Burton Wins Kobalt Tools 500 Happy Hour

Jeff Burton had the quickest average time in Happy Hour for the Kobalt Tools 500 with a speed of 179.359 mph during 45 laps. His fastest circuit of 185.158 was sixth best, which gives him a great balance of speed and durability.

Our View Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has a ton of momentum, so this could be Burton's opportunity to score a second top-five in 2010 like he did at Auto Club Speedway.

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Some chassis choices for Vegas

@DustinLong has identified some of the cars that will be used this week:

Among RCR, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton will have new cars this weekend; Clint Bowyer using same car he drove at Indy (21st) & Kansas (18th) last yearr.

Kurt Busch using same car @ Vegas that he won with at Texas last year and should have won with at Homestead.

Denny Hamlin will use this weekend @ Vegas has won in both its starts, winning at both Pocono and Martinsville last year.

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Johnson wins fifth Auto Club race

He won in his first start at this track in 2002 and now Jimmie Johnson has five Auto Club Speedway victories after holding off a furious charge by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

Our View That is his sixth top-three finish on this track in his last seven starts. During that span, he has an average finish of 2.57, which makes him as much of a must-have as you will find.

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Bowyer quickest in Daytona 500 Happy Hour

Teammate Jeff Burton may have been the fastest driver in Happy Hour practice for the Daytona 500, but Clint Bowyer had the distinction of being the quickest in terms of average speeds with a 191.050 during 11 laps.

Our View His times were skewed somewhat by the relative few laps he ran, but that speed is confirmed by Kevin Harvick, who was second quick with a 191.003 during 16 laps.

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Burton fastest in Daytona 500 Happy Hour

Jeff Burton posted the fastest single lap of Happy Hour practice for the Daytona 500 with a speed of 195.194 mph.

Our View His biggest concern was about comfort, however, and he logged 60 laps of practice, which was the most among all drivers. That was only good enough for 19th on the average speed chart.

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Burton fastest in Shootout practice 1

Jeff Burton posted the fastest single lap in the draft with a speed of 193.303 mph, but most importantly, he pitted one lap before a multi-car crash hampered six drivers' hopes.

Our View Fast speed is essentially meaningless at Daytona, but one would rather be at the top of the list than at the bottom.

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Burton wins Homestead Happy Hour

Jeff Burton posted both the single fastest lap of 165.736 mph and the quickest average speed of 161.439 during 44 laps in Homestead's Happy Hour for the Ford 400.

Our View He qualified mid-pack, but after coming from shotgun on the field to finish second last week at Phoenix, you would be foolish to discount Burton's odds at Homestead.

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Official tweets from the track

Inspection cleared at Phoenix

According to @dustinlong: #NASCAR ... Post-race inspection done and all clear. Engines to R&D shop: 48, 31, 17 ... Cars to R&D shop: 48, 5 and 17

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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Official tweets from the track

Top-10 Quality Passers: Lowe's #NASCAR

Passing a car running in the Top 15 while under a green flag.
Number of Races: 9
NASCAR Banking 500 Pre-Race
For point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.
Lowe's Motor Speedway

Rank	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Quality Passes	Total
1	Jimmie Johnson	9.8	50.7	456
2	Kyle Busch	17.1	46.7	420
3	Kasey Kahne	10.2	39.6	356
4	Mark Martin	15.0	35.9	323
5	Jeff Burton	11.7	35.1	316
6	Joey Logano	9.0	34.0	34
7	Carl Edwards	10.0	33.0	297
8	Brian Vickers	20.0	32.9	263
9	Denny Hamlin	15.6	32.5	260
10	Greg Biffle	16.9	30.8	277

Burton believes Harvick is leaving

With more than a year remaining on his schedule, Kevin Harvick is already a lame duck. Teammate Jeff Burton expects that Harvick already has plans to leave at the end of the 2010 season, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View It's hard to imagine this team can stay focused with this distraction, but Harvick has been running well lately. The imminent split between Kurt Busch and crew chief Pat Tryson also suggests Harvick and team can stay near the top of their game.

