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 15 – LifeLock 400 at Michigan Recap

So, I'm a couple days late in my recap...oh well.

The race had its moments of excitement and overall wasn't too bad. It was typical Michigan with long green flag runs and fuel mileage playing a big part at the end of the race. Unfortunately for me, the place I was watching the end of the race had Directv, which went out with 4 laps to go. I did get to hear the "overtime" on the radio.

How did my picks do this week? I had the 1st, 2nd, and 5th place finishers, with some others that finished in the teeens.

Four with a real shot to win:
Kyle Busch - 13th place finish. Didn't look like his dominating self.
Tony Stewart - Nice 5th place finish
Denny Hamlin - 14th place finish was about 5 or 10 spots lower than expected.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Finally, a win!

Two who should do well:
Martin Truex Jr. - 17th place finish was disappointing.
Kasey Kahne - Another strong run with a 2nd place finish.

Darkhorse:
Reed Sorenson - Horrible race for Reed, finishing 34th. Was never in contention


The fantasy standings are getting interesting. I'll do a full writeup on them after the next race at Infineon Raceway.

Race 15 – LifeLock 400 at Michigan Fantasy Preview

This week’s race is at the "D" shaped, Michigan International Speedway. This race could either be very exciting, or very boring. Michigan is a wide track that gives the drivers plenty of room to maneuver and could have very long green flag runs. There have been races here without a caution, which makes it pretty uneventful. If one driver starts to dominate and lap the field it could get ugly early. Races without many cautions also mean it could come down to who gets the best fuel mileage in the race. Many drivers have run out of gas on the last lap at Michigan.

On the other hand, it could be an exciting race. Michigan has two or three racing lanes on the front part of the D, and will really tempt the drivers to push the limits. Based on the action we saw last week at Pocono, I’m going to guess we see a good amount of side-by-side action, and a good race this week.

Here's an interesting stat from NASCAR.com:

A Dodge or Ford has won each of the last 13 Michigan races, dating back to Jeff Gordon's victory in a Chevrolet in June 2001. Bobby Labonte leads all full-time drivers with three wins there, while five drivers have two.

Now, on to my picks…

Four with a real shot to win
Kyle Busch
Why not pick Kyle? After last week's disappointing 43rd place finish, he'll want to come out running hard in Michigan. The bad thing is that he doesn't have much success here (only two top 10s in six races), and his practice times weren't very good (27th fastest). With a normal driver I'd say to stay away from them with stats this bad, but come race day Kyle performs.

Tony Stewart
Tony has been solid at Michigan recently. In his last three here he has a 10th and two 3rd place finishes. In eighteen career races Tony has one win, eight top 5s, and twelve top 10s. His 12.0 average finish is also a strong stat. Taking out an accident in 2006, in which he finished 41st, Tony has all top 5’s and one 10th place finish since 2005. I like Stewart to run upfront all day and get the win.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Dale Jr. Historically he hasn’t done great at MIS. In seventeen career races here he only has two top 5s and five top 10s, with a 17.2 average finish. He has had some success here recently. In three of his last four races he’s finished 5th, 6th, and 3rd. He’s had a solid season so far, and this could be a track where he gets that elusive win.

Denny Hamlin
What track doesn’t Denny run good on? In two of his last three here he’s finished 5th and 9th. He’s a solid driver that knows how to go fast, and not wreck. Denny will be in the top 10 most of the day, and will be challenging for the win at the end.

Two others that should do well
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin has been close at Michigan recently finishing 2nd in last two here. I don’t know if he’ll do that good this weekend, but he should at least finish in the top 10.

Kasey Kahne
I never thought Kasey would win last week. I don't really think he'll win again this weekend, but he should carry some momentum from the win into Michigan and have another solid run. He has finished 4th and won in two of the last four here. Another solid top 10 run should be doable for Kasey on Sunday.

Darkhorse
Reed Sorenson
Reed has had a tough season so far. He’s sitting thirtysecond in points, and his only top 10 finish was 5th at Daytona. Michigan could be his second top 10 of the season. He has two top 10 finishes here in his last four races. I don’t think Reed will win on Sunday, but he should contend for a top 10 finish.

Race 14 - Pocono 500 Review and Fantasy Recap

The race in Pocono proved to be more exciting than I anticipated, but that wasn't a hard thing to do. There was actually some good racing from 5th on back, firey wrecks, and other action. Let's hope this can continue into Michigan next week.

