This week is a restrictor plate race. Restrictor plates were introduced at super-speedways in 1988 after a crash by Bobby Allison in 1987. He hit a retaining fence going 210 mph and even though he did not enter the grandstands, spectators were injured.

The restrictor plate is a square aluminum plate that has four holes drilled into it. It is placed between the carburetor and the intake manifold to reduce the flow of air and fuel into the engine's combustion chamber, this reduces horsepower and speed.

The safety of restricting the speed is counterbalanced by the fact that you now have packs of car racing extremely close to each other. This will lead to ‘the big one’. It happened on the last lap at the Daytona 500 race in February and took out a lot of good drivers, sending Clint Boyer over the finish line on his hood and on fire.

Once again, we will witness some interesting strategies, but more on the track than off. Drafting is what gets all forty-three cars around the track the fastest, and the more cars you have in your drafting line, the better chance you have at being pushed to the front. But you also want the fastest and best handling cars in your line.

Drivers will work together in order to make their way to the front, and they may not necessarily be teammates. It is always interesting to see who ends up pushing who around the track. Of course, the closer they get to taking the checkered flag, the less likely they are to help push someone else over the finish line first.

I usually like to factor in qualifying when it comes time to pick my winners for the week. This week, it doesn’t matter. At Daytona, the car is impounded after qualifying, which means you start the race with the set up just like it was to qualify. Cars that are set up for speed will get you qualified well, but won’t run well when it comes to race time.

Fifty-three cars showed up at Daytona for the Pepsi 400 but only forty-three will race. Eighteen cars will fight for eight spots, which means they will set up to qualify. As of the time this article was written, the top seven qualifiers were ones who had to qualify to make the show. Drivers like Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte, ones who are in the top thirty-five, stated they would indeed not qualify well because they had their cars set up ready to race.

At Daytona, it can take less than a few laps to go from last to first, so where you start does not matter much here as long as ‘the big one’ does not happen on those first few laps.

Jeff Gordon has won here five times and is, much to my dismay, practically unstoppable this season. To leave him out of my picks would be foolish. The absence of his crew chief Steve Letarte did not make any difference last week and I doubt it will matter this week either.

The talk in the garage has been all about the big orange number twenty and even if they weren’t talking, Tony Stewart would still be in my top five. He has won the last two summer races here at Daytona and, like his teammate until last week, has been on the edge of a win more than once this season. I think it’s time we saw him climb the fence once again.

Following close behind Tony – but not too close since that’s what caused all the trouble at the Daytona 500 – is Kurt Busch. I was tempted to make him my dark horse, but I’ve someone else in mind for that. Kurt ran well in practice and had a very good car here in February. If they managed to put it back together the same and if he can sweet talk Tony into running with him again, though I wouldn’t hold my breath, he has a legitimate shot at winning.

It has been a while since we’ve seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the winner’s circle in Daytona, but I think he is poised to do so this weekend. He’s got Tony Eury Jr. back and he’s at a track he loves. What I am waiting to see is if he hooks up with his favorite drafting buddy Tony Stewart or maybe he will decide to go with his new teammates, Jeff and Jimmie.

I’ve spent a good while sitting here and staring at my screen trying to decide who will get the last spot on my list. If he can find a good drafting partner, maybe even his teammate in the number eight, Martin Truex Jr. should be in contention by the time the white flag waves.

My dark horse for this week was going to be Clint Boyer, but I changed my mind at the last minute. I hate to call my pick a dark horse but he has had forty-four starts here and has yet to post a win. He has had to endure watching his painful defeat of February all week long and maybe, just maybe, it’ll give him the gumption (that’s right, I said gumption) to bump back if it’s a down-to-the-wire race again. Maybe, finally, Mark Martin will get to victory lane in Daytona in a Cup car.

Off the Beaten Path

This week marks the last time we will see the ‘old’ style car at a restrictor plate race. I am still not sold on the car of tomorrow. I do like the concept that it gives small teams a chance to run and play with the big teams. I also am all for anything that is safer for the drivers. Then again, so is Jeff Burton but he’s not exactly singing the COT’s praises.

It will be interesting to see how the COT does on a super-speedway and I wonder if it will affect the way cars can draft.

I am glad that NASCAR took the leap and decided to go with a full schedule for the COT next year. This gives everyone an opportunity to focus on just it and make the playing field more even. Will this lead to more competition than just the big name teams of Hendrick, Childress, Roush and Gibbs? Only time will tell but I do hold out hope.

Have a question or comment for Jennifer? Email her at jenniferpatterson@sportsgrumblings.com.