“If you’re anything like me then you’re probably already playing at least a half-dozen NASCAR fantasy games. I’m holding my own in a few of them while having my butt whooped in a few others. It’s the occasional butt-whooping that makes me play multiple NASCAR fantasy games. See, while I may be looking like a chump in one game, I’m a champ in another. This method helps my post-race stress.

In the right hand column of this blog you can see a list of “The Games James Plays.” I’d like to point one of them out especially. It’s a new game that is put on by Canadian blogger “4ever3.” His award winning blog, NASCAR Ranting and Raving, recently moved over to the SB Nation community. Now “4ever3″ is launching The NASCAR Ranting and Raving NASCAR Pool powered by NASCAR Pools Online.

While the 2009 NASCAR season is well under way, this game will start with the Martinsville race (Goody’s Fast Relief 500) on March 29, 2009. You have until March 27, 2009 at 12pm (noon) Eastern to get your team signed up.

Check out the website for full details, but know that it’s a FREE game put on by one of the more popular NASCAR bloggers. There will be prizes (announced at a later date) and now is the perfect time to get in on the action by being one of the very first teams to register!

As in most all NASCAR Fantasy Games, I’m running my team as “Foothills Racing.” Look for me at the top of the leaderboard. ;)”

Following a week off, the NASCAR Cup series comes to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500. The legendary track is oval-shaped and just 0.53 miles long. The high banking is listed at 36 degrees, but that has been disputed– likely closer to 26 degrees. The track also features two sets of pits. Bristol has a history of aggressive driving as the drivers can easily make contact in the track’s close quarters.

The defending champion of this race is Jeff Burton. The most recent winner was Carl Edwards, who won here in August of last year.

Kevin Harvick – (last season: second @ Food City 500, fourth @ Sharpie 500)
In 16 career starts, Harvick has finished in the top-five a whopping nine times. Among all drivers, he owns the best average finishing position (9.6). In just the March races, Harvick owns an average finish is 6.6 and has finished outside of the top-10 only once– as a rookie.

Matt Kenseth – (last season: 10th @ Food City 500, ninth @ Sharpie 500)
Over the last five years (10 starts), Kenseth has complied seven top-10s and two wins. He has not finished worse than 16th since 2001. In March races only, Kenseth owns an average finish of 8.8.

In salary cap games, both drivers are affordable and will allow for a lot of flexibility. On the season, Harvick and Kenseth are two of six drivers with a pair of top-fives. With good starts to the season plus their consistent numbers at Thunder Valley, both drivers make a lot of sense in all formats and should be universally loved.

There are three drivers that are very likable for this race:

Tony Stewart – (last season: 14th @ Food City 500, eighth @ Sharpie 500)
In the last three March races, Stewart has led a minimum of 245 laps per race. Unfortunately, his finishes in those races ranged from 12th to 35th. Stewart has been very consistent thus far and looks poised for a strong race.

Denny Hamlin – (last season: sixth @ Food City 500, third @ Sharpie 500)
If you ignore his 2007 DNF, Hamlin has a career average finish of 8.6 at Bristol. Hamlin has stumbled a bit out of the gates, this is a great opportunity to deliver a strong performance.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – (last season: fifth @ Food City 500, 18th @ Sharpie 500)
Since 2001, Earnhardt has finished 18th or better at Bristol. Over the past five years, his average finish of 7.4 is tops among all drivers. Which Earnhardt shows up this week is the only concern.

In allocation leagues, avoid burning early season starts on the big names. This week I hate Carl Edwards, despite his great numbers at Bristol. Stay competitive early in the season with “lesser drivers” thus saving the elite drivers for heavy usage later in the season, when they put on their best performances. Take last season for example, Edwards won six races in August and September, including the evening Bristol race.

L2H results last week @ Kobalt Tools 500
Loves: Carl Edwards (third), Jimmie Johnson (ninth) Kurt Busch simply outclassed everyone.
Likes:Tony Stewart (eighth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th) Eight has been Smoke’s lucky number thus far. Earnhardt with 10th and 11th place finishes in back-to-back races.
Hate: Ryan Newman – 22nd

L2H 2009 Season Tally:
Love/Like average finish: 16

I’m ditching the average finish for the Hates simply because the majority of the selections are based more on strategy than thinking the driver will have an abysmal finish. However, I will continue to post them in the weekly results.

