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8-2-04
Here we are into August
and it’s time to take a serious look at the run for the
championship at Old Dominion Speedway. I’ll do a little
handicapping and give you some odds; good luck finding a
bookie who will let you place a bet.
A few weeks ago it looked
like Danny Fair would take an easy cruise to the track
championship, now the picture is not as clear. Fair still has
a comfortable lead in the late model standings but the sense
of being ‘unbeatable’ has worn off a bit. I don’t think Danny
has gone backwards as much as his nearest rivals have leapt
forward.
Andreas Kestermann is now
a favorite to win on any given Saturday night. His car is
well prepared and Andreas’ temperament is well suited for the
rough and tumble world of short track racing. Kestermann has
also seemed to genuinely enjoy his transition from ‘solid
racer’ to ‘solid winner’. His four feature wins are second
only to Danny Fair but, at 98 points out of the lead, Andreas
will need to win at least five more and hope for some bad luck
from his competitors if he is to secure his first late model
crown.
ODDS 10-1
Jack Bailey is a talented
race car driver with excellent equipment. He’s picked up 3
Dash wins and a feature win this season and the consistent
finishes are starting to come. Jack needs to get into a
groove starting this week if he’s going to have any chance of
tracking down the leader. Jack has to be sure he’s in the
Dash each week (no driver has won a feature this year starting
from outside the top six) and then race for the win. Like
Kestermann, he’ll need some luck to take the title; 70 points
is a lot of ground to make up.
ODDS 8-1
Brandon Butler came to Old
Dominion Speedway this year with a clearly defined goal; win
the track title and make a run at the regional and national
crowns as well. So far this season Butler has fallen short,
but his performance right now seems the strongest to date.
Butler has one feature win this season and is Fair’s closest
pursuer in the points race. Butler must win at least four
more races this year to have a chance. The gap stands at 34
points. Let’s put that into perspective. If 18 cars started
a race and Danny had, let’s say a tire problem that he had to
change under green and lost two laps and finished 14th
and Brandon won the race; that 34 points would be cut to just
8. In other words, Brandon could overcome a 34 point deficit
in these final races.
ODDS 4-1
I said Brandon ‘could’
overcome a 34 point deficit but it won’t be easy. A bad night
for Danny is finishing third, Danny could finish the rest of
the races in third and still win no matter what the
competition did. With that said, it only takes one bad night
to throw the whole thing into a tail-spin. Danny is driving a
great car and he’s been around enough to know how to stay
cool. If Danny relaxes and doesn’t start to feel the pressure
he will win.
ODDS 5-4
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