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Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he ran the race of his life on Sunday Night. It sure paid off in victory lane at Daytona.
Junior won his second Daytona 500, 10 years after the first time he did so. It’s been a year and a half before his last victory at Michigan and I think he really did have the best car Sunday.
He did a great job in every aspect, but picking up a piece of bare bond on the last caution flag helped the aerodynamics of the car and Jeff Gordon’s push on the restart didn’t hurt things either. A block Denny Hamlin at the flagstand in one of the longest Daytona 500’s in history sealed it.
And how fitting was it for Steve Letarte to win the 500 as Junior’s crew chief considering he will be going to the broadcast booth next year?
By the way, let’s go back to one week ago. I said Matt Kenseth would win Duel race #1 on Thursday. Check! I then said Denny Hamlin takes the second duel race. Check!! And finally, I went out on a limb and picked Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the 500 on Sunday. Check!!! At a track that is incredibly tough to predict, I ended up with all three right answers this week. Don’t worry, I won’t get another prediction correct the rest of the year, but that was fun. On second thought, I am up for going to Vegas if anybody offers.
While I am at it, I will take Carl Edwards at Phoenix this weekend.
As we look forward in the high school basketball playoffs this week, Rutherford County has five teams in the postseason. East Rutherford’s boys are playing their best basketball right now and could see a very good Monroe in Union County during the third round on Friday.
Thomas Jefferson’s boys could make it to the third round and if so, would likely see Avery on the road, Friday.
If R-S Central’s boys can survive more than likely their first two 2A road games, they would probably have to visit Shelby in the third round.
On the other side, it’s a shot in the dark as to who the ladies will be playing if they can make it to Friday night. East Rutherford girls who should host the first couple of rounds or Thomas Jefferson’s girls, who be on the road throughout. The East girls have a really good shot at going a long way, but we will see what happens.
For all those ACC basketball fans, I told those who were concerned about North Carolina to not worry. Right now, the Tarheels are the second hottest team in the league with eight straight wins, but for the exception of Virginia (11 straight wins). Both of those programs are NCAA tourney bound, but who would of thought Virginia may end up winning the ACC regular season title outright this year? Two of Virginia’s last three games are at home and the Cavaliers are about unbeatable there.
Going back to North Carolina again, they maybe the most puzzling team in the ACC this season, but now they are good enough to make an ACC tourney and NCAA tourney run.
Duke and Syracuse are easily in the NCAA Tourney as nothing less than a three seed at this point. Both could win the conference or NCAA Tourney as well. Pittsburgh has lost three in a row, but if they can win two of their next four then that should get five ACC teams in. However, Florida State, N.C. State, Maryland and Clemson all have a shot of making a the dance. Realistically, N.C. State or Clemson have the best shot as both have three games left at home. They also have a better ACC and overall records then the other two on the list.
