N'Wide: Logano paces practice 1

Joey Logano got to the track after the first practice session at Kentucky Speedway started, but he wasted no time getting to the top of the charts. He posted the fastest lap in this session with a speed of 172.783 mph, according to @NASCAR_NNS, the official tweet of NASCAR PR.

Our View: Logano was already one of our favorites. If he's just as fast in the evening, he could become THE favorite to win.

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Yahoo! Qualification Story – Michigan

Historically, qualification had been important at Michigan. We say "historically," however, because that is well in the past. In recent years, winners are just as likely to come from outside the top 10 as inside that mark. Check out this week's Yahoo! story(.pdf) of who's going to be hot at in the LifeLock 400.

Skinner goes home from Michigan

Mike Skinner was the slowest of the "go-or-go-home" drivers, and he will be the only driver heading home early from the LifeLock 400.

Our View: Not that it would have mattered; Skinner is one of the start and park drivers.

Fantasy perspective on GM cutbacks

In the light of GM filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, major cutbacks are expected NASCAR-wide, according to both the Associated Press and The Sporting News.

Our View: Earlier this week, Richard Petty Motorsports announced major layoffs among their teams after a similar declaration from Dodge. This won't effect superteams like Hendrick Motorsports, but in general, Ford drivers might be better values for the remainder of the season.

Earnhardt on GM cutbacks

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Vickers wins Michigan pole

Brian Vickers was the 12th driver to hit the track and he knocked Kyle Busch off the provisional pole. He held off the remaining 30-odd drivers to win his third pole of the season.

Our View: That ties him for the season with Mark Martin and this dark horse has been solid on the two-mile tracks since switching to Toyotas and Red Bull Racing.

Trucks: changes expected to 2010 schedule

The Camping World Truck Series schedule has not been released yet, but ThatsRacin.com is anticipating some major changes. These include the removal of the Milwaukee Mile and additions at Darlington Raceway and Iowa Speedway.

Our View: The Trucks have been extremely exciting at Darlington in the past so we certainly hope that one comes true. Rusty Wallace's Iowa Speedway would also be a welcome addition; it's a short track patterned after Richmond International Raceway.

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Skinner, Marlin slowest in practice

Only one driver will go home this week without racing and if practice is any indication, that driver will be either Mike Skinner (44th fastest with a speed of 181.616 mph) or Sterling Marlin (41st – 181.887).

Our View: Both of these teams are start and park operations, so it won't make any difference to your fantasy roster.

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Gordon's got what he's got

Jeff Gordon was never able to return to the track after he blew an engine and was forced to change the powerplant. He completed only five laps of practice.

Our View: Worse still, he landed only 37th on the grid. This could be a long week for the No. 24 team.

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Earnhardt on GM cutbacks

From a JR Motorsports Press Release

“Obviously the automotive industry is dealing with unprecedented business challenges, and we understand the need for restructuring to accommodate the need to reduce costs and maximize return. We have been proud supporters of the Chevrolet brand our entire lives and don’t anticipate that ever changing. We are fully capable of adjusting our business model to accommodate this change, and with the backing of Hendrick Motorsports, we will continue to lend our full support to Chevrolet. The manufacturer support GM provides at the NASCAR Sprint Cup level is more critical in nature than in the Nationwide Series, and I hope Chevy is able to continue supporting that level, as the promotion of NASCAR works well for its demographics.”

- Kelley Earnhardt, vice president and general manager of JR Motorsports

Johnson fastest in Michigan practice 1

Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest single lap in NASCAR's first practice session at Michigan with a lap of 188.818.

Our View: He'll be the 23rd driver to take time and if the track improves (which we're not sure it will), he should be considered a favorite for the pole.

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N'Wide, Trucks: KHI, JR Motorsports lose GM support

According to @BobPockrass and @DustinLong, in the widening financial crisis for the Big Three automakers, Kevin Harvick, Inc. and JR Motorsports have confirmed they have lost factory support.

Our View: Both organizations vow to keep fielding strong cars, but also hint that restructuring is in order. However, smaller crews will mean less resources and in turn, less speed.

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Michigan qualifying order

Jayski.com has published this week's qualifying order. David Ragan will be the first driver on track and Sam Hornish Jr. is scheduled at 35th.

Our View: The track shouldn't change much between the first and 35th driver, but no one want to the be the first guy out.