How'd my picks do this week? Well, I advised you on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 14th place finishers. On the bad side I also advised you to pick the 35th and 43rd place finishers.

Four with a real shot to win
Kyle Busch - Wrecked early and finished dead last, 43rd
Kurt Busch - Solid 8th place finish
Denny Hamlin - Overcame some issues to finish 3rd.
Tony Stewart - 35th place finish

Two others that should do well
Jimmie Johnson - Pretty good run with a 6th place finish
Jeff Gordon - Not a very good run for Jeff, with a 14th place finish

Darkhorse
Brian Vickers - Great run for Brian, finishing 2nd

Race 14 – Pocono 500 Preview

The boys are on the triangle track in Pocono this weekend. This will be the first of six races that TNT will broadcast. Kyle Petty will be joining the announce crew.

Will this race be more exciting than last week’s at Dover? Probably not. Historically Pocono doesn’t have much side-by-side racing, and I expect it to be extra hard to pass with the new car. Don’t expect much passing for the lead on the track, as the pit crews will probably play a big part in determining the winner.

One interesting stat from NASCAR.com is that “Four of the past five races at triangular-shaped Pocono have been won from the starting row -- twice from the pole by Denny Hamlin and twice on the outside by Kurt Busch.

Now, on with my picks.

Four with a real shot to win
Kyle Busch
Kyle is going to race the Truck, Nationwide, and Cup series this weekend, which mean he’ll be doing a lot of flying. The truck race, Friday night, is in Texas; the Nationwide series, Saturday night, is in Nashville; and the Sprint Cup race is Sunday afternoon in Pocono. Will he be able to hold up to all the racing and flying form city to city? We’ll find out, but one good thing about it is that he’ll probably get out of sponsor commitments, fan meet and greets, etc. that the drivers normally have to do. This will allow him to focus on driving and nothing else.

Kyle really hasn’t done much at Pocono in his career with only two top 10s in six career races, but with how he’s running this year, how can you not pick him? The question is, will all of the travel and racing in the other series take his attention away from Sunday’s race? Qualifying 10th is a nice way to start things out. The kid’s on a roll, and I say take him again this week.

Kurt Busch
Kurt has had a horrible season so far, but he’s done well at Pocono, and looks to contend for the win on Sunday. In fourteen races at Pocono he has two wins and seven top 5s, five of which came in his last seven races. He has a 1st and two seconds in three of the last four here, with a 14.6 place average finish. 11th place qualifying position should help Kurt stay in the lead pack early.

Denny Hamlin
With four races at Pocono he has two wins, 3rd, and 6th place finishes which is an average finish of 2.8. Denny is my pick to win the race. At one point this season Denny had four consecutive top 5s, but has finished 24th and 43rd in his last two races. Denny is too good of a driver to have that trend continue. Add that to his great record at Pocono and that makes him my pick to win the race.

Tony Stewart
Tony hasn’t had a great season, but he still finds himself in 9th place in the points which isn’t too bad. He has a good history at Pocono finishing 6th, 5th, 7th, and 3rd in the last four here. In eighteen career races he as one win, five top 5s, and thirteen top 10s. In the last three races of this season Tony finished 21st, 18th and 41st. He’s past due for a good run.

Two others that should do well
Jimmie Johnson
In twelve career races at Pocono Jimmie has seven top 10s, four top 5s, and two wins. The 10.7 place average finish is pretty impress also. Jimmie has three top 10s in three of his last four races at Pocono.

In the last five races of this season Jimmie finished 13th, 30th, 13th, 39th, and 7th. I have faith that Jimmie will buck the trend of good finishes every other race and be able to string two together. I don’t know if Jimmie will contend for the win, but he should be in the top 10. Qualifying 2nd is a good way to start a top 10 run.

Jeff Gordon
Remember after race 9 when Jeff was 14th in points and everyone wrote him off thinking he wasn’t a serious contender for the title? Well, he’s cranked out four consecutive top 10s which includes three consecutive top 5s moving up to 6th in points, and is back in the mix. Jeff finished 4th, 1st, and 3rd in his last three races at Pocono. In 30 career races here he has four wins, fifteen top 5s, and twenty one top 10s with an average finish of 10.2. Jeff should keep rolling and get another top 5 or 10 finish. A poor qualifying effort doesn't help Jeff out any, but he should be able to slowly pick his way through the field and get close to the top 10 in the first 30 or so laps.

