One and Done: LifeLock.com 400

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

July 9, 2009 12:26 am CDT 3 Comments

Despite originating as a Sunday afternoon race, this weekend’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will be run under the lights for the second year in a row. It is also the second consecutive Saturday night race for the Sprint Cup teams, after last week’s Coke Zero 400. Speaking of that – how about Charlie and I with our “crapshoot” picks? His pick, Kurt Busch, wound up fifth, and one of mine, Marcos Ambrose, was sixth.

Hopefully, the advice I give you this week will be as solid as it was last week – I had the winner, the almost-winner, the eighth place car, and the aforementioned sixth place car. Picking at Chicagoland can be a challenge, if only because there’s not a whole lot of history to back it up – the track is still young enough that five drivers have average finishes in the single digits.

For this week’s picks, however, I’m relying on that history. It’s recent enough to be a solid predictor, and it also makes the picks a little more interesting, as a good amount of them aren’t contenders on a weekly basis this year.

Kevin Harvick: He’s been bad this year, I know. But he’s one of only two drivers to win here twice, so he must know something about the track that a lot of guys don’t. He’s only failed to complete one lap and has led in five of eight starts here, and his last three Chicagoland races have seen two fourths and a third. Think of Happy as your “kinda-sorta-sleeper-but-not-really” for the week.

Brian Vickers: Despite failing to qualify for the race in 2007, Vickers has a 9.2 average finish at Chicagoland, making it one of his strongest tracks. He’s never failed to complete a lap in his four starts, and is usually solidly near the front come the end of the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya: He’s been solid, although not spectacular, in two career starts here. Judging by the quality of the Ganassi cars, though, a 15th and an 18th are results to be proud of. Expect more this weekend, as his team tries to make up for the loss of Martin Truex Jr. by giving Montoya the absolute strongest car they possibly can. (It’s also fair not to expect much out of Truex for the rest of the year.)

Ryan Newman: Eh, why not. It’s about time he adds to the Stewart-Haas win total. He’s won at the track before, and if not for a bad stretch of luck from 2004-2006 (best finish: 29th), he’d probably be in the single digits in average finishes too.

Tony Stewart: The other guy to win twice at Chicagoland also won last week, has been strong for most of the season, and is running one of those cool “Back to School” schemes that Office Depot usually does at this race. (For the record, it’s a little early to be running a “Back to School” paint scheme, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless.) The No. 14 team has shocked a lot this year, and there’s no reason to think they can’t shock again.

Also, it’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the guys running limited schedules, and when folks will be able to pick them. So, without further ado:

Aric Almirola is expected to be back in the No. 8 car by the Brickyard 400. Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer reported recently that the team is close to securing sponsorship; not only that, the race is one of the highest paying on the schedule.

Still nothing to report on Travis Kvapil. Yates Racing is continuing to focus on Bobby Labonte and Paul Menard, with no known deals for Kvapil.

Regan Smith is adding the August night race at Bristol to his schedule. His streak of 51 consecutive races without a DNF, spanning his entire career, carries on, and Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone implied that Smith’s ability to keep the car on the track played a big factor in the team’s decision to add races.

Filed under: Chicagoland Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Comments

3 Responses to “One and Done: LifeLock.com 400”

Steve Wronkowicz on July 9th, 2009 11:12 pm

Happy Harvick for the win? Chris are you OK? Have you seen the pathetic–and I mean PATHETIC state of the RCR gang? Sometimes the long shot pays big–but I think this may be a worse bet than me putting a hundred bucks on kasey Kahne to win the Daytona 500 in his rookie year. Hey–what can i say–I was in
Vegas–I was up some cash and the odds would have paid big.

I’m liking my One and Done pick so far–pole sitter Brian Vickers and how about Speedo the Clown outside front row?
Chris Leone on July 10th, 2009 12:04 pm

I know they’ve been bad, but I’ve made less intelligent-sounding picks this year and come out all right. I mean, did Allmendinger at Martinsville sound like a good pick? It paid off with a 9th-place finish. At least Happy’s won at Chicago before. As for Speed, I’ll start considering him when he finishes well at someplace other than Talladega. Before then? Nah.

P.S. Steve: Might not want to say anything bad about Harvick. Don’t want to make the sponsors angry.
Charlie Turner on July 10th, 2009 8:27 pm

Harvick is the ultimate fantasy dilemma at Chicago. The best historical stats for the track vs horrible year to date numbers. But there isn’t a good reason for RCR to be bad this year. I don’t think that that will hold. So, Harvick for the win could work here.

But I’m looking at all of those Toyotas up at the top of the time sheet.

Probably means a Ford or Dodge win is coming.

I took JJ and here’s my thinking. It’s going to be HOT. 90s during the day. It’s a night race and the track will change a bunch from start to finish. Lots of adjustments. The best crew chiefs in that situation, IMHO, are the 48 and 99. I’ll take JJ.

Got something to say?

Did you know you can log in with your Thunder Lounge account, and have your personal avatar and site link available when you comment at On Pit Row?

Don't have an account yet? Sign-up for free.