One and Done: Toyota/Save Mart 350

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.

June 18, 2009 1:02 am EDT 7 Comments

The Sprint Cup Series has the first of its two road course races for the season this weekend at California’s Infineon Raceway. Road course races bring out an interesting cast of characters from numerous disciplines of the sport, often with experience on tracks as famous as Le Mans and Monaco. Former Formula One, IMSA, and Champ Car drivers often find rides with teams big and small around this time each year, hoping to bring in a financial windfall for their employers and jumpstart their stock car careers.

Unfortunately for One and Done players, there’s no option for Boris Said, Ron Fellows, Brian Simo, Chris Cook, or Patrick Carpentier. So as willing as you might be to pick the former Le Mans winner with four career Nationwide Series wins (Fellows), or the longtime Champ Car competitor who drove for Ray Evernham last year (Carpentier), you’re stuck with the guys who race stock cars week in and week out.

Either way, most of the following have experience making left and right turns. All five have attempted the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, mostly within the past few years. Three were full-time Indycar drivers before coming to NASCAR, another is from Indiana, and the fifth is tied for the lead in Sprint Cup wins this season.

Robby Gordon: You never bet against Robby Gordon on a road course. He’s actually much better on Watkins Glen than Infineon (10 starts, 1 win, 7 top-10s at The Glen, 11-1-3 at Sonoma), but part of that record stems from bad luck and bad cars. When Robby Gordon shows up at a road course in a stock car, you know he means business.

A.J. Allmendinger: So his average finish is 37th at Infineon. Big deal. He’s only raced here once in Cup, and that was with the bad Red Bull car. He came from the Champ Car World Series, which employed road and street course races almost exclusively (35 of 40 races) in his three years driving for Carl Russo and Gerry Forsythe. He’s been my surprise pick all year, and a couple of times he’s really pulled through, so why let a good thing go to waste?

Mark Martin: Mr. Momentum has won at Sonoma before (1997), has won three times this season, and only has finished outside of the top 10 five times in 18 starts at this track. His last finish outside the top 20 was in 1993, when the rear end broke on his car and left him 40th.

Jeff Gordon: The Napa Valley and wine country is one of the most sophisticated places that NASCAR comes to visit every year, so you’d think that plays a part in selecting Gordon this weekend. Or you could just go by his 5 wins at this track in 16 starts, including three in a row at one point, or the fact that he’s led nearly 28% of the laps he’s completed at Infineon. Those play a part too.

Tony Stewart: To be fair, Smoke raced in the Indy Racing League back when it was a joke, only racing on ovals and featuring second-rate drivers and teams, so that’s not influential in his selection. Two wins and six top-10s in 10 starts are, though. Last season’s race was one of only three Sonoma races Stewart’s run where he failed to lead a lap.

Filed under: Infineon Raceway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Infineon Raceway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Toyota/Save Mart 350

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Comments

7 Responses to “One and Done: Toyota/Save Mart 350”

Steve Wronkowicz on June 18th, 2009 6:29 am

I have always thought that Robby had the talent to compete in NASCAR, especially on road courses, but something is always holding him back and it seems that it is him. No one has gone through crew chiefs at the rate that he has. That points to an unwillingness to give up control and accept others ideas.

Jeffy’s back issues worry me going left and right plus the elevation changes and hard braking zones. No amount of cortisone can ensure he will be pain free during the race. Its a long hard race to be worrying about the pain in your back.

I like Smoke’s chances as he is on a roll and has become a damn good road racer, but this is the week of the Columbian. JPM will win this race for Ganassi just before learning that Truex will fly the coop.
Charlie Turner on June 18th, 2009 12:52 pm

Crikeys! Do you want to know why we don’t have the above listed - road course warriors - available for One and Done? The reason is, NASCAR media didn’t have any pictures for them until it was too late. I know it’s a lame excuse - but it’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.

My pick this week was Marcos Ambrose, if you haven’t guessed. But Robby G will be upfront at some point. Bet on it.
Chris Leone on June 19th, 2009 4:54 pm

I actually like the fact that we don’t have the road course ringers available, Charlie, because some of those picks are too easy. And I have no idea why I didn’t put Montoya down. I completely forgot about him. Then again, isn’t he almost as much of a gimme as Gordon (either of them)? I went with Robby, just for kicks, although I do agree, Steve, that the amount of crew chiefs he goes through is a problem. Greg Erwin was a former RGM crew chief, and look how well he’s done with Biffle… Robby can be his own worst enemy at times.
Steve Wronkowicz on June 19th, 2009 6:46 pm

Yeah Chris–I’d love to love him, but he’s getting awfully close to being out of toes. Andy only gave Barney one bullet at a time so that he could only do so much damage. Robby acts like he can’t wait to unload a sixshooter into his piggies.
man in black on June 20th, 2009 12:26 pm

My pick was David Gilliland … that is until he crashed his primary car into the back of John Andretti’s ride. So …

My next pick was Marcos Ambrose … that is until he blew an engine in practice.

Now my next pick will be … continued until practice is over.
man in black on June 20th, 2009 3:42 pm

Father forgive me … I picked Kyle Busch. I feel sooooo dirty. Need to take a shower.
man in black on June 22nd, 2009 9:31 am

I never liked kyle Busch before and now I hate him!

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.