Darkhorse
Brian Vickers
Vickers finds himself 16th in points with only two top 10 finishes and five top 15s. It’s not a very good season so far, but he has been impressive in races, leading a lot of laps only to have some bad luck take him out. Pocono can be different for him, as he does have two 4th place finishes in his last four here (qualified 4th for both). Look for him to be in the top 10 on Sunday, as he was able to qualify in the 15th position.

Crown Royal 400 at Richmond Review and Fantasy Recap

This looked like a pretty boring race for 350 laps as Denny Hamlin absolutely dominated, leading close to every lap. It seemed that the only suspense would be, who is going to finish 2nd, until his right front tire started to go down. If it weren’t for the bad luck Denny would have run away with the win.

The last 40 or so laps of the race were worth the wait. There was lots of aggressive, side-by-side, racing and lots of drivers trying to fit into spots that they couldn’t, causing some impressive wrecks.

After Denny went out, and Dale Jr. and Kyle Busch’s wreck Clint Bowyer seized the opportunity to take home his second career Sprint Cup victory. Kyle Busch was able to hold of Mark Martin at the end for 2nd place.

The surprise finish of the race had to be Reed Sorenson finishing 10th, a solid run for that group, and his best finish since coming home 5th at Daytona.

How'd my picks do?
4 With a real shot to win.
Kyle Busch – After he and Jr. got together, he was able to hold off Mark Martin for 2nd.
Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie had a strong run going before he got caught up in a wreck and finished 30th.
Denny Hamlin – Talk about domination. If anyone deserved to win, he did, but an untimely flat tire in the last 40 laps of the race cost him the victory, and he ended up with a 25th place finish.
Kevin Harvick – Harvick was in the top 10 all night, and finished 6th to cap off a solid run.

2 others that could do well
Tony Stewart – Solid run with a 4th place finish.
Jeff Gordon – Solid run with a 9th place finish

Sleeper
David Ragan – David was able to keep up with the leaders most of the night, and finished a respectable 17th, but getting caught up in an early wreck cost him a chance to finish in the top 10.

On the fantasy side of things buckeye65 & highlife got the high point total with 601. Buchsmoto now only holds a 22 point lead over highlife.

Big movers of the week:
Nascar_nut – Up 9 spots to 29th. Can they make it all the way into the chase?
Browngw – Up 8 spots to 12th, back in the chase, after forgetting to change his drivers last week.
Hollydiaz – Moving the wrong direction, down 10 spots to 32nd. Looks like holly forgot to dump Ken Schrader.

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 10 - Crown Royal 400 at Richmond Preview

Well, this weekend the boys are running under the lights on a Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia. This is the short track that thinks it’s a super speedway. The ¾ mile track should give us a little bit of everything; high speeds, bumping, and good racing.

Kyle Busch
With the win last week Kyle Busch trimmed Jeff Burton’s points lead 58 points, down to just 22. Kyle has done really well at Richmond in his career. In six races he’s only finished out of the top 5 once (20th last year). Even though his two worse finishes of the season came on the short tracks at Bristol (17th) and Martinsville (38th), don’t look for him to finish that bad in Richmond. The D shaped track should fit Kyle’s aggressive style, so he should continue to do well.

Denny Hamlin
The third year driver has been having a solid, but fairly quiet year so far. He’s fourth in points with six top 10s, four top 5s and one Win. In four career races at Richmond he’s finished in the top 10 three times. His worst qualifying position has been 7th, so look for him to do well and run up front most of the night.

Kevin Harvick
Harvick’s career started out kind of rough at Richmond. In his first eight races (2001 – 2004) he only finished in the top 10 twice. Since then he has six consecutive top 10 finished with three top 5s. It’ll be hard to bet against those numbers.

Jeff Burton
Not much gets said about the Sprint Cup points leader and his chances to win races. It seems that Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, or the Hendrick drivers take a lot of the spotlight. Jeff has had a solid season so far with one Win and his worst finish being 13th in Daytona. Unfortunately I don’t think that success will translate to Richmond. Since 2004 (a span of 8 races) Jeff has only finished in the top 10 once. In the eight races before that (2000 – 2003) he had finished in the top 10 six times. That’s quite a drop off in performance. He may do okay and finish in the top 15, but I don’t see him challenging for a victory.

