Sonoma Fantasy Preview

The first road course of the year, brings out the road course experts and they fill today's picks.

Top 10-Tony Stewart
It was either Stewart or Gordon. Since Gordon was caught cheating and must start from the back, Stewart is the man to beat and he looked really good in qualifying and practice.






11-20th-Greg Biffle
He isn't known as a road course specialist, but has some good finishes, including a top 5 here last year. Pick him here as a sleeper pick for your lineup.













21st-30th-Juan Montoya
It was either Robby Gordon or Montoya. If Montoya can't do it here, he won't be able to do it anywhere as he has really struggled this year including coming off of a 43rd place finish at Michigan. The only reason I am hesitant on taking him, is he is too aggressive and may find himself off of the track.












31st-99th-Boris Said
You can never go wrong with Boris Said on the road courses, as he schools the other drivers on how to drive these tracks. He will never be considered a star until he comes home with a win.

Pocono Raceway and the popular pick this week is Denny Hamlin, but I am not about following the popular pick. Here are my fantasy racing picks this week.

Top 10-Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is either fast or in the wall, usually both. He has been wrecking a lot lately, so I think he will finally break out of the funk and get a win this week. Plus, look at those guns!

11th through 20th
Ryan Newman
3 straight poles and he actually got 2nd. He has never won from the pole, but the team is doing really well right now. Only one finish outside of the top 10 in the 5 races.

21st through 30th
Robby Gordon
Robby "The Devil" Gordon has had two decent finishes in a row, which he really needed as he was on the top 35 borderline. Over the last two races, he has averaged 16th place.

31st-99th
Paul Menard
Paul doesn't make very many races, but when he does he usually does okay. He could be the top finisher for this group of drivers. Plus he can play a mean banjo!

Dover Fantasy Preview

The Monster Mile is this weeks battle with the COT.

Top 10-Tony Stewart

Only Joe Gibbs racing has come close to beating Hendrick in the COT races. Normally it is Denny Hamlin, but look for Stewart to be the cream of the crop this week.


















11th through 20th-Bobby Labonte

Kyle Petty had a top 5 finish last week and Bobby Labonte has had 5 straight top 20 finishes. Petty racing is back! Labonte is also starting up front, so take him here and get a top 15 finish from him this week.

























21st-30th-David Ragan

David Ragan has had an up and down season, mostly down. He started out strong and has slowly faded away. But he can be considered the best of a bad rookie class. He generally does well in the COT races, so take a chance on him here.








31st-99th Place-Michael Waltrip



Michael Waltrip makes his return to NASCAR after taking off all of the Sundays and some Saturday nights since Daytona. Toyota has look much better since the redid their engines and look for Mikey to take home a top 30 finish. Something has to go right for this guy!

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway

With the longest race of the season and the top race of the weekend (my shot at the Indy 500), look for some exciting things to happen with the tires that Goodyear has brought to the track.

Top 10 Drivers-Carl Edwards

Edwards is coming off of his best race of the season, a 5th place finish. Look for the flip at the end of the 600 laps.

11th -20th Place-Ryan Newam
The rocket has really turned things around and him and his new crew chief are finally seeing eye to eye. With finishes of 4, 6, and 9 over the last 3 races and the pole position for this race-the rocket can't be caught.

21st-30th-Kasey Kahne

Kahne won both races at this track in 2006 and won the Busch race Saturday night. Kahne is good at this track and is finally in the top 30, so he gets picked here. Also, team Everham has great cars here.

31st-99th -Scott Riggs

Riggs hasn't qualified for all of the races this year, but the Everham teams look to be strong at Charlotte. With Riggs starting 15th, you can't go wrong with him this week.

Darlington Fantasy Preview

This week the COT cars head to the Lady in Black-Too Touch To Tame. Will Hendrick continue their dominance of the COT or will someone else break in?

Top 10 Drivers-Tony Stewart

Hendrick has dominated the COT cars, but Gibbs is right behind them. Hamlin has been the one to beat, but look for Stewart to take the win this week. This is a racers track and suits Stewarts style perfectly.

11th-20th Place-Greg Biffle

Why the deer in the head light look Greg? He has won 2 of the last 3 races at Darlington and starts on the front row. Maybe the look is because everyone will be chasing him Saturday night. Take him and you will have a chance at having the winning car in your lineup.

21st-30th Place (Five seconds to name this driver)

5
4
3
2
1

I knew you wouldn't get it, it is Tony Raines. He his having a decent year, and has had 3 top 20 finishes in the last 5 races and has had some better than average finishes in the COT car.

Don't expect a win, but a top 20 finish is not out of the question.

31st-99th place-Kasey Kahne

Once again we are going with Kahne here. You just have to and he has a top 5 starting position. This could be Kahne's best chance at a win this year. Can you say hello to Johnny Sauter next week?

This week, yet another COT race. No one has yet submitted a lineup that can beat mine. Will you be the first?

Richmond International Speedway

Top 10 in points
Matt Kenseth

Hamlin is the hometown favorite and the COT ace so far. Gordon is on fire with one of the best starts in NASCAR. But I am going with Matt Kenseth. Besides Gordon, Kenseth has the best average finish over the last 4 races. Look for him to take home the win here.




