Race 16 – Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway Preview

Sonoma. The first of two road courses in the NASCAR season. The good thing about this race is that you shouldn’t hear people complaining about the new car since it really shouldn’t have an affect on this race. It’s always tough to pass on this track, but there are a few places on the course that they can, and we should see some good action.

A road course also means there’ll be drivers who aren’t regulars to NASCAR in the race, trying to show their skills. (Think Boris Said, Ron Fellows, and Brian Simo to name a few.)

Four drivers with a real shot to win
Jeff Gordon
15 races here, five wins, nine top 5s, 11 top 10s, and an average finish of 9.7. He’s won two and finished 7th in three of the last four here. I know Jeff hasn’t looked real good lately, but he is an awesome road course driver. He’s probably the only NASCAR regular that could go to F1 and win. He’ll win on Sunday.

Boris Said
Boris isn’t an every week driver, but road courses are his specialty, and teams hire him just for the two road courses. He’s finished 6th, and has two 9ths in the last four here. He averages a 9.7 place finish in the races that he completes all the laps….Which means he has to avoid the wrecks and he’s virtually guaranteed a top 10 finish, and should be contending for the win.

Jeff Burton
Jeff’s career numbers aren’t great at Infineon Raceway, averaging a 19.4 place finish, but he has three top 10 finishes in the last four here. His worst finish this season was 15th last week, which was only the 5th time he finished outside of the top 10. He’ll be running up front again in this race.

Tony Stewart
Tony had a bad stretch this season starting at Darlington where he finished 18th or worse in four straight races. He turned that around at Michigan with a 5th place finish, and should get another top five finish this weekend. In nine career races he has two wins, three top 5s, and five top 10s with an average finish of 10th place.

Two others that should do well:
Greg Biffle
Greg only has five races here under his belt with two top 5s which were in the last two here. He’s starting a good trend, and it should continue this weekend.

Kurt Busch
Kurt has finished 3rd and 5th in two of the last three here. He’s had a rough season, but he’s a pretty good driver on road courses and should be able to get a top 10 finish.

Dark horse
Elliot Sadler
Elliot has done very well in Sonoma. He has a 10th, 6th and 8th in three of the last four. In nine career races he has four top 10s. He may not get a top 5 finish, but should be around the top 10 most of the day.

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 11 – Darlington Recap and Fantasy Update

Well, the track was much faster with the new surface, and there were quite a few drivers that got their “Darlington stripe”. Kyle Busch hit the wall a couple times late in the race while leading, but it didn’t stop him from running away with the win.

The racing action wasn’t that great last night, but it wasn’t really expected to be with the higher speeds. Once a driver got the lead it was pretty tough to pass them. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made mention of it in the post race interview, saying it was almost impossible to pass. This should change as the new surface gets broken in and speeds slow down a bit.

So, how’d my recommendations do?
Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Jeff Gordon – Strong 3rd place finish, but didn’t have close to the car needed to win….but then again, no one had a car to compete with Kyle Busch.
· Jimmie Johnson – Had a pretty uneventful night and finished 13th.
· Ryan Newman – Disappointing night for Ryan. Got a couple laps down early, but made it up to about 24th, then had more issues and finished 37th.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Strong all night, and finished 4th.

Two others that should do well
· Greg Biffle – Greg was running strong, but mechanical failures had him finish dead last.
· Denny Hamlin – Strong 7th place finish.Dark Horse· Martin Truex Jr. – Martin was in the top 10 most of the night, and even cracked the top 5, but after a late race incident with Denny Hamlin he wasn’t able to hold the good position and fell to a 14th place finish.

Fantasy Update
We have a new leader! Highlife passed buchsmoto and now leads by only 16 points. After that it’s 220 points to 3rd place jusmony.

Browere made a big move, up 8 spots, to get into the top 10, and mouse moved up 3 spots to 13th, only 25 points out of the last chase spot.

Other movers:
· Hollydiaz got the high point total of the week, and moved up the most spots, 14, to 20th place.
· Smoke20 moved 8 spots in the wrong direction, dropping to 25th place.
· Amped Up and SkidRow lost 9 and 10 spots with their bad weeks.

Misc Notes:
11 races down 15 to go until the chase begins.
· Right now there’s only 112 point difference between 12th and 21st place.
· From 22nd place to 36th is only a 107 point difference

It’s still wide open and anyone can make the chase, so don’t give up now. There’s no points race next week, as it’s the All-Star race in Charlotte, so enjoy the week off, and be ready to pick your drivers for the Coca-Cola 600 on the 25th. Don't forget that the next Eliminator begins with the Coca-Cola 600!!

Good Luck!!

Race 11 – Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Preview

Another Saturday night race, this time at Darlington Raceway. The recently repaved 1.366 mile oval should be faster than normal. Look for speeds to be up, and possibly the number of drivers sliding into the wall early.

