Almost halfway through the season in NASCAR, and there’s still no clear favorite for the Championship race in Phoenix at the end. So many names pop into mind, such as a revitalized and hungry Kyle Busch or the young and fiery William Byron or the supremely talented Kyle Larson, or Chase Elliott, going against the odds, proving everyone wrong, and winning the championship. But what if the final 4 lineup in Phoenix didn’t have any of those three names? Because Dale Earnhardt Jr. certainly thinks so.
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The Hall of Famer recently named his four picks for the final 4 in Phoenix for this year’s championship. Along with that, Junior also predicted some surprising things that may happen in the second half of the season.
And without question, some of these predictions Junior made are pretty wild.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes his bold predictions for the second half of this season
Speaking in a recent episode of his podcast show, Earnhardt Jr. first elaborated on what he thinks will be the most surprising things in the second half of the Cup season, his bold predictions. “I’ve got a few,” he said.
“My bold prediction is that Ryan Blaney has a incredible second half and emerges as a championship favorite. Also, a bold prediction: Chase Elliott doesn’t win a race and point his way into the championship playoffs. It’s possible,” Junior described. “Or a bold prediction might be that he doesn’t make it.”
“I think also I got this weird feeling man, Trackhouse are gonna find themselves, particularly Ross Chastain is going to be in the mix or play a massive role in the playoffs. I’m not ready to assume their season is going to be as is, status quo, for the rest of the year.”
With that out of the way, Earnhardt then made his final 4 predictions.
Junior makes a surprising pick for this year’s NASCAR Cup champion
Earlier this year, Earnhardt Jr. had given his final 4 predictions as well. At that time, he picked Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Martin Truex Jr. But that was, of course, a few months ago.
Things have changed since then based on how the season has gone, and so have Junior’s final 4 predictions as well as who he thinks would win the championship. “I’m gonna go with Truex, Denny, Byron, Blaney,” he said. “Bell is out, Byron is in. My champion is Ryan Blaney.
“I still feel good about that choice.”
So it seems like Earnhardt is betting pretty heavily on Ryan Blaney to produce the goods in the coming months. Because not only is he tipping him to surprise everyone with a few wins in the second half of the year, but he also thinks the Penske driver will take the championship away from his teammate for this year.
Now that is a bold prediction indeed.