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ARCA: Ickler Fastest in Michigan practice

Brian Ickler posted the fastest lap in Friday morning's practice session at Michigan, according to ARCAracing.com. He topped 41 drivers.

Our View: Ickler will be doing double duty this week in the ARCA and Camping World Truck Series this week. James Buescher will also run the double header on Friday.

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Gordon blows up in Michigan practice 1

Jeff Gordon blew up in the first practice session. He will have to change the engine and will have to start at the back of the pack regardless of where he qualifies.

Our View: This is another setback for a driver and team that is losing momentum, but four drivers have already won this season after being sent to the back of the pack with an engine or car change.

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Mears scrapes Michigan wall in mirror incident

Casey Mears scraped the wall in an incident that was almost identical to David Reutimann's. His accident happened on his first lap of practice as well.

Our View: The drivers are on full kill from the time they leave the garage. They may want to scale back to 95%.

See also: Reutimann scrapes wall at Michigan

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N'Wide: Blue skies above

According to reports from the track by @BobPockrass, the sun is shining over Kentucky Speedway. All on track activity should get in the books without problem.

Our View: It would certainly be nice to make a weekend without rain delays. This will allow the Nationwide Regulars to develop some rhythm.

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Reutimann scrapes wall at Michigan

David Reutimann scraped the wall early in Michigan's first practice session before he even made his first lap. The splitter drug the ground and caused the incident before he even started the timing clock.

Our View: That's not a very good start for a driver looking for his first top-10 on this track.

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Trucks: Crafton tops Michigan practice 1

Matt Crafton topped the first practice session for the Michigan Camping World Truck Series race, according to @NASCAR_Trucks. Rookie Brian Ickler was second quick.

Our View: Crafton is the current points' leader in this series, and this is a great way to start defending his lead.

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Trucks: Benson in No. 15 at Milwaukee?

Kyle Busch intends to turn the keys of his No. 15 Billy Ballew truck over to Johnny Benson Jr. at the Milwaukee Mile, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: Benson recently lost his ride in the No. 1 truck. If this happens, it could make Benson the favorite to win on the one-mile flat track since Busch has been so dominant in that ride all year.

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N'Wide: Gaughan crew chief suspended for racial slur

Brendan Gaughan's crew chief Bryan Berry has been suspended from NASCAR for using a racial slur against rival Marc Davis, according to NASCAR.com. This came as the culmination of an incident in the pits; Davis is a black teenage driver racing for Braun last week.

Our View: First Gaughan runs into Davis while that driver was pulling behind the wall with a blown engine, then his crew chief verbally assaults him. So much for the good guy image Gaughan was trying to develop.

Incidents like this can set NASCAR back decades.

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IRL: Several tests on tap

Most of the Indy Racing League drivers tested at a variety of locations this week in preparation for the upcoming season. According to OpenWheelWorld.net, they were:

Watkins Glen International: Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, Mario Moraes, Mike Conway, Milka Duno, Justin Wilson and Richard Antinucci.

Richmond International Raceway: Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Dan Wheldon, Raphael Matos and E J Viso.

Chicagoland Speedway: Ed Carpenter (in a Firestone tire test).

Iowa Speedway: Dario Franchitti

Our View: Practice makes perfect, so put a tickle file in your computers for the appropriate week and then watch these drivers closely in open practice sessions when that race rolls around.

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The House of Roush

Few owners have dominated a track like Jack Roush has done at Michigan International Speedway. This week, he could tie the legendary Wood Bros. with the most wins on this track at 10 and his drivers have at least one victory per season since 2002.

That makes selecting a roster this week very easy.

Michigan is one track where fantasy owners can literally load their roster with a single organization and then sit back in the easy chair and reap the rewards, because Roushketeers have been perfect on this track several times in the last half-decade. When they've missed, it's often by a very slim margin.

Last fall, Roush placed all five of his drivers in the top 10 and all but a single driver was in the top five. Led by Carl Edwards in first, David Ragan finished third, Greg Biffle was fourth and Matt Kenseth was fifth. By comparison, Jamie McMurray had a disappointing day in 10th, but he was happy to have that result in light of the generally miserable year he faced up till then.

In the spring race, all but Biffle finished in the top 10 as well, which gave Roush an average finish during the year of 7.1. That also means four of the five drivers swept the top 10 on this two-mile track last year—including the dark horses Ragan and McMurray.

