Race 13 - Best Buy 400 at Dover Recap

Wow, what a boring race that was. It started out with some action when poor old Elliot Sadler had his car rammed and battered by Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. After that there was no action what so ever in the race. I fell asleep, woke up about 50 laps later, and didn't miss a thing.

I know everyone said it would take a while to figure out these new cars, but we're over 1/4 of the way through the season, and the races are getting worse, not better. NASCAR needs to admit there's a problem, and do something about the awful racing going on. Maybe the car needs tweaked or something to allow for some passing. I miss the close finishes and dramatic passing during the races. I'm sick of the lead only changing because of pit stops.

Well, on to the racing action, and how my picks fared. Not to toot my own horn, but I have to say my picks this week did pretty good. I advised you to pick the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, & 8th place finishers.
Four with a real shot to win:
Carl Edwards - 2nd place finish, and ran very strong all day
Greg Biffle - Looked like the car to beat early and came home 3rd
Jeff Burton - Solid run, picking his way through the field to finish 8th
Matt Kenseth - Proved he still has it, finishing 4th

Two others that should do well:
Mark Martin - Mark hung around early, but faded into 23rd place
Kyle Busch - The kid won again. He's amazing

Darkhorse:
Martin Truex Jr. - Solid 6th place finish. He ran a very good race

Chad's Fantasy NASCAR Recap
Buchsmoto took over the top spot from highlife, but only by 4 points! There's a 276 point cushion between 2nd place and 3rd.

Zimsracing and redvette were the big gainers of the week, jumping up 6 spots each.

ole_gordo took home the high point award with 570.

Next week's race is on Sunday in Pocono.
Good luck, and happy racin!

Race 13 – Best Buy 400 at Dover Fantasy Preview

This week’s race is at the “Monster Mile” oval in Dover, Delaware. Races here can be long and grueling on the drivers, as the last 4 have an average length of 3 hours and 37 minutes with close to 17 lead changes and 10 cautions.

So, will Kasey Kahne carry the momentum of winning the past two weekends into Dover? The short answer is no. He’s horrible at Dover. In eight career races here he only has one top 10 finish and averages a 25.2 place finish. He may get a top 10 at best, but a more realistic finish for him is in the top 15.

Four drivers with a real shot to win

Carl Edwards
Carl normally dominates on the 1.5 mile ovals, but he’s had good runs on the Monster Mile as well. Over the last three races he has a win, 3rd, 2nd place finishes. In seven career races here he has three top 5’s, and four top 10’s while averaging a 9.1 place finish. Carl is running good, and that should continue this weekend.

Greg Biffle
The Biff has been money at Dover. In his last four races here he has a 2nd, 6th, 5th, 8th place finish. In only eleven career races here he has one win, three top 5’s, and six top 10’s with an average finishing position of 12.9. Five of those top 10s came in his last six races. Greg hasn’t closed on his new contract with Roush yet, so look for him to prove how good he is to other teams interested in signing him. Qualifying on the pole is a great start to the weekend for the Biff.

Jeff Burton
Jeff definitely has experience on his side at Dover. In twenty eight career races here he has one win, six top 5’s, and 11 top 10’s with a 16.9 average finish. Early in his career it was tough to guess where he would finish. In his first four races here (1994 & 1995) he finished 20th or worse every time. In five of the next eight (1996 – 1999) he finished in the top 10, then in 2000 & 2001 20th place was his best finish.

Since then (2002 onwards, a span of 12 races) Jeff has averaged a 9.9 place finish with one win, four top 5s, and six top 10s. If you take out a 33rd place finish in the fall of 2004 when he got in a wreck Jeff’s worst finish in that span is 14th.

In his career he has finished 23 races, and had an average finish of 11.6 in them. His last DNF was the fall of 2004, and he’s had a 7th, 1st, 4th in three of the last four here, so look for his string of good runs to continue.

Don't let the 38th qualifying position scare you. In eight of his races here Jeff has started 30th or worse and managed two top 5's, five top 10s, and two 11th place finishes. He's patient enough to pick his way through the field and get you a top 10 finish.

Matt Kenseth
I haven’t said much about Kenseth this year. He’s having a quiet if not disappointing season so far, sitting 16th in points. He has managed to string two top 10 finishes together over the past couple of points races. Look for him to keep that trend going this weekend.

