Dodge Challenger 500

Bobby, Greg & Danica?

Well, it looks like Bobby Labonte has signed a contract extension with Petty Enterprises, which means he will not be going to Richard Childress Racing next year.

This is probably going to be one of the better open rides next season so let me just throw this out there. This is in no way a rumor but just something that I think could possibly happen. Greg Biffle goes to RCR and Danica Patrick steps into the #16 for Roush/Fenway Racing. Let me know what you think.

My Pick To Win

This week we head to the Lady in Black or the track that is Too Tough to Tame, Darlington Raceway. My pick to win this weekend is Jeff Gordon. Jeff has finished 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, and 1st in the last 4 races at Darlington and will repeat this year and catapult himself back into the top 12 in the point standings.

Darlington Frontrunners

Jimmie Johnson will be one of the top contenders this weekend also as he is coming in with a streak of 6 straight top 10 finishes at Darlington including a sweep of the races in 2004. Jimmie will be looking to bounce back from an early crash last weekend that relegated him to a 30th place finish at Richmond.

Greg Biffle will also be looking to get back to the form he was in earlier this year when he was consistently placing in the top 10 and coming close to the win. Greg won back-to-back races here in 2005 and 2006 before fading a bit last year when he finished 15th.

Denny Hamlin has only raced at Darlington twice in his short career and has finished 10th and 2nd in those starts. Denny wants to turn things around this week after a disappointing race last Saturday at Richmond where he lead virtually the whole race before having a tire go down on him with less than 20 laps remaining.

Ryan Newman has never won at Darlington but is having a very good year so far and could steal a victory at any time. Ryan has 5 top 5 finishes in only 9 races at Darlington. I won’t be surprised to see him vying for the win next weekend.

Tony Stewart has finished worse than 17th only once in 15 starts at Darlington. However, his best finish is just 4th. This is another guy who can win on any given weekend if everything goes right in the pits for him.

Jeff Burton lost the points lead last weekend as I predicted he would but he could get it back this week at Darlington. Jeff is probably the most consistent driver at Darlington in the whole field. Jeff had 6 straight top 5 finishes from 1998 through 2000 including 2 wins while he was at Roush Racing. He has dropped off a little bit at Childress but is still usually in the top 10 at the end of the race.

Mark Martin has been having a quiet year with his part-time schedule but when he races he shows up to win. This will not be a surprise if he gets the win this weekend. He has been so close lately and this is one of his favorite tracks. Mark has 5 top 10 finishes in his last 7 starts at Darlington and should do it again this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows how to get around the Lady in Black too. His best finish is 4th here but with a little help from his teammates he could improve on that this weekend. Dale wants a little redemption this week after what happened to him late in the race at Richmond when Kyle Busch got into him and sent him into the wall.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Jeff Gordon (starter)
• Jimmie Johnson

Group B

• Greg Biffle (starter)
• Mark Martin (starter)
• Ryan Newman
• Kasey Kahne

Group C

• Scott Riggs (starter)
• Brian Vickers

Stay Away From

• Casey Mears

Dark Horse

• Ryan Newman

“

For the second time this year Denny Hamlin looked to have a short track race wrapped up and in the bag. Just five races earlier the Cup series was at Bristol and Denny was leading on a green-white-checkered finish. When Hamlin’s car suffered a fuel pickup issue, the entire Richard Childress Racing team was there to take advantage as Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick & Clint Bowyer each freight trained past Hamlin to a 1-2-3 finish for RCR.

Last nights race at Richmond International Raceway could also be referred to as a “field spanking” by the #11 FedEx car of Denny Hamlin. However, after dominating the field by leading 381 out of 400 laps, Denny’s seemingly assured drive to Victory Lane was ground to a halt on lap 383 with a flat tire. Just as it was at Bristol, a RCR car (the #07 of Clint Bowyer) was there waiting for the opportunity to take the lead.

However, that opportunity would not present itself until a battle between crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch took place resulting in Jr’s #88 Chevy spinning into the outside wall. It was, in my view, nothing more than good hard racing and Kyle did absolutely nothing wrong. It was not an intentional bump-n-run attempt by Busch. I won’t be surprised if the vast majority of Earnhardt Nation will disagree with my perception, but this is the type of racing we should all be happy to see. Busch was not content to ride there in the closing laps to finish 2nd, and Jr. wasn’t about to go down without a fight. It was hard, close racing and neither of them tried to take the other out of contention.

As Busch and Jr. tangled together the #07 of Clint Bowyer seized the opportunity and slid underneath Kyle Busch for the lead and the caution flag. This set the stage for a green-white-checkered in which Bowyer was able to hold off Kyle for the win.

Let’s now take a look at Bowyer’s post-race Loop Data Statistics.

