Houston picks:

Who’se your pic?

This new track is a great opportunity for all the drivers because they are starting on the same foot as Bourdais and Newman/Haas. Although they are quick to adapt to any track and Boursdais can drive the heck out anywhere in the world, he’ll still need some adjustment, and he’ll have nothing to rely on previous years. No doubt a solid teammate helps in this situation, but a lot of teams have a solid one-two punch. This type of layout seems to play in favor of Rusport and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Justin win the race on Saturday night. Ahh, but it’s a night race, another new element for a lot of these drivers. Some have done it before, none have done it on a street track. an 8pm start is a late start too, so it’ll be interesting to see who is up and who is mellow. Kind of like when in other professional sports, they have afternoon games and night games. Some players perform better at night, some during the day. Who is a nighthawk amongst the drivers? Who is an early riser who is usually ready for bed around 9pm? No doubt these drivers will be ready to go, but it certainly helps if you are at your most aware during the evening. Kind of like me. I love nightraces because I would rather sleep-in then go to bed early. I expect to be at my best!! Finally, a race suited for the track announcer who likes to sleep in!

My pic? It’s a tight track with some great turns. I’m looking at turn 3, 4 and 5 and thinking anything can and likely will happen. I could say “I’ll tell you after turn one, lap one” but that would be cheating. I’m going to go with Justin to take this one. He seems to be able to keep his nose clean and, like I said above, Rusport is going to excel here, I have a feeling. Probably not right off the bat, but as the weekend goes on, they will get better and better. Also watch for DaMatta. Its these types of tracks (I’m thinking Dale Coyne last year in San Jose) where a lot of unexpected driver can surprise you. At the end of the day, there’s a reason why Bourdais is Bourdais and Tracy is Tracy. They usually finish at or near the top. But a new track, a different climate, anything can happen!