On Pit Row

He Blocked Left then He Blocked Right then He Got Smoked

Mindy Monday — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:50:29 +0000

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Last week, Steve got the crow sandwich. This week, Charlie gets the rocking chair. Actually, Mindy Monday offers up Charlies chair to the shy (right) and retiring (true) Mikey Waltrip.

Mindy compares the Jeremy Mayfield saga to a Burt Levee novel and Phil Parson’s no. 66 ride to the previously mentioned rocker.

There’s more. There always is. Including Tony Stewart’s “ole’- el passo” of Kyle Busch. Watch the latest Monday Morning Crew Chief.

Chicagoland Fantasy Racing Live Chat: Thursday at 7 PM ET

Charlie Turner — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:46:12 +0000

Join Eric McClung tonight for a live fantasy racing advice for the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway this Saturday night. This will be the fourth in our fast growing live blog/chat sessions focusing on NASCAR fantasy racing. Enter your email below and we’ll remind you before the start.

One and Done: LifeLock.com 400

Chris Leone — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:26:20 +0000

Despite originating as a Sunday afternoon race, this weekend’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will be run under the lights for the second year in a row. It is also the second consecutive Saturday night race for the Sprint Cup teams, after last week’s Coke Zero 400. Speaking of that – how about Charlie and I with our “crapshoot” picks? His pick, Kurt Busch, wound up fifth, and one of mine, Marcos Ambrose, was sixth.

Hopefully, the advice I give you this week will be as solid as it was last week – I had the winner, the almost-winner, the eighth place car, and the aforementioned sixth place car. Picking at Chicagoland can be a challenge, if only because there’s not a whole lot of history to back it up – the track is still young enough that five drivers have average finishes in the single digits.

For this week’s picks, however, I’m relying on that history. It’s recent enough to be a solid predictor, and it also makes the picks a little more interesting, as a good amount of them aren’t contenders on a weekly basis this year.

Kevin Harvick: He’s been bad this year, I know. But he’s one of only two drivers to win here twice, so he must know something about the track that a lot of guys don’t. He’s only failed to complete one lap and has led in five of eight starts here, and his last three Chicagoland races have seen two fourths and a third. Think of Happy as your “kinda-sorta-sleeper-but-not-really” for the week.

Brian Vickers: Despite failing to qualify for the race in 2007, Vickers has a 9.2 average finish at Chicagoland, making it one of his strongest tracks. He’s never failed to complete a lap in his four starts, and is usually solidly near the front come the end of the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya: He’s been solid, although not spectacular, in two career starts here. Judging by the quality of the Ganassi cars, though, a 15th and an 18th are results to be proud of. Expect more this weekend, as his team tries to make up for the loss of Martin Truex Jr. by giving Montoya the absolute strongest car they possibly can. (It’s also fair not to expect much out of Truex for the rest of the year.)

Ryan Newman: Eh, why not. It’s about time he adds to the Stewart-Haas win total. He’s won at the track before, and if not for a bad stretch of luck from 2004-2006 (best finish: 29th), he’d probably be in the single digits in average finishes too.

Tony Stewart: The other guy to win twice at Chicagoland also won last week, has been strong for most of the season, and is running one of those cool “Back to School” schemes that Office Depot usually does at this race. (For the record, it’s a little early to be running a “Back to School” paint scheme, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless.) The No. 14 team has shocked a lot this year, and there’s no reason to think they can’t shock again.

Also, it’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the guys running limited schedules, and when folks will be able to pick them. So, without further ado:

Aric Almirola is expected to be back in the No. 8 car by the Brickyard 400. Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer reported recently that the team is close to securing sponsorship; not only that, the race is one of the highest paying on the schedule.

Still nothing to report on Travis Kvapil. Yates Racing is continuing to focus on Bobby Labonte and Paul Menard, with no known deals for Kvapil.

Regan Smith is adding the August night race at Bristol to his schedule. His streak of 51 consecutive races without a DNF, spanning his entire career, carries on, and Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone implied that Smith’s ability to keep the car on the track played a big factor in the team’s decision to add races.

Fast Laps: Chicagoland

Matt Mercer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:26:22 +0000

This may be for Chicagoland, but I’m still hung up on the finish of the Coke Zero 400. If you’re reading this you know the deal. Kyle Busch comes out of turn 4, blocks Tony Stewart, Stewart moves to the outside, Busch tries to block, gets spun, get’s clobbered. Twice. The finishes of these plate races has officially jumped the shark. We now know that the leader at the end of the race will end up in the wall just before the start/finish line. It’s not anyone’s fault, per se. The drivers have voiced frustration at NASCAR for the situation they’re put in. I began thinking, is there anything that can change? I started looking at some plate races from the late 90s when the fad was diving below the line on the front and backstretch. Perhaps the most famous example was Jeff Gordon diving below race leader Rusty Wallace with 11 laps to go heading into turn 1 with a slowed Ricky Rudd on the apron. Gordon was just a few feet from Rudd when Wallace moved up, gave Gordon the room on the inside, and watched him win his 2nd Daytona 500. Today, Rusty says he wouldn’t have given Gordon the room. If the yellow-line rule is lifted, would we see a situation like that again? Who knows. I just know that something’s got to be done to change the finishes of these races, because I’ll take the money in my pockets and bet someone all the money in theirs that the finish at the fall race at Talladega will look very similar to those that saw Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart end up in victory lane instead of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Now it’s your turn to do battle with Steve and Charlie, along with who else might show up. 100 words, 100% attitude. Let’s roll:

