Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Fantasy shootout: Da Biff vs. Rowdy

Somewhere around the web, I can't remember where, I found a comment saying it might be fun to see a one on one race to the finish between Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch, since their driving styles are so similar. I agree, they are similar, and it would be fun to see them going at each other lap after lap! The fact that Da Biff is now in second place in the points standings makes the proposition even more interesting.
I'm terrible at fantasy racing, because I just can't seem to put stats to practical use, but just for fun I went and took a look at Rowdy vs Biff. Here are the career head to head stats, from Racing Reference.info:
........................................Kyle Busch....Greg Biffle
Head-to-Head..................63 wins...........55 wins
Actual Race Stats Wins......5.....................9
Top 5's.............................33...................31
Top 10's...........................54...................52
Avg. Finish.....................17.4..........,,,,,,,16.5
Rowdy has beat Da Biff in finishing position in 8 races from 2004 to present. Da Biff holds the edge in actual wins. In top tens, top fives, and in average finishing position they are very close.
Next, I checked the stats for each in his Cup Rookie year:
Kyle Busch:
Win: 2 Average start: 18.6 Top 5: 9 Top 10: 1 DNF: 8 Average finish: 21.0
Greg Biffle:
Win: 1 Average start: 20.1 Top 5: 3 Top 10: 6 DNF: 6 Average finish: 19.8
Here Rowdy leads in top 5's and wins, but Da Biff has more top tens and a better average finish.
After all that, these stats tell us very little about what a head to head shootout between the drivers would be like. For that we have to take personal observations regarding the two drivers.
They are definitely similar in driving style. They both like their racecars loose, they both like to use as much track as they can in the turns, and they both make an asphalt track look like it is really a dirt track. The main difference is that Da Biff has been around long enough to know what he can't do, while Rowdy has yet to figure out what he can't do.
I am comparing no one to the Intimidator, so hold your horses, Earnhardt fans, but in relative terms, I would see a race between Da Biff and Rowdy as being similar to a race between Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond.
It would be a contest of guts, who would drive into the corners harder, and accelerate out of the turns faster. It would be a question of who is willing to be most aggressive in side by side racing, and how far they would go beating and banging down the stretch. Most of all it would be a thrill.
Let's set up a theoretical 20 lap shootout between the two at Kentucky Speedway in identical cars. The only cars on the track are those of Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch. I see three possiblities in my view:
1. Rowdy wins by sheer guts
2. Rowdy gets in over his head and wrecks. Da Biff wins by default
3. They wreck each other and nobody wins.

This is a reader participation post. Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.
I would like to hear your take on how such a contest would turn out.

3 comments:

John Dornoff said...

I have always been a Biffle fan since I watched him since his days at the late Portland Raceway. However, in the scenerio you have picked out I would have to go with Rowdy winning on sheer juts.

Cheyenne said...

Kyle can run on the edge for so long till he falls off. And one of these days, he is going to go just a lit-tle too far. My answer to your question is: Kyle will take himself out.
Oh, and BTW, I'm not what you would call an "Earnhardt fan" if by that you mean both of them. I was and am strictly just a Dale Jr. fan.
And I don't care how good Kyle is, I don't have to like him. He may be on top of the heap for now, but look what happened to Jimmie. Everybody has their time in the limelight, some just stay there longer than others.
I am hoping Kyle will only be on top for a short while and that he too will topple much like his brother has.
I hope I don't sound too bitter here, I certainly don't mean to.

Unknown said...

Kyle will win by throwing M&M's out his window causing Greg's car to spin