April 30, 2010

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Richmond

Fantasy owners took their lumps at Talladega. By comparison, the short track of Richmond should be kinder. Check out this week's Yahoo! Qualification story (.pdf).

Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made Nascar

April 27, 2010

Yahoo! Richmond Preview

Texas had one "Big One" crash, so not to be outdone, Talladega featured three. If that were not enough to decimate your roster, then four cautions in rapid succession at the end of the Aaron's 499 completely shook up the lineup. Now the series rolls onto a nice, safe short track. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Racing preview (.pdf).

April 24, 2010

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Talladega

Starting the race by points is as good a way as any at Talladega SuperSpeedway. This week, we've added a chart showing where the winners have come from and as expected it's all over the board. Check out this week's Yahoo! Qualification story (.pdf).

April 20, 2010

Yahoo! Talladega Preview

After last week's "Big One" crash at Texas Motor Speedway, it would seem that matters couldn't get worse at Talladega SuperSpeedway. Then again, this has always been a lottery, so you will want to read this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Racing preview (.pdf).

April 19, 2010

Hurtin' Hamlin wins at Texas

Denny Hamlin's ACL surgery doesn't seem to be slowing him any: he held off the "cookie-cutter" king Jimmie Johnson to win the Samsung Mobile 500.

Our View Another late caution set up another wild finish. This time, a lap-311 yellow stacked the field up and contributed to a nine car accident that eliminated the dominant driver of the day when Jeff Gordon rubbed Tony Stewart in a three-wide incident that started the melee.

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April 16, 2010

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Texas

An overwhelming 78 percent of Texas' winners have started on the first four rows. Find out how your team lines up in this week's Yahoo! Qualification story (.pdf).

Biffle fastest in Texas practice 1

Greg Biffle posted the single fastest lap in the first practice session for the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a speed of 190.813 mph.

Our View Biffle enters the weekend with three consecutive Texas top-10s, but only one of those came after he started on one of the first five rows. He should be able to improve that record in time trials.

April 13, 2010

Yahoo! Texas Preview

Cookies were never so sweet. Four green-white-checkered finishes in the first seven races have created havoc in fantasy owners' lineups and it will be nice to get to a track type that should be predictable. It would be nice, that is, if the "cookie-cutter" tracks were still predictable. Find out why this may not be true in this week's Yahoo! fantasy racing preview (.pdf).

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April 10, 2010

Newman wins Phoenix

Ryan Newman has not visited victory lane on one of the short, flat tracks (Phoenix, New Hampshire, Richmond and Martinsville) in his last 37 attempts, but he had the right stuff Saturday night in the Subway Fresh Fit 600k. He got a great restart and beat Jeff Gordon back to the line.

Our View His last victory on this track type came in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire and top-fives have been hard to come by, but he rewarded his faithful fans this week.

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Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made Nascar

April 9, 2010

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Phoenix

It was the "Revenge of the Group C Drivers" in qualification—but can they stay up front of 375 laps? Read this week's Yahoo! Qualification story (.pdf) for our take.

Martin wins Phoenix Happy Hour

Mark Martin posted the quickest average speed in Phoenix's Happy Hour with a speed of 129.775 during 10 laps.

Our View None of the drivers at the very top of the list posted very many laps, so it is difficult to put too much emphasis on his time. However, Martin won this race last year, so one must assume he knows what he needs to feel.

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Gordon posts fastest Phoenix HH lap

Jeff Gordon posted the single fastest lap in Happy Hour with a speed of 131.444 mph.

Our View His average speed of 126.672 mph during 28 laps was way down the list, however. Gordon has some strong runs at Phoenix, but for the most part this has been one of his less successful tracks. Leave him in the garage this week.

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Johnson is the latest spinner

Add Jimmie Johnson to the list of drivers who spun during Happy Hour. His incident came at the 42-minute mark.
 
Our View Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose preceded him, which is a smorgasbord of experience levels. Qualification could be an interesting session.
 
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Ambrose loops at Phoenix

Moments after the track went back to green following a spin for Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose sent his car into a spin cycle. Like Busch and Tony Stewart, he avoided contact with the wall though.
 
Our View as a former road racer, Ambrose should be solid on this short, flat track, but he has yet to completely prove himself in a brief career.
 
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Harmless spin for Ky Busch in Phoenix Happy Hour

Kyle Busch got behind on his steering in turn two at Phoenix International Raceway at the 15 minute mark of Happy Hour and spun harmlessly to the bottom of the track.
 
Our View Busch has been mediocre at Phoenix since winning in his rookie season. His last three years have not been all that bad with a worst result of 17th, but his best run netted a seventh.
 
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Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made Nascar

Hurting, Hamlin at top of Phoenix speed chart

He may be hurting after his ACL surgery last week, but it certainly didn't mar Denny Hamlin's speed: he topped the fastest lap chart with a 131.210 mph circuit around the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway.
 
Our View Hamlin is a flat track master and at the start of the week, we suggested making him a race day decision. So far, it appears his knee is not slowing him any, but wait until this afternoon for the final determination.
 
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Cold Black Hearts

Stewart spins w/o contact at Phoenix

Near the end of the first practice session for the Subway Fresh Fit 600k, Tony Stewart went into the spin cycle. He avoided contact, however, and drove back into the garage.
 
Our View Last year, he was hit-and-miss on this track with a second in the spring and a 25th in the fall.
 
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Bill France Jr.: The Man Who Made Nascar

April 1, 2010

Yahoo! Phoenix Preview

If you were successful last week at Martinsville, you may want to stand pat; if you were not, you may wish to check out this week's Yahoo! Preview (.pdf).

The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing: Records, Streaks, Oddities, and Trivia