Driver Recommendations for 2009 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

The historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the venue for the next race on July 26th. This will be the 16th year for NASCAR running at the track in what is now titled the Allstate 400. This is usually one of the richest races with the winner taking home $500,000 or more. Only the Daytona 500 winner wins more. With the big payouts come big performances by the top-tier drivers. The winners here have been Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Labonte, Elliot, Earnhardt; all champions. Make sure you stock your team with proven veterans.

This week’s recommendations:

Chaser: Jeff Gordon
No one has had success at Indy like Jeff Gordon. In the 15 races here he compiled 4 wins, 9 top fives and 12 top tens! His average finish of 8.6 is the best among active drivers. Jeff spent his teenage years in Pittsboro, IN only 14 miles from the speedway, so he’s always ready to perform at his best when at the track. Jeff is by far the best driver at the Brickyard and is a must start for your team.

Alternate Chaser: Tony Stewart
Tony isn’t as good as Jeff at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he’s pretty dang good. He’s averaging a 9.1 place finish and has 2 wins, 4 top fives, and 6 top tens in 10 career races. On top of that Tony has been awesome this season. He has 8 top fives and 9 top tens in the last 10 races. If you don’t have Jeff on your team, you must put Tony on it. One of them will win this race.

Mark Martin
Mark has 3 top tens in the last 4 races here and finished 11th last year. In the 15 races here Mark is averaging a 14.1 place finish and has 9 top tens. If the chase were to start today Mark would be in first place because of his 4 wins this season. He’s been solid all season and should finish in the top 10 and contend for a top 5 finish.

Kasey Kahne
Kasey has been hit or miss in his 5 races in Indy. He has 3 top ten finishes and a 36th and 40th place finish. If Kasey can stay out of trouble and avoid the wrecks he should be in the top ten. Put him on your team and watch him get you points.

Darkhorse: David Ragan
David has only raced here twice, but has been very respectable with 14th and 16th place finishes. He’s in 30th place right now for a reason though. He only has 1 top ten finish so far this season (Daytona 500), and I don’t think he’ll be able to get in this race, but he’s proven that he’s capable of getting a top 15 finish, and you never know. If fuel mileage comes into play, maybe he can get lucky and crack the top 10.

Driver Recommendations for the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

This will be the last race on TNT before ESPN begins their coverage next weekend and it will be another Saturday night race. Chicagoland is one of the cookie-cutter 1.5 mile ovals that have been popping up in NASCAR over the past 10 – 15 years. Look for the usual drivers to run well, but hopefully I’ll be able to give you a name or two that you didn’t think of.

Recommendations for this week:

Chaser: Tony Stewart
It seems like I say it every week, but he is hotter than hot. Tony is averaging a 3.2 place finish over the past 5 races! Is that ridiculous or what? He’s done well at Chicagoland as well with top ten finishes in 3 of the last 4 here. He has 6 top tens in 8 career races at Chicagoland Speedway with two of those being wins and is averaging a 10.3 place finish, 7th best among active drivers. If Tony is on your team, ride this hot steak out. If he isn’t on your team, what are you waiting for?

Alternate Chaser: Kevin Harvick
Kevin has the best average finish, 7.4, at Chicagoland Speedway along with 2 wins, 5 top fives, and 6 top tens in 8 career races. Kevin has been horrible all year, and is averaging a 26.2 place finish over the last 5 races, but the race this weekend can turn that all around. Kevin likes this track and always seems to perform well here. His worst finish was 19th back in 2005. If you want to pick a driver that not a lot of others will have on their team, Kevin Harvick is your guy.

Kurt Busch
Kurt doesn’t have a win yet at the Chicagoland Speedway, but does have 5 top tens in 8 career races. In the three races he didn’t finish in the top ten Kurt placed 28th, 35th, and 39th so there’s not much middle ground with him. He’ll either get you a lot of points, or be a flop. I think this weekend will be a good run and Kurt should rack up some points for you.

