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2012, I mean, 2011 NASCAR Astro-Predictions

by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, 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.

January 25, 2011 11:24 am CST 2 Comments

2012, I mean 2011 is a very special year, both Numerologically and Astrologically.

Are you curious about how your driver is going to do? Is Jimmie Johnson going to win again? How will Dale Jr. fare? Tony Stewart has already started his year a bit aggressively…Will Smoke be smoking hot in 2012? I mean, 2011? Will Brooklyn’s affect on new Daddy Ryan Newman change the way he drives? What about Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards? Will they continue to drive as phenomenally, now that they have had to choose which series they will earn point in? Will the feuds continue?

I dare YOU to use my prediction’s in your Fantasy Racing.

I dare ME to remember to play.

I dare Charlie to beat me.

I dare Steve to prove he is not an Idiot.

I dare ALL the Stat guys to a challenge of accuracy.

Stats vs. ‘Scope’s.

2011, I mean 2010, brought us some of the most exciting racing in years. Will the changes in NASCAR rules, affect the excitement for the fans, or dampen it? Will it be possible that actually winning races will matter?

We will be taking a look at all the full time NASCAR Driver’s for the first six months of the season tomorrow. I will also be looking at the year and make my predictions as to who may be the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. I have to do it early, so no one can say I cheat. Oops. 2011. So far this year I am losing in the accuracy challenge. By a year. I was spot on last year…

Well, not quite. Only 97%.

It’s tough to be a Goddess. ~ Me.

WTH?

Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR Astro-Predictions, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, NASCAR Predictions, Nascaholics

Tagged with: Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Charlie Turner, Clance' McClannahan, jimmie johnson, Kyle Busch, NASCAR Astro-Predictions, NASCAR astrology, NASCAR Predictions, ON PIT ROW, One and Done, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Ryan Newman, Steve Wronkowicz, Tony Stewart

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Tums Fast Relief 500

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.

October 21, 2010 12:34 pm CDT No Comments

Martinsville Speedway is the site of this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series battle. The Tums Fast Relief 500 will open the second half of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, as three drivers – Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick – remain the only viable candidates for the championship right now.

We’re due for a great battle this weekend, as Johnson and Hamlin are the two best active drivers at Martinsville. They’ve split the last eight races at the track among them, with Johnson holding a five to three advantage but Hamlin taking the last two.

But of course, if you’ve been reading, I’m not allowed to make either of them my lead pick this weekend. I took Hamlin at Loudon (second place finish) and Johnson last week at Charlotte (a third place run). So who else can I rely on this weekend?

Thank heaven there’s a third pick that’s just as viable. Jeff Gordon was the original Martinsville superstar, with seven wins and 29 top-10s in 35 career starts there thus far. His average finish is an impeccable 6.7. He’s led at least 36 laps in his past eight Martinsville starts, and has led at least one circuit in 27 of those events. That’s about as reliable as it gets.

As for a dark horse, I’m looking at Ryan Newman. Newman was never that strong a Martinsville driver during his years at Penske Racing, but he’s never finished worse than seventh at the track with Stewart-Haas Racing. Last year, he led 23 laps in this race from the pole. Earlier this year, he ran a respectable fourth.

Three more, even though two are obvious:

Johnson is basically an improved version of his mentor. He’s got 16 top-10s in 17 starts to go along with those five wins. In eight of the last nine races at the track, he’s led 42 laps or more, the lone exception coming this spring.

Hamlin’s a Virginia native that always has the motivation to do well in his home state. In 10 races, he has three wins, seven top five runs, and nine top-10s. In each of the past three Martinsville events, he’s led at least 172 laps. This is Hamlin’s best chance to reclaim the Chase points lead – even though it’s also his rival’s best track, Hamlin outscored Johnson by 57 points last time at Martinsville. The same occurrence this time would give him the lead into next week’s unpredictable race at Talladega.

Finally, think about picking up Kasey Kahne for this weekend. No, he’s not exactly a Martinsville superstar, and never has been. But now that he’s free from Richard Petty Motorsports, don’t be surprised if Red Bull’s newest driver pulls something out to try and stick it to his former team.

