One and Done: Ford 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.

November 19, 2009 11:23 am CST 3 Comments

Well, the Sprint Cup Series ends this week at Homestead, and I’m pretty sure that we’re all glad to see the end of yet another season of Jimmie Johnson taking advantage of the Chase format like a fat man at the Golden Corral.

It’s just not fun to watch anymore. Worse, it’s not fun to do these fantasy picks when the obvious choice is the same guy every weekend. It makes everything… easy. Too easy.

So you know what? We’re going to try something different this week. Instead of picking Chase drivers for this week’s Homestead race, seeing as most of you have exhausted your supply of Chasers that are worth picking, I am going to make it a point of recommending non-Chase drivers this week.

If you have them available, you know who to pick, but for the rest of us, let’s make things interesting.

Kevin Harvick (avg. fn. 9.1): Despite clinching the Camping World Truck championship with Ron Hornaday last week at Phoenix, Happy’s had little to smile about on the Cup side of things this year. Luckily for him, he has an opportunity to finish the year on a high note, as Homestead is one of his better tracks. Despite never winning the season finale, he’s never finished worse than 20th and has completed 2140 of 2141 possible laps.

A.J. Allmendinger (avg. fn. 11.0): I know, he’s only made one start at Homestead, last year. But he passed 32 cars after starting dead last. That says a lot.

Martin Truex Jr. (avg. fn. 12.5): His average finish would be higher had he not run this race in 2004 as a reward for his Busch Series title. In the past three years, he’s finished 2nd, 6th, and 10th, respectively, for an average finish of 6.0. It’s his last race with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, and I’m sure Truex would like to go out with a good finish, especially considering how bad this year has been for him.

Jamie McMurray (avg. fn. 15.4): Truex’s replacement in the No. 1 car doesn’t have quite as stellar a record at Homestead as his predecessor does, but he’s not a pushover, either. Since he became a full-time Sprint Cup driver in 2003, his average finish at Homestead is 14.3, and that’s dragged down by an engine failure in 2006. Look for McMurray, relieved at finally signing a contract for 2010, to perform well this weekend.

Bobby Labonte (avg. fn. 18.7): The only former Homestead winner in this bunch, having scored the victory in 2003, Labonte had top 10 finishes in four of his first five starts at the track. Since then, his record has declined, but that’s more of a testament to his Petty Enterprises cars being weak. Maybe Kevin Buckler’s cars aren’t much better, but Labonte has gotten things out of those cars that David Gilliland could not (when he wasn’t starting and parking, that is). One can’t lose sight of the fact that Labonte led 174 laps the first time that the Cup cars came to Homestead.

Filed under: Homestead-Miami Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Comments

3 Responses to “One and Done: Ford 400”

Michael Midlick on November 19th, 2009 7:38 pm

All the talk about Jimmie Johnson probably winning his fourth consecutive championship in the last race at Homestead overshadows the fact that
a dubious all-time record may also be tied in the last race of the season.

Dave Blaney has 29 DNF’s in 30 starts this season. If Dave starts the last
race and has a DNF in it he will tie the all-time record for most DNF’s in one
season -30 - which is currently shared by Neil Castles and Frank Warren.
Dave previously tied the all-time record for most consecutive last place finishes-three-which he shares with Bill Champion.

I sure hope that Blaney qualifies for the last race.
Charlie Turner on November 19th, 2009 8:42 pm

Chris - This will explain my lack of success in the One and Done game. I had these drivers left for this race - Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya. but yes, I did pick one of them this week.
Charlie Turner on November 19th, 2009 8:43 pm

Michael - I didn’t know that. I think that Dave deserves better. His owner should have to carry those distinctions. Good stuff though. thanks for the comment.

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