The Pit Stall

Wow…I’ve been seriously slacking.  Can’t believe it’s been since Dover that I’ve updated.  It’s been a busy start to the summer, so this kinda fell by the wayside.  I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was saving starts, or not putting the effort into my picks I had earlier in the season that has caused the recent run of lousy performance I’ve been on.  Either way, my summer slows down after next weekend and I should get back to regular updates, and with that, get my team back on track. 

The good news is that despite my brutal stretch of suckage, I’m still in first by a decent margin.  I’ve only dropped 58 points from my overall lead, and still have a 330 point cushion.  On to this week’s results…

 

Group 1 – Jimmie Johnson(6), Jeff Gordon(8)

Jimmie Johnson and crew celebrate by smooching the bricks at Indy

Both drivers had won multiple times at the track, with Jimmie taking 2 of the past 3, so he was pretty much a no brainer this week.  Thanks to a speeding penalty by Juan Montoya, Jimmie took the checkers and the trophy, and got to smooch the bricks.  Gordon also had a top 10, coming across the line in 9th.

Group 2 – Tony Stewart(3), Juan Montoya(4), Denny Hamlin(6), Joey Logano(9)

Tony was a co-favourite (along with Johnson) at what is considered his “home track”.  He didn’t disappoint, with a 3rd place finish, keeping him in the overall series lead.  Juan Montoya was my second pick for this race, due to his knowledge of the track and prior success (2nd place in 2007…we’ll just ignore the 2008 debacle for all intents and purposes).  This race was his to win, after he dominated for most of the event, but a pit road speeding penalty derailed that, and he ended up with an 11th place finish.  Hamlin had a dismal performance after running well recently, and finished 34th.  Logano finished just behind Montoya in 12th and continues to impress heading down the stretch.  I think he’ll get used a fair bit in the last 16 races…especially since the Stewart/Newman/JPM starts are dwindling.

Group 3 – AJ Allmendinger(4), Scott Speed(9)

I’ve left AJ on the bench since the announcement was made that he would be running more than just a handful of races.  After a recent rough stretch by my squad, I figured it was time to roll him back out there, since his performance has been better of late.  He ended up a respectable 20th place, which helped an overall solid week.  I had zero intentions of starting Speed, but he has qualified well in recent weeks, and I was hoping for some bonus points out of him.

Recap

• Points for this race: 343 (Johnson, Stewart, Montoya, Allmendinger)
• Most Possible Points: 373 (Johnson, Stewart, Vickers(Montoya, Earnhardt qual), Sorenson (Elliot qual))
• Season Points : 5609
• Current Place : 1st
• Lead over 2nd : 330
• Overall Percentile : 98th (5971 overall) 

Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Monday, July 27th, 2009
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Group 1 – Clint Bowyer(8) & Mark Martin(9)

This is exactly why I refuse to take a Gordon or a Johnson in a plate race.  They get caught up in a mess and you have a crappy points week and waste one of their starts.  Bowyer and Martin were both caught up in the lap 8 wreck and Bowyer made it back on the track to complete a few laps, ultimately finishing 39th.  Martin’s day was over and he was 43rd…from so high to so low in one week.

Group 2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr(8), Brian Vickers(8), Ryan Newman(8), David Reutimann(8)

Junior failed in his bid to be the 4th straight driver to win a race for the Hendrick team this weekend, but he did pull off a second place finish.  I took Vickers as my second driver in this group and he managed to get his damaged race car across in 8th position.  Newman had another solid run and was in a good spot to win with only a couple laps to go, and ultimately finished 3rd.  Reutimann finished a lap down in 26th…probably not the finish he had hoped for in his sponsor’s race.

Group 3 – Sam Hornish Jr(8), Regan Smith(9)

Hornish was in the mix for a good portion of the race, but got caught in the second major wreck of the day and scored a 34th place finish.  Those Penske Dodge’s continue to impress, and it makes you wonder what’s taking the other Dodge teams so long to get on board with the new engines.  Smith stayed above the yellow line at all appropriate times on Sunday, and finished 15th, which was actually a better finish than last fall when he was first to the checkers.

Recap

• Points for this race: 233 (Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr, Vickers, Hornish Jr.)
• Most Possible Points: 401 (Biffle, Earnhardt Jr, Newman (Montoya, Truex Jr qual), Keselowski (Hornish Jr qual))
• Season Points : 2546
• Current Place : 1st
• Lead over 2nd : 195
• Overall Percentile : 98th (4724 overall) 

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Monday, April 27th, 2009
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Who’s ready for a little shake-up in the standings?  This week could be just what you’re looking for.  We’re off to Alabama for the Aaron’s 499 at the superspeedway at Talladega.  Of course this is a restrictor plate track so we’ll see high speeds at very close quarters, and most likely ‘The Big One’, a wreck capable of taking out or damaging half of the field in a matter of seconds.  I’ll put the over/under on ‘The Big One’ mentions by the TV crew at 47.