As impressive as that was, however, it was not their best outing in recent years. In the two Cup races of 2005, Roush earned one victory, six top-fives and eight top-10s en route to an average finish of 6.2. This was no anomaly, since three of the five Roushketeers (Edwards, Kenseth and Biffle) were in the midst of top-10 streaks ranging from four to six consecutive races.
With Edwards riding a current four-race top-10 streak and Kenseth carrying three Michigan top-fives into the weekend, you could very well see the same thing this week.

Roush Racing, last five years

Race	Driver	Car	Finish
2008.2	Carl Edwards	99	1
2007.1	Carl Edwards	99	1
2006.2	Matt Kenseth	17	1
2005.1	Greg Biffle	16	1
2004.2	Greg Biffle	16	1
2006.1	Carl Edwards	99	2
2004.2	Mark Martin	6	2
2008.2	David Ragan	6	3
2008.1	Matt Kenseth	17	3
2005.2	Matt Kenseth	17	3
2005.1	Mark Martin	6	3
2008.2	Greg Biffle	16	4
2007.2	Matt Kenseth	17	4
2006.1	Greg Biffle	16	4
2005.2	Carl Edwards	99	4
2005.1	Matt Kenseth	17	4
2008.2	Matt Kenseth	17	5
2006.2	Mark Martin	6	5
2005.1	Carl Edwards	99	5
2005.2	Greg Biffle	16	6
2004.2	Kurt Busch	97	6
2008.1	Carl Edwards	99	7
2007.2	Carl Edwards	99	7
2006.2	Greg Biffle	16	7
2005.2	Kurt Busch	97	7
2004.1	Matt Kenseth	17	7
2008.1	David Ragan	6	8
2007.1	Jamie McMurray	26	8
2004.2	Matt Kenseth	17	8
2008.2	Jamie McMurray	26	10
2008.1	Jamie McMurray	26	10
2004.2	Carl Edwards	99	10
2004.1	Kurt Busch	97	11
2005.1	Kurt Busch	97	12
2006.1	Matt Kenseth	17	13
2004.1	Jeff Burton	99	13
2006.2	Jamie McMurray	26	17
2005.2	Mark Martin	6	17
2007.2	David Ragan	6	18
2007.2	Greg Biffle	16	19
2008.1	Greg Biffle	16	20
2007.1	David Ragan	6	21
2006.2	Carl Edwards	99	22
2006.1	Jamie McMurray	26	23
2004.1	Greg Biffle	16	23
2006.1	Mark Martin	6	27
2007.2	Jamie McMurray	26	30
2004.1	Mark Martin	6	34
2007.1	Greg Biffle	16	38
2007.1	Matt Kenseth	17	42
2006.2	Todd Kluever	06	43

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IRL: Antinucci to debut at the Glen

Richard Antinucci will make his Indy Racing League debut at Watkins Glen driving for Team 3G, according to OpenWheelWorld.net.

Our View: He could be a better value than his inexperience would suggest, since he won both races of a double-header at the Glen in 2008.

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N'Wide: Leicht finally defends Kentucky win

Stephen Leicht won at Kentucky two years ago, but has only made sporadic starts since then. This week is his first chance to defend that win, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Leicht will face intense competition with Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and last year's winner Joey Logano making the long commute from Michigan International Speedway. Still, in a RCR Chevrolet, Leicht has to be favored for a potential top-five.

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Ragan, et. al. test at Infineon

David Ragan, Max Papis, David Reutimann and Joey Logano tested late models (not Cup cars) at Infineon Raceway on Wednesday, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: The testing ban does not apply because these are not Cup or Nationwide cars and they are considerably different in terms of handling. So why do it? According to Ragan, “Even if we drove a rental car out here it would help. I just needed to get back into the rhythm of turning left and right.”

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Trucks: Michigan's last five races

As fields thin in the Truck series, finding consistent top-10 finishers is not that difficult, but it's also not that simple. Luck continues to play an important role in who will finish up front. Ron Hornaday Jr. has had one of the trucks to beat the last two weeks after starting on the front row each time, but mishaps sent him home 26th at Dover and 19th at Texas. Worse still, this has not been one of his favorite tracks with an average finish of 17.5 that puts him well down the grid.

On the other hand, Todd Bodine has a little momentum on his side after winning last week at Texas—and Michigan has been among his preferred tracks. He's yet to win there, but with a four-race streak of top-10s, he deserves a spot on the roster for consistency alone.