As soon as the checkered flag flew at Atlanta most drivers turned their attention to their plans for the next week. After a month’s worth of racing around the country, they finally get a weekend off to do whatever they want. Some retreat to their hobbies, others go on vacations and some, well, take a look.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr hires Al Franken to visit Tony Eury Jr’s house. Franken, setting aside his senatorial duties, tells Eury “he’s good enough, smart enough and doggone it people like him. And oh yeah, don’t forget to take 1/4 pound out of the right rear and add half a turn of wedge.
• After hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock, Casey Mears heads to Daytona to prepare for Speedweeks and the upcoming 2009 season. Teammate Clint Bowyer texts him to remind Mears that the season has already started.
• Inspired to do his part to kickstart the economy, Jimmie Johnson goes around the Charlotte area repairing stop signs, tightening leaky faucets and insulating drafty homes.
• David Ragan is called into UPS CEO Scott Davis’ office where Davis threatens to revoke Ragan’s company parking permit unless he starts getting on TV for something other than wrecking his teammate.
• To prepare for a special 4th of July paint scheme, M&M’s sends Kyle Busch to Mexico.
• At home in Florida, Mark Martin is enjoying a relaxing weekend with his family. However things turn sour when he attempts in vain to get his kids to eat all of their vegetables. “But you don’t finish races,” replied son Matt.
• Tony Stewart takes a break from his day job of paying bills, talking to sponsors and dealing with employees. He heads to Eldora where he continues paying bills, talking to sponsors and dealing with employees.

“

“As a one time Penske fan [I moved on once both Rusty and Ryan were gone], I was thrilled to see Kurt dominate the race in Atlanta. It was great to see David Stremme showing strong too. In my last article I even mentioned that Kurt would be a good darkhorse pick to win. Thankfully, I put Kurt on several of my Fantasy NASCAR game rosters and he came through for me! Now, Kurt Busch wants you to name his latest version of a post-race celebration- the victory lap driven in reverse.

Kurt wants to name his backwards victory lap. This is your chance to come up with a cool name for the victory lap. Email your ideas to Kristy Cloutier at kristy [@] kurtbusch.com. One lucky race fan will be able to say they named the lap. The winning name and the race fan name will be announced on our website and Kurt will talk about it on national television. The winning race fan will receive a Kurt Busch gift basket. Good luck to everyone. Send your emails by March 18, 2009.

Uh, OK…. I guess. You see, it’s this sort of silly stuff that Kurt comes up with that just makes me wonder about him. A backwards victory lap? What the….? I can’t tell if Kurt is just nerdy or if he’s genuinely just having fun. I want to say it’s the later. However, it’s like he goes out of his way trying to be cool or something, and for me it usually just comes across as corny, not cool (e.g. Kurt’s snow angels).

If you want cool, see the numerous backflips from Carl Edwards. Or (my personal favorite) the celebration routine his brother performs is the coolest celebration of them all. Park the car on the Start/Finish line, stand on the window sill, take a bow with a smoke filled back drop. Now that is C-O-O-L. You’ll get to see it numerous times this year, and it doesn’t need a name!

Speaking of “numerous” celebrations. Is Kurt is getting ahead of himself a bit here? In order for a post-race celebration to get a name, shouldn’t said celebration be a common enough occurrence that it needs or warrants a name? What if Kurt goes another 50+ races* before getting another win? Will anyone remember what we’re supposed to call the victory celebration? Will even Kurt remember? What if by then Kurt decides that jumping-jacks are the thing to do in victory lane?

Perhaps this “getting ahead of themselves” is some sort of internal condition within “Penske Championship Racing.” As Mike recently pointed out, On the subject of Penske Championship Racing, shouldn’t they have to win a NASCAR championship before applying that title? I realize Penske has 10 CART/IRL championships and that Kurt Busch and Rusty Wallace were both past champions, but it’s not quite the same. It would be like me suddenly dubbing myself Dr. Mike Maruska.”

