Crown Royal 400

Back To The COT

This weekend we head from a restrictor plate track to the short track at Richmond and another race with the COT. Seeing that it is a COT race I am going to stick with the drivers who have run well with them so far this year.

My Pick To Win Richmond

My pick to win this week is Kyle Busch. Kyle won the first COT race at Bristol and has finished in the top 5 in all 3 of the races he has run at Richmond including a 2nd place finish last fall.

Frontrunners at Richmond

Dale Earnhardt Jr. runs well at Richmond and has also had good cars this year with the COT. Eventually he is going to get the right break and win a race this year and this might be the weekend that he does it.

Tony Stewart had the dominant car at Bristol this year until he lost fuel pressure when the cable broke on his fuel pump. Tony already has 3 wins at Richmond and loves to run at night there. However, Tony is looking at another fine this week from NASCAR after he made a gesture on the track towards another driver at the end of the race at Talladega. This is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that Stewart will be fined by NASCAR after skipping the media room after the race at Phoenix.

Jeff Gordon has won 2 straight races and has run well with the COT also this season. However, Jeff and teammate, Jimmie Johnson, both seem to struggle at Richmond more often than they run well there. There are more consistent drivers to use this weekend.

Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton have both run well with the COT this year and Kevin won at Richmond last fall. Kevin’s team has been a little off the mark the past few weeks but this track should give them the chance to get back on top of things.

Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are 2 other drivers that could visit victory lane this weekend. Matt has been there once before and Greg has come close. Both of these guys seem to have a bit of a handle on the Cot also and would like to get a Ford back in victory lane and break Chevrolet’s streak.

Mark Martin returns for his second COT race this year. Mark runs a little better at Richmond than he does at Phoenix, which he was average at this year in his first COT race. I have to apologize to all of you for last weeks article. I had Mark on my Yahoo team and he wasn’t even entered in the race. It was my entire fault for not doing my research a bit better and I have to thank Scotty who has been a reader of mine for quite some time for pointing it out to me.

A Few More To Watch

Kurt Busch has struggled at the first 2 COT races this year at tracks he has won at in the past. His teammate, Ryan Newman, has also struggled with the COT so even though Kurt has won here in the past and usually finishes well here I’m not going to use him this week.

Denny Hamlin is a much better pick as he has run well almost every week this season and needs a break as much as Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get his first win this year. This is the type of track that Denny has excelled at this season and it could propel him to his first victory of the year.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Dale Earnhardt Jr (starter)
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Kyle Busch (starter)
• Denny Hamlin (starter)
• Jamie McMurray
• Mark Martin

Group C

• Reed Sorenson (starter)
• JJ Yeley

Darkhorse

• Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From

• Kurt Busch
• Ryan Newman

“

Aaron’s 499

The Superspeedway Crapshoot

This weekend we head for the second restrictor plate race of the season at Talladega Superspeedway.

This race is the 1/4 mark of the season, so the teams should have all of their issues ironed out by now if they have a realistic chance of making the Chase.

Restrictor plate races are always a crapshoot with only a few drivers averaging good finishes. There are a lot of drivers who have good cars that get caught up in a wreck somewhere during the race and don’t finish anywhere near where their car should have finished without being involved in the “Big One.

My Pick To Win Talladega

So, with that being said I am going to pick Kurt Busch to win this weekend at Talladega.

Kurt has had some bad luck the last 2 weeks getting caught in the pits late in the race when a caution has come out. This has relegated him to being a lap down or at the tail end of the lead lap, which is just about as bad as being a whole lap down. Kurt has one of the best average finishes at Talladega and should have a car capable of winning here.

Frontrunners at Talladega

Jeff Gordon is on a roll and always has a good car for these races. Jeff also knows how to use the draft and knows which cars his works the best with in the draft.

The Hendrick teams seem to help each other out a lot at these tracks too. But, will the little feud after Martinsville between Jeff and Jimmie Johnson come into play here this weekend? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Speaking of Jimmie Johnson, he currently sits 4th in the points and has won a series leading 3 races already this year.

However, Jimmie always seems to have some bad luck towards the end of the races at Talladega. Last year he was taken out at the end of the race when Brian Vickers inadvertently got into Dale Earnhardt Jr. and caused Junior to crash into Johnson taking both drivers out of the race on the last lap.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been the man to beat from 2001 thru 2004 at Talladega when he had 5 wins and two 2nd place finishes here.

