Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton? He made the chase? Yes, he did race fans. We have another Matt Kenseth on our hands. Jeff Burton is one of the few drivers in the garage that are respected by every other driver they race against. Jeff has always thrived off consistency, and even though he may not pull off 5 or 6 wins in the race to the chase, he not only captures the hearts of fans in those first 26 races, but he also takes his fair share of the points offered, and makes it into the Chase for the championship. Jeff picked up four top fives, and fourteen top tens in the 2010 season, and made the chase regardless of not winning. You can see Jeff's impeccable consistency through his almost 20 seasons of stats, that average him out to almost an 11th place finish throughout his whole career. After a hard 2009 season, where he finished a disappointing 17th in the standings, he moved up 10 positions in 2010, when he claimed 7th place in Las Vegas. I think Jeff will still be running on a high this season, looking to keep up RCR's momentum from the 2010 season going. Jeff will claim 8th in the season ending standings, and, unlike last season, I believe a few wins will also come along with that strong points performance.

Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Clint Bowyer

Last season was a year of major highs, and significant lows for racer Clint Bowyer. Clint was on his game all season long, with most analysts pointing out his outstanding consistency, and almost always coming to the finish line. Clint spend post of the season in the top 12 in points, except for a few rare occasions. Once chase time rolled around, he was in and ready to fight for the Tiffany Trophy given away at Homestead. He started off the chase the right way, with a fantastic win at New Hampshire, after Tony Stewart ran out of gas at the end of the race. Clint was almost on top of the standings, and was planning on knocking Jimmie Johnson off the stage in Las Vegas, when it all came to a sudden halt. The #33 Chevy didn't pass post race inspection. NASCAR brought the car back to the R&D center, where it was assured that yes, the car did fail inspection. The past week in Richmond, the #33 car almost didn't pass inspection, and NASCAR gave the team a stern warning. Clint lost 150 points in the chase, and he lost his crew chief. This ended his championship run completely. Clint wasn't done winning yet though. Clint came back to win at Talledega, just edging out teammate Kevin Harvick for the win. Clint has major potential, but I think he will finish 10th this year. He will finish better than he did in 2010, but he will have to let this penalty go. Clint has been holding this chip on his shoulder, and won't forget about what happened. What happened, happened. You can't do anything now, and its time to move on. Personally, I don't think he will be able to let it go, so I believe he will finish 10th in the points, making it in on points, not on the wild card. I also believe he will win multiple races, just hopefully not in Tony Stewart's detriment this time, or lose more points than he gains out of these wins.