I’ll tell you what, if Kurt can pull off three wins this season, and he does reverse driven victory laps after each of them, then I’ll say his celebration warrants a name of it’s own. However, he has to do the entire lap in reverse. It doesn’t matter if the trunk is pancaked up from an accident or if the win comes at Pocono and he has to drive that track backwards. The whole lap must be done in reverse, and it needs tweaked a little bit by adding some smoke! Maybe then Kurt can take a little from Carl, and a little from Kyle, and perform The Smokey Backlap.”

Anyway, that’s the name I sent in to Kristy. What do you think? Does Kurt Busch’s victory lap need a name, and if so, what would you call it?

James Jones, PHD

[Yes, I have a Post Hole Digger.]

---

*I know it’s not been 50+ races since Kurt won a race. Technically Kurt won a race in 2008, but it was a lucky win handed to him by the rain. He had not chance of winning that race, but a win is a win. However, Kurt’s last “win” came over 50 races ago back in 2007.”

NASCAR is taking a week off in the Cup series and then will head to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time this season. This will be the final race before the teams switch to this years points for the top 35 in owner points to make the race.

Ryan Newman is one of the big names on the bubble along with Mark Martin and Joey Logano . These 3 drivers are currently in the top 35 but could drop out after Bristol if they don’t have a good finish. Aric Almirola, Paul Menard, Travis Kvapil and Scott Speed are currently on the outside of the top 35 and will be doing their best to displace someone who is guaranteed a spot in the starting field when the series heads to Martinsville in 2 weeks.

• Jeff Gordon is my pick to go to victory lane and end his winless streak at Bristol. Jeff has been strong all year and has always done well on the short tracks. I actually think that Jeff will go back to back at Bristol and Martinsville and increase his lead in the point standings.
• Carl Edwards has won the last 2 fall races in Bristol and has been running well so far this season. He will need to qualify a little better so that he can pick a better pit stall here. A pit stall on the front stretch and starting towards the front of the field are huge advantages at Bristol.
• Kurt Busch got his first win of the season and has looked very strong every week so far. Kurt used to be the driver to beat at Bristol when he won 4 out of 5 races between 2002 and 2004. Kurt could return to that status as this team has the momentum and confidence right now.
• Kyle Busch has a win and 2 second place finishes at Bristol during his short career. This is the type of track that kyle loves. He can do a lot of bumping and banging here and nobody will say much about it. He will be able to take all the chances that he wants bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic to get to the front or lap as many cars as he can.
• Matt Kenseth has 2 wins under his belt this year and drives very well at Bristol. Matt used to finish in the top 5 almost every race at Bristol. The last 2 years he has been a top 10 finisher or just outside the top 10 so you know he can still get it done.
• Kevin Harvick has once again been quietly putting together another Chase contending year. Kevin has one of the best average finishes all-time for Cup drivers at Bristol. He has 1 win and 4 runner-up finishes to his credit here. Look for him to have a shot once again this spring to visit victory lane.
• Greg Biffle has never won at Bristol but then again he has never finished worse than 22nd there either. Greg has started out very well this season as opposed to the past few years when he struggled until the last 10 races of the year. This team will get a win very soon.
• Clint Bowyer currently sits 2nd in the point standings and has finished in the top 10 in his last 4 Bristol starts. Not many people consider Clint a contender to win the championship at this stage of his career but, he is getting very close to that status.
• Denny Hamlin always has a great car at Bristol but it always seems like something bad happens to him before the end of the race. A bad pit stop, mechanical problems or a bad decision on the track by someone else seems to take him out of contention. Don’t be surprised if everything lines up for him this time.

Yahoo Picks for Bristol

Group A

• Jeff Gordon
• Carl Edwards

Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Denny Hamlin
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Jamie McMurray

Group C

• Aric Almirola
• Bobby Labonte

Top 5 Overall at Bristol

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kyle Busch
4. Greg Biffle
5. Kurt Busch

Dark Horse: Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurrayStay Away From: Brian Vickers

Please feel free to post any question, comments or suggestions for me. I try to answer as many as I can. Good luck once again this week!