In three of his last four here he has a win, 5th and 10th place finishes. In 18 career races he has 1 win, five top 5’s, and ten top 10’s, averaging a 15.3 place finish. In the 14 races that Matt has finished he’s averaged a 10.9 place finish. He has had three accidents and one blown engine, but if he can avoid those things, he should contend for the win.

Two others that should do well:

Mark Martin
If you want to talk about experience at a track, Mark Martin has more of it at Dover than all others. In his impressive career he’s raced here 43 times with four Wins, twenty top 5’s, and twenty seven top 10s with a 12.7 average finish. Of the 43 races he’s been in a wreck or had engine problems only nine times. In the 34 races he’s finished (no accident or engine troubles) he’s averaged a 7.9 finish and was out of the top 10 only seven times.

Mark hasn’t been in an accident or had engine problems at Dover since Spring of 2002. He’s finished 4th, 7th, and 9th in three of his last four here, so look for him to keep that going.

Mark had a poor qualifying run, earning the 30th starting position, but his career here has been like Burton's. Just because he qualified poorly doesn't mean he'll run bad. In five other races he's qualified 30th or worse, and managed to get three top 5's, so he's probably worth keeping on your team.

Kyle Busch
How could anyone bet against Kyle now? Right now the kid dominates every race he’s in. In six career races at Dover he has four top 5’s. His worst finish was 40th in the fall of 2006 when he had engine problems. I don't think he'll have engine problems this weekend, and should be in top 10 all night.

The kid continues his domination at just about everything as he qualified in the 3rd position. Look for him to challenge Biffle for the lead quickly.

DarkHorse

I almost picked Jamie McMurray for this, but I have to go with Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr. has only raced here four times, but does have one win and two top 10’s. The last two weeks have been less than impress for Truex, so he needs to turn it up, and I think he will this weekend, especially since he considers this his home track. There'll be a lot of friends and family in the stands that he wants to impress.

Ragan’s breakout season; RCR getting a 4th car in ’09; Trouble getting sponsors

David Ragan’s breakout season
David Ragan is having a great season in his second full year in the Sprint Cup Series. He’s currently in 13th place after slipping one spot from the 12th place Coca-Cola 600 finish. In an interview earlier in May when David was 12th in points he said, “I still got a lot of hard racing in front of us” to get into the chase. “Don’t want to stop at 12th. Want to move up to 11th, 10th, and so on.

He says he’s better this year since he doesn’t push at the start of races anymore, and he’s smarter driver now that he’s doing everything for the second time.

Last year, in his rookie season, David had two top 5’s and three top 10’s with an average finish of 24.5. This season David already has two top 5’s and three top 10’s with an average finish of 16.33.

I don’t know if David will be able to keep the good run going and make the chase, but he has the potential to do it. When asked about his success he said that he’s not surprised about it, and expects to contend for the chase.


4th Car in 2009 for RCR
Richard Childress Racing will add a 4th car to their team in 2009, and it will be #33. General Mill will be the sponsor since they’re leaving Petty, and they want a driver by June to start a marketing scheme with him in it.

They don’t have a driver for the car yet, but current General Mill driver Bobby Labonte says he’s staying with Petty racing although he has been linked to moving to RCR. A couple of other candidates for the spot are Scott Wimmer and Martin Truex Jr. Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards contracts are up at the end of this year, so they may be candidates also.

Bobby Labonte Labonte may be a better choice since he’s won a championship and guaranteed to start the first five races, and he already has established a relationship with the sponsor.

So, what do you think? Who should RCR get to be their driver for the new team?

Sponsor Issues
Several teams are having issues getting and keeping sponsors for their teams. It costs teams about $300,000 to $400,000 per race for a car, which adds up quickly to $10.8 Million to $14.4 Million to finance a since car for an entire season. With these high costs it’s easy to understand how teams can get into financial trouble.

There are only a handful of teams that have legitimate shots at winning races and making the chase for the championship, so it’s also easy to understand why corporations don’t want to shell out $10 - $15 Million for sponsorship. You’re seeing more teams have multiple sponsors to help pay for an entire season.

There are some sponsors looking to get out of their contracts and/or restructure them. UPS and Office Depot are a couple of the sponsors that are looking to get out of their contracts or restructure them.

Even established teams like Robert Yates are having problems. They didn’t have a sponsor for six races already this season. Their team has been on the decline since the 1999 championship. Yates has a technical alliance with Roush which has helped them get back on track.

