Now, I’m all about consistency, but this new points format doesn’t fix any of the old problems…it just means the fans have to adjust to a new points system.

Race winners will earn 43 points, plus three bonus points for the victory. Winners also can earn an extra point for leading a lap and leading the most laps, bringing their total to a possible maximum of 48 points.

There’s no reason to throw out the old points system for this crap one they decided to use! 43 points for the winner, 42 for second, and on down the list till you get to one point for last place. That will not help this problem NASCAR has about the winner of each race not getting enough points.

Fans complain about drivers who don’t win a race, yet are very consistent, and make the Chase (ahem, Matt Kenseth. I have nothing against Matt, he seems like a nice dude, but he went winless last season and finished fifth in final points while hardly being competitive in the regular season).

For example, if a driver wins two races in a five-race span, but finishes 39th, 40th, and last in the other three, he recieves a total of 104 points (if he doesn’t lead the most laps in any of them). Another driver could finish second, third, third, fourth, and fifth in the same span of races and recieve 203 points, if he doesn’t lead a single lap. So, the driver with two wins would have about half as many points as the driver with no wins.

NASCAR says they want to reward wins more, but this turn of events sure isn’t showing it!

The old system worked just as well, except, apparently, us fans were too stupid to understand it…..IT’S NOT THAT HARD!!!  Who cares?  It worked!

I don’t mean to rant, but this sport of NASCAR has some idiots working for it.

Thats’ right, I think Juan will win his first NASCAR oval-track race of his career on Sunday. He has the pole, his second consecutive at New Hampshire, and last race here in the fall, he led a race-high 105 laps and finished third.

Guys that will give Montoya a run for his money include Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, and maybe Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, if they can come from mid-pack.

I might be a fool to do this, but Kahne was fourth in the first practice, and he won the pole for the race, so I expect, as long as he makes no mistakes, he’ll repeat as champ in the wine valleys of Sears Point.

Others expected to challenge for the win include Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and maybe Jimmie Johnson, who starts second.

I figure since I’m on a roll (2 correct picks in a row), I might as well pick my driver to break his winless streak this week. Jeff finished second in both Michigan races last year, and he qualified sixth. Jimmie Johnson starts third on Sunday, and he will probably lead a lot of laps, but I just can’t pick him to win because of the 48’s poor fuel strategy.

Others to look for include Kurt Busch (polesitter), Denny Hamlin, Juan Montoya, and maybe Jamie Mac will be in the mix, as he starts second.

He won the last time out at Pocono, a week after his grandmother died, and with the season that team is having, Denny is looking like a good pick to win it.

Others to look to challenge for the win include Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Juan Montoya, Jeff Gordon, and maybe Jimmie Johnson (who is starting 26th).

Kurt is on a roll right now having won the all-star race last Saturday night, and he starts second on Sunday for the 600. The driver of the blue deuce will make it eight times that a driver has won the all-star race and the 600 in the same year.

Others to look for include Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch. Oh, and maybe young Joseph Logano.

How could you not go with this guys right now?  He swept both races in Dover last year in dominating fashion, which upped his win total there to five. Starting up front at Dover goes a long way in helping to get to victory lane, and Jimmie starts fifth on Sunday, so look for the 48 to shake off this “slump” with a win at the monster mile.

Others to look for include Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, and maybe Ryan Newman.

Jeff’s winless streak has got to come to an end sometime soon, and I think that Richmond is the place where he’ll get it done. After his recent squabbles with teammate Jimmie Johnson, Jeff has got to be fired up and hungry to win. He finished in the top-10 in both Richmond races last year, and although Kyle Busch will make it a challenge on Saturday night, I pick Jeff to ultimately pull out the victory.

Others to look for include Kyle Busch (polesitter), Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Denny Hamlin (although he’ll have to work for it after qualifying 30th).

Others to look for at the front of the pack Sunday are Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Juan Montoya, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Denny Hamlin.

I know that this screen shot is kinda hard to see, but the e-mail is dated February 7th, one week before the race…