Juan Montoya
Juan hasn’t tore things up in Chicago in his two races here with 15th and 18th place finishes, but it looks like he’s figured something out this season. He’s held his own on the intermediate tracks and if the chase were to start today he would be in. Juan’s confidence has to be way up, and now he knows that he can run with anyone on the 1 ½ and 2 mile speedways. Juan may not get a top five finish on Saturday, but I think a top ten is definitely within reach.

Dark Horse: Brian Vickers
Brian barely qualifies as a dark horse since he’s 17th in points and didn’t make the chase last year, but I’ll take it and use him as my pick. He’s only raced in Chicago 4 times, but does have 2 top tens and an average finish of 9.3, good enough for 4th best among active drivers. Brian may not get another top ten on Saturday night, but a top 15 finish is certainly doable for him, as his worst finish here is 14th; very respectable.

Driver Recommendations for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

This is the first of two consecutive Saturday night races in the Sprint Cup Series. Daytona under the lights is an impressive site, especially with some of the special paint jobs the teams come up with. I’ll be looking forward to the restarts with the leaders double-file. It should keep the racing exciting and give us some extra bumping.

Recommendations for this week:

Chaser: Clint Bowyer
Who? Yup, that’s right; Clint is my main pick this weekend. I know Jeff Gordon has 6 wins here and is running well, but I think Clint may surprise some people this weekend. Although he doesn’t have a win here Clint boasts the best average finish of 11.1 and has 5 top tens in 7 career races. Clint has also averaged a 12.2 place finish over the past 5 races so he is getting hotter. Want to move up in the point standings? Pick Bowyer.

Alternate Chaser: Jeff Gordon
Jeff has been “on” most of the season and should be again this weekend. We all know his success at Daytona and he should be again Saturday night. His 15.1 average finish here is good for 7th best among active drivers. No current full-time driver has more wins, top fives or top tens than Jeff. Want a safe bet? That would be Jeff. Pick him and he should be able to get you some good points.

Kurt Busch
Kurt’s average finish at Daytona is only 17.9, but he’s finished in the top ten the last 4 races here. In his 17 career races at Daytona he doesn’t have a win, but does have 8 top fives and 9 top tens. Kurt is warming back up recently as well. He started the season hot, but was cooling off. Now he’s brought his average finish over the past 5 races to 13.6. Put him on your team and get ready to ride the hot streak he’s going on.

Kasey Kahne
I haven’t recommended Kasey much this season, but he’s been doing pretty well. He has himself 13th in points, only 1 point out of 12th, ready to make a run. Kasey has averaged a 10.6 place finish over the last 5 and also has 3 top tens in the last 4 races at Daytona. Put those two together and it gives you a driver that you need to put on your team.

Dark Horse: David Ragan
David has only raced here 5 times, but he’s managed 3 top tens and an average finish of 14th. Not bad numbers for a youngster. He has been doing poorly lately though. In the last 5 races he has one of the worst average finishes at 27.2. He did register a 6th place finish at the 500, so his confidence should be up, and he’ll be looking forward to having a good run to get things going in the right direction for him.

Driver Recommendations for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire

We’re almost half way through the season and this is the first trip to New Hampshire. Lots of chasers have good records here with eight in the top 10 for best average finishes at the track. The only two non-chasers in the top 10 for average finishes here are Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin. The racing has been getting better and more exciting to watch and hopefully continues at the 1-mile oval on Sunday.

Recommendations this week:

Chaser: Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie has registered top 10 finishes in the last 4 races here and 6 of the last 7. His 9.9 average finish is 3rd best among active drivers. He also has two career wins and nine top 10s in 14 career races. Add to this the fact that he’s averaging a 9.4 place finish over the past 5 races this season and he’s an easy pick to put on your team. Jimmie should be the man on Sunday.

