NASCAR: The 2016 Big Prediction Page

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Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports /

Name One Driver Who Will Disappoint In 2016

Christopher Olmstead – Denny Hamlin, I just don’t see Hamlin having a great season. The injury and the changes in crew chief coupled with the expectations will have him as the fourth best car at JGR. Sure, he will win a race but he won’t be on par with the rest of his teammates.
Jason Higgins – Kyle Busch. By definition, not winning the championship would qualify as a disappointment. I can see a 2013 Brad Keselowski-type season for Kyle.
Joseph Shelton – Greg Biffle. His front-running days are over.
Mike Hutton – Kyle Larson will still go winless (bad surprise.) Ganassi and Sabates make excuses for him, though.
Cole Mentzel – Chase Elliott. I don’t think he is necessarily going to be a disappointment in terms of production, but he will disappoint a lot of Jeff Gordon fans who are expecting him to come in and dominate immediately. Fans are going to have very high expectations that he simply can’t live up to as a rookie.
Martin Feigen – Logano had a big 2015, a step back would not be surprising. Like BK after his title year.

Next: Rookie of the Year?