Weekend Preview: Finally Back to Racing...

Kerry Madsen found victory lane in the 2017 finale at Bubba Raceway Park

We've made it...the brunt of the racing off-season is behind us. This is the first edition of a new two-part column we're featuring at TDN this season. This is Part #1 - where we'll preview some of the upcoming races, give you the low-down on what to expect, and make a few bold predictions, among other things. Part #2 will be released early in the week recapping the past events, hitting some story lines that you might have missed, with any other little tidbits of information we can get mixed in. all of this will be done with a primary focus on 410 Sprint Car racing...although I'm sure we'll make an exception a time or two. Before you know it, we'll have more racing to preview/recap than we'll know what to do with, and that can't come soon enough...

But this weekend, sprint cars return after a three month hiatus in the United States as the All Star Circuit of Champions take center stage in the racing world. They will begin their 2018 campaign at the renowned Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL,competing three times at the unique D-shaped venue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Feb 1st-3rd) before venturing west for the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park next week.

As we focus on the upcoming shows, it's hard to ignore the fact that the All Stars could very well boast their most intriguing driver's roster in years. If that's not enough to catch your interest, then consider that this weekend they'll be joined by some of the best that our sport has to offer.

Who to Expect: Aaron Reutzel, Cale Conley, Caleb Helms, Chad Kemenah, Coleman Gulick, Danny Dietrich, Danny Smith, Dave Blaney, David Gravel, Donny Schatz, Greg Hodnett, Ian Madsen, Joey Saldana, Kerry Madsen, Max Stambaugh, Parker Price-Miller, Paul McMahan, Rico Abreu, Ryan Smith, Tim Shaffer, Tony Stewart, Trevor Baker, Trey Starks, Tyler Clem, and Tyler Esh, among others.

What to Expect: It's hard to favor one driver out of that stout field. If we take a look back at last year's results, our TDN money is going on two drivers: Donny Schatz and Tim Shaffer.

The 9x World of Outlaws champion won the first two shows last February before finishing runner-up to Kerry Madsen in the finale. Hardly outdone, Shaffer finished bridesmaid after two close contests on the opening nights before settling for 3rd in the final show. Like I said earlier, this is possibly the most talented field we've ever seen at Bubba's, but if you're forcing me to pick....

5 Bold Predictions for Bubba's:

1. The Madsen brothers will combine for four Top-5 finishes
2. Tim Shaffer gets over the hump and picks up a win
3. Joey Saldana sets overall Quick Time two of the three nights
4. Rico Abreu notches places in the Top-10 of all three features
5. Donny Schatz has the best Avg. Finish of the weekend