Alternate Chaser: Denny Hamlin
No active driver has a better average finish at New Hampshire than Denny. His 7.2 average finish is more than 2.5 spots better than the next guy. He has a win and five top 10s in six career races. Denny is a very good driver and likes this track. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be in the front on Sunday.

Ryan Newman
Not long ago Ryan was in the middle of a great run with 6 consecutive top ten finishes. His luck has changed a bit in the last two races finishing 23rd and 17th. I don’t think that streak of bad finishes will continue. New Hampshire is a track he has a pretty good record at with 2 wins, 5 top fives, and 9 top tens in 14 career races. Good enough numbers to keep him on your team and ride out that little rough patch.

Mark Martin
Whether it’s bad luck, lack of focus/concentration, or what, Mark hasn’t done will in the race after a win this season. In those races he’s averaging a 31.7 place finish. Two races later he has a 5th and 10th place finish. This is the 2nd race after his last win. Is another top 5 or 10 run in store for Mark? I think so. He hasn’t raced here since 2006, but in 24 career races he has 13 top tens and an average finish of 11th, good enough for 4th among
active drivers.

Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.
First the bad: Martin has the 9th worst average finish over the last 5 races, at 24.6 with his best finish being 18th over that span. His confidence may be shaken a bit by that, but nothing can get him going again more than racing at a track you have success at. Now the good: Martin has performed very well at New Hampshire. His average finish of 9.8 is 2nd best among active drivers, and he’s recorded his 4 top ten finishes here over the past two seasons. With that, I say Martin is the perfect dark horse for New Hampshire and should finish in or close to the top ten.

Driver Recommendations for the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway

The first road course of the season is here. The usual “ringers” will be brought in to try and qualify and get a top 10 finish for some of the struggling teams, but it usually seems that most of them don’t get the job done. Boris Said is probably the most popular road course expert, but even he has only 4 top tens and an average finish of 20.2.

Recommendations this week:

Chaser: Tony Stewart
Over the last 4 races at Infineon Tony has a win and 3 top tens. In 10 career races he averages a 10th place finish with 2 wins, 3 top fives, and 6 top tens. He’s the hottest driver on the circuit, leader in points, and shows no sign of slowing down. Keeping Tony on your team should be an easy decision.

Alternate Chaser: Jeff Gordon
Jeff’s 5 career wins are easily the most among active drivers and he has 12 top tens in 16 career races. An average finish of 9.3 is 3rd best among active drivers. He’s been the road course king since he started his career and there’s no reason that he won’t keep the same form this weekend.

Ryan Newman
Ryan doesn’t have a win at Infineon, but in 7 races he has 5 top tens and an average finish of 9.4. He has been great recently and his 23rd place finish at Michigan should be a blip on the screen. Look for Ryan to recover and get a solid top ten or even top five run this weekend.

Juan Montoya
Juan has only race here twice in his career, but he already has a win and a 6th place finish. You could argue that he lucked into his win in 2007, but he was in position to win the race, so give him credit for that. Juan is a very good driver, and on road courses he’s one of the best. A top five run wouldn’t surprise me.

Dark Horse: Elliott Sadler
There aren’t many dark horses to choose from that could have a good run this weekend, but Elliott may be able to muster a top 10 or 15 finish. After a good start to the season with a 5th place finish in Daytona Elliot’s best finish was 12th last week at Michigan. He’s struggled a lot, but maybe last week’s good run will perk him up. He does have 4 top tens in 10 career races at Infineon with a 15.8 average finish which is 9th best among active drivers.

Driver Recommendations for the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway

Michigan can be described as a big, wide, D-shaped track that gives the drivers plenty of room to maneuver, and build up lots of speed. This track is known for being won by “fuel strategy” and a lot of guys that dominate the race have run out of fuel with a couple laps to go making it difficult to predict the winner.

