Sharp Aquos 500

Two Races Left Until The Chase

There are only 2 races left until the Chase begins and I’m sorry Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans but I think the field is set. Dale sits 158 points behind Kurt Busch for the 12th spot and is 166 points behind his teammate, Martin Truex Jr. who is in the 11th spot. That is a lot of points to make up in just 2 races. So, barring anything catastrophic during the next 2 races the Chase field is set.

My Pick To Win California

This week we head back to California for a 500-mile race that starts during the day and ends under the lights. This season it seems like drivers are winning in spurts and Carl Edwards is the driver to do that right now. Carl won last week at Bristol and had a good chance to win at Watkins Glen before he drove through the gravel pit late in that race. Carl has 4 top 5 finishes in 6 races at California and he and his crew chief are clicking right now.

California Front Runners

Matt Kenseth has won the last 2 spring races at California and finished 7th in the last 2 fall races there. This team along with the other drivers in the top 5 in points have already secured a spot in the Chase and are only racing for wins right now. Points don’t matter to any of them. A 2nd place finish is no better than a 43rd place finish right now because the points are going to be reset when the Chase starts and the drivers get a 10 point bonus for every win they have.

Jimmie Johnson excels at California during the spring but falls off slightly in the fall. Jimmie has 1 win, 3 2nd’s and a 3rd in 5 spring races at California but has finished 16th, 14th, 16th and 11th in his 4 fall starts here. It could be because this team was already guaranteed a spot in the Chase over the last 3 years and was experimenting at California.

Denny Hamlin likes the flat tracks and California is one of these. After a disappointing finish last week at Bristol, Denny will look to rebound and get himself another win heading into the Chase. Look for him to run up front the whole race this weekend.

Kasey Kahne had a great weekend at Bristol winning the Busch race on Friday and finishing 2nd in the Cup race on Saturday after leading a majority of the laps and starting on the pole. Kasey won this race last fall and finished 4th last spring. However he lost an engine and finished 38 this spring. I’m not sure that this team has the flat tracks figured out just yet.

Use At Your Own Risk!

Tony Stewart is great at Indy but struggles at California for some reason. Tony has way to many finishes in the mid teens here to take a chance on him this weekend. There are better tracks to start Tony at other than California.

Jeff Gordon will be looking to get back in the win column this weekend and get those extra 10 bonus points for the Chase. Jeff was runner-up to Matt Kenseth this spring and won here in the spring of 2004 but has been inconsistent here. He is another driver that you can start on tracks that he has a better record at.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has struggled at California throughout his career although he did finish 2nd here last fall. This spring Dale lost an engine and finished 40th. The way DEI has been having problems with their engine program lately this isn’t the place to take any of these drivers. A 500-mile race on a flat track is going to test an engine to the limit and I wouldn’t be surprised to see DEI have troubles once again this weekend.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Carl Edwards (starter)
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Kyle Busch (starter)
• Jamie McMurray (starter)
• Kurt Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Group C

• JJ Yeley (starter)
• David Ragan

Dark Horse

• Jamie McMurray
• Brian Vickers

Stay Away From

• Kasey Kahne
• Dale Earnhardt Jr

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3M Performance 400

My Pick To Michigan

There are only 4 races left until the Chase starts as the drivers head to Michigan this week for the running of the 3M Performance 400. Carl Edwards won here in June and is my pick to repeat that feat this weekend. Carl has finished in the top 10 at Michigan in 5 of his 6 starts there

Michigan Front Runners

A Chevrolet has not won at Michigan since the 2001 season. Since then it has been all Ford’s and Dodge’s. So load up on them this weekend. Matt Kenseth has some very impressive stats at Michigan himself. This Ford driver has finished in the top 10 in 8 of the last 11 races he has run there with 2 wins during that stretch.

Greg Biffle has struggled most of the season but has finished in the top 10 in 6 of the last 8 races at Michigan. This is a Roush Racing track. The Roush headquarters are located in Michigan and Jack Roush makes this track his own. Greg had back-to-back wins here in 2004 and 2005. A Roush driver has won 4 of the last 6 races here and in the fall race of 2005; Jeremy Mayfield won with Scott Riggs taking 2nd. Both of these drivers gambled on fuel and made it. Guess who was right behind them? You guessed it, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

Ryan Newman won back-to-back races here in 2003 and 2004. Both Ryan and teammate, Kurt Busch, know how to get around this track also. These teams have been really good on these types of tracks lately and either of these drivers could find themselves in victory lane on Sunday.

