

Looking forward to the race this Thursday to get a feel for the new and hopefully improved Team #39!

With Ryan and Tony's time nearly equal - and Danica over a tenth quicker...I still say it's her weight that made the difference. I thought one of the rule changes with this car was taking more ballast out, not sure teams use ballast here anyway (or if they're required?) at Daytona - but with the smallest things making a difference, this has to be it. Cause we know it wasn't Tony Gibson?

Have to admit as a die-hard Newman fan and given the current situation, I probably wouldn't have chosen this weekend to go the way it did to start the year off. Harvick wins the shootout, than Danica the pole? Just adds to the reasoning with Tony signing these guys and letting Ryan go I guess. Even though I'm not a hater of Danica by any means and I always liked Harvick also.

With Ryan and Tony's time nearly equal - and Danica over a tenth quicker...I still say it's her weight that made the difference. I thought one of the rule changes with this car was taking more ballast out, not sure teams use ballast here anyway (or if they're required?) at Daytona - but with the smallest things making a difference, this has to be it. Cause we know it wasn't Tony Gibson?

Have to admit as a die-hard Newman fan and given the current situation, I probably wouldn't have chosen this weekend to go the way it did to start the year off. Harvick wins the shootout, then Danica the pole? Just adds to the reasoning with Tony signing these guys and letting Ryan go I guess. Even though I'm not a hater of Danica by any means and I always liked Harvick also.

Nascar is so emotionally "real time" in most fans eyes it seems 8Ballin. It's,"What have you done for me lately" in all honesty regardless who's fault it is as the final results each racing year.

If Newman had 6 DNF'S "NOT" of his doing. Many fans don't see it that way. They immediately blame the diver in conversation. You hear,"Newman stinks" as if he intentionally wants to get caught up in wrecks! They have zero emotions invested so it's an easy thing to say. If your driver isn't up front at any particular race. He/she is often not even mentioned by the broadcasters sadly.

Plus, don't forget..........big difference in qualifying trim and race day trim. Newman would usually drop off dramatically in race trim and that would really worry you. Although that may not be as dramatic a transition being a restrictor race?

There's lots to look forward to for us "die hard" fans 8Ballin seriously! No comparison between Gibson and Borland. Still a mystery admittedly as far as Newman's new crew? It only takes "one bad apple" in the team chemistry and all is lost.

BOTTOM LINE: Is car speed..........and about a million other things!

If you notice when you sign in, none of the SHR pit crew photos are listed...but from what has been said in the news when Tony Gibson changed from Ryan to Danica, the pit crew went with Tony Gibson. As for weight in the car, everyone is equal....they add or subtract depending on the size of the driver. I really don't know if it is up to the crew chief as to were they distribute the extra weight....
Ryan and Matt have a clean slate, now it is up to Ryan to make things happen and so far he out qualified his Boss....not to bad! Come on, you both, as fans need to support him.

I'm not sure Nascar does or can do anything to require that all the cars weigh the same, but you're right there is a minimum weight requirement - so if a car doesn't meet the requirement, the team will add "ballast" (tungsten weights) to the lower frame of the car, typically the left side to meet the weight requirement.

For 2013 the weight of these cars has decreased with a lowered minimum weight requirement, specifically Nascar has set limits on the amount of ballast that can be used both on left and right side...I think this is where I was getting confused. I guess theoretically this shouldn't affect anything, as the 10 team would still have to present a car to meet minimum weight, just they wouldn't use the same amount as ballast as last year because the minimum weight is lower now.

But, are the new minimum weights for this year high enough to compensate for the heavier drivers?, as potentially Ryan and Tony's cars are above minimum weight while Danica's would not be. Or the usage of the ballast itself may have an effect on the engineering and speed of a car.

I'm just grasping...but doesn't make sense how Danica's car was faster than Ryan and Tony's all weekend, and all three were very consistent in the times this weekend. Plus when they showed the "ghosting" with Danica and Tony's car, she was pulling away on the backstretch. How does that happen? unless there's a slightly greater power-to-weight ratio I would think.

Danica was slightly faster than Ryan and Tony because she drove a slightly diff line. She hugged the bottom of the track, where they were slightly higher towards the middle of the track.

wind during qualifying can help or hurt...helped Danica...all that was needed given how close the times between each position are...

wind during qualifying can help or hurt...helped Danica...all that was needed given how close the times between each position are...

+1
Wind is the difference maker.
The good thing is all 3 SHR cars looked like rockets.
Winner comes from a hendrick or Gibbs engine. (what is that, half the field LOL)