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Harvick wants out of RCR

Kevin Harvick would like to leave Richard Childress Racing (RCR) one year earlier than his contract specifies, according to SportsIllustrated.com.

Our View: With the current struggles at RCR, this would seem a little like kicking a man while he's down, but Harvick has been the odd man out at the organization since Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer came on board. Harvick is eying a move to Stewart-Haas, where his controversial personality might be a better match.

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Top-10 laps prove un-predictive

Running at the front of the pack is supposed to be a good thing, and as one part of the formula that accounts for our Fantasy Power Ranking, it is typically a good predictor. Unfortunately, it falls a little short on the six "cookie-cutter" tracks of Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway.

In the last five years, Tony Stewart has spent more time in the top 10 than any other driver. With 1,079 laps at the front of the pack, he's circled the track with the leaders more than 80 percent of the time and yet his average finish of 14.27 during the past five years on the "cookie-cutter" tracks is only seventh best.

To make this even more curious, he has not been plagued with too much bad luck. In the 44 races that have occurred since this part of the schedule in 2004, Stewart has only failed to finish four races. He was slowed by crash damage on two other occasions, but for the most part, he's been running at the end of the day. His old Joe Gibbs Racing team seemed to simply miss the setup in the closing laps.

On the other hand, Jimmie Johnson has the second most laps in the top 10 during the last five rolling years and he's been able to convert those into top-10 finishes. With 1,062 laps in the top 10, he's spent 79 percent of his time with the leaders on the six "cookie-cutter" tracks.

Chad Knaus has been able to help him close the deal, however, and he's earned an average finish of 8.7 in the last five years—nearly five positions better than his closest competitor. Johnson also has four DNFs during that time frame, but he's earned 25 top-fives and 31 top-10s in those 44 races compared to only 23 top-10s for Stewart.

The second-most productive driver in terms of their five-year average finish is Jeff Burton with a 13.23. Notably, he has scored the exact same number of top-10 finishes in the last year as Stewart with 23. The key to his success, however, seems to be consistency. Even though he's been significantly off the pace in three of the last 44 "cookie-cutter" races, he hasn't recorded a single DNF.

Kyle Busch is another great example of how strength and success are not always the same thing. This all or nothing driver has spent the majority of his time at the front of the pack. He was not yet competing in July 2004 and so has run in one less race during the past five years than his competitors. That means that his 855 laps spent in the top 10 is 80 percent of his personal total.

Busch's "hell for leather" style of racing, however, has seen him hit the showers early four times because of crash damage and once for a broken timing chain. On two other occasions, he was significantly slowed by crash damage and that has left him with only the 12th-best five-year average finish of 16.49.

For a fantasy owner that means that even though it's great when your driver dominates a race, it's not the only factor that goes into winning. Ultimately only the finishing position counts for points, so take drivers with a long history of success this week instead of those who have impressed you with their strength.

