IRL: Briscoe wins Chicagoland nail biter

Ryan Briscoe narrowly edged Scott Dixon in a chase for the checkers to win the Peak Antifreeze 300. The margin of victory was slight; in fact, this was the fourth closest race in IRL history. Last year's edition of this race boasted the second closest victory and now Chicagoland has three of the top four margins.

Our View After winning the pole and posting consistently fast practice speeds, we told fantasy players to make him the anchor of their roster, and the Penske pilot proved us correct.

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N'Wide: Ambrose on Montreal pole

Marcos Ambrose posted the fastest lap in qualification under wet conditions and will lead the field to green on Sunday.

Our View Ambrose led a contingent of road racers at the top of the grid including Ron Fellows in third, Boris Said in fourth and Jacques Villeneuve in sixth, but the surprise of the session had to be Carl Edwards. After crashing on the warm-up lap for the Gran Am race earlier today, he posted the second fastest time.

The qualification session was marred by rain, however, so some of the faster drivers in practice like Max Papis and Patrick Carpentier will have to come from the back of the pack. That won't hurt them, however, and fantasy owners should load up on road ringers.

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N'Wide to run COT in four races in 2010

The Nationwide Series will debut their version of the Car of Tomorrow (COT) in four races next year, beginning at Daytona International Speedway, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View The Cup version of the car has laid such a huge egg with fans that it is surprising they will indeed roll out a similar car in the Nationwide Series. So far as competition is concerned, however, the spec body style has tightened the field, which makes fantasy owners' task ever more challenging.

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Grand Am: Gaughan second at Montreal

Brendan Gaughan and Andy Lally finished second in the GT division of the Rolex Grand Am series and carried the banner for the NASCAR contingent.

Our View Now Gaughan will switch gears and race in the Nationwide Series on Sunday. This improves his odds in the heavier cars, but with so many road racing veterans in the field, he might still be considered only as filler.

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Yeley injured in sprint car race

J.J. Yeley suffered three broken vertebrae in an American Sprint Car Series Bandits race at Lakeside Speedway Saturday night after flipping his car in turn one, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View The flip did not appear to be severe, but with several incidents in the race, it blurred into the background. Running short track races keep the drivers sharp, but they also run the risk of injuries such as this.

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Grand Am: Edwards crashes at Montreal

Before the Grand Am race even started, Carl Edwards crashed his Doran Daytona Prototype in wet conditions and destroyed the car.

Our View Edwards was scheduled to run this companion race with the Nationwide Series along with Marcos Ambrose, but the conditions proved too much for the oval stock car racer.

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N'Wide: Papis leads Montreal's first practice

Road racing ace Max Papis led the first practice session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with a lap of 85.632 mph under mostly wet conditions.

Our View The list was headed by road racing specialists. Including Papis, Patrick Carpentier posted the third fastest lap, NASCAR Canada driver Andrew Ranger was fourth fastest and Michael McDowell was fifth.

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F1: Fisichella wins Spa pole

Giancarlo Fisichella shocked the Formula 1 field by winning the pole for the Belgian Grand Prix in the Force India entry.

Our View As surprising as this is, Fisichella should not be on your roster. His best finish so far in 2009 was ninth in the Monaco Grand Prix.

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IRL: Briscoe wins Chicagoland pole

Ryan Briscoe proved that his fast speed in practice was no fluke. He posted the fastest speed in time trials as well with a lap of 215.364 and will lead the field to green Saturday night.

Our View Briscoe should anchor your fantasy lineup this week. Helio Castroneves will start on the outside of the front row and he was also quick all day Friday.

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