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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR 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 3, 2010 2:07 pm CDT No Comments

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This weekend marks one of change in the Sprint Cup Series; not only does the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 begin the second half of the series’ regular season and usher in the start of TNT’s summer series, it is also the first time that Pocono, not Dover, will host the race immediately after the Coca-Cola 600.

Those of you who have read this column for a long time are surely aware that its existence has always been facilitated by the OnPitRow.com One and Done Fantasy Racing game. Well, folks, this weekend is one of renewal for that game too. Pocono starts the second of three seasons-within-a-season for One and Done, and if you pick well over the next 13 races, you could have some fantastic prizes coming your way. The game is simple – pick a different driver each week for the next 13 weeks, and see how well you do.

As usual, here are the five drivers who are your best fantasy bets for this weekend’s race:

My personal number one pick is Denny Hamlin, because there is almost no logical, feasible reason not to pick him if the rules of your game allow it. Denny’s been on fire as of late on the Sprint Cup circuit, having completed every lap since Texas and accruing two wins and four top-5s in that span. Hamlin also has three wins at Pocono in eight starts, putting him behind only Jeff Gordon for most of full-time drivers, and far and away giving him the best winning percentage.

My dark horse for the weekend is Kasey Kahne. Despite languishing in 21st in points this season, the past two years have been fairly successful for Kahne at Pocono, with a win and three top-10s. A handful of poor Pocono showings earlier in his career skew his average finish, but it’s clear that Kahne has made huge strides at the track; in the last Pocono race, the only driver to top him in driver ratings was Hamlin, widely recognized as the king of Pocono.

Three more for the long and winding road:

Hey, did you know that Mark Martin guy has six runner-up finishes and 32 top-10s in 46 Pocono starts, but has never won a race? Those six bridesmaid spots tie Bobby Allison at Martinsville for most runner-up placings at a track with zero wins. You can bet that’s a goose egg the No. 5 team will be striving to eradicate come Sunday.

Tony Stewart has a pretty solid history at Pocono, with two wins and 16 top-10s in 22 starts. Last year’s victory in this race was his first as an owner-driver. Now 16th in points, he has to be hungry to climb into the Chase, and a characteristically strong Pocono run will surely help his cause.

Finally, if you want a real shot in the dark, Kevin Harvick has managed an average finish of 15.7 at Pocono in 18 starts despite only two top-5s, four top-10s, and never leading a single lap. But Happy’s been strong all year, and it may be time for him to surprise. Want to potentially look like the smartest player in your game? Take a gamble on Harvick and see what happens.

Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Pocono Raceway, Tony Stewart 

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Coca-Cola 600

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR 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.

May 27, 2010 11:27 am CDT No Comments

Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite Dodge at TMS practice

Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite Dodge at TMS practice

The weekend immediately following the Sprint All-Star Race, the Coca-Cola 600 is one of the crown jewels of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Designed to compete with the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, it joins the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400 as one of the series’ most important and prestigious races.

Last year’s rain-shortened event was taken on a dreary Monday by David Reutimann. He added his name to a long list of first-time winners at the track, including all-time greats David Pearson and Jeff Gordon, by opting not to pit during the final caution of the event while many other cars did. The 600 often produces a surprise winner, as many of the big races do, but to suggest it happens every time would be to ignore many drivers who have won it during the peak of their careers, from Gordon to Dale Earnhardt to Jimmie Johnson.

So I’m going to go out on a limb (except not at all) and make Johnson my lead pick. Without the Lowe’s sponsorship, Johnson doesn’t have that extra sort of motivation to dominate at the track, but I see no reason why he can’t keep up a torrid pace of 6 wins and 13 top-10s in 17 starts. The only race in which he has failed to lead a lap was his track debut. His average finish of 8.6 is by far the best of drivers with at least five starts at the track. This is a gimme if you can take it.