Laps in the top 10, sorted by five-year average finish

Laps' Rank	Driver	Top-10 laps	Possible	%	5 Yr Avg.
2	Jimmie Johnson	1,062	1,338	79%	8.70
10	Jeff Burton	420	1,338	31%	13.23
4	Matt Kenseth	966	1,338	72%	13.43
14	Carl Edwards	380	1,071	35%	13.56
6	Jeff Gordon	723	1,338	54%	14.00
1	Tony Stewart	1,079	1,338	81%	14.27
9	Greg Biffle	563	1,338	42%	14.52
12	Mark Martin	380	1,338	28%	15.16
20	Clint Bowyer	159	804	20%	15.55
23	Denny Hamlin	146	804	18%	15.86
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr	577	1,338	43%	15.91
5	Kyle Busch	855	1,071	80%	16.49
3	Kevin Harvick	1,040	1,338	78%	17.50
11	Casey Mears	407	1,338	30%	17.73
24	Jamie McMurray	119	1,338	9%	19.18
13	Kurt Busch	380	1,338	28%	19.45
19	Kasey Kahne	226	1,338	17%	19.91
18	Martin Truex Jr	288	804	36%	20.91
7	Brian Vickers	585	1,071	55%	21.32
15	Ryan Newman	339	1,338	25%	21.98
22	Bobby Labonte	153	1,338	11%	22.07
16	Elliott Sadler	297	1,338	22%	22.89
34	Juan Montoya	2	534	0%	23.36
29	David Stremme	30	804	4%	23.83
21	David Ragan	157	534	29%	24.65
17	Reed Sorenson	289	804	36%	25.67
26	Joe Nemechek	95	1,338	7%	26.30
39	David Gilliland	0	534	0%	27.04
30	Dave Blaney	21	1,338	2%	27.38
38	Paul Menard	0	534	0%	27.38
37	David Reutimann	0	534	0%	27.64
27	Robby Gordon	43	1,338	3%	27.84
40	Sam Hornish Jr	0	267	0%	28.60
31	Michael Waltrip	16	1,338	1%	29.36
28	Mike Bliss	32	534	6%	29.50
25	A J Allmendinger	118	267	44%	31.10
35	Bill Elliott	0	804	0%	31.20
36	Tony Raines	0	537	0%	31.41
33	John Andretti	5	534	1%	33.89
32	Mike Wallace	6	267	2%	35.77

Gordon guarantees Indy tires

Will the new Goodyear tire hold up? "I will guarantee it. I'm 100 percent confident," Jeff Gordon said after the latest test. "I ran this tire as hard as I possibly could, put numerous laps on them. It's a dead issue. There's going to be a race here." (Quoted @DustinLong.)

Our View: According to @NateRyan, the various tests were made up of "13,000 miles of testing, 31 drivers, at least 20 tire compounds." If Goodyear hasn't got this one right, it's not for lack of effort.

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Burton on crate engines

GIVEN THE GM SITUATION IN THE NATIONWIDE AND TRUCK SERIES DO YOU THINK IT'S TIME FOR NASCAR TO GO TO A CRATE MOTOR TO SAVE COST?

“It’s a double-edged sword because on the surface a crate engine thing sounds like a great idea, but at the same time there is a lot of resources that are channeled through Hendrick Motorsports, through RCR, through Roush that make our companies that make our companies more stable and enable us to make the investments necessary to be here.

"So on the surface of it the crate thing for a lower budget Nationwide team the crate engine thing makes a lot of sense. For the Nationwide teams that are winning races, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense. I think in some ways it lessens a team’s ability to serve the sport.

"If you go to a crate motor it takes away and there are a lot of people that are employed today that would not be employed. You know every time we start talking about saving money we are talking about people. That’s what it ends up being. We have to be careful because it’s a double-edged sword.

"I’ll tell you that if I owned a Nationwide team and somebody said your engine bill is going to be cut in half that would sound pretty enticing to me. At the same time, it's kind of like paying taxes. I don’t want to pay any more taxes than I need to pay, but if me paying some taxes makes our infrastructure better and health care better then I’m okay with it. So in some ways, spending more money in our sport makes our sport stronger and spending less money is not all positives.

"If you do the crate thing, I think it really hinders our opportunity for Chevrolet to want to be involved in the Nationwide series or Ford to want to be involved in the Nationwide series. So that’s probably not a good thing either.

"With the IRL and Honda doing that, I don’t know how that thing works but in these times, it's like hey man if we weren’t relying on the manufacturers that might be a good thing but the majority of the time the manufacturers being here has been very beneficial to this sport. Marketing, merchandising, technology. The manufacturers have brought a lot to this sport. The manufacturers really started pushing the safety thing and put funding into that safety thing before anyone else. The manufacturers have brought a lot to this sport so going to that sounds good but there also some real serious negatives to it that aren’t as good as it looks on the surface of it.“

From a GM Press Release

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Burton on Kyle Busch's role as villain

YOU HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE THAT NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS IN THE SPORT TO BALANCE THINGS OUT. CAN YOU EXPRESS AGAIN WHY YOU THINK NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS AND IS KYLE BUSCH FILLING THAT ROLE?