1		Is 2009 the year Jeff Gordon finally completes his drive for 5? Don’t get too excited yet because we’re only 4 races into the young season. Over the course of the 36 race season every driver has their ups and their downs. Don’t forget that in my Daytona Power Rankings I mentioned that the last time the 24 car got a new paint job they won the championship (2001). Perhaps their 2009 paint job is the medicine needed for Gordon to finally capture his fifth championship.
+2	Jeff Gordon
2		This Busch didn’t win at Atlanta but you can be assured he’s excited to get to Bristol. Busch had a tough day at Atlanta and finished a very uncharacteristic 18th. The last time the Cup series visited Thunder Valley Busch lead 415 laps and finished 2nd. My favorite part of that race was the cool down lap fireworks between Kyle and Carl Edwards.
-1	Kyle Busch
3		Matt Kenseth had a nice rally going for him at Atlanta until he ran out of gas and lost track position late in the race. Hopefully with the off week Kenseth will have time to find a 4 leaf clover and turn his luck around. Bristol is a very good track for Kenseth where he has 2 career wins, 11 top tens, and an average finish of 12.2.
-1	Matt Kenseth
4		Kurt Busch had a near flawless race at Atlanta. To bad for him this track is no longer in the Chase. In my previous Power Rankings I promised a big move for Kurt if he could duplicate some of his earlier Intermediate track success. His big move up was delayed at Las Vegas because of his motor issues, but his dominance at Atlanta was a statement victory. Kurt has 5 wins at Bristol but remember things have changed since then (track, car).
+6	Kurt Busch
5		Carl Edwards finished 3rd at Atlanta but it appears that the competition caught up to the 99 car at the Intermediate tracks. At this point in the season in 2008 the 99 car could’ve had 3 wins (engine issues at Atlanta) but in 2009 I don’t think anyone could say they were close to winning any of them. Edwards has 2 career wins at Bristol, but both of those wins happened in the August night race.
+1	Carl Edwards
6		Clint Bowyer is always underrated in NASCAR. Hopefully now he’ll get the respect he deserves. I only hope this high ranking won’t lead to his demise. He always seems to perform better when he is underrated. In 2008 Bowyer averaged 158 points a race at Bristol.
+2	Clint Bowyer
7		Jimmie Johnson has been competitive for the last 3 races but the results just aren’t there. From a fantasy racing perspective Bristol is the last place I would expect a Jimmie Johnson breakthrough. In 14 career races Johnson only has 6 top tens at Bristol.
-3	Jimmie Johnson
8		Tony Stewart battled adversity at Atlanta and finished 8th. The 14 team has been one of the most consistent teams so far in 2009, but they appear to be a just outside the top 5 car each week. Bristol owes Stewart a spring win after his last 2 spring heart breaks.
-1	Tony Stewart
9		Kevin Harvick finished 4th at Atlanta with about a 10th place car. His driver rating was lower then many of his competitors that surrounded him. Harvick loves Bristol and if he can find his old aggressive ways he could very likely win at Bristol. Harvick has a series best 9.6 average finish at Bristol.
-	Kevin Harvick
10		Not to many (Top) drivers had a bad day at Atlanta but Biffle was one of them. While his steep drop in the Power Rankings looks harsh just think about how the drivers who passed him performed. At Bristol Biffle has the 2nd best average finish (9.9) in the series.
-5	Greg Biffle
11		If Atlanta was a shorter race Hamlin would’ve had a much better finish. Hamlin suffered handling problems and never was able to rebound. Hamlin’s history at Bristol is one of heart breaks. If the 11 team can get their mechanical/ fuel issues under control Hamlin could easily be 2-0 in the spring COT Bristol races.
-	Denny Hamlin
12		Jeff Burton was consistent at Atlanta, but if he’s going to be competitive he better get consistent around the top 5 and not around 14th. The 31 team just seems like their a little slower then some of their teammates at this point in the season. Burton is the defending Bristol winner but driving like Mr. Nice Guy most likely won’t get the job done this year (unless the leader has problems again).
-	Jeff Burton
13		Vickers is making his first appearance in the Power Rankings with his strong top 5 finish. Currently Vickers is in 11th in the point standings. Bristol could easily bounce him out if he duplicates his 25.7 average finish. In 9 career races at Bristol Vickers has zero top tens. Martinsville is also unfriendly to Brian.
NOT RATED	Brian Vickers
14		This year must be tough on Dale Earnhardt Jr fans. In eight years of fantasy racing this is the first year I’ve had Earnhardt Jr on my team, so I feel your pain. Fortunately Earnhardt Jr is a short track ace and loves Bristol. I just hope he doesn’t try any of that spinning on your own stuff again (or at least not say anything about it over his radio at Bristol).
-	Dale Earnhardt Jr
15		In the history of NASCAR nobody has luck like Mark Martin. Nobody wants the type of luck Mark Martin has. At the start of the season some people thought Mark Martin would be a serious contender for the championship (I tried to warn people about his luck). This still might be the case because the points in the Chase reset, but bad luck is never far away from Martin. This team is performing at an incredibly high level but three points paying races have just been flushed down the toilet.
-2	Mark Martin