• Starting Position = 31st
• Mid Race Position = 6th
• 40 Laps to Go = 5th
• Lowest Position = 32nd
• Average Position = 9th
• # of Fastest Laps = 7
• Laps in Top 15 = 338
• % of Laps in Top 15 = 82.4%
• Laps Led = 13
• % of Laps Led = 3.2%
• Final Driver Rating = 110.8

Video of battle between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
 

Last Minute Fantasy NASCAR Tips for Richmond International

You did your Fantasy NASCAR homework during the week. You read articles, studied the stats, threw the darts (or if you prefer, illegal lawn darts) randomly at the dartboard and filled out your team. Now it’s the weekend and you still want to fine tune your lineup. Here’s a few more ideas for those last minute lineup decisions.

If a driver has to make the race on speed, it’s tougher to run well.

Teams that have to worry about qualifying well on Fridays puts them at a disadvantage for the entire weekend. Teams inside the top 35 can spend all of their practice times focusing on a fast race setup. Meanwhile "Go Fast or Go Homers" are spending that same time making mock qualifying runs and perfecting their qualifying setups. Cars also get through inspection in the order of their point position. Again, that means less time on the track for the lesser teams.

What Car is your driver bringing?

Racingone.com provides great information about the top drivers and which chassis they will drive in the upcoming race. For example, at this weekend’s Richmond race, Denny Hamlin will drive the same car that he won in at Martinsville. That’s a good sign. Greg Biffle is also bringing his Martinsville car. He finished 20th in that race.

Look at Practice Times With a Grain of Salt

As the esteemed Flava Flav used to say, "Don’t believe the hype!" Websites and announcers often tout the drivers that are fastest in practice sessions. All that means is they had the fastest lap of practice. All teams treat practices differently. Some are working on qualifying runs, while others are tuning their car for long, green flag runs in race trim. Sometimes teams feel confident in what they have and are simply focusing on one or two adjustments to the car. Dale Earnhardt Sr used to skip entire practice sessions when he felt comfortable with his weekend ride. When scanning practice times, it’s helpful to look at all the numbers for better context. Look at the average speed, and total number of laps run, rather than just their best single lap time.

Also keep in mind what time of day the sessions are held. This is especially key with three straight night races on the schedule. A practice session during the day will create different conditions compared to the cooler, gripper night temperatures. Weather can also change the track conditions, as we saw last year with both the Richmond and Darlington spring races delayed by rain.

Don’t Overthink Your Selections

NASCAR is loaded with variables, which is both a blessing and a curse. It makes for great, unpredictable races, but can also occasionally cause Fantasy players to throw up their arms in bewilderment. In the end if it is causing you stress over who to start, keep it simple. Don’t try and outsmart yourself by trying to account for everything. It will make your head spin and your team may still wind up in shambles.

I realize it’s just a garden variety team release, but when I saw the following headline pop up in my RSS reader, I couldn’t resist. For Vickers, the tracks may differ but momentum same.

It doesn’t matter to Vickers that the style of racing at Talladega differs greatly from every other Cup track except Daytona. He’s banking on taking the momentum generated in Alabama with him into Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Maybe it’s because I prefer logic and facts to nebulous forces like momentum or mojo or hunger, but this article is just silly. Seriously, if it was strictly momentum that won stock car races, then wouldn’t Red Byron still have the momentum from winning the 1949 NASCAR championship? If it was a case of simply wanting to win, then I would have a shot at winning this Saturday (I really want to win). If that is true, then someone should also tell that slug in the #88 car that he should just ‘want’ his way to a win.

As the article concedes, Talladega has nothing in common with Richmond. If you run well at one type of race track, there is very little connection to running well the next week at a different track. Sure teams can run well at both, but the two are unrelated. If Kyle Busch wins this week, it’s not because he’s riding a wave of momentum, is on fire right now or really wanted to win. It’s because he’s a really good driver with a really good team. It’s not like Busch gets a head start from last week because he won.

“Yes, I think you can take momentum into anywhere — momentum is momentum,” Vickers said. “No matter what track you are going to, it is the same. We had our best run of the season last weekend in Talladega, so I think that will definitely carry over to Richmond.

According to Jayski, Vickers carries his momentum in a fanny pack. Carl Edwards uses a glass box with a cover fashioned from what looks to be an oil lid. Chip Ganassi accidentally left his momentum in the garden section at Target, which is why Reed Sorenson and Dario Franchitti can’t help but finish in the 30’s. It’s all absurd. If I came to my job, got a raise and then let momentum carry me, I’d get fired. I’m not picking on Vickers, but simply pointing out what a cliche’ the term is.

I looked up the definition of momentum. It pertained to physics, motion, business trends and several album titles, but not mentioned as a factor for success in sports. Vickers might have a better attitude heading to Richmond, but make no mistake, it’s up to his team’s ability to build a fast racecar and Vickers’s driving skill that will determine how he runs at Richmond. And for good measure, Vickers has 1 win, 3 top 5’s and 4 top 10’s and a 19.3 average finish in 8 starts at Talladega. He has one top ten and a 28.4 average finish in 7 Richmond starts.