Mike Skinner has a slightly lower average finish of 6.2, but he's been nearly as consistent with four top-10s and a worst of 11th in his last five races on this two-mile track. He and Bodine should be the marquee regulars who anchor your roster.

"Rowdy" Kyle Busch is back on the lineup this week after taking Texas off and he's looking to improve on two runner-up finishes from 2005 and 2007. Last year he finished seventh, which gives him even more to prove.

Notably, only one winner from the last five years is on the lineup this week. Dennis Setzer found victory lane in 2005, but his results have been eroding ever since. He was eighth in 2006, 24th in 2007 and 16th last year, so fantasy owners can reasonably expect a different winner this year.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Pwer Avg	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Travis Kvapil	1.00		1			1
Scott Speed	3.00	3
Kyle Busch	3.67	7	2		2
Bobby Hamilton Sr	4.00				3	5
Todd Bodine	6.00	4	7	4	9
Colin Braun	6.00	6
Kevin Harvick	6.00		8		4
Carl Edwards	6.00					6
Mike Skinner	6.20	8	4	11	5	3
Johnny Benson Jr	8.00	2	9	1	24	4
Shane Hmiel	8.00					8
Brendan Gaughan	8.75	5	3	16	11
Terry Cook	10.00	10	11	9	13	7
Dennis Setzer	11.80	16	24	8	1	10
Donny Lia	12.00	12
Rick Crawford	12.20	11	6	6	6	32
Erik Darnell	13.00	1	26	12
Justin Marks	13.00	13
J J Yeley	13.00					13
Mike Bliss	14.00			14
Jimmy Spencer Sr	14.00				14
Randy LaJoie	14.00					14
Robert Huffman	14.00				19	9
Chad Chaffin	15.00	27			7	11
Todd Kluever	15.00				15
Chad McCumbee	15.33	9	19	18
David Reutimann	15.67			15	8	24
Ryan Matthews	16.00		16
Ted Musgrave Sr	16.40	24	5	23	28	2
Stacy Compton	16.50	21	12
Regan Smith	17.00	17
David Starr	17.00	26	13	13	12	21
Aaron Fike	17.00		17
Robert Pressley	17.00				17
Ron Hornaday Jr	17.50	23	10	7	30
Mark Martin	17.50		33	2
Chase Montgomery	17.50				20	15
Matt Crafton	17.60	15	34	5	22	12
Bobby Labonte	17.67		18	3	32
Kraig Kinser	18.00		14	22
Sean Murphy	18.00				18
Shelby Howard	19.00	19
T J Bell	20.00	20	20
Joey Miller	20.00			20
Lance Hooper	20.00					20
Bill Lester	20.50		15	33	16	18
Blake Bjorkland	21.00		21
Johnny Chapman	21.00				23	19
Jack Sprague	21.20	30	29	10	10	27
Deborah Renshaw	21.50				21	22
Jon Wood	22.00	14				30
Marc Mitchell	22.00	22
Willie Allen	22.00		22
Tim Sauter	23.00		23
Andy Houston	23.00					23
Bobby East	24.00	18		30
Erin Crocker	24.00			24
Brian Scott	25.00	25
David Ragan	25.00			19		31
Clay Rogers	25.50		25		26
Boston Reid	26.00		35	17
Tracy Hines	26.00				36	16
Marcos Ambrose	26.00			26
Shane Sieg	26.00					26
Steve Park	26.33			31	31	17
Ryan Moore	27.00			27
Shigeaki Hattori	27.00				27
Jason White	27.50	28	27
Travis Kittleson	28.00		28
Bobby Hamilton Jr	28.00			28
Kevin Lepage	28.50		36	21
Mario Gosselin	29.00	29
Kelly Sutton	29.00			25	37	25
Hank Parker Jr	29.00					29
Kerry Earnhardt	29.00			29
Ken Schrader	29.50		30		29
Timothy Peters	30.00			35	25
Nick Tucker	31.00	31
Brandon Whitt	31.00				34	28
J C Stout	31.50	32	31
A J Allmendinger	32.00		32
Kyle Krisiloff	32.00			32
Rick Markle	33.00	33
Ricky Craven	33.00				33
Phil Bonifield	33.00					33
Chris Jones	34.00	34
Martin Truex Jr	34.00			34
Loni Richardson	34.00					34
Brad Keselowski	35.00				35
Aric Almirola	36.00			36
Bryan Silas	37.00		37
Robert Richardson	37.00			37
Blake Mallory	38.00				38

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Trucks: Peters headed to Red Horse

Immediately on the heels of the announcement that Johnny Benson Jr. would lose his ride in the No. 1 Red Horse Racing team for lack of funding, Timothy Peters announced he would bring his sponsor Strutmasters and crew chief Chad Kendrick to the team, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Peters will inherit the points from the No. 1 team, but this will be renumbered 17. Look for his results to improve slightly.