My ‘strategy’ for restrictor plate races is usually take Dale Earnhardt Jr., and then fill in the squad with guys you most likely wouldn’t pick for most other tracks.  I hate wasting a start on a top pick in the group only to have them get caught up in a wreck, so I’ll save those guys for tracks where you’re less at the mercy of every other car in the field.

 **The numbers beside the drivers names are how many races I have them available for (9 starts per driver)

Group 1 – Mark Martin(9) & Clint Bowyer(9)

As well as Mark Martin has run recently, I still don’t put him in the same class as Johnson or Gordon, and there are ample quality drivers to pick from for most races.  Martin does have a couple wins and a couple poles here, but all of the above were before the turn of the century.  He is enjoying a bit of a renaissance of late, so maybe he’ll find victory lane again.  Plus, Mark Martin is one of the nicest guys in Nascar, who wouldn’t wanna be his drafting partner?  I went with Bowyer so I couldn’t convince myself to start the 24, 48 or 18 had they been on my roster.  It doesn’t hurt that he hasn’t been outside the top 10 in his last 5 ‘plate’ races.

Group 2 - Brian Vickers(9), Dale Earnhardt Jr(9), Ryan Newman(8), David Reutimann(8)

If Vickers and Earnhardt can stay out of each other’s way, or at least play nice this weekend (Dale pretty much has to after the Mears altercation last week), they both should be able to put together decent finishes.  Junior has 5 wins at Talladega and is known for his prowess on the restrictor plate tracks.  Vickers also has a win here, during his last season at Hendrick.  Newman had a rough go in the first plate race this season, but that team has done a complete 180 and is headed in the right direction.  If he has a car, look for him to get hooked up with team mate Tony Stewart and be there at the finish.  Tony is actually my pick to win this race, but I don’t like taking chances with solid starts at plate tracks, as mentioned above.  Reutimann has the 4th best average out of this group, and those Toyotas really seem to get the job done at the larger tracks.

Group 3 – Regan Smith(9), Sam Hornish Jr(9)

Smith is back at the track where he SHOULD have had his first career victory.  He’s now with a part time team though, so his prospects of racing for the checkers is a little less likely this go around.  Still, he obviously can get it done, and now knows to stay above the stripe, so hopefully a top 15 (was 21st at Daytona) isn’t out of the question.  If you throw out the short tracks, Sam Hornish has had a respectable average finish so far this season, and has really come on in the last couple races, including his first ever top 10 last weekend.  Hopefully that result will build some confidence going into this week’s race. 

Good luck with your picks and have a great weekend!

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Friday, April 24th, 2009
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Well that was interesting, and I must admit, a bit of a letdown.  It was good to see the Cat in the Hat finally get a Daytona victory after so many tries, but very dissatisfying as a fan that the race ended in rain, and not a sprint to the line.  I was pulling for Allmendinger to get a shot at the win after getting dumped by Red Bull after a much improved second half of ’08.  That and cuz I had picked ‘the field’ to win, since superspeedways tend to be chaos and leave some of the more unheralded teams with a shot at a victory.  Thanks to Dale Jr, we got that chaos, taking out some of the best cars in the field, thanks to a move that would have got anyone else penalized a few laps.  Who says being the ‘face’ of Nascar doesn’t have its advantages?

This is how this week shook down…

Group 1 – Kevin Harvick(8) & Mark Martin(9)

I used Harvick a grand total of zero times last season, but put him in as I didn’t want to burn a start on a guy like Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson when restrictor plate madness strikes, and he’s had some success at Daytona.  It worked out rather well for me, as he was in second spot when the rains came, and was second in the group for points.  Unfortunately he didn’t get out front at all, so no 10 point bonus.  Had they had to finish the race, I am guessing he would have gotten to lead one.

Group 2 – Tony Stewart(8), Jamie McMurray(8), Dale Earnhardt Jr(9), Brian Vickers(9)

Tony Stewart was decent all day, finished in the top 10, and led a lap, which left him second in this group to the surprise finish of Elliott Sadler.  McMurray was my other choice in this group and had a good car all day until Junior’s inability to stay inside of his pit boundaries and subsequent temper tantrum took him and several others out of contention.  Vickers and Earnhardt were the cause of the wreck that took out quite a few lead lap cars, while racing for the ‘Lucky Dog’ spot…glad I left them on the bench.