“Jimmy Watts, a crew member for the No. 47 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has been suspended from the next four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events (until April 22) for rule violations during last Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Watts was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 9-15-U (crew members must not go on the race track for any reason while the cars are racing or while the cars are running under the yellow flag or the red flag, unless otherwise directed to do so by a NASCAR official). Watts has also been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

In addition, Frank Kerr, crew chief for the No. 47, has been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for violating Sections 12-1 and 9-4-A (crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of the team).”

The OBW Experts will get together the day after the Sprint Cup race to discuss the hot topics of the week.

This week we chat about Atlanta, reflect on the season thus far, restarts and runaway tires. We will also take a look ahead to next Sunday at Bristol.

This is the first off-week, so let’s start off by evaluating the first four races of the season. Who are your surprise drivers and most disappointing drivers thus far?

James Jones: The most surprising, Kurt Busch and Penske Championship Racing. Busch has started off the season with finishes of 10th, fifth, 23rd and now Sunday’s near-perfect win. If this means Busch and Penske are back to form, then the competition should be worried as we’re headed to Bristol next where Kurt has five wins in 16 starts there.

Ryan Newman and his team are the most disappointing. With similar Hendrick Motorsports equipment, teammate Tony Stewart has cracked off three eighth place finishes in the first four races. So why is Newman’s car dropping transponders, having wings fall off, and cylinders getting lazy half-way through the race? I’m not yet 100% confident that Stewart-Haas Racing are not fielding old show cars for Newman’s No. 39 team.

Mike Maruska: I’m also surprised how well Kurt Busch has ran through four races. I wasn’t sure whether Penske would provide the consistent cars. The most disappointing has to be the No. 5 team. Mark Martin has done little wrong, but two engine failures and a flat tire have pushed him to the brink of the top 35.

Jeffrey Gutowski: The biggest disappointment to me is also Mark Martin. Granted that he lost two engines and blew a tire that sent him into the wall but, I thought he would make the Chase easily in a Hendrick car.

My surprise drivers are David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip. We all know that you don’t get to the top series unless you are one of the best so the driving doesn’t surprise me. The thing that surprises me the most is how they have improved over the last couple of years.

Ryan Rantz: My surprise driver so far this year is Jaime McMurray. The No. 26 team has been a solid competitor in almost every race this year. Their position in the point standings doesn’t reflect how competitive they’ve been in 2009.

The driver that has disappointed me the most in 2009 is David Ragan. I thought he was primed for a breakout year after last year’s success and with UPS coming on board. Last year, Ragan completed the most laps but this year Ragan has finished on the lead lap only once.

Darren Fauth: How about Jimmie Johnson as the most disappointing driver? The can-do-nothing-wrong luck they had last year is not happening so far. I guess I’ve got to remember that he is exactly where he was after Atlanta spring race last year, 13th. I must have his Chase performance so dominating my memories that I’ve forgotten this is typical Johnson rev up.

Eric McClung: Brian Vickers is my pick for biggest surprise. Vickers had six top-10s all of last season and he already has three this year. He is one of only four drivers who have three top-fives through the first four races this season. The Red Bull team has come a long way in a pretty short time. Of the drivers who missed the Chase last season, the popular pick of who would make it this season has been David Ragan– now it looks like Vickers.

How much did Marcos Ambrose’s crew member alter the race by putting so many cars a lap down when he went after the runaway tire?

Mike Maruska: Forget putting cars down a lap, how about putting your life in danger? Running into the infield under a green flag? I’d rather smear myself in chum and go snorkeling off the Great Barrier Reef.

