Auto Club 500

Now That Daytona Is Over

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick for winning the 2007 Daytona 500. I would also like to thank Mark Martin for once again giving all of his fans, including myself, his best effort. We really appreciate it Mark.

Not the most stellar of starts to the year but it could have been worse. I haven’t seen a lot of high scores in any leagues at all so no harm no foul as the saying goes. Let’s get to this week’s race in California.

My Pick to win California

I’m picking Carl Edwards to win this week.

The cars should be spread out more and drafting won’t be much of a factor this weekend. Carl had a car with a lot of horsepower last weekend and has never finished worse than 6th at California in 5 races.

California Speedway Frontrunners

The Roush teams are all fairly consistent at California with Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle each notching a victory there and Jamie McMurray having one of the better average finishes at this track. Many drivers are going to be looking to dig themselves out of a hole this weekend.

Tony Stewart finished 43rd last weekend and I do believe that the last time he did that at Daytona he won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship that year.

Last spring Tony and Greg Biffle were the class of the field at California until both of them lost engines late in the race.

Jimmie Johnson is also looking to dig himself out of a small hole while trying to defend his NEXTEL Cup Title. Jimmie a win and three 2nd place finishes at California in 8 starts there. Jimmie would like nothing better than to get himself back in contention with a win this weekend.

Kasey Kasey won the race at California last fall and could repeat once again. I don’t see any reason why Kasey won’t continue where he left off last year and win a bunch of races once again this season. The only stumbling block that he might encounter is the loss of his crew chief for the first 4 races of the season.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch each have a win at California and no matter what you hear in the media you can never count either of these drivers out of any race. When someone suggests that these guys are struggling they usually put that rumor to rest in a hurry.

Kurt Busch also has a win at California but that was while he was with Roush Racing. Kurt hasn’t faired quite as well since joining Penske last year but I look for this team to make big strides this year. In any event he might be one of the better qualifiers once again this season even if racing success doesn’t come until a little later in the season.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Carl Edwards (starter)
• Kasey Kahne

Group B

• Denny Hamlin (starter)
• Clint Bowyer (starter)
• Kurt Busch
• Kyle Busch

Group C

• Reed Sorenson (starter)
• David Ragan

Dark Horse

• Denny Hamlin
• Clint Bowyer

Stay Away From

• Dale Earnhardt Jr

“