Jeff Gordon was the last Chevy driver to win at Michigan back in 2001. You can bet your last dollar that Rick Hendrick is putting all of his resources to work so that they can figure out a way to make their cars fast here once again. Jeff is already guaranteed a spot in the Chase so they might try something out of the ordinary this weekend to try and get back on top at Michigan.

Jimmie Johnson isn’t quite as lucky as Jeff but he does sit rather solidly in the Chase. He probably won’t do anything as drastic as Jeff might try this weekend but they will be looking for the ever-elusive speed also. Jimmie only has 4 top 10 finishes in 11 races at Michigan with a best finish of 4th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took a big hit last weekend after running well all day. Dale lost an engine on lap 63 and ended up 42nd. This dropped him to 14th in the standings 100 points behind Kurt Busch. Dale is going to have to fight tooth and nail to try to get back into the Chase over the next 4 weeks. Dale has finished in the top 6 in the last 3 races he has started at Michigan.

Tony Stewart is the hottest driver on the circuit right now winning 3 of the last 4 races run. Tony has finished in the top 10 in 5 of his last 6 races at Michigan. It is hard to go against him right now and he could be the person to break Chevrolets losing streak at Michigan.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Carl Edwards (starter)
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Martin Truex Jr (starter)
• Jamie McMurray (starter)
• Kurt Busch
• Ryan Newman

Group C

• Reed Sorenson (starter)
• David Ragan

Dark Horse

• Jamie McMurray
• Martin Truex Jr

Stay Away From

• Kevin Harvick

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Centurion Boats at the Glen

This week the Cup series heads to Watkins Glen, NY for the second road course race of the season.

My Pick To Win

My pick to win this week’s race is Tony Stewart. Tony has won 3 of the last 5 races at Watkins Glen and finished 2nd to Kevin Harvick last year. Tony is also on a roll having won 2 of the last 3 races.

Watkins Glen Front Runners

Kevin Harvick won here last year as noted above. Kevin is better at Watkins Glen than he is at Infineon and is always a contender during road course races. He won the Busch race in Montreal last week, which is also a road course. Kevin can get around any of these tracks very well.

Juan Pablo Montoya won his first race in the Cup series at Sonoma this spring and should have another great car this weekend. Scott Pruett always ran well for Chip Ganassi and Juan Pablo is every bit as good of a driver as Scott when it comes to the road courses.

Jeff Gordon is one of the best road racers on the circuit right now but seems to be a little better at Infineon than at the Glen. Jeff hasn’t won here since 2001 and his best finish since then has been 13th. But, with the year he is having you can’t count him out of any races.

Jamie McMurray surprised a few people at Sonoma this year by sitting on the pole and then running up front all day long until he ran out of gas with less than 2 laps to go in the race. Jamie finished 3rd at the Glen last year also so it really won’t be surprising to see him do well once again this weekend.

Kurt Busch won last week at Pocono and lead 175 of the 200 laps run. Kurt knows how to get around the road courses himself and will win one of these races soon. He always seems to have some sort of bad luck during these races that relegate him to the back of the field and he doesn’t have enough time to get back to the front.

Ryan Newman is another driver that seems to get better every time he gets on a road course. Ryan finished 2nd in his very first race at Watkins Glen and like his teammate, Kurt Busch, is looking for his first win here.

Robby Gordon is another of the best road racers on the circuit. Robby also ran well at Infineon until he had to pit for fuel late in the race. If NASCAR lets him run this week and, I think they will, he will have a great shot at getting his first win for his own team.

Jimmie Johnson has 2 top 5 finishes in 5 races at Watkins Glen but like Jeff Gordon he seems to run better at Sonoma. Jimmie would like to follow up last weeks top 5 finish with another good run so he can solidify his spot in the Chase.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good run at Sonoma this spring but has struggled at the road courses throughout his career. I think that Dale might have learned a lot over the past few seasons and could be a very legitimate contender at the road races now.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Tony Stewart (starter)
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Juan Pablo Montoya (starter)
• Robby Gordon (starter)
• Jamie McMurray
• Kurt Busch

Group C

• Boris Said (starter)
• Ron Fellows

Dark Horse

• Jamie McMurray

Stay Away From

• Carl Edwards

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