1. Will someone get killed during one these plate race finishes, as suggested by Carl Edwards?

2. Has the yellow-line rule outlived its usefulness?

3. What will Martin Truex Jr. do in his first year at MWR?

4. Does Chicagoland deserve a second race ahead of Kansas?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: LifeLock.com 400

Charlie Turner — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:49:17 +0000

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
James Jones	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson		6.9
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson		8.9
Yahoo Users	Yahoo! Sports	Jimmie Johnson		9.9
Mike Harmon	FOX Sports	Matt Kenseth		10.3
Cheryl Lauer	Speed Couch			10.5
Dennis Mickelsen	RaceTalkRadio.com	Jimmie Johnson		11.1
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	Greg Biffle		12.4
Darren Fauth	Fantasy NASCAR Names	Tony Stewart		12.7
Roger Rotter	FOX Sports	Tony Stewart		12.7
Gerrit Ritt	FOX Sports	Tony Stewart		13.9
Eric Brewer		Tony Stewart		14
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving			14.8
Charlie Turner	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson		15.4
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Carl Edwards		16
Eric McGuire	FFToolbox	Kyle Busch		16.2
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Tony Stewart		17
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Carl Edwards		17.7

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: LifeLock.com 400

Eric McClung — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:08:21 +0000

Greetings On Pit Row readers,
Chicagoland Speedway hosts one race a year and only eight Cup races have been held here so many fantasy owners may look for data from some of the similar cookie-cutter tracks. The most similar configuration is Kansas Speedway. Both are 1.5-mile, D-shaped ovals. The race at Kansas is held during the Chase so you’ll have to go back to last season for those numbers. Las Vegas Motor Speedway has some similarities and has been visited once earlier in the season.

Qualifying has not been very important at Chicago - anywhere in teens will do. Kyle Busch won from the pole last year but of the eight Cup races held at Chicagoland, the winner has started from outside of the top-10 on five occasions.

As I stated on this week’s On Pit Row, I prefer to look at each start individually but similar track numbers are helpful to break a split decision between two drivers. For more advice, please join me for this week’s live fantasy chat Thursday at 7PM Eastern!

Here’s an explanation of the highlighted text in the rankings.

Y! A/B/C - The top options in the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game by driver list.
Strong qualifier - History of winning poles or qualifying inside the top-five.
Good qualifier - History of qualifying inside the top-10.
Value play - Good recent history at this week’s track. Drivers to consider as low-rent salary cap options or alternative options in allocation formats.

Good luck this week and please leave your comments below! Download a printer-friendly version here.