Back in early March Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Greg Biffle did some tire testing at Darlington for Goodyear. Could this give them a bit of an edge since they have a few more laps on the new surface than other driver?


Kyle Busch
With his strong run last week, Kyle Busch was able to pass Jeff Burton in the standings to regain the top spot he once held after the 5th race of the season. He’s only raced at Darlington three times, with just one top 10 finish, so it doesn’t look too good for him Saturday night. However, Kyle has four straight top 10 finishes, three of them in the top 3, so momentum is on his side. The new surface will also be fast and slick, which are conditions Kyle loves. Will the momentum and new surface carry him to a top 10 finish or better on Saturday?

Jimmie Johnson
After climbing up to 4th in points a couple weeks ago, Jimmie has had some mediocre runs at best, and has slipped a few spots to 7th. I expect Jimmie will be back to his dominating self this week. He has eight career top 10s in only nine races. He should be running up front all night.

Jeff Gordon
Jeff has looked good in some races and didn’t get the results due to wrecks, but had the opposite happen last week when he wasn’t running very good, but found himself in 9th place when the race ended. Expect all that to be different this week. Jeff has absolutely dominated at Darlington in his career. He has seven career wins, fifteen top 5s, and eighteen top 10s in only 27 races. Look for Jeff to be challenging for the lead the entire race.

Ryan Newman
This team has been up and down all season, and can’t seem to keep a good streak going. They’ve finished 1st at Daytona and 43rd in Phoenix. They’re sitting 11th in points right now, and must string together 5 or 6 consecutive top 10s to solidify themselves in the chase. They currently have two top 10s in a row, and should have a third one after this race. Ryan has finished in the top 10 here in the last 3 races, and has 6 career top 10s in 9 career races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Jr. continues to put a solid season together. Every time I think he’ll have an off week, he proves me wrong and runs well. Last season it seemed like he mailed in a couple races, but this year he seemed focused every race, for the entire race. In an interview on April 3rd Jr. said, “It’s good to have other people you’re motivated to please.” Guess he was sick of Theresa. Look for him to stay motivated and please Hendrick Racing again this week.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Jeff Gordon – 1st, 2nd, 2nd in last 3 – 7 career wins, 18 career top 10s, 15 top 5s, in 27 races. How can you go against that success?
· Jimmie Johnson – 3rd, 4th, 7th in last 3 – 8 career top 10s in 9 races with 2 wins, 5 top 5s. He’ll make up for the 30th place finish last week.
· Ryan Newman – 4th, 6th, 5th in last 3 – 6 career top 10s, 5 top 5s, in 9 career races. Flyin’ Ryan likes to go fast, and the new surface at Darlington will be fast.
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 8th, 5th, 8th – 4 consecutive top 10 finishes, 6 career top 10 in 13 races. He’s gonna win soon enough…

Two others that should do well
· Greg Biffle – 2 Wins in the last 3 here. Tough to go against wins, but we’ll see if he can keep it up while contract talks are ongoing.
· Denny Hamlin – 2nd, 10th in only 2 races here. He injured his hip playing basketball this week, but he won’t feel that once the adrenaline kicks in for the race.

Dark Horse
· Martin Truex Jr. – 11th and 14th place finish in his only two races here and coming off a season best 5th place finish at Richmond, Martin should have confidence on his side for this race.

Stewart want out of Gibbs? Biffle’s contract talks distracting him?

Stewart want out of contract with Gibbs?
The main story last week was that Tony Stewart may be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing after the season. He has apparently been in contact with Haas CNC racing to become a part owner of that team, and race for them, even though he’s under contract with Gibbs through the 2009 season. Sources are saying that Tony wants to become an owner in the Sprint Cup Series and go back to driving for Chevy since he’s comfortable with them, and they sponsor cars he races and owns in many smaller circuits. Although today it was stated that some people feel that he may just re-sign with Gibbs, and not venture into ownership.

Do you think it’d be wise for Stewart to leave Joe Gibbs Racing? While there he’s won two championships and has compiled 32 career victories. A lot of that has to do with the resources that Joe Gibbs has available, and the ability to put together quality race cars each Sunday. If Tony leaves and goes to Haas CNC to become a part owner, will they be able to put competitive cars on the track?

That team isn’t even close to becoming a title contender right now. Will Tony Stewart’s name bring that much money and focus for them to change? I think it’ll help a lot, but not enough to contend for a title. If he went there, a good season may be winning a race or two and making the chase. With Gibbs he’s always one of the favorites to win the whole thing. If names like Petty and Earnhardt (DEI, not Jr.) can’t put competitive teams out on the track, does Tony really think he could? Sure he’s one of the best drivers in NASCAR, but you have to have the equipment as well as a driver to win races. Parting ways with Joe Gibbs racing would be a big mistake.