Group 3 – AJ Allmendinger(8), Bobby Labonte(9)

Like I said before the race, Allmendinger’s status is up in the air thanks to a lack of sponsorship, so you might as well use him while you can.  He didn’t disappoint this week with a top 5 finish (3rd), which is absolute gold from a group 3 driver.  With a few more solid finishes in the next few races (and being locked in the top 35 after Bristol), it may be hard to park that car, sponsorship or not.

Recap

• Points for this race: 278 (Harvick, Stewart, McMurray, Allmendinger)
• Most Possible Points: 364 (Kenseth, Sadler, Stewart, Allmendinger)
• Season Points : 278
• Current Place : 1st
• Lead over 2nd : 18
• Overall Percentile : 88th

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Mark Young

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Monday, February 16th, 2009
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Finally!  After a long and very interesting off-season, the NASCAR world has descended upon Daytona Beach for the biggest race on the schedule.  Trying to keep up with who is driving for who, sponsored by whom, was enough to make your head spin over the winter.  Fortunately that’s all in the rear-view mirror now, and we’re headed for what will no doubt be another great season.

I’m back again this year with my race-by-race picks for one of the pickem pools I’m in.  Each week I’ll try to get out my roster before qualifying, with all 8 possible drivers, but I wont announce who I’m starting for the race (I think a couple of my competitors know about this site), and then I’ll recap who I went with and how I did sometime in the days following the race.  

 **The numbers beside the drivers names are how many races I have them available for (9 starts per driver)

Group 1 – Kevin Harvick(9) & Mark Martin(9)

Daytona and Talladega tend to be the two toughest tracks to pick for, thanks to the draft packs, and the ample opportunity for wrecks taking out half the field.  For that reason I tend to try and stay away from some of the bigger names.  Harvick and Martin are both big names (as is everyone in this group), but compared to the Johnsons, Gordons and Edwards’ they aren’t as popular, fantasy wise.  Harvick has won at Daytona before, besting Martin by a nose in ’07, and he took the Shootout title on Saturday night.  Mark Martin has looked great every time he’s been on the track in his new #5 Chevy, qualifying on the front row, and finishing second to teammate, Jeff Gordon, in the second Duel on Thursday.  Starting on the front row, don’t be surprised to see Martin lead a lap early and pick up the 10 bonus points that go along with that.

Group 2 – Tony Stewart(9), Brian Vickers(9), Dale Earnhardt Jr.(9), Jamie McMurray(9)

Dale Jr is pretty much a guaranteed start every time the Cup series hits a restrictor plate track, no matter what group he is in.  This race is definitely no exception.  Jamie McMurray tends to run well at Daytona and has won here in the summer race, plus this is a big year for him with Roush having to get down to 4 teams for 2010.  He looked great at the end of last season after teaming up with former crew chief Donnie Wingo .  Look for that to carry over to this year.  Brian Vickers had a much improved 2008 and I expect him to continue that progress in 09.  I don’t think he’ll be a Chase car, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t far off.  Toyota’s (from the bigger teams) tend to get up front on these tracks, so hopefully he can get out and lead one.  I’m not 100% on Tony here, and may still change it before Sunday’s race.  I’m definitely looking forward to see what he can do with that Stewart-Haas team this year.

Group 3 – AJ Allmendinger(9), Bobby Labonte(9)

All of the guys I leaned on last year in this group have moved up to the second group, so this year should be a little tougher.  Bobby Labonte is not Group 3 talent…and I don’t think going from an uncompetitive Petty organization to Hall of Fame/Yates will drop his performance any.  I’d suspect he’ll be close to where he finished last season, if not a little better, which would be a solid season for this group.   Allmendinger was probably the most improved driver over the second half of 2008, and it was a shame he was cut loose by Red Bull.  It’s good to see him get a shot with RPM, for who knows how many races.  As it is right now, he’s for sure running the first 5.  Might as well use him now, in case he’s not in a car later.

So that’s the roster for the 500. I’ll let you know on Monday which 4 drivers I went with.  Good luck to you and your teams this season!

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Friday, February 13th, 2009
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Let me just start off by saying this was the worst week, score wise, I’ve ever had in the Yahoo pools.  Take a look at the top 10 of the Amp Energy 500, and it’s not hard to understand why, with only a couple familiar names up front.  Talladega is a complete crapshoot, thanks to the ‘Big One’, and my luck completely ran out this week.  Fortunately, the team chasing me in the standings had an even worse week and I picked up another 8 points over them.

