NASCAR preview 2010 | Twenty questions

Everything is fine in NASCAR. So say series officials, car owners and drivers, their words an unending hum of harmony that would make those kids from “Glee’’ jealous. Of course, things are fine in NASCAR, despite questions about the racing, declining TV ratings and lower attendance.

Danica Patrick is here.

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. can’t be as bad as he was last year. Can he?

With the gang back in Daytona, the start of this season isn’t as much about who will dethrone Jimmie Johnson as Cup champion or how well Mark Martin will do or what happens if Carl Edwards’ wife goes into labor Sunday morning before the Daytona 500 (their child is due next Wednesday).

No, the focus early is on Danica and Dale. While Patrick will drive in a select number of Nationwide races, starting with Saturday at Daytona, many fans hope Earnhardt succeeds in more than a handful of Cup races. But before this talk of Danica and Dale drowns everything else, let’s take a 20 questions look at the season.

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1. How will Earnhardt do this season?

That didn’t take long. This is one of the most-asked questions this offseason. One can’t imagine Earnhardt being worse than he was last season, when his confidence sunk lower than approval ratings for Democrats. Car owner Rick Hendrick vowed that improving Earnhardt’s team would be a top priority. Changes have been made to the team and how it interacts with Mark Martin’s team (they share the same shop at Hendrick). Time now to see results from Earnhardt.

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2. So how many races will Dale Jr. win?

Two. Count on one at Talladega and one at Richmond.

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3 OK, what about Danica?

She won’t be as flashy on the track as her GoDaddy ads, but she’ll be hard to ignore. When she races that is. She’ll run two or three Nationwide races at the start of the season, disappear until June to focus on her Izod IndyCar Series ride and then do some races after the Indy season, totaling about 12. Not racing a Nationwide car weeks at a time isn’t the best way to excel in that series, many will tell you. As Patrick confidant Tony Stewart notes, she’s preparing for the future. Two years of this partial schedule should help her ready for a full-time NASCAR effort in 2012.

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4. Now what’s up with all these babies?

The wives of Johnson, Edwards, Elliott Sadler and Juan Pablo Montoya are each expecting children this season. Johnson, Edwards and Sadler are set to become dads for the first time. This will be Montoya’s third child. So, what’s the deal? Well, as the joke goes in the garage, blame it on all the rain delays last season.

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5. Will fatherhood slow those drivers down?

Those who have kids say they don’t think about them in the car but admit outside the car, things changed. Only one driver who was a parent at the time of his championship season has won the Cup crown since 2001. That was Matt Kenseth in 2003.

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6. What about Jeff Gordon? He has a young daughter, and his victory total has not grown by much since her birth.

He did win last year. Yet, Gordon’s last Cup title came in 2001, when Johnson made his Cup debut. Gordon finished second in eight races last year. To win the title, he’s got to win more. All the talk of a “Drive for Five,” a slogan Gordon used 2002, now belongs to Johnson. If Johnson keeps it going, Gordon’s four titles could soon be overshadowed.

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7. Talking of overshadowed, anyone hear from Richard Childress Racing lately?

Not last year, when the team went winless. This team believes it has found the problems with its cars and notes how Jeff Burton closed the 2009 season with four consecutive top-10 finishes, Clint Bowyer finished with four consecutive top-15s, and Kevin Harvick had two top-fives in the last three races.

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8. So what about Harvick’s future at RCR?

He let it be known he was unhappy there last year. This is the final year of his contract with RCR. It wouldn’t be surprising if he found a way to Stewart-Haas Racing for next year to race with his buddy, Stewart.

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9. Harvick isn’t the only free agent out there, is he?

No. Kasey Kahne is in his final year at Richard Petty Motorsports. He says getting good results in 2010 is the key to him staying. Also Penske Racing exercised the option on Kurt Busch for 2011, but Busch has a clause in the contract that allows him to explore other opportunities even with Penske’s action. Silly season could get interesting.

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10. Who finishes higher: Busch, Harvick or Kahne?

Go with Busch. Crew chief Steve Addington joins a team that finished fourth in the points last year. If the combo works, Busch could finish higher.

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11. What about Roush Fenway Racing and its woes last year?

Roush’s struggles were among last year’s big surprises. It won three races after winning 11 times in 2008. Roush also went winless in 30 consecutive races last year – its longest drought in more than a decade. The Roush folks believe they have found their problems with the car and expect to be stronger than last season. We’ll see.

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12. How can Denny Hamlin win the title with a torn ACL?

Hey, Hamlin only has to drive his car, not drive down lane and pull up from 12 feet . Playing with pain is common in all sports.

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13. Worse than an injury is a poor mental approach. So where does that leave Kyle Busch?

With his biggest challenge. He’s got the talent to win yet still is in need of more maturity and patience. That way he can focus on making the car better instead of yelling on the radio when it isn’t so good.

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14. If Busch goes all Gandhi on us and finds his inner peace, who is NASCAR’s next bad boy?

Brad Keselowski. He’s not afraid to challenge the veterans. Of course, he’ll likely be treated like he was last year when Hamlin spun him out in the Nationwide season finale at Homestead in retaliation for several earlier incidents.

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15. If you’re a fan who wants that close, wild action, will you get it this year?

What makes good racing is debatable. While some will say there was none last year, that’s going overboard. Saying it all was good racing last year also is incorrect. Obviously, the racing wasn’t as good as NASCAR hoped or officials wouldn’t be planning to replace the rear wing with a spoiler sometime this spring.

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16. How might a spoiler make the racing better?

There is hope among drivers that the spoiler will help with aerodynamics and make it easier to come up through the pack. If nothing else, the spoiler will make the car again look like what fans expect and tend to like. To many fans, the wing made the car look as freakish as a Lady Gaga outfit.

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17. Won’t closer racing provides the fireworks NASCAR seeks?

Possibly. NASCAR wants drivers to show more emotion. It’s similar to what officials stated two years ago. Of course, the key question is how far sponsors are willing to let their drivers go in this area.

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18. OK, let’s get down to key awards. Who will win Rookie of the Year?

Not Keselowski. Although this is his first year, he ran too many Cup races last year to be eligible. As of now, the battle is between Terry Cook and Kevin Conway. Both are with low-budget teams that could struggle to make races. This race lacks any star power.

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19. Which driver could surprise people?

Martin Truex Jr. could be the guy. He joins Michael Waltrip Racing, which is on the uptick, and will have Pat Tryson as crew chief. Tryson helped Kurt Busch finish fourth in the Chase last year. If Truex and Tryson get in sync quickly, this could be a team to watch.

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20. Uh, you never said where Dale Jr. would finish this year.

As the season opens it’s hard to be convinced he’ll make the Chase. He needs a good start to build confidence. If he gets that, then he could certainly challenge for a Chase spot. If he’s not in the top 15 in points by April, then he may be in trouble of missing another Chase.

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BONUS ANSWER: No, Danica won’t win a Nationwide race this year but expect her to score maybe four top-10 finishes.