Kurt Busch qualifies as a bit of a dark horse at Charlotte, despite the fact that he won last weekend’s All-Star Race. Busch only has three top-5s and a dismal 20.9 average finish in 19 career points-paying starts. If he can win the 600, however, he’d be the seventh driver in 25 years of Charlotte-based all-star events that a driver won both races; Kasey Kahne was the last to do it in 2008.

Some other drivers of merit in the longest race of the NASCAR season:

Joey Logano has only four starts at Charlotte, counting his All-Star travails, but has never disappointed. He converted last year’s Fan Vote into an eighth place run, and finished ninth and fifth in the two races that counted last year. This year, he wound up third in the all-star event. Remember that Jeff Gordon also won the 600 in his sophomore year of NASCAR competition – we could very well see shades of the last great young driver on Sunday night.

Kasey Kahne has also been on a torrid pace at Charlotte over the past two years. In four points-paying starts, he has three podium finishes and a worst placing of seventh. His 11.6 career Charlotte average finish is one of the best on the circuit, and it appears that his worst years at the track are long behind him. Kahne has scored the most points in the last three Charlotte races, and in every amount up through the last nine. usually goes big or goes home – he has three wins and five top-5s, but four finishes of 23rd or worse.

Finally, Jeff Burton has been a highly consistent driver at Charlotte as of late. For his career, he has 32 starts with three wins and 15 top-10s, as well as a win in the 2002 all-star shootout. Burton has scored the third most points at Charlotte over the past five years, second only to Johnson and Kahne; these ten races have been buoyed by a win in October 2008, five top-10s, and only three finishes outside the top 20.

Filed under: Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Lowes Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, jimmie johnson 

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Samsung Mobile 500

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR 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.

April 15, 2010 3:13 pm CDT No Comments

This weekend’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will be the eighth race of this year’s Sprint Cup Series season. Last year, Jeff Gordon scored his lone win of the season in this race, leading a race-high 105 laps, including the last 28.

Before anything else, though, I’d like to comment on what a whirlwind of a week this has been as far as the silly season goes. Kasey Kahne to Hendrick in 2012, in a Jamie McMurray-esque situation? Two of the lower-tier teams changing drivers? Kelly Bires and John Wes Townley out of rides? Silly season keeps happening earlier and earlier every year, and I think NASCAR needs to look into implementing some restrictions on signings like Kahne’s. I understand that the drivers and teams are independent contractors, but how would Colts fans feel if Peyton Manning signed with the Titans for the 2012 season before even completing this year or the next?

Without further ado, and before I start ranting uncontrollably about the Kahne signing, let’s just go to the fantasy picks and call it a day.

My headlining pick for the weekend is Tony Stewart. Of active drivers, Smoke is the fourth-best at Texas, with one win and 10 top-10s in 16 starts. The win came in the fall of 2006, when he led 278 of the race’s 339 laps. Smoke also has to be buoyed by teammate Ryan Newman’s win last weekend at Phoenix, a great step towards asserting that Stewart-Haas Racing won’t fall victim to a sophomore slump in 2010.

As for a dark horse, I’m going to pick Kahne. Yes, he has been very mediocre at Texas, with only one win and two top-10s in 11 starts, but something tells me that his Richard Petty Motorsports team is going to go all out this weekend and in the next few weeks to try and prove that they can run up front, not only for Kahne’s potential replacements, but maybe even to keep him in the seat for 2011.

Okay, we’ve got three more picks to go. Is it fair enough for me to invoke Texas hold ‘em and call this the fantasy “flop”? (Heaven knows a lot of my picks tend to do so on raceday.)

The top active driver statistically at Texas is Matt Kenseth, with an average finish of 9.3. No other driver has a single-digit average finish at Texas, not even the great Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has not won at Texas since 2002, but has led at least one lap in eight of the last ten Texas races. Over that span, his worst finish is 18th, with six top fives (including three runner-up finishes) and lead-lap finishes in all ten starts.

Kurt Busch is somewhat of a risky pick, but he did win the last time the Cup cars went to Texas. Granted, he only has one Texas DNF, but he hasn’t been as consistently up front at the track throughout his career as guys like Kenseth and Johnson. In fact, his only other top five finish came in his Texas debut, in the spring of 2001, when he finished fourth.