Tony Stewart
Smoke needs to start heating up. After the crash in Talladega and a 38th place finish Stewart dropped to 9th in the standings. Historically he’s done well at Richmond, and should have a shot at success on Saturday night. He has twelve career top 10s and three Wins at the track in 18 races. Look for him to be aggressive and push to the front.

4 with a real shot to win
· Kyle Busch – He’s been hot all season, and he does well in Richmond.
· Jimmy Johnson – Won last two, and is looking more like the Jimmy that dominated last year
· Denny Hamlin – He has a 6th, 3rd, 2nd in 3 of the last 4 in Richmond.
· Kevin Harvick – Six consecutive top 10s at a track is hard to ignore.

2 others that could do well
· Tony Stewart – 2nd, 8th, 6th in 3 of last 4, and ready to make up points after last week’s wrecks
· Jeff Gordon – Finished 4th in the last two races here, looking to get back in the top 12

Sleeper
· David Ragan – He’s only had two career races at Richmond, but finished 3rd in last fall’s race. He may be able to get another top 5 or 10 finish this weekend if he can avoid wrecks.

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.

Race 6 - Martinsville Recap & Fantasy Update

Well, Martinsville is in the books, and it went pretty much as planned.

My four drivers with a real shot to win did very well, and Denny Hamlin did win. In addition to Hamlin, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished in the top 4. Although, Kyle Busch had some issues and finished 38th.

The two others that I said should do well did pretty good. Kevin Harvick finished 12th, and Stewart 5th.

And the pick I really called was my Dark Horse, Jamie McMurray. He made me look like I actually know what I'm talking about and finished 8th. 18% of the fantasy teams did have McMurray on their team, so good job by them to pick up some points.

More Fantasy Notes:

• Irish had the high point total of the week, and also moved up the most spots, 14, to 22nd.
• FYYFF had a rough week, only getting 427 points and dropping 17 spots to 34th
• Hessler still sucks....he's still in 48th, on my advise to him to pick up Arik Almirola. Hey, jj24, when you going to pass this bum up?
• The top 4 spots are only separated by 111 points. It looks like it'll be a close race this year.
• Eliminator - After 2 weeks 17 players have been eliminated, and we have 8 left.

Race 6 – Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Preview

Kyle Busch is leading the points chase by 30 points over Greg Biffle. Historically Busch has done very well at Martinsville. He’s finished in the top 5 in his last four races here. He’s definitely the driver to beat in NASCAR right now, and every time he goes out to race he can win. This week is no exception. Expect Busch to be contending for the lead the entire race, and don’t be surprised to see him take home the checkered flag.

Ryan Newman, the Daytona 500 winner, was having a solid season, but slipped a little after last week’s disappointing 33rd place finish. He dropped 4 spots in the standings, down to 8th place. Will the week off allow him to regain the focus and be ready for this week’s race? He’s only finished in the top 10 at Martinsville once in the last 4 races here. That was a 2nd place finish in the Fall of ’07 race. I’ll be cheering for Newman since he’s a Purdue grad, but I don’t have a good feeling about this race. He did qualify 13th, which isn’t bad, but he’ll need to do some good driving and stay clean to have a shot at a top 10 finish, which isn’t really his specialty.

The big mover in the point standings the past couple weeks has been Clint Bowyer. After 3 races he was in 23rd place. After a 6th place finish at Atlanta he moved up to 16th, and after a 3rd place finish in Bristol he moved up to 9th. Can he continue his hot streak and gain more spots in the championship standings? He’s finished 11th and 9th in his last two races at Martinsville, and qualified 12th this week, so he could do well.

Four drivers with a real shot to win. I know there’s not much creativity in picking the favorites, but you have to go with who you really think will finish well.
· Jimmy Johnson – Won last 3, and finished 3rd in spring ’06. This should be the week he gets back on track. A 10th place starting spot should help with that.
· Jeff Gordon – 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 2nd in last 4, and the pole position for this week’s race. He’ll be tough to beat.
· Kyle Busch – 4th, 4th, 5th in 3 of last 4. 8th place qualifying spot. Has this guy had a bad showing yet this year?
· Denny Hamlin – 6th, 3rd, 2nd in last 3. Qualified 2nd and should be a contender all day.