BAM racing is going to part time schedule due to lack of sponsors

While on NASCAR Now on ESPN, Dale Jarrett suggested cutting some races to save money and reduce the financial strain on the teams and corporations. I like Dale’s idea, and even suggested it myself in an earlier blog (How To Bring Back The NASCAR Viewers). Trimming the schedule to 28 – 32 races would be nice, but there’s no way they’ll turn down the revenue that TV coverage brings for the races.

Leave a comment letting us know what you think.

Race 12 - Coca-Cola 600 Review and Fantasy Recap

It took a while for the cautions to come, but once they did, they came in bunches last night. The first 200 laps or so were pretty uneventful without much passing, but the last 100 laps got more exciting and the racing action picked up. Some drivers got lucky on gas mileage and managed to salvage a top 5 or 10 finish. Overall, it was a decent raced, but hopefully the teams figure out the new car and start to learn how to pass like they could with the old car.

So, how'd my recommendations do?
Four with a real shot to win.
Kyle Busch - He ran up front all night as expected and finished a strong 2nd behind Kasey Kahne.
Jeff Burton - Jeff was in the top 10 most of the night and finished 6th.
Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie ran pretty good, staying in the top 10 or 15 most of the night, but a blown engine didn't allow him to finish the race and he took home a disapointing 39th place.
Carl Edwards - Carl was pretty quiet last night, but did manage to take home 9th place.

Two others that should do well:
Kasey Kahne - You can't do any better than winning the race. Kasey was strong all night.
Denny Hamlin - Hamlin got caught up in some of the trouble, but did manage to take home 19th place.

Darkhorse:
Reed Sorenson - Reed got down a lap early and was unable to get competative, finishing 23rd.


Fantasy Update:
It was a big points week for several teams as browngw, rauch_racing, browere, and buckeye65 all got 700 points.

Highlife's lead over buchsmoto rose to 31 points. There's a 216 point lead over 3rd place jusmony, and 372 point lead over 4th place speedy.

Less than 200 points seperate 4th place from 15th place.

There's still 14 races until the chase begins, so everyone is still in it. Next week's race is the Dover 400.

Happy racin' and good luck!

Race 12 – Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte - Fantasy Preview

The Sprint Cup circuit has its longest race of the season this Sunday night with 600 miles/400 laps around the 1.5 mile Lowe's Motor Speeday in Charlotte. NASCAR.com says this is the longest motorsports race on an oval track in the world. Let's take a look at some drivers you should pick for your fantasy team.

Four drivers with a real shot to win:

Kyle Busch
He’s the point’s leader, and seems to be able to win at any track. Historically, Kyle hasn’t done too well here with only two top 10’s in eight races, although the top 10's were in two of his last three races here. He should be able to get another top 10 finish or better. In the All-Star race last weekend Joe Gibbs Racing experimented with a new engine package, and it didn’t work out too well for Kyle. Don’t expect that to happen again on Sunday night. Kyle should do well, and battle for the victory. ...Oh yeah, he also is sitting on the pole for the race. If it's as difficult to pass Sunday night as it was in the All-Star race, then don't look for Kyle to give up the lead for a long time.

Jeff Burton
The man running second in points struggles to get the respect he deserves, but I’ll give it to him this week. He’s done very well at Charlotte in the past. He has two wins, seven top 5’s, and thirteen top 10’s in 24 career races. Three of the top 10’s have been in the last four races. He should be a front-runner all night. A pretty good 14th place qualifying position should keep him in the lead pack to start the race.

Jimmie Johnson
Talk about pure domination at his sponsor’s track. In thirteen career races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Jimmie has eleven top 10 finishes including five wins! He averages a 6.8 place finish at the track. He qualified 10th for the race, and looks like he's ready for a good run in the race. It’d be tough to go against his career numbers at the track.

Carl Edwards
Carl dominates on the 1.5 mile ovals, and Charlotte is no exception. In six career races here he has three top 5’s and five top 10’s. He doesn’t have the wins that Jimmie does, but his worst finish was only 15th, and he averages a 7.1 place finish. Carl had a poor qualifying effort, starting in 30th, but don't panic Edwards fans...he's qualified 22nd and 28th before and was able to finish 3rd and 8th. He should be able to pick his way through the crowd Sunday night. We know there's plenty of time.