This race was definitely not without controversy, as Carl Edwards kept his name in the news a week after his ballsy last lap attempt at the win in California, by causing a wreck that took out both of his Chase teammates. In the process, he handed Jimmie Johnson a decent sized lead heading towards arguably his best track, and the halfway point of the Chase.  Topping that was NASCAR’s decision to not allow Regan Smith’s pass on the last lap (he made the pass below the yellow line), and send him to the end of the lead lap, ruining what would have been a career best finish.  I wonder if the decision would have been the same if it were Tony Stewart making the pass on Regan Smith.

Group 1 – Jimmie Johnson(3) & Jeff Gordon(3)

I rolled the dice this week with Jeff Gordon, hoping to preserve Jimmie for the final three 1.5 mile races left on the schedule.  That didn’t work out so well, as Gordon had engine problems and finished 38th, while Johnson crossed the finish line in the top 10.  Fortunately Gordon led a few laps before having his issues and picked up a 10 point bonus.  Then again, 28 of 43 drivers led at least one lap, so that wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

Group 2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.(2), Kasey Kahne(1), Ryan Newman(2), David Ragan(5)

Earnhardt and Kahne got the start at Talladega, and finished 28th and 36th respectively.  Definitely NOT what you want out of your mid tier drivers, but not unexpected at Talladega, as both were caught up in wrecks. Ragan went on to have a top 5 finish, and Newman finished last.

Group 3 – David Reutimann(6), Brian Vickers(1)

Neither Reutimann or Vickers finished well, with finishes of 37th and 35th.  Vickers was the play this week and he did run up front for a bit before causing one of the wrecks and knocking himself and several others out of contention.  Reutimann didn’t fare any better, but hopefully it’s just an abberation, and he continues his recent run of success before this week.

Recap

• Points for this race: 134 (Gordon, Earnhardt, Kahne, Vickers)
• Most Possible Points: 384 (Stewart, Ragan, Sadler, Menard)
• Season Points : 8093Current Place : 1st
• Lead over 2nd : 64
• Overall Percentile : 94th

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
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The fall race at Talladega has the possibility of playing a big role in determining who comes out on top in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, or more likely, who doesn’t.  The 2.66 mile track, where the cars run very fast in big bunches, has been known to extinguish the championship hopes of Chase drivers.  It’s a race where drivers have to pick their friends wisely, and spotters have to be on their game to try and avoid The Big One…the wreck that happens at almost every Talladega race that collects cars by the double digits.  The more a driver runs up front, the less likely they are to be caught up in it…or so the theory goes.  On to the picks…

The numbers beside the drivers names are how many races I have them available for (9 starts per driver)

Group 1 – Jimmie Johnson(3) & Jeff Gordon(4)

Jimmie Johnson is flat out on a roll, with 3 wins and an average finish of 2nd over his past 5 races.  That said, his performance this season in plate races isn’t spectacular, so he’s not a gauranteed start.  He has won a race and a pole here before, and a streak like he’s on is hard to ignore.  His teammate at Hendrick Motorsport, Jeff Gordon is probably the next best option.  He has 6 victories at the track and has been finishing much better as of late, averaging a 10th place finish since the start of September.  If you don’t have any starts left for Gordon or Johnson, Kevin Harvick is another solid option.

Group 2 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.(3), Kasey Kahne(2), Ryan Newman(2), David Ragan(5)

There are 4 races each season you can pencil Dale Jr in, and be confident you made the right pick.  Both races at Talladega and Daytona.  Junior has won at the Alabama track 5 times in the last 8 years, including a stretch of 4 in a row earlier this decade.  At least one of Newman and Kahne end up on my squad almost every week, usually in hopes of picking up bonus points for qualifying.  One of them should also see the starting line up this week as well, as they’re both 2 for 3 on top 10s on the restrictor plate tracks.  Of the remaining drivers in this group, I feel most comfortable with Ragan in this spot.  I most likely wont be starting him here, so Elliott Sadler might be a good option as well.  He has started from the pole at Talladega on 3 occasions.

Group 3 – David Reutimann(6), Brian Vickers(2)

Reutimann continues to put together solid finishes for a group 3 driver.  He hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in 5 races, and has fared relatively well at the super-speedways with that Toyota horsepower.  A consistant top 20 out of your bottom tier driver will keep you in contention in your pool.  Vickers hasn’t run as well of late, averaging a 25th place finish over the past 5 races, but he’s on this weeks roster thanks to 5th, 11th and 12th place runs on the big tracks this season.  That, and he knows what it’s like to be in Victory Lane at Talladega.

 Good luck on your picks this week, and enjoy the action.  Hopefully your picks don’t go up in a crumpled heap when The Big One happens.

Filed under: Pit Picks, Speedways by Site Admin - Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
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