The last 4 races haven’t been quite as good for Junior as he has lost a few engines and then got caught up in the aforementioned wreck last year. Still Dale should have another car capable of winning once again at Talladega.

Tony Stewart has been another of those drivers who has seemed to finish well at Talladega lately.

Tony has finished 2nd in 3 of the last 4 races at Talladega and likes to ride around at the back of the pack until later in the race unless he has a car that will run up front the whole race. He just doesn’t like running in the middle of the pack during the race because that is where the wrecks usually occur if there is going to be one so this is a smart strategy to use. It doesn’t take long to go from the back to the front with this kind of racing.

Mark Martin had his worst finish of the year last weekend at Phoenix in his first race with the COT.

Mark hates running restrictor plate races but he almost won at Daytona earlier this year. Mark is another driver you won’t hear much about until the end of the race. He might get up there and lead a few laps early in the race for the bonus points but he won’t really start racing until the end of the race.

Matt Kenseth is the best restrictor plate racer that Jack Roush has. Lately Matt has been in contention to win at the end of the restrictor plate races but still hasn’t broken through with a win. He needs help at the end and can hopefully get one of his teammates behind him late in the race.

Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer all seem to have pretty good cars for the restrictor plate races and Kevin came from nowhere in a hurry to win the Daytona 500 this year. Either of these drivers could head to victory lane if they can get the help when they need it.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Dale Earnhardt Jr (starter)
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Kurt Busch (starter)
• Martin Truex Jr (starter)
• Mark Martin
• David Gilliland

Group C

• Paul Menard (starter)
• Tony Raines

Darkhorse

• Paul Menard

Stay Away From

• Greg Biffle

“

I’m willing to bet we all know someone, or been the someone, that has blown through an inheritance much too fast.

It’s good times and high cotton at first. The end of the ride seems like it is way down the road. But finally comes the realization that it’s almost all gone. And you better start asking yourself: What have I accomplished with this? What am I gonna do now?

Dale Jarrett has to be asking himself those same questions right now.

He has 1 Championship Provisional left. He is 38th in the point standings. Less than 25% of the 2007 NASCAR season is over. He has only qualified for 2 races on time. He has an average finish position of 32nd. How in the heck is he going to keep racing the rest of the year?

And what of this talk that Mikey should get out of the car and focus on ownership? What about Jarrett? He’s not the owner and he is sucking just a tad less than Mikey. He’s qualified for 2 races to Waltrip’s 1.

Like a diminishing inheritance, Jarrett use up one more provisional every week. In the race, starting last, going laps down. I wonder if MWR has really made much progress at all? Things are gonna be really bad at MWR when 1 driver missing the race each week suddenly becomes 2.”

Subway Fresh Fit 500

First Saturday Night Race

This weekend we head to Phoenix, Arizona and the first Saturday night race of the season.

My Pick To Win Phoenix

My pick to win this weekend is Jeff Gordon.

That’s right, Jeff Gordon is going to win his first race this year at a track he has never won at before. It is also the 3rd race of the season using the COT.

Frontrunners at Phoenix

Jeff Burton is going to give Jeff Gordon a run for his money this weekend once again. Burton has been tough all year and could have easily won the first COT race this year at Bristol. Jeff had back-to-back wins at Phoenix during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Dale Earnhardt Jr said it best after getting wrecked last weekend at Texas. His team is on top of their game right now and all of his cars are very drivable and have great motors. One of these weekends everything is going to come together for Junior and this might just be the weekend that it happens.

Jimmie Johnson hit a slight bump in the road last weekend when he lost a cylinder and then got caught up in an accident and eventually lost his whole motor. Jimmie is very good at phoenix but I don’t see Jeff Gordon letting Jimmie beat him this weekend.

Tony Stewart is another of those drivers who is going to come away with a win very soon. Tony has always been very good at Phoenix and loves to race at night.

Denny Hamlin is also a great flat track driver and has been putting together a very impressive season so far this year. Look for both of these drivers to battle for top 10 finishes this weekend.

Matt Kenseth is another of the short, flat track specialists but he did struggle at Bristol and Martinsville with the COT. I am going to hold off on Matt with the COT until he gets a little better handle on the car.