My apologies for the Fire Joe Morgan style rant. I just get tired of reading articles like this on large websites and I think they can do better.

Our buddies over at On Pit Row got dibs on spending a few moments with Dan Lowry, the Richmond weekend Crown Royal King for a day.

As badly as I’d like the race to be called the “OneBadWheel 400″, it is not meant to be.

I’ve got a year to come up with a good Crown Royal moment™ to hopefully win the coveted title for 2009 though.

Charlie has written some excerpts from his phone interview with Dan. He has also booked him for Steve & Charlie’s weekly radio show. Their show is good stuff and highly recommended. You can listen to the On Pit Row live internet radio stream on Tuesdays from 5PM to 7PM EST. Or, check out the On Pit Row Radio Archives.

Nine days, and counting. That will bring us to May 10th and the running of the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway, also known as The Lady in Black.” While I’ve not attended anywhere near the number of races that I’d like to have, I’m looking forward to this race more so than any other race that I have been able to attend.

For starters, Darlington Raceway was the very first NASCAR Cup series track I ever went to. I was already a NASCAR fan, but when my uncle took me to the track I was just a boy. I remember being so in awe of everything. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.

Second, this year is going to be a special year for the track itself. The track now sports an infield access tunnel large enough for the team haulers and emergency vehicles to pass through it. The “Lady in Black” is also sporting a new black dress in the form of 15,000 tons of asphalt that makes up the newly repaved racing surface. It’s been reported that the construction crew used 4 million reference points around the race track to make sure that the character of the tracks corners and banking remained true to the legendary Darlington track design.

Third, after the repaving job was complete Goodyear held a couple tire tests at the facility. Drivers Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and this years Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman were on hand to perform the tire test. All three drivers piloted their cars to over 200 miles per hour on the new racing surface! Think about that, 200 miles per hour on a track less than one and one-half miles in length!

Fourth, I will also see a special one-time-only throwback paint scheme on the #88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard entry driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. To kick off Mountain Dew’s “Old School New School” promotion, Earnhardt will pilot the #88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard Chevy with a throwback paint scheme modeled after the 1981-82 entry driven by Darrell Waltrip. For me personally, this paint scheme is one of the most iconic schemes in NASCAR history and is also one of my all time favorites. I can’t wait to see it on the track in person for the first time!

Finally, above all else I’m looking forward to this race because it will be a special bonding day for me and my son. He is about the same age as I was when I first visited Darlington, and now, this will be his first visit to a stock car race and it’s at the same track as mine was. No sisters, just father and son with some friends and a tent in Camp Darlington for Saturday night. I simply can’t wait to witness my son’s reactions while attending the race!

Earn your Darlington stripe and win!

To share some of the excitement I have for this race, I’ve decided to offer up a little something for those of you playing in the Champs, Chumps & Sleepers fantasy game here on OneBadWheel.com. It doesn’t matter where you are in the overall point standings of the game, you’ve got an equal shot at winning! Here are the details:

• If you’re not already playing the game, then join now and create your team. It’s free & easy to do. Once you’re in the game, you’ll need to go to “Groups” and click the “Join a Private Group” link.
• Join my private group with the following information: Group Name = Darlington Raceway Contest.” The password = Lady In Black“.
• That’s it, well, other than actually filling out your team roster of course. The team with the highest race score for the Darlington race will win the prize.

The prize is a “six pack” of 1:87 scale diecast cars as shown in the image above. I got into collecting these cars this year and I have them lined up around my desk at my “real job.” I put together six cars that I had duplicates of. The winner will receive the diecast cars shown of Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and both the Amp & National Guard cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr..

There are of course some simple rules.

• You must join the group before the deadline. The deadline for joining the group will be the same as the deadline for making your roster picks for the Darlington Race. After the deadline, you’ll no longer be able to edit your roster and the password will become inactive. This will prevent someone from sneaking in after the cutoff time or after the race with a high score and try to claim the prize. You can join anytime before the deadline, so go ahead and jump in the private group NOW to ensure your eligibility!
• Winner must be in the United States or Canada for me to ship it to them via US Postal service. Other international players are welcome to play too, but will have to pay for US Postal International Mail if they want to collect the prize.
• Winner must respond to my e-mail or contact me by the end of segment one (Dover race). That’s 3 weeks after the Darlington race to claim your prize. If no contact can be made with the winner by that time, the prize will be forfeited (and likely used for another contest!)
• Other than my team (Foothills Racing) and my wife’s team (Bread Girl), all other OneBadWheel related staff, family, volunteer writers, sponsors, and NASCAR bloggers are also eligible to win with their fantasy race teams…. so long as they make the deadline! ;)

Good luck everyone!