Tony Stewart… Six top-five finishes over the eight races held at Chicagoland, including two wins (’04, ‘07) Has led laps in six races, leading all drivers in total laps led. Y! B-1
Jimmie Johnson… Good qualifier. Seven career starts: no wins but six finishes of sixth or better. Had led laps in six races. After his first attempt never started worse than eighth. Y! A-1
Matt Kenseth… Good qualifier. Last four starts: started 10th or better in all four. Finished seventh or better in the last three races- led laps in all of them. Has led laps in six of the eight races held, finished 14th or better in seven of them. Led an average of 144.0 laps in the ‘05 and ‘06 races. Y! A-2
Kyle Busch… Won from the pole last year, leading 165 laps. Has never finished worse than 14th in four races. Y! A-3
Jeff Gordon… Four top-five finishes, including a victory in ‘06. Has finished worse than 17th only once, due to an accident. Has led laps in four races. Y! A-4
Greg Biffle… Improving slowly but surely. Finished 20th in ‘03 and ‘04, finished 11th ‘05-’07, career-best four-place finish last year, led 43 laps
Brian Vickers… Strong qualifier. Started fifth or better in three of four attempts. Two top-10 finishes, never finished worse than 14th. Y! B-2
Kevin Harvick… Strong value play. Won the first Chicagoland races in ‘01 and ‘02. Has top-five finishes in three straight races. Had led laps in five of eight career starts, including two of the last three
Ryan Newman… Strong qualifier. Has started third or better three times in seven attempts. Won the pole in ‘02, won the race in ‘03. Poor finishes from ‘04-’06 but top-10s in ‘07 and ‘08. Y! B-3
Kurt Busch… Has finished in sixth or eight place on five occasions. Finished 28th or worse in three other starts. Y! B-4
Mark Martin… Had led laps in four races. Last top-10 came in ‘05, finished inside the top-20 in the three races since.
Jeff Burton… Good qualifier. Won the pole in ‘06, started third last year. Two of his three career top-10s have come in the last three races. Finished 30th or worse three times in the five previous races.
Clint Bowyer… Three career starts: ninth, 10th, 22nd.
Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Good qualifier. Started second and fifth in the last two races, finished 16th and 19th. Started 25th in ‘05 and ‘06- finished with a win and another top-five. Had led laps in four of eight races and in three of the last four. Y! B-5
Carl Edwards… Four career starts: only one finish better than 20th. Kasey Kahne… Career-best 15th-place finish last year, finished 23rd or worse in the four other career starts. Y! B-6
David Reutimann… Two career starts: 43rd (engine), 14th-place finishes. Y! B-7
AJ Allmendinger… Strong value play. Started 39th, finished 13th last year in first career Chicagoland start. Y! C-1
Denny Hamlin… Three career starts: has never finished better than 14th, but has started 13th or better each time. Y! B-8
Juan Pablo Montoya… Two career starts: 15th and 18th-place finishes.Joey Logano… Started 13th, finished ninth last year at Kansas in the Nationwide Series.
Martin Truex Jr…. Career-best ninth-place last year, led laps in the last two races.
Sam Hornish Jr…. Started 35th, finished 37th last year last year in first career Chicagoland start. Y! C-2
David Ragan… Two career starts: 25th and eighth-place finishes.
Casey Mears… Weak value play. Strong qualifier (in odd number years). Six career starts: has started fourth in ‘03, third in ‘05 (finished ninth) and first in ‘07 (finished fifth).
Marcos Ambrose… Started 24th, finished 15th last year in the Nationwide Series. Y! C-3
Bobby Labonte… No top-10 finishes in eight races, 23.1 average finish. Y! C-4
Jamie McMurray… Career-best eighth-place finish as a rookie in ‘03, finished 22nd or worse in the last four races.
Elliott Sadler… Finished 12th last year, finished 21st or worse in five of the previous six races.
Brad Keselowski… Long shot value play. Two Nationwide Series starts: finished 14th and third.
Reed Sorenson… Heading the wrong way in qualifying and finishes: ‘06- 18th/seventh, ‘07- 22nd/12th, 08- 32nd/31st.
Scott Speed… Truck series: started and finished eighth at Kansas. ARCA series: won at Kansas, finished third at Chicagoland.
Paul Menard… Two career starts: 42nd and 26th-place finishes.
David Stremme… Declining in three career starts: ‘05- 16th, ‘06- 21st, ‘07- 34th.
Michael Waltrip… Finished 30th or worse in four straight races.
Robby Gordon… Two top-20 finishes in the last five races.
Bill Elliott… Solid from ‘01-’03. Finished 28th or worse in three straight races.
John Andretti… No starts since ‘07: finished 18th.
David Gilliland… Two career starts: 16th and 42th-place (engine) finishes.Regan Smith… Started 33rd, finished 34th last year in first career Chicagoland start.
Joe Nemechek… Finished 29th or worse in three straight races.
Dexter Bean… ARCA series: average finish 13.0 in four starts (best finishes: fourth, seventh)
Mike Bliss… Starts in ‘04 and ‘05. Average start 9.0 but two DNFs.
Dave Blaney… Three DNFs in the last five races, finished 17th in ‘06, 23rd last year.
Tony Raines… Last start came in ‘07, finished 24rd.
Mike Wallace… Last start came in ‘05, finished 25th.
Mike Skinner… Last start came in ‘02, finished 23rd.

NASCAR Power Rankings: Chicago

Ryan Rantz — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:53:51 +0000

Daytona

Who's Up

Who's Down

Biggest Gain This Week:

Kurt Busch: 5th to 3rd

Biggest Drop This Week:

Ryan Newman: 9th to 12th

No new drivers this week.

No drivers dropped out this week.

Rank: 1st

Tony Stewart #14
Last Week: 1
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- 2 wins, 14 Top Tens

As Stewart once famously said at Daytona, "Someone's going to die out there". Well luckily his prophecy hasn't come true but he did get the win which gave him 10 point bonus points for the Chase.

Rank: 2nd

Jimmie Johnson #48
Last Week: 2
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- 2 Wins, 12 Top Tens

For the first time since Dover the 48 team avoided race problems and finished 2nd at Daytona. Chad Knaus even claimed to have learned something for future Daytona races.

Rank: 3rd

Kurt Busch #2
Last Week: 5
Change: +2
Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 10 Top Tens

Kurt had a rough night at Daytona. He wrecked, he had pit stop problems, and despite all of these setbacks he still managed to get a top 5 finish. Overcoming bad circumstances is a sign of a championship contender.

Rank: 4th

Carl Edwards #99
Last Week: 6
Change: +2
Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- 5 Top Fives, 9 Top Tens

Carl Edwards loves slick tracks and once said that repaving tracks should be illegal. The track was super slick Saturday night and Carl finished 4th. Don't tell him but Daytona is looking to repave in the next few years.

Rank: 5th

Jeff Gordon #24
Last Week: 3
Change: -2
Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 12 Top Tens

Is the drive for 5 once again dead? Not yet but the 24 car definitely isn't performing at a championship level like they did in spring.

Rank: 6th

Mark Martin #5
Last Week: 4
Change: -2
Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- 3 Wins, 8 Top Tens

With an early exit at Daytona Martin dropped to 13th in the point standings. The 5 car is competitive almost everywhere but they seem to be in a slump since their lucky Michigan win.

Rank: 7th

Kasey Kahne #9
Last Week: 8
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- 1 Win, 6 Top Tens

Dodges have always been good "pushers" at restrictor plate tracks and at Daytona Kahne proved to be a strong pusher when he pushed Kyle Busch across the finish line.

Rank: 8th

Denny Hamlin #11
Last Week: 10
Change: +2
Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- 5 Top Fives, 7 Top Tens

Denny Hamlin had a strong car at Daytona but once again he wasn't able to capitalize on the situation. The 11 car has found consistency but now they need to put themselves in more race winning situations.