Greg Biffle is another of those drivers who seemed to handle the COT pretty well right off the bat at Bristol. Greg dominated most of the race last spring at Phoenix until he ran out of gas late in the race.

Kevin Harvick swept both of the races at Phoenix last year and really impressed me at Bristol in the COT coming from deep in the field at the start of the race and finishing in the top 5. It didn’t take him many laps to show that he had a great handling car there. If he can break out of his bad luck this weekend he could head back to victory lane once again.

Kyle Busch has won at Phoenix in his short career and he won the first ever COT race at Bristol. Kyle will be a handful for everyone once again this weekend because he isn’t afraid to race anyone at any point of a race anywhere on the track so look out all 42 other cars this Saturday night

Mark Martin will be trying for his 6th top 5 finish in as many starts this weekend at Phoenix. I think I will ride on his coattails until he shows some sign of slowing down which might not happen until he takes another race off later this season.

Carl Edwards is another driver who has done very well at Phoenix throughout his short career. Carl needs to get a little better handle on the COT before I will feel comfortable using him in my fantasy lineup for COT races.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Jeff Gordon (starter)
• Jeff Burton

Group B

• Kyle Busch (starter)
• Denny Hamlin (starter)
• Jamie McMurray
• Brian Vickers

Group C

• Sterling Marlin (starter)
• Johnny Sauter

“

In early January we were talking about 200mph qualifying runs and looking at the top 30 all-time qualifying speeds in NASCAR history.

I had come along a particular site, read some information, snagged a photo (crediting them) and we moved on to Daytona.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Greg Kwiatkowski.

Who’s he?

Well, it turns out he is one interesting guy that knows a thing or two (hundred) about going fast.

He’s also pretty fond of the Dodge Charger Daytona.

And, oh yeah, he owns the original ‘high speed’ #88 Dodge Charger Daytona that Buddy Baker drove to a closed course record of 200.447 MPH on March 24, 1970 at Alabama International Motor Speedway.

The incredible story of how Greg came to locate the car, the condition it was in and what it took to now call it his own is detailed in The Real #88 Chrysler Engineering Daytona!.

To say I was pretty stoked when I received Greg’s email is an understatement.

If the mystique of the Dodge Charger Daytona spellbinds you, then a gentlemen named, Ken Noffsinger, has built the ultimate site for you called Aero Warriors.

I highly recommend a visit.”

With Mark Martin currently in 11th place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup point standings, he is still in contention to make the Chase. Incredible, since he’s already skipped two races.

The consensus amongst the vocal commenters here was that Mark Martin made the right choice running the season how he wanted. I still agree.

But, what could be the outcome of a full season run for Mark?

It is the quintessential “What If?” question.

What If Mark Martin Ran The Full 2007 NASCAR Season?

I am charting 3 distinct NASCAR points columns for Mark Martin during the race season.

• Mark’s Actual NASCAR Points
• Substituting the minimum points possible (34 points) for each missed race
• Substituting Mark’s Average Points at that track for each missed race

Ought to be a fun thing to watch. I’m not sure when his next scheduled ’skipped’ race is. I’m sure it will come into question though depending on if Mark can remain in the top 12.”

I’m grooving with the masses as we ebb and flow outside the Texas Motor Speedway. We’re looking left then right at the driver merchandise. Money flows freely on race day.

It’s barely an hour before race time as I ponder which driver will get my wallet full of crisp bills.

My favorite driver, Dale Jarrett, has received my hard earned cash in previous years. But, I think I’m looking for someone new.

I need an underdog.

An up-and-comer.

Someone that is not already a ‘driver of the masses’. A fresh face. I’m thinking that Clint Bowyer is gonna be the new ‘Fauth Favorite Driver.’

And then like a bold, brash street corner hustler calling out to those driving by, I am face-to-face (not intimately mind you, but about 20 feet away) with the marketing genius of the season.

It’s Michael Waltrip larger than life. Right here in the #55 NAPA trailer doing his comedy shtick. Signing hats, diecasts, babies and breasts faster than a Matt Kenseth pitstop. It was a sight to behold.

I heard a few gawkers spit a little venom his way, but overall, Mikey is still a fan favorite. And, a merchandising machine. He learned about more than ‘the draft’ from Earnhardt…didn’t he?”