Stewart Stats
Year Finish Wins
2007 6th .....3
2006 11th ....5
2005 Champion 5
2004 6th .....2
2003 7th .....2
2002 Champion 3
2001 2nd .....3
2000 6th .....6
1999 4th (Rookie) 3

Biffle Contract Talks
Greg Biffle is in the last year of his contract with Roush Fenway Racing. In late May/early April he said that the contract was about 90% done as they were working on an extension through the 2011 season. There hasn’t been any word lately on the progress of it. Could this be weighing on the Biff’s mind and affecting performance? In the first five races this season he averaged a 7.2 place finish, and in the last four (since 3/30) he’s averaged a 21.5 place finish. We’ll have to keep an eye on this and see how it does in the coming weeks.

Race 8 – Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix Preview

Well, let's hope the racing action in Phoenix is better than Texas. Last week was a snoozer of a race. The "experts" think that Phoenix will have 2 and 3 wide racing, giving it more action than the last couple of races. I don't know if I believe them or not. Texas was suppose to be an exciting race too, but it was far from it. ...on to the driver selections.

Jeff Burton is leading the points chase and historically he does pretty well at Phoenix. In his last six races here his worst finish has been 15th, so look for him to have a solid run this week.

Greg Biffle has been struggling lately finishing 20th and 39th in the last two races. Can his team turn it around? They’re usually hit and miss at this track. Over his last 6 trips to the track he’s finished as high as 2nd, and low as 41st. What’ll he do this week?? Who knows, but I won’t pick him for my fantasy team.

Can Jimmy Johnson continue his run of top 5 finishes? In the past two weeks he’s moved up 7 spots in the standings to 6th. Will be able to continue the momentum on Sunday? I think so. He’s finished in the top 10 in his last four races here, and top 5 in 3 of them.

Four drivers with a real shot to win
· Kevin Harvick – 6th, 10th, 1st, 1st in last 4. He qualified 17th, which isn’t great, but with his record at Phoenix you can’t go against him.
· Jimmy Johnson – 1st, 4th, 2nd, 7th, in last 4 here. After qualifying 7th, you should expect him to be in the lead pack all day long.
· Matt Kenseth – 3rd, 3rd, 5th in 3 of last 4. He qualified 27th and will need to get off to a good start, but he should be able to. If anything, his pit crew should be able to keep him on the lead lap for an extended period of time until the car is dialed in.
· Tony Stewart – 4th, 2nd, 2nd in 3 of last 4, qualifying 12th.

Two others that should do well:
· Jeff Burton – 9th, 10th, 9th in 3 of last 4. Qualifying 39th doesn’t help, but his average starting position this year is 21.4, and he usually ends up doing OK.
· Jeff Gordon – 10th, 1st, 4th in 1 of last 3 and qualified 11th.

Miscellaneous News and Notes From Around NASCAR.

Here’s some miscellaneous news and notes from around NASCAR.

Greg Biffle Contract:
· Biffle is in the last year of his contract
· He and Roush aregotiating a contract extension through 2011
· If there is no agreement, then he’ll test the market to see what other offers there are, but doesn’t expect that to happen
· Biffle’s contract extension is about 90% done, and they’re just working on the fine details. He did state that he wants it done by mid-season though.
· Could this become a distraction for him? It doesn’t seem to be so far, as he’s 3rd in points, but we’ll have to watch his performance on the track and see.

Jimmy Johnson’s rough season
· Chad Kanaus said he’s confused about the car and isn’t sure what’s wrong.
· Have they lost the magic? Last year everything came easy for them. Will they be able to battle through the rough times and come out on top?
· It looks like last week was a step in the right direction.
· We’ll see how it goes in Texas, but in an interview Jimmy said, “We don’t have what we all need on the big tracks.” It sounds like they’re searching for some answers.

Danika Patrick in NASCAR?
· On NASCAR Now, Danika said she’s not interested in NASCAR
· She asked the hosts what the advantages would be. I guess that’s a fair question considering she’d have to actually qualify for a race, finish 20th or worse about every time out, compete for sponsor dollars, etc.
· They said more races, more money, but less free time.
· She wasn’t buying it, and seemed kind of put out by the question. I never really liked her, but based on that interview I like her even less now.

Economics/Sponsorships
· Just like everything else in America, NASCAR is feeling the effect of a bad economy. There are several drivers and teams struggling to get sponsorship.
· Villeneuve is one guy who can’t find a sponsor. Bill Davis racing said that they have to find a sponsor before he’ll race again, otherwise he’s done for the season.
· Money is tight in NASCAR now, and it’ll create more disparity between the top tier teams and lower level.
· Look for Hendrick, Roush, and Joe Gibbs racing to pull away from the competition as the season wears on. It’ll be almost impossible for the smaller shops to keep up.

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.

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.