Pit Stop Report

As promised, I’m going to bare all here at the Pit Stop Report and lay out the predictions from my ill-fated magazine article, and then compare them to reality. Some are funny, some actually on target. Either way, get your fill here!

Prediction
A large change will be coming to NASCAR in 2007 – the introduction of a new vehicle to a field that has been held down for years by Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge. The long-awaited debut of Toyota vehicles will occur at this year’s Daytona 500, with drivers Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and Dale Jarrett. All three drivers have had triumphs and heartbreaks in previous seasons and all are at different places in their respective careers. Perhaps this willingness to become poster children for Toyota’s first year will pay off in gold, allowing careers that haven’t been spectacular in recent years to rebound with style. The Toyota team is rounded off by Dave Blaney, Brian Vickers, rookie David Reutimann, and former open-wheel racer AJ Allmendinger, but any potential victories will likely not come from their camps. Toyota’s best bet for victory in 2007 will appear in Jeremy Mayfield, whose career should become totally revitalized with the move to a new team and a new car, redeeming him from the misery he endured in 2006. Don’t count out Dale Jarrett, either, as he looks to show that his career is still moving forward and he continues his strategic partnership with UPS. Michael Waltrip may have an early victory in ’07, but seems to be more involved in the business end of bringing Toyota to Nextel Cup racing than in actually racing a Toyota.

Reality
Jeremy Mayfield as the brightest hope for Toyota? What the heck was I smoking? Jeremy Mayfield finished the season in 45th place, 1 place behind Michael Waltrip, who raced in 3 less events! ACK! Mayfield didn’t even spend the whole season in his Toyota, jumping to a Chevy ride in October.

And speaking of Michael, it seems that I was right about him being more concerned about business than driving. Not sure where the talent went that was present when he won the Daytona 500 in 2001, but I can’t even see it with binoculars these days. Mikey, Mikey, where have you gone?! His season started out miserably with penalties, and didn’t get any better from there.

Dale Jarrett, despite his continuing popularity due to his partnership with UPS, disappointed me this year as well, finishing 41st with only 24 starts. Seems I didn’t count him out enough!

So who was the brightest start in a Toyota this year? Dave Blaney, who finished the season in 31st. That’s miserable at best.

So…now that you know that my crystal ball was obviously broken in 2007, you’ll definitely want to hurry on to my next post, look at predictions versus reality for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Until then, drive fast and turn left!

Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, Toyota Racing, NASCAR, Dale Jarrett, David Reutimann, AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers