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 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.

Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Review and Fantasy Recap

It took a while for the racing to get good, but once it did, there was quite a bit of excitement. There was a lot of passing, and side-by-side action in the last 40+ laps and of course some pretty impressive wrecks.

Kyle Busch was able to stay in front of the crashes and stay in front of Juan Pablo Montoya to get the victory. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was strong all race, but couldn’t pull off the win after getting involved in a wreck, and finished in a respectable 10th place.

The surprise finishes of the race had to be Juan Montoya taking 2nd place, David Ragan in 4th, and Brian Vickers in 5th. Good jobs by these guys, and let’s see if they can build on this for future races.

The four drivers with a real shot to win.
The four I said had a real shot to win did pretty good, according to the unofficial results. We’ll see if this changes at all after NASCAR posts the official results tomorrow.
Jimmy Johnson finished 11th.
Kurt Busch was in a wreck and ended up finishing 39th after fighting to get back on the lead lap.
Jeff Gordon finished 12th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 10th.

The two others that I said should do well,
Ryan Newman finished 8th after running up front most of the day.
Brian Vickers had a great run and finished 5th.


Fantasy Update
phin got the high point total of the week with 594, and move up 5 spots, all the way up to 39th.

Browngw got the low point total of the week with 275, forgetting to take Mark Martin off his team, and dropped 18 spots from 5th to 23rd….ouch!

The biggest position gainer was hollydiaz, moving up 7 spots to 20th.

Eliminator
Redvette won the eliminator! His driver, Tony Stewart, didn’t finish in the top 10, but he finished ahead of shocker, who forgot to pick their driver.

The next Eliminator game will start with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, and once again will be free.

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

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?