“He is certainly one of them. He has that personality and the success that people are going to love or hate. You don’t sit on the fence with Kyle. He invokes passion. There are a lot of people that don’t like him at all and there is [sic] an awful lot of people that passionately like him.

"That’s the same way you feel about the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees and that is a good thing. That’s what makes the fans come and that is what makes sports fun because it's just as fun to pull against someone as it is to pull for them.

"I think that our sport needs those people. Kyle seems to enjoy it and seems to relish in it and many times provoke it just because he wants to. And you know, that’s his business and that is the way he wants to do it and its okay with me. I think it's funny when he gets out and bows because I know that three-quarters of those people want to throw something at him and the other quarter want to throw something at the people that threw something at him. That’s cool. That fan passion is what makes our deal work.

"I don’t think you should fabricate it. I don’t think it's something that can be fabricated because you either invoke that passion or you don’t and I don’t think he does fabricate it. I think it's just him being him. And I think he likes it when he pisses somebody off to be quite honest and he stands pat and says this is how it is, this is who I am and this is what it is and that’s okay.

From a GM Press Release

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Burton on GM Cutbacks

CHEVY HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE PULLING BACK SUPPORT TO THE NATIONWIDE AND TRUCK SERIES. HOW DEVASTATING IS THAT TO THESE SERIES?

“I hate to comment on it because I don’t know a whole lot about it. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Richard (Childress) this morning a whole lot about it but I will tell you that I know Chevrolet is going to do everything that they can to do the best job that they can in motorsports.

"This is an unprecedented time and in many ways it’s a sad time and in many ways it’s an exciting time. Chevrolet having to pull support is a big deal because so many people rely on and they have been such a big part of the series.

"So I don’t know everything I need to know about it to comment a hundred percent but I can just tell you that in my talks with Chevrolet is that they want to do everything they can to stay involved and be a part of the NASCAR deal. And I think they are but they have some tough decisions to make.”

From a GM Press Release

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on GM cutbacks
Jeff Gordon on GM cutbacks
Fantasy racing perspective on GM cutbacks

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Gordon withdraws from Prelude

Jeff Gordon has withdrawn from the Prelude to the Dream because of back pain, according to ThatsRacin.com. Marcos Ambrose will drive his car.

Our View: This is described a precautionary measure so that he does not further injure his back; he should still be fine for the Pocono 500.

Gordon, Andretti to the back

Jeff Gordon (with a backup car) and John Andretti (transmission) will drop to the back of the field to start the Autism Speaks 400.

Our View: This won't matter a bit. Gordon was scheduled to start 42nd after crashing in qualification and Andretti qualified 41st.

N'Wide: Last five Lowe's races

Brian Vickers doesn't make every Nationwide race, but he made the most of his efforts last year by sweeping the top five. Those are his only two starts in the last five races, which gives him an average finish of 4.0.

On the surface, that seems impressive, until you look one position further down the grid and notice that Kyle Busch won both events last year. He also finished second in fall 2007, eighth in spring of that year and 12th in fall 2006—giving him a slightly worse average result of 4.8 in his last five starts, but after finishing second in the Camping World Truck Series race last Friday night, fantasy owners know that "Shrub" cannot be discounted in any series on any track.

Especially at this level, Lowe's is all about consistency and Clint Bowyer is another driver who not only swept the top-10 last year, but has also finished that well in each of his last five starts. His five-race average finish is a more than respectable 5.6.

The next active driver on the grid appears to be much further back with an average finish of 10.0 during his last five races, but that number is skewed by a 35th in fall 2006. Burton's last four attempts have all been in the top 10 and he was perfect one year later by winning the fall 2007 event.

