Yahoo! Phoenix Preview

The Chase is back on after Jimmie Johnson crashed last week at Texas Motor Speedway, but don't expect him to roll over at Phoenix. Mark Martin is good enough on the short, flat tracks to make up a little more ground, however. Find some other strong picks in this week's Yahoo! Preview (.pdf).

Reutimann fastest in Texas Sat. a.m. practice

David Reutimann posted the fastest single lap in the Saturday morning session for the Dickies 500 with a speed of 186.812 and his average speed was fifth-best with a 181.520 during 22 laps.

Our View The team spent part of this practice changing an oil cooler when a rock pinged off the bottom. If they successfully made the change and he is fast in Happy Hour, look for him to be a great dark horse.

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Stewart wins Texas Sat. a.m. practice

Tony Stewart posted the quickest average speed in the Saturday morning practice with a speed of 182.866 mph during 16 laps.

Our View He was actually second on the grid, but Joe Nemechek posted on four laps so he did not have any fall-off.

Stewart's fastest lap in this practice was second best and he qualified at the front of the field, so he has to be favored for a top-five in the Dickies 500.

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R Gordon has engine woes in Texas practice 2

Robby Gordon exited the track at the 15 minute mark of the second practice session amidst speculation that he might have a transmission problem.

Our View Gordon could use a little luck on the "cookie-cutter" tracks. In eight race this year on this track type, he has an average finish of 24.6 and only one top-10—a third that came by benefit of rain shortening the Coke 600.

It may be something as simple as an over-filled resevoir.

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Yahoo! Qualification Story – Texas

Texas Motor Speedway is one of the tracks on which starting position is important: 75 percent of the winners have come from the first four rows. See who we like in this week's Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

Burton slams wall in active Texas practice 1

Jeff Burton slammed the wall after a power steering line broke in the first practice session for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Burton was one of more than a half dozen drivers who hit or scrapped the wall in this session.

Our View Burton's damage was the most significant, however, and he will roll out a back up car. "Go-or-go-home" driver Mike Bliss in the No. 09 also had to go to his second car.

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Yahoo! Texas Preview

After last week's lottery in Talladega, it's time to get back to racing this week at Texas. Check out the favorites and dark horses in this week's Yahoo! Preview (.pdf).

Keselowski in, Stremme out of 12 for final 3

Despite wrecking his new teammate Kurt Busch (and most of the lead lap cars) on the final lap of last week's Amp Energy 500, Penske Racing has announced that Brad Keselowski will replace David Stremme in the No. 12 for the final three races of the season, according to FoxSports.com.

Our View In the last few weeks, he has been the inciter of several incidents in both the Nationwide and Cup series. Let's hope he calms down and learns to respect his fellow drivers in the coming events.

If he can show a little maturity, he could be one of the best values in the game.

Gilliland in fourth Gibbs car for three races

Earlier this week it was announced that Bobby Labonte would replace David Gilliland in the No. 71 in seven of the final 12 races this season, which left the California native out of a ride in those events. He won't sit idle for at least two races, however, as he has been tagged to attempt to qualify a fourth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Texas and Homestead-Miami with sponsorship from Farmer's Bureau Insurance, according to ESPN.com. Gilliland is also expected to run the Gibbs car at Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is not a race Labonte is scheduled to run in the No. 71, but there is no shortage of drivers waiting to take his place.

Our View Gilliland will be much more competitive in the Gibbs car than he was in the start and park Racer's Group ride.

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