11th through 20th place in points
Mark Martin
I avoided picking Martin at Phoneix because it was his first COT race, but he ran well and came home in 12th place. Take a top 10 driver here since he keeps resting those old bones.

Bring back the Viagra car!






21st through 30th in points
Jeff Green
Why the surprised look Jeff? Most people don't pay close attention to him, but he has averaged a 17th place finish over the last 5 races with two 6th place finishes.

And then the way he pulled his "trick" on his qualifying run, you have to take him here.





















31st in points 99th in points
Kasey Kahne

I feel like a broken record here. He has now moved up to 32nd in points and this could be the last week before he moves out of this range.
With a 12th place finish at Talladega and a decent starting spot, he will try and stop playing 3rd fiddle to Sadler and Riggs.

Phoenix Fantasy Preview

This week, we have the 3rd COT (Car of Over Time) race as NASCAR travels to Phoenix International Speedway. Last week the drivers I picked, did very well

Gordon got 4th, McMurray 5th, Truex 7th, and Kahne 20th. I hope you took my advice and went with some of these drivers. Now onto this weeks picks.

Phoenix International Speedway

Top 10 positions-

Denny Hamlin

In the last race at Phoenix in 2006, Hamlin brought home a 3rd place finish. This week he qualified 3rd and has averaged a 6th place finish over the last two races. Put him in your lineup this week and expect a top 5 finish from him.

Positions 11-20
Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch has had a win at Phoenix when he was driving for Roush racing. He hasn't repeated that success since 2005. Over the last four races, he has posted a top 12 finish in three of them. Will he challenge for the win? Perhaps. Will he get a top 10 finish? Yes. This team is getting better, it must be the new ears.

Postions 21-30

Reed Sorenson
Has anyone notice the performance this team has been showing on the track? Has anyone noticed the bad luck that keeps following them? They had a top 5 car most of the race at Texas before a blown engine. This has been the story of his Nextel cup career. Look for him to get the bad luck behind him as he gets you a good finish when others in your league aren't even considering him.

Positions 31st-99th

Kasey Kahne

Two weeks in a row that I am picking him here. With him sitting in 33rd place, this may be the last week that he falls into this category. Two of their last 3 races have been top 20 runs. Can you believe that is actually good for this team this year? Because he is the best of this group, you have to choose him again. Next week we will contemplate Dale Jarrett v Kyle Petty.

Texas Fantasy Preview

Each week, we will preview some of the drivers that you may wish to take in your fantasy racing leagues. I will break it down into 4 categories. Top 10 in points, 11-20 in points, 21-30 in points, 31-43rd+ in points. This will cover the stars and the lesser known drivers.

Texas Motor Speedway

The thing that jumps out for this track is that there have been 10 races and not a single repeat winner.
1997-Jeff Burton
1998-Mark Martin
1999-Terry Labonte
2000-Dale Earnhardt, Jr
2001-Dale Jarrett
2002-Matt Kenseth
2003-Ryan Newman
2004-Elliot Sadler
2005-Greg Biffle
2005-Carl Edwards
2006-Kasey Kahne
2006-Tony Stewart

Will this streak continue?

Top 10 in Points-Jeff Gordon
This is one of the few tracks that Gordon has never won on and because qualifying was rained out, he gets to start on the front row. He has had a 2nd place finish and two 3rd place finishes, so he does know how to get around the track. He only averaged 15th place in 2006 but has been running much stronger this year. Put Gordon down as a driver you want in your lineup this week.













11th through 20th place in points-Jamie McMurray
Jamie McMurray has been having a very quiet year and has had three straight top 15 finishes after having two 30+ place finishes at the start of the season. Last week was his best with a 9th place finish. This is a much improved team, compared to 2005. Take McMurray now before everyone starts realizing what he is doing.









21st through 30th in points-Martin Truex, Jr
Truex had one of his worst races last week at Martinsville with a 37th place finish. The two races before that he was averaging 10th place in his finishes. Look for him to get back into that as he gets a top 15 this week. Then watch him move into the top 20.





31st through 99th in points
You have to go with Kahne, despite his terrible season. Having him in this group was not expected and he has to break out of the funk that got him here. He won here last year, so he knows how to get around the track. Look for him to contend for a top 5 finish this week.

Should he stay or should he go?

One of the biggest stories in 2007 was Mark Martin walking away from his established Roush ride in the number 6 car and moving into the 01, driven by Joe Nemechek in 2006. Nemechek will continue to be part of the team as he moved to the 13.

Initially, Martin was going to drive a partial schedule with Regan Smith driving in the remaining races. However, after two races Mark Martin sits at the top of the NEXTEL cup standings. Martin is scheduled to pass the reigns over to Smith in the first Bristol race at the end of March.



With Martin narrowly missing out on championships in the past, it will be hard for him to walk away knowing the what if...

Martin needs to stay in the car until he is no longer in the race. Plans are being put into place to allow Smith to drive a 3rd car for the team if it comes to it.

A great ending to a great career, if only the story would have been played out in the 6 car instead.