Finally, Jeff Burton has only recently asserted himself as a Texas contender, but he’s almost always been towards the front since joining Richard Childress Racing. He only led one lap in the one Texas race he won, but since 2006 he’s finished in the top 10 six out of eight times.

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Texas Motor Speedway 

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Double J and The Luck of A Golden Horseshoe

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by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Clance' McClannahan, famous author behind The Church of The Great Oval and also one of the much appreciated Contributing Authors at Thunder Lounge.

February 27, 2010 12:04 am CST 1 Comment

How much does luck really have to play in NASCAR? Auto Club Speedway was a perfect example of both good luck, bad luck, skill and strategy.

Race Day at ACS started out cloudy, with the threat of rain looming overhead in in the future. Lovely Katharine McPhee, Season 5 American Idol runner-up, performed the National Anthem, after stating “I’ve never watched a NASCAR game before.” Personally, I am really glad she said that prior to the first inning, or it might have been embarrassing for her later.

Andy Garcia was able to give the command. “ Gentlemen, start your engines!” and still be politically correct.

Pole sitter Jamie Mac led the race for about 5 seconds, and then Juan Pablo Montoya politely said “Excuse me?”, and took the lead. If you would reach far back into your memory…(I mean, it’s a stretch for me),  you will remember that JPM led 60 laps at ACS in October, and in one truly horrendous moment, lost that race. Juan Pablo Montoya meant serious business and opened up a lead of more than 3 seconds by Lap 12. By Lap 29, Jimmie Johnson’s good luck began to show, and the 42 car’s not so good 30th lap, gave him a brush with the wall.  Soon after…it was Good vs. Bad for JPM, Kasey Kahne and a few others. Namely Dale (**NOTE to Jr. Nation: Dale doesn’t want to be called Jr. or June Bug, anymore).

In the meantime, a war was beginning to rage. Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson had begun the battle that would continue throughout the race, which culminated in one of the finest moments in NASCAR History.

Lap 97 began to get a little more interesting. Now we will get into the good luck, bad luck, strategy (?) syndrome that happenedthat day.

Martin Truex Jr. loses power. Later, Martin Truex Jr’s engine blows.
JPM begins to battle with Jeff Gordon for 5th position. Harvick and Johnson continue to dance the Flamenco (to impress Juan Pablo Montoya) for 1st and 2nd, not being able to decide who would lead and who would follow.

In one of the most endearing and heart breaking moments of the race, Kasey Kahne, being conscientious of the bleak economy, decided he would help out some poor souls, who needed to make some money to feed their kids, by making sure they had jobs replacing the sod he tore up.
Ryan Newman’s engine blew up. DNF. Again.  JPM, looking very competitive, was out of contention once again, after a great 140 laps. It also, was due to another kaboom of a large quantity of moving parts, critical to the car continuing to run..

Kevin Harvick discovered that one of Jamie Mac’s pit crew has a part time job with Cirque du Soleil. Scary.

Then there was Dale Earnhardt Jr. It seems like the last few years, if it’s going to happen to someone it will be Dale Jr. Personally, I don’t think he has any better or worse luck than many driver’s. I think his worst luck is the scrutiny he is constantly under. Much more than other driver’s. Broken Axle. Axle Broken. Race over for the 88.

Jimmie Johnson seemed to be going backwards for a small moment in time. Then… From out of the blue…comes JJ again. Jamie Mac, startled, said “”How can he be leading? “He was on pit road, wasn’t he?!!”
Why yes, he was. Double J won. 48/48.
Luck? Strategy? All of the above?

Kevin Harvick , at the end of the race, summed it all up, in one sentence. Possibly one of the finest quotes in NASCAR History. I am honored to have been able to do small tribute to that little quip at The Church.
“They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass.”
…And that, Dear Fans, was the finest finish to a race I have seen since the Daytona 500.

*What wondrous events shall LVMS bring us this weekend? Aw…the suspense is killing me!

