Category #3

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope your 2008 year comes in with a bang!

Let’s take a sneak peek at the 2008 Cobo Cup 3rd category.

Ranked #1 – Carl Edwards. Edwards missed the Chase in 2006 by finishing 11th but came back with a mid season surge to make the Chase in 2007 and finished 9th. With 3 wins in 2007, Carl is definitely a hot and cold driver but has little things in his life to destract him from getting the job done. 2007 gave us a look at Edwards dark side as he showed some anger in a couple of races and a new passion for the sport. Equipment will make the difference in whether Edwards makes the Chase and wins this category of not. Even with an average finish of 10th in the last 2 years Edwards drops from category #2 to category #3 in 2008.

Ranked #2 – Kurt Busch. Finishing 16th in 2006 then jumping into the 2007 Chase and finishing 7th this past Cup Champion moves 3 spots up in the 2008 Cobo Cup. Kurt ran terrible in the first half of the 2007 season but like Edwards worked his way with 2 wins to make the 2007 Cup Chase. He was outstanding in the Chase moving 3 spots to place 7th in the final race at Homestead. The only Penske driver to make the Chase in 2007 tells me that Kurt is the man to pick when it comes to Penske teams. Busch has handed over his drivers points to new 2008 teammate Sam Hornish Jr. So Busch has to make the first 5 races in qualifying on speed or burn a past Champions provisional. Average finish in the 2006/2007 season – 11.5.

Ranked #3 – Greg Biffle. Here’s a driver that I picked in 2007 to top category #3 but ended up 14th overall and the bottom of the barrel. A drop from a 13th place finish in 2006 gives Biffle an average finish of 13.5 to keep him in the 3rd category for 2008. My personal opinion is that Biffle just had a bunch of bad luck last year and should bounce back in 2008 to make the Chase for the Championship.

Ranked #4 – Martin Truex Jr. – Truex captured his first Cup win in 2007 and placed 11th in the Chase. Placing 19th in 2006, Martin moves up 8 spots in 2007 and slides up 1 category to #3 in 2008. Was it a fluke to make the Chase in 2007 for Truex? The 2007 Cobo Cup Champ (Manxman) didn’t think so as one of his picks was Truex Jr. Average finish in the 2006/2007 season – 15.

Ranked #5 – Ryan Newman. Not sure what to make of Newman. He seems to go fast in qualifying (5 poles in 2007) but goes backwards in the race. Is it Penske’s equipment or Newman’s driving skills that keeps Ryan out of the Chase format? Placed 18th in 2006 and finished 13th in 2007, Ryan averaged a 15.5 place finish in points in the last 2 years which barely qualifies him for category #3. Even in the classic points Newman would have finished 268 points out of the 12th spot. A plus for Newman is that he did improve by 5 positions in the last 2 years. He is definately heading in the right direction to start the 2008 season.

So there you have it, my 2008 Cobo Cup category #3 rankings. A very tough category to pick from. Any one of these teams could top the category by Homestead.

Look for my category #4 picks sometime next week.

Until then …

Nuff Said.

Jimbo (The Pitbull)