Darren Fauth: It was huge! It drives me nuts when things outside of the control of the teams, like rain or that dude chasin’ the tire, totally jack with the outcome of an event. If it wasn’t for the ‘Lucky Dog’ giving guys back their lap it would have been a lot less than 12 drivers that were on the lead lap. It’s pretty frustrating. I’m a lap down on NASCAR 09, I start driving like a madman when so I’m surprised there weren’t more wrecks.

James Jones: It didn’t alter the race at all, this sort of thing is a part of racing. The caution was going to fly anyway, so the teams who got caught would have been losing a lap anyway. Also, such a situation is part of the risk you take during green flag pit-stops. Racing is a team sport and situations like these are where the crew becomes a critical part of the equation. It is the resulting level of communication, organization and direction between the crew chief and the crew that will show you exactly what sort of race team you have. In my opinion, this is where Chad Knauss and the No. 48 team shine above the other teams and is a big reason why Jimmie has three straight phat Cup Series championship trophies.

Some of these restarts are getting pretty confusing, should any adjustments be made to the rule?

Darren Fauth: I still don’t know what was happening. I need someone to draw it out for me. As an aside, I would love to see them start putting lapped cars on the outside instead of inside.

Mike Maruska: David Poole has long suggested a double file restart with the lead lap cars all at the front like at the start of the race. Lapped cars are eligible for the Lucky Dog regardless of where they are in relation to the leaders; let them fight over it without wadding up the leaders.

James Jones: NASCAR has a “formula” now. Don’t let the word “formula” scare you though. Here it is: pit road speed x2 = “the restart zone’s” length. Surely that’s easy enough math for the drivers to understand. I hope they don’t need Ryan Newman’s Purdue engineering degree to explain that formula during the driver’s meeting.

Ryan Rantz: I don’t really find anything confusing about restarts. The only rule that I would really like to change is that only cars within two laps down can be in the left lane for restarts. If you’re any more then two laps down, you have no business at all being down there.

No matter what you think about the Busch brothers, they both can drive. While Kyle has eclipsed big bro’ Kurt on most weekends, when either driver gets a car that is running well it’s usually game over. Kurt Busch hit the outside wall multiple times but still managed to keep the lead for 2/3’s of the day. Kurt compared Atlanta to Darlington’s abusive track and judging from his scraped up #2 Miller Lite Dodge, it’s a pretty accurate comparison. How many tracks do you see the race leaders all pit for tires with 2 laps left, let alone nearly every driver take four tires? It made for some interesting racing and thankfully a better race than last year’s tire debacle.

While Kurt Busch has always had his moments of madness, he has tried very hard to be loved by fans. Some of his past ideas and victory celebrations have fallen flat on their face, sometimes literally. Sunday I had to give Busch some points for originality for the backwards victory lap.

Other Thoughts

• Brian Vickers had a terrific run going and with 6 laps left was right on the heels of Kurt Busch. After I earlier this week whether Vickers could win a Cup race, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Of course then his pit crew had a slow pit stop that dropped him to 5th. The #83 is still making strides, but the pit road problems have been costly over the last two years. What’s most surprising is that,-barring changes this year, Red Bull is the only team in NASCAR to employ full time pit crews (does anyone know if this is still true?).
• Most weeks I like to predict which driver will bring out two cautions in the same race. Bobby Labonte and Greg Biffle each accomplished that feat. What happens when a driver brings out three yellow flags? By my count Robby Gordon factored in three cautions on the day, each one more severe than the last. Kudos to you Robby Gordon, a true trailblazer.
• My guess is that we will see more than one article this week asking, “When will Jeff Gordon finally win a points race?” The way the #24 team is running, who cares? He is piling up top 5’s and running near the front in every race. His driver rating is a healthy 120.5. He has a He has run 94% of all the laps in 2009 in the top 15. If they broke that down further, my guess is that his percent of laps in the top 5 would be near 90% too. Wins are often out of a team’s control, but spending every week in the top 5 and leading a lot of laps will pay off in the long haul. And here’s something even scarier: Intermediate tracks have been his weakness in recent years. Even in 2007 when Gordon won 6 races, he only had one win (Lowe’s) at a downforce track and often struggled to get a handle at tracks like Texas and Atlanta. We haven’t even reached some of Gordon’s best tracks like Martinsville, Talladega, Darlington and the road courses. The Deathstar is quite operational.
• Next week is an off-week. After five straight weeks of racing all the drivers deserve a break, but Martin Truex Jr will likely be the most gracious recipient of the extra rest. Saturday night he was treated for kidney stones, then went out and posted a top ten.

