New Year's Resolutions: What Each NASCAR Chase Contender is Promising for 2011
With New Year's Day soon upon us, teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are already thinking ahead to next season.
Every year teams take a look in the mirror and around the competitive landscape to find better ways of positioning themselves for a title run in the upcoming season.
Here's a look at 12 drivers who could be gunning for the 2011 Sprint Cup championship and what they might be resolving to do as New Year's Day approaches.
12. Matt Kenseth
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Just win baby.
That's what Matt Kenseth is thinking heading into 2011.
Shut out of victory lane in 2010, he's approaching two full years since his last win.
He swept the first two events of 2009 and has gone oh-fer ever since.
If Kenseth wants to truly return to championship form, he'll need to start notching wins.
The Chase has made it nearly impossible to win a title with the consistent, yet unspectacular way he's modeled his career. He has to be able to get the bonus points to become a serious threat again.
11. Juan Pablo Montoya
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Juan Montoya has the horsepower. Now he just has to make it work for him.
His teammate Jamie McMurray won with the ECR engines, and those powerplants almost propelled Kevin Harvick to a title.
He has to figure out how to use his advantages under the hood and consistently compete on the ovals.
That is, unless of course, he resolves to lobby NASCAR to add a dozen more road courses to the schedule.
10. Jamie McMurray
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Make the Chase.
That's Jamie McMurray's resolution for 2011.
He's shown he can win on the sport's biggest stages, but he fills the gaps between those moments with pedestrian performances that take him out of championship contention.
This year McMurray has to validate those marquee wins with a Chase appearance in order to move his career to the next level.
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9. Clint Bowyer
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Clint Bowyer has everything.
He's got the talent, the looks and the personality to be a superstar in this sport.
He just has to figure out how to be a player in more races.
Bowyer needs to resolve to make the short tracks his playground.
He has a knack for getting around them, and he has to pick up the wins on them to position himself for the Chase.
Without the penalty that cost him 150 points, Bowyer would have been a player in the points race. He needs to find a place to make his mark this season, and the short tracks would be a great start.
8. Tony Stewart
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Tony Stewart should be one of the iconic figures in the sport.
Ever since the death of Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR has suffered from a gaping void when it comes to the wise statesman of the garage area.
Stewart could claim that role.
Seven titles are probably out of reach, but he could secure his legacy with a couple more championships and by making more profound contributions to the sport's future with his wisdom.
Stewart should resolve to embrace that role.
7. Kyle Busch
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Kyle Busch needs to resolve to relax.
He's probably one of the greatest pure talents the sport has seen in quite some time, but his head gets in the way.
Mental mistakes cost him in spots where his talent has given him so much.
Busch needs to figure out how to not let the last lap affect how he's going to drive the next one.
6. Denny Hamlin
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According to SB Nation's Jeff Gluck, Denny Hamlin went without talking to Mike Ford, his crew chief, from the time between Homestead and the awards banquet.
That's not good.
Everyone knows the story of the miscommunication at Phoenix, which cost Denny Hamlin spots that may have been the difference in the championship.
This year, Denny Hamlin needs to resolve to do a better job of communicating with his crew chief.
Not making that resolution for 2010 may have cost him the title.
5. Greg Biffle
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It took Roush Racing and Greg Biffle a while to get to victory lane in 2010.
That can't happen when you're gunning for a title.
Biffle needs to resolve to get to victory lane early in 2011 and establish himself as a threat for the title.
Now that Ford has figured out the FR9 engine, he should be a contender, and he should try to make that fact known early in 2011.
4. Kevin Harvick
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Kevin Harvick has developed a reputation as one of the best closers in the sport over the last season.
He became a master at getting a good finish out of a bad start.
How much better would he finish though if he didn't spend most of the race at a disadvantage to other contenders?
Harvick needs to resolve to become a better qualifier in 2011.
It's a lot easier to get to the lead when you can see it.
3. Jeff Gordon
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Jeff Gordon has watched while his hand-picked protege, Jimmie Johnson, has raced to five straight titles, and he ends a decade without one to show for his efforts.
Gordon needs to resolve to unlock the mystery of the Chase.
His last title came in 2001 before anyone had even thought of the playoff style format, and Gordon has never been able to win one since.
New surroundings may help Gordon this season. The move over to a new shop with new personnel may give him a new outlook on the format that has befuddled him while his teammate has conquered it.
2. Carl Edwards
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Carl Edwards really doesn't need a New Year's resolution, just keep doing what he's doing.
If he can get out of the gate with the same momentum he closed with in 2010, he'll be difficult to beat.
Edwards has to get to the first-half mark with multiple wins under his belt and put pressure on everyone else to go after him.
If he can rip off wins like he did just a couple years ago, he may pose a serious problem for others in the Chase.
1. Jimmie Johnson
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Jimmie Johnson has a simple resolution: don't change.
For all of his detractors, Johnson and his team have figured out a nearly bullet-proof formula for winning titles under the Chase format.
They're still at the top of the mountain, and everyone is looking up at them.
When it's not broken, don't try to fix it.
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