Alright fella the 2019 season is fast approaching and there were a ton of changes from the aero, schedule, and major engine packages changes to more than usual number of driver changes in all 3 series..I will try and not get get too technical, but figured it may help to remind everybody of some points to consider...imo all the technical changes are gonna make the 1st month min. be very cautious betting wise on them...just a quick summary of things:
1. NEW ENGINE and AERO PACKAGES.....now when when we kick off the season at Daytona 500 where they are using the 2018 cars, but after that the tracks are going to tapered spacers..will have to wait and see during speed weeks for that but they did this to try and not see the follow the leader shit we saw last season too much..but thankfully NASCAR wisely went away from plates at all larger tracks and went with spacers...thank god for us bettors........but on all tracks 1.2 mile and larger there is a 200 horsepower reduction from 750 to 550 and more down-force added to the cars that NASCAR thinks should make racing closer and better...the spoilers are going up almost 6 inches from 2.6 to 8 inches tall at almost all bigger tracks minus a couple...also changes to air ducts in front at certain tracks but no need to go any deeper on that.....I have heard this almost every time changes are being made the last 10 years so we will just have to wait and see about how this works out on the racetrack...
Also some of those changes are in an effort so the engines can be used for a lot more races hoping to entice new teams to the sport and lower costs...they really took a big big swings with all these changes at different tracks
2. NEW FORD CARS......well last season we saw what getting a new car meant for Chevy teams..It took them almost the entire year to even get 1 driver competitive weekly and that was Elliott...They say they underestimated how much it would take to get a grip on things..Not to mention Larson;s owner didn't even buy that team a optical scanner which cost them all season Big time. So when it comes to new Fords we really just have to wait and see cause there's really no way of knowing all we need to without being in real racing action...maybe with other changes it wont be as bad for Ford as it was Chevy last season, but i sure wouldn't count on it..
3.WILL CHEVY BE BACK STRONG??....This is just an open question since we did see improvements only Elliott was a serious threat and that didn't happen til end of the summer...I'm guessing they will be and have been working non stop during the off season to do so.. but they still had a very LONG way to go last season to compete speed wise, but maybe these changes for all teams may help them speed that up...
4.. DRIVER CHANGES.....will just list the major ones quickly:
Trucks:
Burton in KBM #18 full time
Creed will drive for GMS full time(no # yet)
Xfinity:
Gragson to #1 JR motorsports #1
Reddick moving to RCR car (no # yet)
Cindric will be full time in #22 Penske
Briscoe to #98 full time SHR car
Chastain was in #42 car, but team shut down last week and no word on options
Cup:
Truex to #19 JGR car
Suarez to #41 SHR car
Kurt B. to #1 CGR car
Newman to #6 Rousch car
Hemric to #31 RCR car
Preece to #47 car
Well that's just a quick recap of some important things that changed this off season...Even more than usual its gonna take 4-6 races imo to start to get a grasp on the performance of each car and team and maybe a little longer we will just have to wait and see...They have tested ect but that's NOT gonna tell us anything at all until we see real racing conditions...exactly 39 days until the Daytona 500!!! CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any of you guys feel free to add anything else I missed or any questions I may try and help answer...Looking forward to another successful season boys!!!!!!!!!!!