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Diversity and NASCAR, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR, NASCAR Conspiracies, Ryan Newman, jimmie johnson 

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Tony Stewart Gives NASCAR Fans the Show They Crave at Daytona

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

July 5, 2009 8:47 am CDT No Comments

Tony Stewart was able to make the last lap pass of his former teammate, Kyle Busch, to win the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

However; in the process, Busch went spinning in a last lap wreck that saw him get airborne and land on Kasey Kahne’s car, very reminiscent of the final lap at Talladega where Carl Edwards went into the spectator fence.

The Shrub was able to get out of his mangled race car and walk toward the garage, where he was intercepted by track personnel that escorted him to a safety vehicle for a trip to the infield care center.  Busch was later released with no injuries other than a bruised ego.  Busch was able to get past Stewart on the white flag lap when Tony slowed, trying to make his pursuers lose momentum and avoid the last lap onslaught.

The move backfired on Stewart with Busch taking the lead and then going into full blocking mode.  Stewart was able to get his #14 just up to Busch’s quarter panel when they touched, sending Stewart to a win and Busch to the wall.  Stewart explained:

It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just racing.  I mean, it’s a product of the environment.  It doesn’t mean the environment is bad, it just means that’s the way it is.  Like I said, he did what he had to do, and he defended his spot and we held our(s).    It wasn’t even that we tried to hold our ground, we just got on his quarter panel, and that’s just how you suck up.  As soon as he moved, I didn’t anticipate him moving, and went across the nose.

Stewart had the dominate car all race as he never fell outside the top three.  During the seven pit stops for the Burger King car; each time he came in first and left first.

One other thirteen car melee took out some of the cars battling for the final positions in The Chase.  Most of the cars involved in that incident were able to repair their cars and finish the race.  Twenty-eight cars finished on the lead lap, with Jeff Gordon bringing up the rear of the lead lap cars.  Mark Martin ended his day in 38th and David Reutimann finished 36th, severely hampering their efforts to make it into the Chase.

Therefore; this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW is:

Aren’t the finishes at Talladega and now Daytona, exactly what NASCAR fans say they have been missing from the other tracks?

Let us know what you think and we may use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show.  Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET.  Give us a call on the Bench Racing Hotline at 1-800-645-2946 and if we pick your call as the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobblehead.

photo credits: Jerry Markland (wreck), Rusty Jarrett (Stewart)/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Chase for the Cup, David Reutimann, Daytona International Speedway, How to fix NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart 

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Kasey Kahne Delivers a Win for The Kings

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

June 22, 2009 8:38 pm CDT No Comments

Kasey Kahne wasn’t much of a road racer until winning the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on Sunday; taking the King of Beers and the King of NASCAR to victory lane.

Other than sitting on the pole in 2008, Kahne had done little when faced with going left and right to think that he would be able to take Richard Petty Motorsports back to victory lane.  A journey that lasted ten years since John Andretti last won for The King.  Andretti’s win came during the Petty Enterprises years; before mergers and re-locations made the once dominant team a mere shadow of itself.

There is very little of the old Petty Enterprises remaining in the new team owned by George Gillett.  The win comes within days of Gillett announcing that he has sold his interest in the Montreal Canadians hockey team.  Rumors have been circulating since the race in Michigan that RPM may be within weeks of a huge downsizing.

Could Kasey Kahne soon be the only driver left from the four that started the season?  Elliott Sadler, AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson could all be without a ride and Kahne could be in an un-supported Toyota soon.  Petty let the cat out of the bag before the race at Michigan that Chrysler had not been sending checks and the money to run four teams was running thin.

That brings us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

With all the recent and pending changes at Richard Petty Motorsports again; what does Kasey Kahne’s win do for the team?

Let us know what you think and we could use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show.  Listen live every Tuesday from 5-7pm ET here.  Or call the show at 800-645-2946 and if your call is voted the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call Of the Day you will win a Kevin Harvick bobble head.

photo credit: Robert LaBerge/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Kasey Kahne, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Nascar Legends, Reed Sorenson 

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