Time Capsule: Twitter Predicts the Championship 4

Steve Luvender

9 years ago

RELATED: Join @nascarcasm's Fantasy Live league “I totally called that Championship 4 before the season began!” “I knew he’d win the Cup this year!” “This is the year. I’ve been saying it since February.” You’ve probably heard claims like this each November when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is crowned — your friends boldly declaring they totally called who’d make the Championship 4 at the end of the year. They knew it all along. Uh-huh, sure. See, there’s no accountability when it comes to claims and predictions like this. There’s nothing stopping someone from pretending they’re the NASCAR oracle once the checkered flag flies in Miami, predicting what would unfold before the cars ever hit the track in February. This year, we’ve changed that. Using the marvels of technology (well, Twitter), we’ve tasked NASCAR fans with providing some public accountability: tweeting their Championship 4 predictions before the season begins. This way, there’s a digital paper trail when somebody claims, “I predicted this back at Daytona.” https://twitter.com/steveluvender/status/960942439249928192 NASCAR Twitter took advantage of the opportunity to make some guesses. There were certainly some themes in the early predictions. For instance, shockingly few twitizens felt 2017 champ Martin Truex Jr. would repeat in 2018 -- or even make the Championship 4, for that matter. Favorites seemed to include Jimmie Johnson (a safe bet, historically speaking), Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney. (Youth movement, anyone?)

Byron, Johnson, Blaney, and Jones
— Jᴇʀᴇᴍʏ (@NaskarrKid) February 6, 2018

1Kevin Harvick 2 Kyle Busch 3 Ryan Blaney 4 Martin Truex Jr
— rinton hester (@BrintonHester) February 6, 2018

Harvick, Blaney, Larson and Kyle Busch
— Ariana Arsenault (@ArianaArsenault) February 6, 2018

Larson, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, and Jimmie Johnson
— Gus (@YenSin_Fly) February 6, 2018

1) Kyle Larson 2) Ryan Blaney 3) Kyle Busch 4) Jimmie Johnson
— Matt Harrington (@Matt2Harrington) February 6, 2018

All Hendrick top 4
— Chooch (3 wheels fer Dale) (@Ferret_Bueller) February 6, 2018

One prediction in particular seemed a little weighted toward one team, but maybe there’s some bias there.

1(t). Trevor 1(t). Ricky 3. Don't care 4. Don't care
— Roush Fenway Racing (@roushfenway) February 6, 2018

And, of course, Twitter managed to do what Twitter does best: totally derail the predictions.

1. Martin Truex, Jr. 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Kyle Busch 4. Ryan Blaney
— BrotherFlounder (@brotherflounder) February 6, 2018

wait crap was this supposed to be a joke thing?
— BrotherFlounder (@brotherflounder) February 6, 2018

1. Turd Ferguson 2. Flerp Nelson 3. Narf Terkelwitz 4. Ferd Turguson
— randy randleman (@turbojunker) February 6, 2018

1) YOU 2) The Fans 3) At Home 4) !
— Tuff Titty d.b.a. "Now Do Classical Gas." (@joostinrextin) February 6, 2018

1. Ward Burton 2. Dave Blaney 3. Reed Sorenson 4. Casey Mears
— dwest - the biggest alex cobb fan (@dwest9cubs) February 6, 2018

1. Kevin Harvick 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Kyle Busch 4. Me, after an incredibly unlikely series of hijinks
— Rodster Hunter (@Rodrant64) February 6, 2018

1) Pestilence 2) War 3) Famine 4) Death
— Tone the Wet Sprocket (@TonyJWriter) February 6, 2018

1.) Geoff Bodine 2.) Brett Bodine 3.) Todd Bodine 4.) Barry Bodine
— Tyler Tucker (@tuckgraphics) February 6, 2018

We probably should have seen this coming. We’ll unearth this time capsule of Twitter predictions during the week of the championship race in November and see who’s the true NASCAR prophet — and, more importantly, publicly shame everybody who totally missed the mark. If you think you can predict what’ll happen in 2018, head to Twitter and reply to the Championship 4 prediction Tweet with your picks.