So, you think I’ve been picking the same drivers all season and taking the easy way out? Well how about this week I give you my chaser and alternate chaser like normal but instead of the usual 1 dark horse, I pick a whole team of them? Truth is I think all of these guys can score top ten finishes on Sunday.

Recommendations this week

Chaser: Carl Edwards
Carl is ridiculous at Michigan. 2 wins, 5 top fives and 8 top tens in only 9 career races. That means he averages a 6.6 place finish here! I don’t know how you can bet against that.

Alternate Chaser: Matt Kenseth
Matt hasn’t been as good as Carl at Michigan, but he has a good record here too. A couple wins, 9 top fives, and 13 top tens in 19 races. He’s also got 4 top fives in the past 5 races here. He started the season off hot, then cooled down, but he’s starting to get it warmed back up. He should be in contention at Michigan.

Brian Vickers
Brian has 3 consecutive top ten finishes at Michigan and 5 in his 10 career races. This is definitely a track that he knows how to navigate and stay out of trouble. This season wasn’t the breakout that he had hoped, but this weekend he should be able to make a good run.

Jamie McMurray
Eek. It’s been a bad year for Jamie, but like a lot of other drivers down in the points, he does have a good record at Michigan. 3 top ten finishes in the last 4 at the track is a good sign, and hopefully he can keep the focus and contend for another top ten.

David Ragan
This will only be David’s 5th race at Michigan, but last season he scored a 3rd and 8th place finish, improving his average finish at the track to 12.5. Confidence should go up for him at Michigan after he starts practice and has his qualifying run. Once the race starts he’ll be ready to go and fight for a top 10 or possibly another top 5 finish.

Driver Recommendations for the Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway, the big triangle, will host this Sunday’s race. This will be the first of 6 races this season broadcasted by TNT. Picking the chaser and alternate chaser was a difficult task this week. Several of guys that made the chase last year run well here, but I managed to whittle the list down to the two I think will do the best.

Recommendations this week:

Chaser: Denny Hamlin
Denny has had a tough stretch of races. He hasn’t finished in the top ten since the 8th race back in Phoenix. Pocono is the track that should cure his ill. He’s been great at this track scoring 2 of his 4 career victories and averaging a 6.2 place finish, best among active drivers. His only finish out of the top ten was last fall when he finished 23rd. With his comfort level up, he could get his 3rd career win at the track.

Alternate Chaser: Tony Stewart
The first year driver/owner finds himself in first place in the point standings! Who would have seriously thought he could do this well? He’s had some good runs, but that first win of the season has been elusive. Over the past 4 at Pocono he’s been in the top ten 3 times. He does have a win along with 14 top tens in 20 career races, so like Denny Hamlin, he can run with anyone here.

Mark Martin
Mark has 4 consecutive top ten finishes at Pocono and a career average finish of 10.7 (4th best). In 44 career races he doesn’t have a win, but does have 19 top fives and 31 top tens. Very impressive, and to top it off he’s got the 6th best average finish over the past 5 races this season with a 13.4 average finish.

Ryan Newman
No one is even close to being as hot as Ryan right now. He’s averaging better than a 6th place finish over the past 5 races. (2nd best is Tony with a 9.8 average finish.) Sure, Ryan only finishes in the top ten in about ½ the races here, but he didn’t score a top ten at all last year, so he’s due. The fact that Ryan is on such a hot streak this year just adds to the reason to put him on your team this week. For the record he does have a win, 5 top fives, and 6 top tens in 14 career races.

Dark Horse: Joey Logano
I have to admit, I’m not a Joey Logano fan and thought he was being anointed “The Greatest Thing” waaaay before it was due. He’s still not even close to being at that level, but he has seemed to figure something out. Through the first 8 races his best finish was 13th and second best finish was 21st; not good at all, and close to being out of the top 35 in points. Over the past 5 races he’s averaged a 13.4 pace finish and moved up from 35th in points to 23rd. Not too bad. Maybe it’s time for him to get his 4th career top ten finish.