Rank: 9th

Greg Biffle #16
Last Week: 7
Change: -2
Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- 5 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens

The 16 car is starting to drop off pace but yet they have managed to score the 9th most points over the last 6 races. It's kind of an amazing fact considering they have only had 2 top tens over that time span.

Rank: 10th

Kyle Busch #18
Last Week: 11
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Kyle Busch- 3 Wins, 6 Top Tens

After Kyle wrecked on the final lap he was lucky to get one last big hit from Kasey Kahne to propel him across the finish line. Carl Edwards wasn't that lucky at Talladega.

Rank: 11th

Juan Pablo Montoya #42
Last Week: 12
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Juan Pablo Montoya- 1 Pole, 8 Top Tens

Juan Pablo Montoya is starting to become a weekly top ten driver. The key thing I keep hearing about the 42 team is that their points racing now. I just hope that also includes getting their first top 5.

Rank: 12th

Ryan Newman #39
Last Week: 9
Change: -3
Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- 5 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens

I think Newman's in big Chase trouble now. This team has really struggled recently and their biggest achilles heel in 2009 has been intermediate tracks so don't expect much Saturday at Chicago.

Tony Stewart Gives NASCAR Fans the Show They Crave at Daytona

Steve Wronkowicz — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:47:15 +0000

Tony Stewart was able to make the last lap pass of his former teammate, Kyle Busch, to win the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

However; in the process, Busch went spinning in a last lap wreck that saw him get airborne and land on Kasey Kahne’s car, very reminiscent of the final lap at Talladega where Carl Edwards went into the spectator fence.

The Shrub was able to get out of his mangled race car and walk toward the garage, where he was intercepted by track personnel that escorted him to a safety vehicle for a trip to the infield care center. Busch was later released with no injuries other than a bruised ego. Busch was able to get past Stewart on the white flag lap when Tony slowed, trying to make his pursuers lose momentum and avoid the last lap onslaught.

The move backfired on Stewart with Busch taking the lead and then going into full blocking mode. Stewart was able to get his #14 just up to Busch’s quarter panel when they touched, sending Stewart to a win and Busch to the wall. Stewart explained:

It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just racing. I mean, it’s a product of the environment. It doesn’t mean the environment is bad, it just means that’s the way it is. Like I said, he did what he had to do, and he defended his spot and we held our(s). It wasn’t even that we tried to hold our ground, we just got on his quarter panel, and that’s just how you suck up. As soon as he moved, I didn’t anticipate him moving, and went across the nose.

Stewart had the dominate car all race as he never fell outside the top three. During the seven pit stops for the Burger King car; each time he came in first and left first.

One other thirteen car melee took out some of the cars battling for the final positions in The Chase. Most of the cars involved in that incident were able to repair their cars and finish the race. Twenty-eight cars finished on the lead lap, with Jeff Gordon bringing up the rear of the lead lap cars. Mark Martin ended his day in 38th and David Reutimann finished 36th, severely hampering their efforts to make it into the Chase.

Therefore; this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW is:

Aren’t the finishes at Talladega and now Daytona, exactly what NASCAR fans say they have been missing from the other tracks?

Let us know what you think and we may use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET. Give us a call on the Bench Racing Hotline at 1-800-645-2946 and if we pick your call as the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credits: Jerry Markland (wreck), Rusty Jarrett (Stewart)/Getty Images for NASCAR

Sandwiches for Everyone! Make Steve’s Crow

Mindy Monday — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:02:32 +0000

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Steve’s bold claim that Joey Logano wouldn’t make it to the July date in Daytona didn’t get by Mindy Monday. Neither did Charlie’s prediction of a Sliced Bread win before the 4th.

Speaking of the 4th - where the hell did the Firecracker 400 go anyway?

There’s more, including Danica, man-boobs and Tony George. Watch the newsest Monday Morning Crew Chief.

Crossed Flags for NASCAR on the Fourth of July

Charlie Turner — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:30:11 +0000

Crossed flags are displayed. Sometime Saturday night - barring rain - the Sprint Cup Series will have reached the halfway point in the 2009 season.

So far…

Rookies (One is a rookie owner) have won three races.

Mark Martin and the Shrub have three wins each.

Martin and Rowdy are a combined 888 points behind rookie Tony Stewart.

17 points separate the five drivers from 14th place to 10th. Kasey Kahne is one point out of the Chase. Juan Pablo Montoya is “in” by one.

Owner Richard Petty has a win. Owner Richard Childress doesn’t.

Tony Eury Jr is still “out”. Dale Earnhardt Jr is still “in”.

Danica Patrick is still in open wheel racing. Tony George isn’t.

18 races to go.

Photo credit; Round girl Jen by Bethanne Heisler for Onpitrow.com

One and Done Race to the Chase Prize List

Charlie Turner — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:36:18 +0000

The prize list for our second, free, NASCAR fantasy racing game of 2009 is complete. The One and Done Race to the Chase will reward the top ten finishers in total points with more terrific swag.

The One and Done game has been a big success for us here. A really nice community has built up around the game. I think there are a couple reasons for that. One - its just so simple to play. Pick one driver each week - not six or ten. No salary caps or different categories of drivers. It’s the perfect game for lazy fans like me. Two - it’s free and you can win cool stuff anyway.

