Kasey Kahne a favorite to win the 500?

With about a month left until the Daytona 500, everybody has been wondering. Who is going to win the 500 in 2011? Who is going to be the first driver to win the first points race of the new season? The Daytona 500 is one of those races that NASCAR drivers want to be able to check off ‘running in the Daytona 500’ off their bucket lists. Can everyone think back to 2009? Rookie Joey Logano was making his first Daytona 500 at the age of 18. He’s been the youngest driver to start a Cup race from that day to November 7^th, 2010 when Trevor Bayne made his Sprint Cup debut. Two more rookie drivers will race in their first Daytona 500, Trevor Bayne and Steve Wallace. Who is most likely to win the Daytona 500? Jimmie Johnson? Jeff Gordon? Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Surprisingly, none of them won the poll. Red Bull Racing’s one-year driver Kasey Kahne won the poll. I was completely surprised. Kasey won in a land-slide, a whopping 14 votes from the 47 total votes cast. 17 drivers were nominated.

Results:

Kasey Kahne: 14

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 5

Jeff Gordon: 5

Denny Hamlin: 4

Kyle Busch: 3

Tony Stewart: 3

Kevin Harvick: 2

Jamie McMurray: 2

Ryan Newman: 1

Carl Edwards: 1

Clint Bowyer: 1

Mark Martin: 1

Brian Vickers: 1

Bobby Labonte: 1

Jimmie Johnson: 1

Michael Waltrip: 1

Jeff Burton: 1

I got everyone from Jimmie Johnson to Michael Waltrip (Who both got a vote each), Mark Martin (my vote) to Kyle Busch. Yeah, I voted for Mark Martin. Me, a die-hard Kasey Kahne fan, voted for Martin. Out of all the drivers that her nominated, 7 drivers (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Michael Waltrip) have won the 500 before. In the last nine Daytona 500s, there have been nine winners. Will someone who hasn’t won yet (Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch) win or will someone who has won win it? There is only one thing to do! Check out the Daytona 500 February 20^th, on FOX. Good luck to every one!

Jeff Gordon, Trevor Bayne, Austin Dillon top Popular Driver polls

After this year’s ridiculous Most Popular Driver vote, I was appalled that Dale Earnhardt Jr. won for the eighth time in a row. So, I decided to see for myself if he was really the most popular driver in NASCAR. Why just stop at the Cup Series? I did a poll for all three top touring series. The Cup results surprised me, but in a good way. Nationwide didn’t surprise me at all and the Truck series didn’t as well.

The Cup Series poll threw me for a loop. Jeff Gordon flew passed everyone, even the so-called Most Popular Driver for eight years running.

Cup:

Jeff Gordon- 6

Joey Logano- 3

Bobby Labonte- 2

Dale Earnhardt Jr.- 2

Ryan Newman- 1

Kevin Harvick- 2

Tony Stewart- 2

Kasey Kahne- 3

Carl Edwards- 2

Denny Hamlin- 1

Trevor Bayne blew everyone out of the water in the Nationwide poll. How did he not win Most Popular Driver?

NNS

Robert Richardson- 1

Kyle Busch- 1

Trevor Bayne- 10

Kenny Wallace- 3

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.- 1

Steve Wallace- 1

Joe Nemechek- 1

Austin Dillon rocked the Camping World Truck Series poll. Again, how did he not win the title?

Truck

Austin Dillon- 7

Ron Hornaday- 3

Mike Skinner- 1

Matt Crafton- 1

Todd Bodine- 1

Ricky Carmichael- 3

James Buescher- 1

What does this tell you? People are not voting right. If you want to see your favorite driver win, you have to vote. That’s what I did. I voted for Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne like crazy, but it didn’t matter because other fans like me weren’t voting. Let’s make a change for next season. Let’s take away the Most Popular Driver title away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and give it to someone who deserves it! When voting starts, vote, vote, vote!!

Colin Braun: NASCAR driver

As the years go on, NASCAR drivers are coming into the sport fairly young. 18, 19, 20 years old. Colin Braun, 22, is no exception. Signed by Roush Fenway in 2007, Colin has slowly become a household name. He won his first major NASCAR race on June 13^th, 2009 (Michigan 200)(my 18^th birthday). In 2010, Colin made the jump from the Truck series to the Nationwide series, piloting the #16 Conway-Freight Ford, joining fellow Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Nationwide Series Champion Carl Edwards. Colin made 24 starts this past season, earning 5 top 10’s, but also 7 DNFs. You can say that Colin’s rookie season was a rollercoaster, especially when he was benched for a select races. Then, on December 1^st, Colin was released from his contract with Roush Fenway Racing because of sponsorship issues.

This piece of news rocked Twitter land, almost as much as the release of Trevor Bayne from DWR, or Kasey Kahne being released from his contract with RPM. The released raised some questions. What happened? Why did it happen? What was behind the split? It’s like a celebrity relationship, it happens. Sometimes, it doesn’t have a reason.