Two more that should do well:

Kasey Kahne
He won the All-Star race and is full of confidence, and it showed with a very good qualifying run earning him the outside pole. Kasey didn’t start his career out very well at Charlotte though. In his first four races here he didn’t have a top 10 finish and averaged a 23.3 place finish. The past four races have been more kind to him. He has two wins and one 8th place finish averaging a 8.3 place finish.

Denny Hamlin
In five career races at the track Denny has three top 10’s with two of them coming in his only Coca-Cola 600's. He should be solid again in this weekend’s race.


Dark Horse

Reed Sorenson
Reed has only started four races at this track, but he does have some success on it. He has twelve career top 10 finishes, two of which have come here. So far this season he only has one top 10 finish, with a 5th at Daytona. After that it’s been pretty much downhill for Reed. With last week off I think he’ll have a clear head, more focus, and compete for a top 10 finish. Qualifying in the 17th starting spot will help Reed with this.

Good luck this week, and happy racin'!

Race 9 – Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Preview

Talladega is the biggest track on the circuit at 2.66 miles. It's a wide track that allows for some good side by side racing. Let's hope the boys have the new car figured out, and can make the racing good. I don't want to fall asleep during the race this week.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Will this be the race that Dale Earnhardt Jr. breaks his winless streak? Early in his career he dominated at Talladega. From 2001 – 2004 he had 5 wins, 2 second place finishes, and 1 eighth place finish. Since then he’s not been nearly as good, finishing 15th or worse (40th twice) from 2005 through the spring of 2007. In the fall race here last year, he finished in the top 10 taking home 7th.

He’s driving a lot better this year with Hendrick, and looks like a true contender for the title. We’ll see if he can get back to his old self and win the race.

Jimmy Johnson
He’s baaaack. He’s gotten himself back up to 4th in the standings with three consecutive top 5 finishes. Look for Jimmy to keep the domination going. He finished 2nd in the last two Talladega races and won the spring race in 2006, so he’ll be running with the lead dogs all race long.

Carl Edwards
If it weren’t for the 100 point deduction he’d be 2nd in the standings…although, after he got caught cheating he did poorly in Atlanta, but has bounced back since then. He’s finished in the top 10 in the last 3 races picking up a win in Texas. Talladega isn’t like the 1.5 mile ovals that Carl has been dominating at, so I don’t know if he’ll be a real threat to win the race. In 7 career races at Talladega, he only has three top 10’s and his best finish is 5th.

Drivers with a chance to win
· Jimmy Johnson – He is back, and in a big way. Look for Jimmy to show that he’s the man to beat. He has a 2nd, 2nd, and 1st in 3 of last 4 races here.
· Kurt Busch – Kurt has been pretty low key this year, all the way down in 16th place in the standings. I think he’ll be able to make some noise in Talladega. This track has been pretty good to him giving him a 7th, 3rd, 3rd, and 7th in last 4 races here.
· Jeff Gordon – Hey, he’s Jeff Gordon. He won both races here last year, has 6 career wins at the track, and 13 top 5s.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 5 career wins at the track, racing for Hendrick now, and hasn’t won a race in 2 years. Look for him to end that this weekend.

Two others who could do well
· Ryan Newman – Talladega is fast and Newman loves to go fast. He’s finished 5th and 9th in last two here and 5 career top 10s. If he can avoid a wreck, then he should be in the front pack with a couple laps to go.
· Brian Vickers – Brian did well at Daytona, the only restrictor plate race so far this season, finishing 12th, and I look for him to challenge to get into the top 10 this week. He’s won and finished 3rd in 2 of the last four races here. In his career he’s been hit or miss, finishing 27th or worse 4 times, and top 10 the other 3 times. I say it’s time for another top 10 for Brian.

Food City 500 Review and Fantasy Recap

Of the four drivers that I picked to finish in the top 10, Kyle Busch looked the most dominant, but power steering issues dropped him down to a 19th place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle were able to get top 10 finishes, but Carl Edwards finished 18th, 2 laps down.

The two others that I said should well were mixed. Ryan Newman got caught up in a wreck and had a disappointing 33rd. Matt Kenseth had a solid day finishing 10th.

The surprise finish of the race had to be Aric Almirola. This was his first race of the season, and only 7th of his career, and he finished 8th. His previous best was 26th at Phoenix last fall.


On the fantasy side of things buchsmoto regained the lead with a 591 point week. Browngw to the high point total of the week with 636 points, and moved up 13 spots to 13th place.

5 races down, 21 to go until the chase begins. There’s no race next weekend as the drivers get to stay with their families for Easter. As always, don’t be afraid to post your comments or send some mail through the website to talk some trash to the other players.