Check out the prizes below.

The grand prize is a Fast Track Driving School 2 hour Thunder Course at legendary Rockingham! Twelve laps at the Rock! How cool is that!
Kyle Busch No. 18 M&Ms Camry “liquid color” 1/24th scale diecast
No Fear Racing team hat and t-shirt (size mens XXL)
“The Blount Report: NASCAR’s Most Overrated and Underrated Drivers, Cars, Teams, and Tracks” (Hardcover) book. Great read.
Kurt Busch 1st Win 1/64th diecast hauler and Gillette Young Guns hat
Martin Truex Jr signature Bass Pro Shops team hat
“50 Years of ARCA” hardcover coffee table book and ARCA hat
Denny Hamlin Fed Ex Racing checkers set
Joe Gibbs - Toyota Racing t-shirt (size mens large)
Kevin Harvick Shell Gasolines bobblehead.

In addition, every one of the top ten will get a copy of the Backstretch Boys great racing music CD - “Rookie Season”. And…every week the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Gasolines player of the week will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

Good luck.

Daytona Fantasy Racing Live Chat: Thursday at 7 PM ET

Charlie Turner — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:07:49 +0000

Join us tonight on the Bench Racers Live page for an hour or more of live NASCAR fantasy racing advice and discussion.

You can sign up to be reminded in the box below. Hope you can stop by as Ryan Rantz shares his expertise for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca Cola at Daytona International Speedway.

One and Done: Coke Zero 400

Chris Leone — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:39:03 +0000

The Coke Zero 400 signals the halfway mark of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. When the winner crosses the finish line on Saturday night, we’ll be 18 races into the 36-race season, and only eight events away from the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The venue is historic Daytona International Speedway, site of the season-opening Daytona 500 and the birthplace of the sport.

Daytona, like its restrictor-plate superspeedway cousin Talladega, is often wildly unpredictable, with top cars often getting taken out of the race due to the “big one.” Surviving a restrictor-plate race is all about luck. It’s about not getting shuffled to the back of the pack at the wrong time, and not running into the back of another car during the wrecks.

But, assuming we have one of those rare restrictor-plate races where no crash occurs and everybody survives, here are some picks:

Marcos Ambrose: It’s Daytona. Crashes happen. Crazy things happen. Anybody can, provided they avoid the big one, win this race. Ambrose avoided trouble in his first Daytona start, has run solidly all season, and could, just as easily as anybody, avoid the wrecks this time around and win. Then again, so could anybody. It’s always a crapshoot.

Matt Kenseth: Well, he did win the Daytona 500… At the same time, he’s also got an incredible record in summer Daytona races, finishing in the top 10 in five of the past six races.

Kyle Busch: You know how it is with Shrub. He’s a factor to win every week, and the defending champion of this race. And if we know anything about Shrub, just because he triggered a melee last weekend, doesn’t mean he won’t be afraid to set off an even bigger one on the superspeedway. He’s going to make every move available to win the race.

Jeff Gordon: You know, neither Gordon or teammate Jimmie Johnson has been too stellar over the past few years at Daytona, aside from a fifth by Gordon in this race two years ago. But Gordon’s led laps in his past four Daytona races, and 12 of his past 15 starts at the track. It’s a solid bet that you can’t keep him down for long.

Tony Stewart: At this stage of the game, Stewart-Haas is one of the top teams on the circuit, and Smoke’s the undisputed leader. He’s won at Daytona before, and this is traditionally the time of year he starts to heat up. Imagine Smoke getting even better? That’s a scary thought for the opposition.

NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: Coke Zero 400

Charlie Turner — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:48:45 +0000

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
James Jones	On Pit Row	Tony Stewart	1	6.9
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Kyle Busch	14	8.9
Yahoo Users	Yahoo! Sports	Jimmie Johnson	2	9.9
Mike Harmon	FOX Sports	Tony Stewart	1	10.3
Cheryl Lauer	Speed Couch	Jeff Gordon	28	10.5
Dennis Mickelsen	RaceTalkRadio.com	Tony Stewart	1	11.1
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	Jamie McMurray	11	12.4
Darren Fauth	Fantasy NASCAR Names	Ryan Newman	20	12.7
Roger Rotter	FOX Sports	Tony Stewart	1	12.7
Gerrit Ritt	FOX Sports	Jeff Gordon	28	13.9
Eric Brewer		Mark Martin	38	14
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving	No Pick	44	14.8
Charlie Turner	On Pit Row	Jeff Gordon	28	15.4
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Kyle Busch	14	16
Eric McGuire	FFToolbox	Kyle Busch	14	16.2
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Kyle Busch	14	17
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Kyle Busch	14	17.7

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca Cola

Eric McClung — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:15:52 +0000

Greetings On Pit Row readers.

There have been two restrictor plate races held thus far, so consider the results of the Daytona 500 and the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway when evaluating your lineup for this week.

Here’s an explanation of the highlighted text in the rankings.

Download a printer-friendly version here.

Y! A/B/C - The top options in the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game by driver list.
Strong qualifier - History of winning poles or qualifying inside the top-five.
Good qualifier - History of qualifying inside the top-10.
Value play - Good recent history at this week’s track. Drivers to consider as low-rent salary cap options.