Average Finish
Last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008.2	2008.1	2007.2	2007.1	2006.2
Michael Waltrip	2.00					2
Stacy Compton	3.00					3
Dale Earnhardt Jr	3.50		4	3
Brian Vickers	4.00	3	5
Kyle Busch	4.80	1	1	2	8	12
Clint Bowyer	5.60	4	6	8	3	7
Jeff Burton	10.00	2	8	1	4	35
Mike Skinner	10.00					10
Aric Almirola	11.00			4	14	15
Ashton Lewis	11.00					11
Kevin Harvick	11.20	6	19	10	12	9
Denny Hamlin	12.25		2	5	34	8
Scott Lagasse Jr	13.00	13
Paul Menard	13.00					13
Joey Logano	14.00	14
Casey Mears	14.00				2	26
Stephen Leicht	14.00			18	10	14
Matt Kenseth	14.00			31	7	4
Scott Wimmer	14.33			13	9	21
Tony Stewart	16.00					16
Dave Blaney	16.25	17		36	11	1
Kelly Bires	16.33	7	33	9
Todd Kluever	16.50				15	18
Kasey Kahne	17.60	11	16	17	1	43
David Ragan	17.60	12	9	6	25	36
Jon Wood	18.00				13	23
Brad Keselowski	18.60	8	3	11	37	34
Carl Edwards	19.00	5	13	33	17	27
Ward Burton	19.00				19
Kenny Wallace	19.33	16	23			19
Bobby Labonte	19.33			14	22	22
Casey Atwood	19.50			22		17
Robby Gordon	19.50			7	32
David Stremme	19.67	31	12		16
Mike Wallace	19.80	10	22	15	23	29
Andrew Ranger	20.00	20
Brandon Whitt	21.00	21
Brad Coleman	21.00		21
Regan Smith	21.00				5	37
David Reutimann	22.00	24	11	12	43	20
Marcos Ambrose	22.25	15	14	40	20
Danny O'Quinn Jr	22.50	40				5
Jeremy Clements	23.00			23
Jamie McMurray	24.00	9		38	18	31
Ted Musgrave Sr	24.00					24
Jimmie Johnson	24.60	33	10	32	6	42
Greg Biffle	24.75		7	30	21	41
John Andretti	25.00					25
Mike Bliss	25.50	19	15	29	39
Jason Leffler	25.60	18	32	19	31	28
Tony Raines	26.00	26
Bobby Hamilton Jr	26.00	37	18	16	33
A J Allmendinger	26.00			26
Jason Keller	26.67	29	17	34
John Wes Townley	27.00	27
Bryan Clauson	27.00	30	31	20
Richard Johns	27.00			27
David Gilliland	27.00				27
Steve Wallace	27.33	32	20		30
Brad Teague	28.00		28
David Green	28.00				28
Brad Baker	28.33		27	28		30
Stanton Barrett	29.00	28	35	24	29
Kyle Krisiloff	29.50			21	38
Cale Gale	30.00		30
Johnny Sauter	30.33	49			36	6
Shane Huffman	31.50				24	39
J J Yeley	31.67			37	26	32
J J Yeley	31.67			37	26	32
Danny Efland	33.00	23	43
Auggie Vidovich	33.00					33
Justin Allgaier	34.00	34
D J Kennington	35.00	25		45
Jeff Green	35.00	35
Brent Sherman	35.00				35
Reed Sorenson	35.00			25	42	38
Blake Bjorkland	35.00			35
Chase Miller	36.00	36	36
Kevin Lepage	36.67	39	26		45
Josh Wise	37.00	50	24
Eric McClure	37.20	22	29	44	44	47
Sam Hornish Jr	39.00		39
Bobby Santos III	39.00			39
Kertus Davis	39.25	45	25	42		45
Jay Sauter	40.00					40
Juan Montoya	40.00				40
Burney Lamar	41.00	38	44
Kurt Busch	41.00				41
Carl Long	41.50		42	41
Derrike Cope	41.67	43	34			48
Terry Cook	42.00	42
Morgan Shepherd	42.67	48	37	43
Johnny Chapman	43.50	41	46
Kenny Hendrick	43.50	46	41
Andy Ponstein	43.50	47	40
Mark Green	44.00	44
Tim Sauter	44.00					44
Robert Richardson	45.33	52	38			46
Brett Rowe	46.00		46
Bill Elliott	46.00				46
Travis Kittleson	46.00			46
Blake Feese	47.00				47
Larry Gunselman	50.00	50
Justin Marks	52.00	52