Race 5 – Food City 500 Preview

Kyle Busch is leading the points chase has tore up Bristol lately. He’s averaged a 5th place finish in the last four races here. Look for that domination to continue on Sunday. Right now it looks like he could begin a streak of domination not seen since Jeff Gordon in the mid-to-late 90’s.

Qualifying position means a lot at Bristol. Since the track is only ½ mile, it’s easy for the 25th – 43rd place qualifiers to get a lap down early. Kyle Busch starts down in 22nd since qualifying was rained out, so he’ll have to get on the move fairly quick if he doesn’t want to fall a lap down early. With his aggressive driving style, he should be able to move people out of the way and get to the top.

Greg Biffle is kind of a surprise at second place in the standings. He’s had solid runs with two top 5’s, one top 10, and a 15th being his worst finish, in California. He’s done well at Bristol over the past two seasons, so there’s no reason to believe Sunday would be any different. Biffle should be a solid pick to finish in the top 10, and his 14th place starting spot should help him stay up with the leaders.

Right now Denny Hamlin is the lowest ranked driver that made the chase last year, in 19th place. He’s only had one top 10 finish this year which was a 9th in Las Vegas. A 12th place starting spot isn’t too bad, but Hamlin hasn’t done particularly well in Bristol, so don’t look for him to make much noise.

Normally a driver that would be an easy pick to win is Jeff Gordon. But his last win here was in 2002. He also does not have two consecutive top 10 finishes at Bristol since fall of ’01 and spring of ’02 (4th place & a win). In his last race at Bristol Jeff finished 3rd, so if history is any indicator, he’ll probably finish outside of the top 10 this week. He's starting 2nd, so if there’s ever a chance for him to get back-to-back top 10s this is it, but I’ll go with history on this one and say he finishes just outside the top 10.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Kyle Busch – 2nd, 8th, 9th, 1st in last 4 – starting 22nd this weekend
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 3rd, 5th, 7th in 3 of last 4 – starting 15th this weekend
· Carl Edwards – 7th, 4th, 1st in 3 of last 4 – starting 9th this weekend
· Greg Biffle – 7th, 10th, 5th in 3 of last 4 – starting 14th this weekend

Two others that should do well:
o Matt Kenseth – 1st & 3rd in 2 of last 4 – starting 4th this weekend
o Ryan Newman – 8th, 9th, 7th in 3 of last 4 – starting 13th this weekend

Kobalt Tools 500 Review and Fantasy Recap

Well, Kyle Busch proved me wrong, and raced a smart race and kept his car in front for the win. He dominated the race, and it’s looking like he’s going to be the driver to beat this season. He now has a 73 point lead over Greg Biffle in the points chase.

The surprise finish of the race had to be Brian Vickers finishing 9th. That was a very solid run for him.

The four drivers I said had a real shot to win did pretty good as well.
Tony Stewart came home 2nd
Matt Kenseth was 8th
Carl Edwards had a tough car, but couldn’t finish the race and ended up 42nd
Jeff Gordon made up for the wreck at Vegas finishing 5th.

The two others that I said should do well, didn’t do so well
Reed Sorenson was very slow, and finished 34th
Kasey Kahne didn’t do much better finishing 26th


On the fantasy side of things buchsmoto got the high point total with 627, moving up to 3rd place. Jusmony still holds a 69 point lead over new 2nd place contender highlfe.

4 races down, 22 to go until the chase begins. Check back on Friday or Saturday for a preview of the next race. As always, don’t be afraid to post your comments or send some mail through the website to talk some trash to the other players.

Preview of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

After the 100 point penalty was assessed to Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch reclaimed the top spot in the driver standings, and Carl fell down to 7th place. Kyle’s finished 4th, 4th, and 11th in the first 3 races of the season; can he keep the good runs coming? His best finish in Atlanta over the past three seasons has been 12th. Will he avoid contact with other cars and wrecking, or will the speed of the track catch up to him? He qualified 6th, which should help him stay out of the slower traffic to begin with, but as the race progresses and he gets into traffic, he’ll have to stay patient. Normally I’d say that this is Kyle’s kind of track because you can go 3 wide easily, but I don’t have a good feeling about it this week. He’ll probably have a tough car, and running near the front, but I think his aggressive style may come back to bite him in Atlanta.