Leave your comments below!

Tony Stewart… Strong qualifier: best average starting position (16.0) over the last five years. Eight top-10 finishes in 11 races since ‘04, including two wins. Led laps in those eight top-10s. Y! B-1
Kyle Busch… Finished fourth or better in four of the last six races, including a win last year. Y! A-1
Matt Kenseth… Won this year’s Daytona 500 but historically better in the July race: ‘08- third, ‘07- eighth, ‘06- fifth, ‘05- ninth, ‘03- sixth. Y! A-2
Kurt Busch… 17 career starts: eight top-fives. Top-10 finishes in five of the last six races. Y! B-2
Mark Martin… Good qualifier. 48 career starts, zero wins. Started second at this year’s Daytona 500 (finished 16th) and last year’s Coke Zero 400 (finished 10th). Y! A-3
Jimmie Johnson… Won in ‘06, only one top-10 in the six races since. Had finished eighth or better in six of seven previous races (’02-’05). Y! A-4
Jeff Gordon… Wins in ‘04 and ‘05 but only three top-10 finishes in the eight races since.
Clint Bowyer… Seven career starts: five top-10 finishes. Career-best fourth-place finish at Daytona.
Kasey Kahne… ‘07, ‘08: streak four top-10 finishes, finished 29th at this year’s Daytona 500. Y! B-3
Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Finished ninth and eighth last year, leading laps in both. Finished 27th at this year’s Daytona 500. 19 career starts: led laps 13 times. Runner-up at Talladega. Y! B-4
Ryan Newman… 14 career starts: won 2/08, only two other top-10 finishes. Third at Talladega. Y! B-5
Brian Vickers… Finished 12th and 11th last year. Finished 39th (accident) at this year’s Daytona 500. Y! B-6
Kevin Harvick… Last six races at Daytona: win, runner-up, five finishes of 14th or better.
Carl Edwards… Only two top-10 finishes but each came in the last two July races (fourth 7/07, second 7/08).
Denny Hamlin… Seven career starts: zero top-10 finishes. Career-best 17th (2/08, 7/06) Y! B-7
Greg Biffle… 13 career starts: only three top-10 finishes. Third at Talladega.
Jeff Burton… One top-10 finish since ‘04.
David Reutimann… Career-best 12th-place finish at Daytona. Y! B-8
Marcos Ambrose… Finished 17th at this year’s Daytona 500, first career start. Fourth at Talladega. Y! C-1
Elliott Sadler… Strong value play. Last seven races: five finishes of sixth or better
AJ Allmendinger… Finished third in second career start at Daytona this year. Y! C-2
Brad Keselowski… Long shot value play. No Cup starts at Daytona. Nationwide Series: ‘08- 16th, fifth (led 28 laps). ‘09- 2nd (led six laps). Won at Talladega. Y! C-3
Joey Logano… DNF in first career start at Daytona this year. Finished 20th in the Nationwide Series.
Martin Truex Jr…. Weak value play. No top-10s but four straight finishes of 20th or better.
Juan Pablo Montoya… Career-high 14th-place finish at this year’s Daytona 500. 32nd or worse in three of five career starts.
Jamie McMurray… Finished 26th or worse in four of the last five at Daytona, a win in ‘07.
Bobby Labonte… Finished 11th and 13th last year. Finished 22nd at this year’s Daytona 500. Y! C-4
Robby Gordon… Daytona 500: 34th. ‘08: eighth, sixth. Streak of six top-15 finishes from ‘06-’08.
Sam Hornish Jr…. Declining over three career starts: 15th, 29th, 32nd.
David Ragan… Lone top-10 of the season came at Daytona.
Casey Mears… 15th or worse in five straight races at Daytona.
Joe Nemechek… Good qualifier: 7/08- fourth, 7/06- fifth, 7/05- fifth.
Michael Waltrip… Daytona 500: seventh. First top-10 since winning in ‘03.
Reed Sorenson… Last three Daytona 500’s: 13th, fifth, ninth. Last three July races: 34th, 42nd, 22nd.
David Stremme… ‘07: 11th, 22nd. Daytona 500: 33nd
Scott Speed… Daytona 500: 35th. Fifth at Talladega.
Paul Menard… Finished a career-best 15th last year.
Patrick Carpentier… ‘08: started 10th, finished 14th.
John Andretti… Three top-20 finishes since ‘00.
David Gilliland… ‘07: eighth, 11th. ‘08: 28th, 40th.
Regan Smith… ‘08: 37th, 24th. Daytona 500: 21st
Dave Blaney…’08: 38th, 19th.
Max Papis… No Cup or Nationwide starts at Daytona.
Tony Raines… ‘07: 39th.

NASCAR Power Rankings: Daytona 2

Ryan Rantz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:40:17 +0000

Loudon

Who's Up

Who's Down

Biggest Gain This Week:

Kurt Busch: 7th to 5th

Biggest Drop This Week:

Ryan Newman: 6th to 9th

New This Week:

Juan Pablo Montoya

Dropped Out This Week:

Rank: 1st

Tony Stewart #14
Last Week: 1
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- 1 Win, 13 Top Tens

For the 4th consecutive week Tony Stewart remains in the top spot. What is keeping him there? The answer is consistency. Many of his top competitors have looked good, but have been inconsistent.