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

Tagged with: Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, jimmie johnson, Kasey Kahne, Martinsville Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Ryan Newman, Tums Fast Relief 500

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Sylvania 300

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

September 15, 2010 1:46 pm CDT No Comments

Welcome to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, folks. This weekend’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway opens the ten-week playoff event for NASCAR’s premier series, as twelve drivers will compete for the Sprint Cup.

Keep in mind that any solid fantasy game (HINT HINT!!! PLAY ONE AND DONE HERE AT ON PIT ROW!!!) will add some interesting challenges for the rest of the season, such as only being able to pick Chase drivers once for the duration of the event. We’re going to take that philosophy to heart with this column. Inevitably, I’m going to pick a Chase driver as my top driver almost every week, but once he’s been selected, he won’t show up as the featured driver again. There will be, as usual, a couple of alternates, and the traditional dark horses that make this column interesting.

With that in mind, let’s get to this week’s top picks:

Denny Hamlin is a fantasy stud at New Hampshire, with no finishes worse than 15th at the track. The summer 2007 winner at Loudon finished second in this race last year after leading 22 laps and has completed the full race distance every time he’s competed at the track. Plus, coming off a win at Richmond with the Chase lead, he’s got the momentum.

As for a non-Chase driver, Ryan Newman’s the best available, with a 13.3 average finish coming out of 11 top-10s in 17 starts. Newman has two New Hampshire wins, coming in this race in 2002 and 2005, respectively. He also led laps in his first nine Loudon starts, and has paced the field in 14 of his 17 career races at the track.

Three more picks, for good measure/in case you want to save Hamlin for later:

I’d prefer to save Jimmie Johnson for later in the Chase, but if it’s your thing to go for him now, his 9.0 average finish and three Loudon wins in 17 starts is a pretty solid record. Save for a dismal 39th-place finish in this race in 2006, he’s a lot like Hamlin at this track, otherwise never running below 15th. Johnson also won the first Loudon race this year.

Tony Stewart hasn’t seen victory circle at New Hampshire since the summer of 2005, but his past six starts at the track have all seen top-15 finishes with many laps led. In fact, Stewart’s paced the field for at least one lap in 10 of his past 12 Loudon starts. Only twice did he fail to lead double-digit laps, and three times he led 132 or more.

Finally, for a left-field pick, consider local favorite Martin Truex Jr. The New Jersey driver made a name for himself in the old Busch North Series, which called Loudon its spiritual home. Truex, when competing for a solid team, really shows off for the home crowd – in 2007 and 2008, the years in which his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team was at its peak, he had three top five finishes in four starts and a worst finish of seventh. Michael Waltrip Racing isn’t quite DEI, but they’re a solid team at the very least. Consider Truex’s 22nd earlier this year a fluke.

Filed under: New Hampshire International Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Denny Hamlin, jimmie johnson, Martin Truex Jr., New Hampshire Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Ryan Newman, sylvania 300, Tony Stewart

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Fantasy Pick’Em: Air Guard 400

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

September 9, 2010 6:42 am CDT No Comments

This is it – we’re down to the final race of the Sprint Cup Series regular season, the Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway. For those of you who want to hang out during this weekend’s live blog at Bleacher Report, I’ll be in charge, so feel free to stop by and enjoy yourself.

There’s usually a bit of drama in this race every year as the final drivers to make it into the Chase settle in. But Greg Biffle needs only to finish 42nd to be guaranteed in, while Clint Bowyer’s magic number is 28th. Don’t expect a surprise move by Jamie McMurray to make it (even though it appears that every time we don’t expect him to perform well, he does).

So who looks good for this weekend’s race?

My pick for the weekend is Kyle Busch, because not picking him at Richmond is to bet on the snowball in hell. True, he only has two wins in 11 starts, but nine top five finishes? Zero finishes off the lead lap? Over ten percent of a possible 4410 laps spent in front? Come on.