You’re probably wondering how I got Colin Braun to answer some questions. I have no clue, really. I tweeted him hoping to get a response, and I did. What comes to mind when you hear Colin Braun? Talented? Roush Fenway? I even got the answer of ‘surprisingly low water bill’ from the Nationwide series commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cayG6MjjUqM). Everybody is wondering, Who is Colin Braun?

How did you get into racing? My dad was an engineer for a race team so I grew up with the sport.

How old were you when your first raced? I started out in quarter midgets at age 5.
Who got you into racing? My Dad

What were your emotions when you found you that your were going to drive for Roush Fenway? I was really excited to take my career to the next level

What is the best experience you have had since starting? Wining the Michigan truck race!

Who help you the most in your racing career? Definitely my Dad

When you won your first Truck race, what were you feeling? Really excited!

Who is your biggest supporter? My family

Were there any people that thought you wouldn’t get to where you are now? Yeah there's always doubters of course, but I just stay focused on what my goals are and continue to learn what I can do better.

Do you have any idea of where you may be next season? Not yet. Still working on the details but I'll keep everyone posted!

What do you doing during the off-season? I work at my personal shop and try to go karting.

If you weren’t racing, what would you be doing? I love working on stuff and tinkering. I'd have to say I'd be a maintenance man!

What do you think about Jimmie Johnson making history? Pretty cool

Do you see yourself in the Cup series sometime soon? Hopefully! That's the goal!

Pre-race rituals? Superstitions? Nothing really. Just try to keep a clear head.

Do you do any charity work? I try to do as many autograph signings and charity events as possible.

Anything else you want your fans to know about you? Crazy habits? I love to mow my grass!

As you can see, Colin Braun started his racing career early, he has the support of his family, and he loves to mow his grass. Colin is a great driver, a great person, and full of talent. He great to his fans. He just needs a chance to show off his talents.

Colin can be found on twitter: www.twitter.com/colinbraun

You can find me on twitter: www.twitter.com/SamRaeBayne

Kenny Francis tops Chad Knaus

Everyone is missing the NASCAR season, well so am I. In my recent boredom, I decided to take a poll. Actually, three polls.

First. If you were a NASCAR driver, which current Cup crew chief would you want to have? The usuals came up. Chad Knaus and Zippy, along with Mike Ford, Dave Rogers. Out of the 23 people who answered (yeah, it was that pathetic! Lol), the majority said three drivers. That kind of didn’t surprise me. What surprised me is that Chad Knaus DIDN’T get the most votes. Who did? That would be Kenny Francis, Kasey Kahne’s crew chief. I was fairly surprised that Kenny not only kept up with Chad, beat him in my poll. David Ragan’s crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, made the list. Who can spell Blickensderfer without cheating?

Why did people pick Kenny Francis? I know why I did. It’s not because he is my favorite driver’s crew chief. It’s because of who he handles his driver under pressure. Kenny listens to Kasey when he has a problem. He tries to calm Kasey down when he is mad. He never gets angry with Kasey.

Results:

1. Kenny Francis- 8

2. Chad Knaus- 7

3. Greg Zipadelli- 3

4.Darian Grubb- 1

- Tony Eury Sr.- 1

- Mike Ford- 1

- Alan Gustafson- 1

- Drew Blickensderfer- 1

- Dave Rogers- 1

Second question: if you were to start your own NASCAR team and could have any driver, which current Cup driver would you choose? This completely surprised me. Out the 20 answers I got, only ONE said Jimmie Johnson. I am blown away that people wouldn’t want 5-time Cup champion on as their driver. I guess people don’t want to win. Jk! There was a tie for first. Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne received the same amount of votes. As my computer went into hibernation on me because it doesn’t tell me when I need to plug in anymore, I thought of some guys that missed the list: Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch.

Who did I pick? I picked Kasey Kahne. He has to be one of the most under-rated drivers out there. He is talented, but doesn’t quite have the career stats to show it.

Results:

1. Denny Hamlin: 4

- Kasey Kahne: 4

2. Tony Stewart: 2

- Kyle Busch: 2

- Ryan Newman: 2

3. Kevin Harvick: 1

- Jamie McMurray: 1

- Dale Jr.: 1

- Joey Logano: 1

- Jeff Gordon: 1

- Marcos Ambrose: 1

- Jeff Burton: 1

- Jimmie Johnson: 1

　

Third question: What is your favorite track? This one was easier to answer than the other two. It was pretty much a straight forward question. There are so many tracks to choose from: Pocono (the Tricky Triangle), Martinsville (The World’s Fastest Half-Mile), Darlington (The Lady in Black). Two of those three actually made the list. Two came out on top: Bristol and Charlotte. Two of my favorite tracks.

　

Results:

Bristol: 5

Charlotte: 5

Dover: 4

Talladega: 3

Dover: 3

Daytona: 2

Martinsville: 2

Pocono: 2

Indianapolis: 1

Atlanta: 1
Homestead: 1

　

If I didn’t get your votes, please feel free to comment them!

(Colin Braun exclusive to come soon! Stay tuned!)