One early story this season is the defending champion, Jimmy Johnson. He finished 2nd in California, but 27th and 29th at Daytona and Las Vegas. What’s wrong with Jimmy? He looked awful in Vegas. Did the team lose their magic, or is it just a blip on the radar? If Jimmy is going to get grooving again, Atlanta is the track where he can do it. In the last four here he’s finished 1st, 1st, 2nd, and 6th. Not too shabby. He also qualified in the 11th starting spot for the race.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Tony Stewart – 1st, 2nd, 5th in 3 of last 4 at Atlanta. Starting back in 32nd, but if anyone can make their way to the front of the field fast, it’s Smoke.
· Matt Kenseth – 4th, 3rd, 4th in last 3 at Atlanta. Starting 38th this weekend, but no matter where he starts, he’ll probably have a good finish.
· Carl Edwards – 2nd, 7th, 7th in last 3 at Atlanta, qualified 4th, had to be angry about the 100 point deduction, and is out to prove that his win last week wasn’t because of cheating.
· Jeff Gordon – 7th, 6th, 4th in 3 of last 4 at Atlanta, and pole sitter for the race this weekend.

Two others that should do well:
· Reed Sorenson – 3rd, 9th, 10th in 3 of last 4 at Atlanta. Don’t be scared by his 25th place qualifying effort. He started 32nd when he finished 3rd here last year.
· Kasey Kahne – 1st & 9th in 2 of last 4 at Atlanta. Qualified 9th for this week’s race, so you know he has some speed in the car.

Carl Edwards Penalized – Robby Gordon’s Penalty Changed

During the post race inspection at Las Vegas Carl Edwards’ car was found to have the oil cap off, which was said to give him an unfair advantage. For this Carl was docked 100 driver points, Jack Roush was docked 100 owner points, and if Carl qualifies for the Chase for the Cup, he won’t be given the 10 bonus points for the Las Vegas victory. Also, crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next 6 races.

Having the cap off is a violation of the rules, and in an interview Rusty Wallace said that it could help the car perform better, but at the same time, it would blow fumes and bad air into the car that Carl would have to breathe, more than eliminating what advantage could have been gained. Rusty thought that the penalty was way over-the-top, and should have only been 25 points at the max.

Bottom line, is that this was an unintentional mistake made by the crew and did not have an affect on the outcome of the race. NASCAR came down hard on Carl and the team, trying to set a precedence that they won’t stand for any type of cheating.

Was the penalty too harsh, or did Carl and the 99 team get what they deserve?


Also today, NASCAR today announced that they are going to give Robby Gordon back the 100 points they docked him after Daytona. They said that he used non-standard parts, but after a closer look, he got the parts from the manufacturer with the same part number, so the points were given back to him. They did increase the fine by $50,000 that they levied against his crew chief though since he listened to the manufacturer and not someone from NASCAR.

Could Carl appeal his penalty and get some or all of his 100 points back? Let me know what you think.

Race 3 – UAW Dodge 400 Recap and Fantasy Review

Overall it was an okay race, nothing spectacular. There were 19 lead changes, but a lot of them were during caution. I’m still waiting for that one race where they go side by side, rubbing to the line that makes you crave more. Hopefully Atlanta can provide that.

Two weeks in a row Carl Edwards has won a race, and two weeks in a row, no one picked him on their fantasy team. Carl now finds himself leading the points chase. Will that earn him some respect and make people pick him? We’ll find out next week.

Three of the four I picked with a real shot to win the race ran well, but in the end didn’t finish in the top 10. Jimmy had a horrible race, looking less than human. Kenseth ran strong most of the race, but ended up in 20th. Kyle Busch had the best finish, 11th, of the four, while Jeff Gordon had a great chance to win until he smacked the inside wall very hard, tearing his car to pieces. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him wreck like that before.

On the Fantasy side of things
jusmony builds on the lead, stretching it out to 57 points. Highlife had the high point total of the week, and jumped up 11 spots to 3rd place!

Buckeye65 jumped up the most spots, 13, this week moving into 13th place. Going the other way was spincycle, dropping 19 spots to 31st.

We’re only 3 races into the season, and there’s 23 left until the chase begins, so there’s a lot of time for those at the bottom of the standings to make up points, and those at the top to loose points. Nothing is set yet.

The next race is on Sunday in Atlanta. Good luck!