Rank: 2nd

Jimmie Johnson #48
Last Week: 2
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- 2 Wins, 11 Top Tens

Over the last month and a half Jimmie Johnson has been the best car on the track. The point standings don't properly reflect this but Johnson's league best driver rating of 108.5 does.

Rank: 3rd

Jeff Gordon #24
Last Week: 4
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 12 Top Tens

At New Hampshire Jeff Gordon almost had the race won. If it wasn't for Joey's fuel mileage and the rain, Gordon would have been able to tack on another 10 bonus points for the Chase. More importantly the 24 is starting to get momentum going.

Rank: 4th

Mark Martin #5
Last Week: 3
Change: -1
Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- 3 Wins, 8 Top Tens

Mark Martin had a pretty mediocre day at New Hampshire. I thought it was pretty unusual because at similar tracks earlier in the season (Phoenix-Win, Richmond- 5th) Martin had very successful races.

Rank: 5th

Kurt Busch #2
Last Week: 7
Change: +2
Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 9 Top Tens

Kurt Busch was a thorn in Jeff Gordon's side all day long at New Hampshire. At Daytona Kurt will look to be ahead of Gordon with his series best 5.3 COT average finish.

Rank: 6th

Carl Edwards #99
Last Week: 5
Change: -1
Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- 4 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens

The 99 has been off their game for the last 2 races but other then that Carl Edwards has positioned himself as a top contender for 2009.

Rank: 7th

Greg Biffle #16
Last Week: 8
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- 5 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens

As soon as I heard that the 16 was using their winning setup from last year I knew he was in trouble. Teams must always strive to do better then before, but that wasn't in the 16's game plan and they finished 18th with last years winning setup.

Rank: 8th

Kasey Kahne #9
Last Week: 9
Change: +1
Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- 1 Win, 6 Top Tens

The 9 car over the last 6 races has accumulated the 5th most points in the series with 1 win and 4 top tens. Over this time period they have averaged ~140 points a race which equates roughly to an eighth place finish.

Rank: 9th

Ryan Newman #39
Last Week: 6
Change: -3
Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- 5 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens

Ryan Newman won his first career race in the rain at New Hampshire in 2002. In 2009 Newman tried to duplicate his first victory but the rain came to late and his tank was empty.

Rank: 10th

Denny Hamlin #11
Last Week: 10
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- 4 Top Fives, 6 Top Tens

Hamlin's performance at New Hampshire was the big let down of the week for me. The 11 was never a factor all day long.

Rank: 11th

Kyle Busch #18
Last Week: 11
Change: 0
Driver Page | Articles

Kyle Busch- 3 Wins, 6 Top Tens

Kyle Busch likes the rain. Until Sunday the last top 10 Kyle Busch had was at the Coke 600 which was also a rain out.

Rank: 12th

Juan Pablo Montoya #42
Last Week: NR
Change: N/A
Driver Page | Articles

Juan Pablo Montoya- 1 Pole, 7 Top Tens

Remember back in 2007 when Bowyer made the Chase but didn't have a single win. Well, in 2009 seventeen races into the season Montoya is currently in the Chase and he doesn't even have a single top 5.

Fast Laps: Daytona

Matt Mercer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:29:21 +0000

We’ve recently witnessed Formula One save itself from an IRL/CART division, and in the process Max Mosley will step aside from leadership. The teams’ complaint was over a salary cap, as teams wish to spend as much as their heart desires each year. Ferrari’s annual budget reportedly runs close to half a billion(!) dollars. I bring this up to talk about NASCAR and cost-cutting measures being talked about and in some cases already implemented. No more testing. The new car and strenuous limits on what can be done to the car. It’s been my opinion for a long time that NASCAR needs to open up and make the Sprint Cup Series more like Formula One, at least from the standpoint that teams should be free to do what works and let them be creative. The sport grew because of those advancements along with teams and manufacturers wanting to best one another. Today, however, manufacturers are in trouble. Still, that’s not a reason to homogenize the top series any more than it has already become. My view is let Sprint Cup be the big boys and let them have the advancement. Drop down to Nationwide, and let’s go with some cost-cutting. Limit cars. Do whatever they planned to do. In the Camping World Truck Series, go even further. Let’s have the best of both worlds. Sprint Cup doesn’t need to be like IROC with common cars and common everything. If you’re going to call it your top series, then actually treat it as the pinnacle of the sport.

Let’s get to the comments and see some good answers. Tell your friends to reply too. Remember the new rule, 100 words total.

1. Going back to my complaint/rant in the opening, are “spec” or common engines inevitable or will we continue to see brand-specific engines in Sprint Cup?

2. Should NASCAR push through the Nationwide COT in superspeedway and road course races in 2010, as has been mentioned?

3. Does this restrictor plate package need to be changed?

4. How long do you remember rain-shortened wins? Stats don’t care about it, but do fans?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Joey Logano Uses Zippadelli’s Leadership to Beat the Rain at Loudon

Steve Wronkowicz — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:45:45 +0000

Joey Lagono did something that most nineteen year olds have a hard time with; listening to their elders.