Two others that should do well:
· Kevin Harvick – 10th, 9th, 7th in 3 of last 4. Qualified 11th. Kevin is always a threat to win, and should be running up front in this race.
· Tony Stewart – 7th, 4th, 1st in 3 of last 4. Starting in the 9th position should help Smoke get his 4th top 10 finish in 5 trips to Martinsville.

Darkhorse of the race:
· Jamie McMurray – Has 2 top 10 finishes in his last 4 at Martinsville and qualified 5th. Hopefully he’ll be able to break out of the awful slump he’s in.

Miscellaneous Notes after Atlanta

Tires were a big story in Atlanta, and were probably the cause of the race being so boring. The driver had no confidence in the tires and were running sideways through some of the turns. After the race, not one driver had good things to say about the tires. Everyone thought they were bad and needed to be fixed by Goodyear before coming back.

Tony Stewart was particularly harsh. He said they were “not worthy of a street car” and also said that he can see why no other major racing series uses Goodyear. “I’m going to go home and put Firestones on all of my cars.”

Earlier this week Tony was on Sirius radio with Mike Helton, and re-emphasized the point that the tires sucked and that Goodyear has to be held more accountable

Goodyear said they make the tires to be safe since the tires that were used last year wore down to the cords. They admitted that they probably overcompensated on the new tire and gave up too much performance. They better get this figured out because the Atlanta race is usually exciting with lots of lead changes and close finishes, but last week was booooring with few lead changes.


One other note is that Kyle Busch, in an interview on NASCAR Now, credited his success this season to Joe Gibbs racing for allowing him “to be his own person”. Is that a knock on Hendrick, saying they were asking him to be more like Jeff and Jimmy?

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.

Does NASCAR Really Want the Drivers to Display Their Personalities?

On Monday, January 21st NASCAR CEO Brian France gave a “State of the sport” speech. In it he didn’t announce any radical changes. Instead the theme was that the sport wants to “embrace the past, and the rich heritage”. As part of this, NASCAR has said that they want to see the drivers’ personalities show more on and off the track. This would definitely be a good thing, and probably help bring some viewers back to NASCAR, but will NASCAR actually let the drivers be themselves?

Ever since Dale Earnhardt died NASCAR has been cracking down on “rough” or “aggressive” driving, fining drivers and putting them on probation (no word yet if NASCAR has a double-secret probation). The two drivers that have probably been most affected by this are Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart. They’re the ones most likely to bump other drivers, nudge them out of the way and make a pass. Of course this was Earnhart’s signature move, but now that he’s gone, if anyone else does it they’re called into the hauler and given a lecture by the powers that be. Whatever happened to the term “rubbin’s racin’”? It seems that NASCAR has taken out one of the elements that brought fans; the ability for cars to bump and bang into each other to make a pass and be physical. Now they run the series so tight they act like the car will fall apart if touched.

NASCAR says that they’re going to let the personalities come out in the drivers and back off on the fines and let them drive more. Well, I guess time will tell, but during practice yesterday, we already had an altercation from, you guessed it, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. (See video at: http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=3238271 ) No fines have been handed out yet, but with the way Kurt Busch acted on pit road, he should be fined for putting a pit crew member in danger. After the incident the drivers were told to keep their distance from each other in the Bud Shootout tonight. Hopefully that’s just the public statement that NASCAR puts out, and we’re able to see the two go side-by-side and battle it out. If you want to see personality, there’s nothing better than two drivers going door to door trying to send a message to each other. I guess we’ll find out tonight.

Obviously some drivers don’t truly believe that NASCAR wants their personalities to show. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of them. "I think honestly they're playing to you guys, not talking to the drivers," he said to reporters. "Basically, they're trying to appear to be looser. "Their [intentions] have not been relayed to the driver as to what's been changed. Just a press release went out to the press, 'Hey, we're going to do this. How about that? You guys like that, right?' So what have they told us? I don't know what that means."

Back in November I wrote an entry about how the ratings of NASCAR are dipping, and what can be done to get viewers back. (http://blog.chadsfantasynascar.com/2007/11/how-to-bring-back-nascar-viewers.html) That had to deal with season and race length, but obviously another big factor in getting fans back is personalities in the sport, and better racing action. Will NASCAR let the drivers be themselves, and will they let more physical racing take place on the track? Let me know your thoughts.