“

“Stealing a quote from Mike, From Kurt Busch doing snow angels in Texas to Kyle Busch trying to kiss the Vegas finish line through his helmet, their victory celebrations still need some work.” I was thinking the same thing when I saw Kyle down on his hands, toes and nose “kissing” the track through the helmet. But hey, whatever works for you Kyle! Personally, I prefer the smoke filled bows and the counting of wins on your fingers. That celebration has a “How do you like me now?” feel to it that I can appreciate. {BTW, it was in Bristol that Kurt did the snow angels.}

Due to faulty engines from Toyota, several Toyota teams required engine changes before the Las Vegas race. While Kyle’s car also required an engine change, it was not related to the issues of the Toyota supplied engines. Joe Gibbs Racing builds their engines in-house.

Kyle’s engine swap meant he would have to drop to the back of the field after putting his car on the pole. However, by the half-way point Kyle was a permanent fixture inside the top five. He was able able to hold off the Chevys of Clint Bower and Jeff Burton to take his first Cup series win in hometown Las Vegas. It was a little saving face for Toyota and the win helped the manufacturer cut into Chevrolet’s lead by 3 points, while leaving Dodge 6 points back in last place in the manufacturer’s point standings.

This Sunday’s race marks the 100th NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). When I think of racing in Atlanta, I think of either Bobby Labonte’s dominance at the track for a period of time {Bobby has six wins at AMS, the most of any active driver}, or Kevin Harvick’s first Cup Series win. Harvick’s win was an emotional one for everyone as it came only a few weeks after Harvick was put in the car after we lost Dale Earnhardt in Daytona.

Carl Edwards is the early favorite of our Experts Picks to win at Atlanta this Sunday. However, over the last four years Matt Kenseth has a better average finish at AMS at 9.0 vs. Carl’s 12.6. True, Carl has three wins at AMS, but Matt’s back-to-back wins to open the 2009 season make him my pick for Ford’s best hope at a win.

Selecting a top contender out of the Chevrolet camp is very difficult. The first criteria being, Can driver-X beat Jimmie Johnson?” When looking at the loop data for AMS, the answer is No!” Jimmie tops all drivers in eleven categories of loop data stats, including Avg. Start, Avg. Mid-Race Position, Avg. Finsh, Avg. Running Position, # Laps in top 15, Laps Led, Driver Rating and the all important, Avg. Points Gained. Gee, actually picking a Chevy driver is very easy. :)

Kyle Busch is the defending race winner for this Sunday’s event at AMS. In the fall race he finished 5th. Those would be his only career top tens at the track in 9 career starts leaving him with an average finish of 18.2. Teammate Denny Hamlin has very similar stats, again only two top tens and an average finish of 17th, though in only 7 career starts. The nod simply has to go to Kyle though. In the last three AMS races he has scored an average of 152 points.

Kurt Busch once again carries the banner for Dodge with his last five finishes at AMS being consecutive top fifteen finishes. We can see a lot of speed at AMS and Kurt is a very good driver on the high speed tracks. He’s sitting inside the top 10 in points after having finishes of 10th and 5th at Daytona and California, respectively. With Dodge’s new engines and possibly a little Busch-Brother-Luck rubbing off from the hugging going on in victory lane back in Las Vegas, Kurt could be a dark horse pick for this weekend.

My Pick To Win?

My sentimental favorite would be for Bobby Labonte to get the win. After coming off his 5th place finish in Las Vegas he is pumped up! And besides, he finished 12th in last year’s event, so maybe… Alas, I can’t do my fantasy picks by my heart. At least not if I want to win.

So, I really think it will be either Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson who wins this weekend. Jeff is on a tear and my gut says to go with Jeff to win the 100th Cup event at AMS. However, the numbers say it’s Jimmie’s weekend. The fact that he tops the charts in eleven stats columns just weighs too heavy for me. Put me down for Jimmie Johnson.”