“After another great race, compliments of the NASCAR Ticket Fairy, I’ve noted 10 things I experience each race.

10) We NASCAR fans spend alot of money at the souvenir trailers. I wonder: Does anyone buy NASCAR merchandise online? (That’s a trick marketing question on my part…I’d love to know the answer.)

9) When you get home you smell like you’ve been at a cook out.

8) During the National Anthem I look around for the flippant few that have not taken their hat off.

7) 3 laps at each restart is the unspoken yet agreed upon length to stand before sitting down.

6) Fan reaction & drama is the same during NASCAR drivers introductions as it is at a WWE Wrestling event.

5) It is very entertaining to see 40+ year old women whoop and jig like a school girl when ‘the beautiful’ drivers are introduced.

4) The United States Military marching with the colors. The crowd cheering them. And then the flyover. Wow.

3) Even though you’re sitting next to a guy wearing a Jimmie Johnson jacket you can cheer when his car blows up, yet the two of you don’t come to blows.

2) When I can’t stand it any longer and make the dash to the restroom, I wonder ‘Why are all these people walking around down here like there’s not a freakin’ race going on!’

1) I still want to watch the television broadcast the next day so I can get the story on why some of the things happened.

I’m sure I missed several more. Got any?”

I’m not sure what it is that makes me fortunate enough to be visited by the NASCAR Ticket Fairy® each year.

After the initial shock, I’m always happy to see the dude. I wonder if other NASCAR fans that live in a city that has a NASCAR track seem to always score free seats as well?

I’ve never dropped a single buck on a race ticket at Texas Motor Speedway, yet have been to:

• 7 NASCAR Cup races
• 4 Busch Series races
• 4 Craftsman Truck Series races
• 4 IRL races
• 1 in the pits
• 1 in the garage

I was planning on watching the races from home this weekend when the NASCAR Ticket Fairy® paid me a visit.

So far I’m in for:

• Nextel Cup Practice with Pit Passes
• Cup Qualifying
• The showing of the new ‘Dale’ movie
• The Cup race on Sunday

Does the NASCAR Ticket Fairy® just have a fondness for me? Or, is he visiting you other fans as well?”

The Buschwhackers.
I’m not sure of the official definition for ‘Buschwhacker’. I think it’s severity and impact differs among race fans.

That picture over there is of a Busch Whacker. Here is a Bush-Whacker. For your party you can get a Daiquiri Whacker. I’ve used plenty of good ol’ Weed Whackers. And, of course (EDITOR: Don’t do it Fauth) there is the (EDITOR: I’m warning you!) NASCAR Pud Whacker (EDITOR: You’re depraved).

I guess my loose understanding of the term is defined by the fact that in any given Busch race, 8 of the top 10 spots are usually filled by Nextel Cup regulars. I know there have always been the caring souls that fret over the <sarcasm>BIG MONEY</sarcasm> in the Busch Series going to already well funded teams.

My bottom line had always been this: If I’m gonna go sit and watch the Busch Series race around my favorite cookie-cutter then I want to root for my favorite drivers. The ones I know from the Cup Series. It does make the Saturday race more exciting.

Would I love to see a Busch regular win the race? Yes.

Do I think that there should be a limit on the number of races a Cup regular can run in the Busch Series? Yes.

Back in the day…a few years ago. I remember getting pretty excited about some up and coming Busch Series drivers:

• Martin Truex Jr…eehh, not so much…after all, he is Jr’s boy (2004, 2005 1st)
• Clint Bowyer (2005 2nd)
• Kyle Busch (2004 2nd)
• Brian Vickers (2003 1st)
• Greg Biffle (2002 1st)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr (1999 1st)

Those guys were Busch Series regulars, not Cup drivers at the time.

Well, after a mere 7 Busch Series races in the books, Carl Edwards already leads by 321 points. I think I am becoming the hardest of hardcore ‘Buschwhacker’ fanatics. I completely embrace the ‘Anti-Cup-Driver-Darn-You-Buschwhackers’ philosophy.

Give me a raise of hands.

Do we really want to see Carl Edwards run away with the Busch Championship this year?

What is he trying to prove?

It’s kinda disgraceful really. I like Carl, I really do. But he is making for a very anti-climatic Busch season. Harvick already did the Busch Whacking Butt Whooping last season.

Can’t we do something else this year?”