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Said gets ride for Infineon

Boris Said will try to get the No. 08 EM Motorsports car into the show at Infineon, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: This is great news for EM Motorsports, but don't look for Said to be particularly competitive even if he makes the show. This part time team simply does not have the funding to run in the front half of the pack.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

Week 24 Unified Power Rankings

Yawn. Jenson Button won again in the Turkish Grand Prix, which is his sixth victory in seven races and picking a winner in that series is now officially a no brainer. Until Button stumbles—and at this point, it seems unlikely he's going to do so all season—place him on your roster and hold him there.

For the first time this year, however, his wingman Rubens Barrichello had a bad finish. A pair of spins in the Turkish GP caused him to finish outside the points for the first time this season and he plummeted seven spots in the Unified Power Rankings from second to ninth.

That allowed a pair of winners to climb the grid. Tony Stewart had to overcome rolling out a backup car and his shotgun to the field start, but after practice, he was confident he had the ponies under the hood to get the job done. Stewart used a little strategy and a lot of power to hold off Carl Edwards and earn his first victory as an owner driver. He's now second on this chart.

One of the keys to Stewart's success in the Pocono 500 was a strong pit stop, and that is also how Helio Castroneves got in front of Ryan Briscoe late in the going at Texas Motor Speedway. Once in the lead of the Bombardier Learjet 550k, he was untouched and scored his second victory in the last three races. Castroneves sits third.

Jason Leffler continues to be the strongest Nationwide Regular in NASCAR's second series. With most of the top spots typically going to Cup drivers, last week's Federated Auto Parts 300 in Nashville was an opportunity race. Only two Claim Jumpers made the long commute, so even though Kyle Busch won the race and Edwards finished third, Leffler was able to pick off a fifth-place finish and climb two spots on the Unified Power Rankings grid from eighth to sixth.

Success in any fantasy racing league is reliant on finding dark horses. In the Camping World Truck Series, check out Jason White, who has been 14th or better in his last four races. And on the strength of his eighth-place finish at Texas last week and a fourth at Dover the previous week, he jumped an amazing 28 spots last week and 10 spots the prior week to land in the top 50—50th to be exact. Matt Crafton is the highest ranked Truck driver. He sits 19th on the grid.

Unified Power Rankings
Top 50

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	110.57	1	0
2	Tony Stewart	97.33	3	1
3	Helio Castroneves	95.80	4	1
4	Jimmie Johnson	90.82	6	2
5	Ryan Briscoe	90.67	7	2
6	Jason Leffler	87.90	8	2
7	Dario Franchitti	87.67	9	2
8	Ryan Newman	87.20	11	3
9	Rubens Barrichello	87.14	2	-7
10	Mark Martin	87.00	10	0
11	Mark Webber	85.29	15	4
12	Scott Dixon	84.50	16	4
13	Kurt Busch	83.55	5	-8
14	Danica Patrick	83.33	13	-1
15	Brad Keselowski	83.20	14	-1
16	Jeff Gordon	80.55	17	1
17	Kyle Busch	79.46	18	1
18	Carl Edwards	79.24	21	3
19	Matt Crafton	79.00	27	8
20	Matt Kenseth	78.69	20	0
21	Jeff Burton	78.63	22	1
22	Timo Glock	78.43	19	-3
23	Denny Hamlin	78.18	12	-11
24	Dan Wheldon	78.17	23	-1
25	Joey Logano	77.15	24	-1
26	Greg Biffle	76.93	28	2
27	Juan Montoya	75.64	31	4
28	Fernando Alonso	74.00	25	-3
29	Kasey Kahne	73.27	26	-3
30	Nico Rosberg	72.57	33	3
31	Sebastian Vettel	72.00	36	5
32	David Reutimann	70.85	43	11
33	Marco Andretti	70.00	44	11
34	Tony Kanaan	69.83	35	1
35	Jason Keller	69.30	30	-5
36	Steve Wallace	69.10	38	2
37	Marcos Ambrose	68.36	54	17
38	Justin Allgaier	67.60	39	1
39	Dale Earnhardt Jr	67.07	32	-7
40	Jarno Trulli	66.29	53	13
41	Johnny Benson Jr	66.00	47	6
42	Ron Hornaday Jr	65.80	29	-13
43	Brian Vickers	65.40	34	-9
44	Clint Bowyer	65.36	40	-4
45	Rick Crawford	65.20	62	17
46	Jamie McMurray	64.91	45	-1
47	Sam Hornish Jr	64.73	63	16
48	Martin Truex Jr	63.82	42	-6
49	Kevin Harvick	63.00	37	-12
50	Jason White	62.80	78	28