Race 3 – Las Vegas Preview

The series moves to Las Vegas this week, the home of Kurt and Kyle Busch. Both have done well here in the past, and look to have solid runs again today as Kyle Busch qualified in the pole position, and Kurt in 9th.

Last week’s winner, Carl Edwards, is trying to build on his success by qualifying second.

Jimmy Johnson who has dominated Las Vegas, winning the last three races qualified all the way down in 33rd spot. Will he be able to get more speed out of his car during the race? He had some quick times in practice, but nothing like the qualifying times of the top 20.

4 Drivers with a real shot to win:

• Jimmy Johnson – Must overcome a bad qualifying run, but if anyone can do it, he can.
• Matt Kenseth – He’s the last driver to win here not named Jimmy Johnson. He has also finished 8th, 2nd, & 4th in the last 3 races at Las Vegas.
• Kyle Busch – He loves his home track. He’s on the pole, and the last 3 years he’s finished 2nd, 3rd, & 9th
• Jeff Gordon – He’s always solid here. Finishing in the top 5 the last 3 races here.

2 others that should contend for the top 10

• Greg Biffle – He qualified 6th, and has a 6th and 8th place finish in 2 of the last 3 here
• Denny Hamlin – He’s been in the top 10 in both of his Vegas races.

California Review and Fantasy Recap

First some pre-race notes from way back on Sunday when the race first started:
- Seeing ZZ Top play a couple of songs was pretty cool. Look for NASCAR to continue those type of performers as they try to get their “core” fans back.
- Did anyone besides me notice Mark Martin’s hat he was wearing in the interviews? It had #8 on the side, but on the back it looked like it still had a Dale Earnhardt Jr. signature embroidered on it. Am I wrong, or was that really what I saw?
- Did anyone ever hear who the guy was walking around the pit area in his pajama bottoms, bath robe, drinking coffee during the rain delay? That was funny stuff.

Now onto the race…
It started off pretty good and had nice action. The Casey Mears wreck was unexpected, but I never though he was a good driver, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. Gordon had the dominant race car, and if they could have ran the race yesterday, he probably would have won it running away, but mother nature wouldn’t let that happen. He still had a good car today, but Carl was just a little better than Jeff and Jimmy.

The favorites for this race came through and did well. Hendrick rebounded with Jimmy Johnson finishing second, Jeff Gordon 3rd while Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were taken out in an early wreck.

As expected, Ryan Newman had a solid follow-up to his Daytona 500 victory with a 10th place finish.

Of the Four drivers I gave a real shot to win, Edwards did win the race (no one picked him for their fantasy team), Jimmy Johnson was 2nd, Kyle Busch 4th, and Matt Kenseth 5th. Too bad they were all in the chase last season, so you could only choose one of them for your fantasy team.

The other two recommendations, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Burton did pretty good also. Kahne finished 9th and Burton 12th. 38% of the fantasy owners had Kasey Kahne. Good pick up by those folks.

Jusmony won the high point total of the week award, and with it took first place from browere. Those two have put some early distance between them and 3rd place speedy, but will they continue to pick the right drivers and build on the gap to third place?

California - Auto Club 500 - Preview

Since qualifying was rained out the race lineup is a bit jumbled as they start in the position they finished last season…for the most part.

One of the main story lines will be if Hendrick racing can bounce back from the bad showing in Daytona. Outside of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick racing had 27th, 35th, and 39th place finishes. Look for them to do better today and get a couple of top 10 finishes.

Another story is Ryan Newman. He took advantage of the opportunity in Daytona to take the win, now can he keep that momentum and get a top 5 or 10 finish? California is a wide open track, which suites his style, so look for him to stay focused, avoid crashes and have a good finish.

As I stated, this is a wide open track that gives the drivers lots of room to maneuver. There are a lot of guys that do well here, but below are 4 drivers that have a real shot at the win.
· Matt Kenseth - He’s been great at California in his last 4 races with two wins and two 7th place finishes
· Kyle Busch – He has finished in the top ten in the last 4 races in California, and had the top car in Daytona. Look for him to continue the good runs.
· Jimmy Jonhson – Don’t forget about the defending series champ. He’s finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 3 of the past 4 races here.
· Carl Edwards – Cousin Carl has 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes recently and is looking to rebound from a somewhat disappointing 19th place finish at Daytona

Others that should do well:
o Kasey Kahne - finished 1st, 4th, 10th in 3 of the last 4
o Jeff Burton – two 4th place and one 5th in 3 of last 4