Logano listened to crew chief Greg Zippadelli, when he told the first year Cup driver to save enough fuel to make it to the red flag. Rain came on lap 273 of the scheduled 301 laps and “Sliced Bread” was in a position to win. What early on looked to be bad luck turned out to be good for the #20 team. A couple of flat tires and a torn up left rear quarter panel forced him to pit for new tires and allowed the rookie to top off with fuel during the several stops necessary to get the car back into contention. Logano wasn’t thinking silver lining at the time:

We had a left rear cut down right before we made that last long green flag run and just trying to overcome that. When that happened, I thought we were done. I was like, the day just went bad, just try to finish it off and get as best finish we can and we made the right move at the end. He (Zippadelli) went for it and I was just lucky enough to be in the seat.

The win puts Joe Gibbs Racing back in the win column for the first time in a ride other than the #18 of Kyle Busch. Logano’s Cup season got off to a rough start. Just maybe he was in a bit over his head which led me to believe that he might fold under the pressures and not make it past the middle of the season. Look here to see how wrong I could be.

Double file restarts have greatly increased the viewer excitement of the races since their inception. They have also been the cause of some mishaps. Perhaps the two go hand in hand. Loudon had a “big one” the likes of which reminds fans of the side by side racing usually reserved for the plate tracks. The racing has been more fun to watch and NASCAR must be given credit for the move.

This all leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

If the new double file restarts can make for exciting races at New Hampshire and Sonoma; can it do the same for the ‘cookie cutters” at Chicago, Kansas, Atlanta et al?

Let us know what you think and we could use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show. Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET at www.onpitrow.com. Or give us a call at 1-800-645-2946 and if your call is The Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credit: Dew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

A Much Different Race At New Hampshire This Time Around

Chris Leone — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:59:36 +0000

It’s difficult to knock your home racetrack for usually putting on a boring show, but I frequently find myself complaining about the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Sprint Cup’s answer to the Milwaukee Mile, the 1-mile flat track has put on plenty of snoozefests or rain-shortened tilts over the past few years. As a fan who attends both Sprint Cup races at the track every year, and having been a ticket holder at the track for more than ten years, I often find myself wondering on the drive home whether or not the race I just saw was worth the price of admission.

Today’s event, however, might have finally sold me on Loudon.

Remember that when I wrote about “fixing” NASCAR, I wanted a shorter schedule for the Sprint Cup boys, and that NHMS was one of the first tracks I wanted to go. Despite the fact that it almost always sells out (owing to its status as the only Cup track in New England), there’s always been a negative aura over the track ever since Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr.’s accidents. Remember the 2001 race run on Thanksgiving weekend? Do you have any idea how frigid that was?

Today’s race, though - there was something different about it, compared to the past few years. It didn’t feel like a chore to sit through this race the way it has in some years past. For one, with the starting lineup set by owners’ points, it was fun to watch the guys who were fast in happy hour work their way through the field. In particular, Martin Truex Jr. was showing his stuff early on, working his way into the top 10.

Even the commercialism seemed to be toned down this weekend. The $ouvenir price$ were $till the $ame (if you were enough of a $ucker to $pend $25 on a t-$hirt), but there were far fewer trailers on track grounds selling new gear. Aside from the Aaron’s Lucky Dog and ServiceMaster Cautions, there weren’t too many ads on the three big screens placed around the track.

That made it a lot easier to focus on the racing at hand - and boy, were there some highlights. I’m a little peeved at Kyle Busch for taking out Truex, my One and Done pick this weekend, and causing one of the biggest wrecks at the track in recent memory. The double-file restarts (I refuse to call them that cheesy name that Brian France gave them) completely changed the race, and produced some pretty good battles between Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.

And how about Joey Logano winning his first career Sprint Cup race? In a way, this is Sliced Bread’s home track - although he relocated to Georgia to further his career around the turn of the decade, he’s originally from Connecticut. Same goes for crew chief Greg Zipadelli, a Berlin, CT native. It’s always a great feeling to get your first win, and it’s great, too, to win at your home track. Combining both must be a dream come true for the No. 20 team.

Sure, the win’s a little controversial due to the race ending early, but either way, it etches Logano into the record books as the youngest Sprint Cup winner ever. And even as driver development contracts are starting earlier and earlier in drivers’ lives and careers, it’s unlikely that anyone is going to win another Sprint Cup race at 19 years old anytime soon.

Today’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301, although rain-shortened (do you think they’ll ever go “the extra mile”?), was the best Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a long time. More than ever, I can say that I’m looking forward to the start of the Chase ten weeks from now. Hopefully that race will deliver as much entertainment as this one did.

A Stewart-Haas One-Two at Loudon?

Charlie Turner — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:05:01 +0000

What else does Tony Stewart have to do?

He’s already taken a third tier Cup team from struggling to qualify for races to leading the Sprint Cup Series points after 16 meets. Smoke has won an all-star race and the cupper at Pocono. In fact, both of Tony’s cars - his no. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Racing Chevy and Ryan Newman’s no. 39 U S Army/Haas Automation Impala are solidly in the top 12 in points.

The problem is, I am not yet a believer. Which may mean the mantle of resident idiot at the Bench Racing blog is up for grabs. Again. But, whatever. I need more convincing and it might just come today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

You can make the argument that Loudon is Stewart’s best track. 20 races, 2 wins, 10 top fives, 12 top tens. Newman also has two wins and nine top tens.

A one-two finish on the real, big paperclip would probably end my doubts.

Photo credit: Round girl Jen by BethAnne Heisler for OnPitRow.com