I suppose Mark Martin, based on his recent performance and the unlikely chances of him making this year’s Chase, can be considered a dark horse, right? Martin’s got 27 top-10s in 49 Richmond starts. Ironically, a 46-point penalty accrued lone win at Richmond, in 1990, was the difference between winning and losing that year’s championship to Dale Earnhardt.

Three more, to substantiate the column and make your fantasy prospects that much more interesting:

Clint Bowyer’s never finished worse than 18th at Richmond, making his Chase prospects look pretty good (well, on a “making it in” basis). True, finishing 12th four times isn’t wildly impressive, with his spring 2008 win his only top five finish at the track. But he gets the job done, at the very least, and that makes him a solid pick.

If Bowyer stumbles, though, and Jamie McMurray can’t pull off a Chase shocker, look for Ryan Newman to do everything he can to play the spoiler. Newman’s got 11 top-10s in 17 Richmond starts, marked by a win in this race in 2003. Be wary, though – Newman has finished better in the spring Richmond race than the fall one in each of the past six years.

Finally, if you want a true left-field pick, have a look at Marcos Ambrose. He’s got two finishes of 11th or better at Richmond. In a way, Richmond is a lot like the V8 Supercar circuits that Ambrose conquered down in Australia, featuring sharp turns with a lot of heavy braking. He’s no championship threat, but he can surprise with a decent finish. (By the same token, so, too, might Mattias Ekstrom, the Red Bull driver who has made a name for himself as the DTM touring car champion in Germany.)

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway

Tagged with: Air Guard 400, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Mark Martin, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway, Ryan Newman

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Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Crown Royal 400

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

April 29, 2010 12:41 pm CDT No Comments

After last week’s exciting race at Talladega, the Sprint Cup Series moves to the bullring that is the Richmond International Raceway for this weekend’s Crown Royal 400. Kyle Busch won this race last year for his first Richmond victory in Cup, and will look to repeat this weekend.

Talladega certainly set a high bar for the racing at Richmond, with record amounts of leaders and lead changes alike. If you were making fantasy picks, I hope you guessed correctly – I generally didn’t. Jeff Burton and Joey Logano were involved in late-race wrecks, for one. Worst of all, I guessed correctly on Jamie McMurray, but Kevin Harvick managed to sneak by him for the victory. Oh well.

I’m going to bet the farm on Kyle Busch this weekend, if only because the pick seems too good to be true. He has eight top-fives in 10 Richmond starts. Yes, that’s right, top-fives. His average finish is a Jimmie Johnson-esque 6.0.

As for a dark horse, I’m going to stick in the Joe Gibbs Racing camp and select Joey Logano. He’s got an average finish of 16.5 in two Cup races at Richmond, with no top-10s, but he doesn’t fall off the lead lap. He’s also got a solid 6.5 average finish at the track in Nationwide, with one pole.

Three more for the road:

Denny Hamlin’s average finish is nearly as good as his Gibbs teammate Busch’s, a solid 8.5. Hamlin also has one Richmond win to go with four top-fives and five top-10s. He’s also won this season on a short track (Martinsville) already. And hey, with the other two Gibbs drivers already on this list, it’d be incomplete without Denny.

Sticking with the Gibbs trend, ex-Gibbs team leader Tony Stewart won three races at Richmond for the team, including his first career victory late in the 1999 season. Stewart has nine top-fives and 15 top-10s at the track, including a runner-up finish in this event last year, and led at least one lap in exactly half of his Richmond starts.

Finally, Stewart’s teammate and employee Ryan Newman has never DNFed at Richmond, although I’m sure I’ve jinxed him by saying that. (Sorry, Ryan.) His only Richmond win came in the fall of 2003; since then, he’s had two top five finishes and eight top-10s in 12 starts. He’s not quite as torrid as he was in his first two seasons at the track, leading at least 24 laps in his first four Richmond starts with the win and two runner-up finishes, but he’s consistent, and he did lead 45 laps in this race last year.

Filed under: Kyle Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway

Tagged with: Crown Royal Presents Heath Calhoun 400, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing, Richmond International Raceway, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart

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Double J and The Luck of A Golden Horseshoe

by Clance' McClannahan, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, 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