Without further ado, here are the top-10 going into the season opener in Las Vegas................
1} Sebastien Bourdais
2} Justin Wilson
3} Paul Tracy
4} Will Power
5} Alex Tagliani
6} Graham Rahal*
7} Mario Dominguez
8} Bruno Junquiera
9} Neel Jani*
10} Dan Clarke
*--denotes rookie
.......and's here why the list is as it appears............
1} unless anyone knocks him off the top step of the podium and is consistant, all expectations are that, come late 2007, Sebastien Bourdais will win his 4th consecutive Vanderbilt Cup
2} if SeaBass should stumble, then any of the next 3(Wilson, Tracy and Power) could make a challenge; Wilson has been the most consistent of the three, while Tracy comes off a winless 2006. Power, 2006 rookie of the year, comes into the year as a legitimate challenger to the Vanderbilt Cup
3} the darkhorse on this list is, without question, Bruno Junquiera. After having a subpar 2006(following a disasterous 2005), talk in the ChampCar paddock is that Junky is driving for his career in 2007. He'll assume the mantle of lead driver w/Dale Coyne Racing, a team that prior to this year was considered ChampCar's version of the former Minardi F1 team. With everyone on equal footing, though.........could he return to the front of the grid?
And now, my predictions for awards in 2007.............
Vanderbilt Cup champion} Sebastien Bourdais
Rookie of the Year} Graham Rahal
Darkhorse Driver} Bruno Junquiera
Good luck to all the drivers and teams in the 2007 campaign!!!!