Previous Unified Power Rankings:

Week 23
Week 22
Week 21
Week 20

Gordon loves Michigan

Jeff Gordon lists Michigan International Speedway as one of his favorite tracks , according to SceneDaily.com.

“The track is big, wide, and it’s fast. The corners have multiple grooves, so you can run from the white line all the way to the wall. And you can change your angles in and off the corners," Gordon said.

Our View: He has two victories there and 15 top-fives, the last of which came in August 2006. Unfortunately, his lat three efforts there have been 18th or worse.

More Cup Series Newsbreakers

N'Wide: Logano to pull double duty

Joey Logano will be one of the drivers making the long commute from Michigan International Speedway to Kentucky Speedway this week, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Logano is the defending winner at Kentucky. That was his first Nationwide win, which he took from the pole.

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

IRL: Lloyd leaves Ganassi

Alex Lloyd is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing, according to a Tweet from @IndyCarPR, saying that if he is going to explore his options, he needs to be a free agent.

Our View: So far, Lloyd has made only one start this season in the 33-car Indy 500 field where he finished 13th, so it's hard to say what kind of fantasy value he will be when he finds another ride.

Roush one short of record at Michigan

Roush-Fenway Racing is one win away from tying the Wood Bros. for the most victories at Michigan International Speedway, according to a Tweet from @NASCARSays, the official NASCAR PR account. The current record stands at 10 victories.

Our View: This track has been completely dominated by Roush in recent years and their drivers have at least one win per season since 2002. Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle all have to be considered favorites to either win or finish in the top 10.

Mayfield drug named

The drug Jeremy Mayfield allegedly took has been named. According to ESPN.com, NASCAR believes he tested positive for methamphetamines.

Our View: This is certainly a serious drug that is extremely addictive. We hope the truth eventually is revealed and if Mayfield was indeed under the influence, he deserves the suspension and banishment.

We also understand NASCAR reluctance to name the drug immediately, as this would have done major damage to Mayfield's reputation.

Michigan Yahoo! preview

Michigan is one of NASCAR's perfect tracks with long sweeping corners and enough room to pass. It has also been very predictable ever since Jack Roush started fielding cars. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for a sneak peak at who'll be their toughest competitors.

Carpentier to drive for Waltrip at Infineon

Patrick Carpentier will drive the No. 55 for Michael Waltrip at Infineon Raceway next week, according to a Tweet from @mw55.

Our View: Michael Waltrip Racing's cars are powerful as evidenced by the strong runs of David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose. Carpentier could be one of the best road ringers at Infineon.

N'Wide: Kentucky's last five races

For the second straight week, the NASCAR Cup and Nationwide Series are at different tracks, making this one of the opportunity races for the Nationwide Regulars. Last week, only two Claim Jumpers made the long commute from Pocono Raceway to Nashville Superspeedway. And even though Kyle Busch won both the pole and the race with Carl Edwards finishing third in the Federated Auto Parts 300, that left eight spots remaining for the Regulars to score much needed top-10s for their resume.

The same thing often happens at Kentucky. Last year, Scott Wimmer took a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to a second-place finish behind teenage sensation Joey Logano and drivers without fulltime Cup rides swept the top five. Logano and Wimmer were followed across the line by Mike Wallace in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth and Bryan Clauson in fifth.

Marcos Ambrose was sixth and fantasy owners had to look as far back as seventh to find Claim Jumper David Ragan. The same thing could happen this week, and in any event owners would be able to theoretically fill their roster with the top drivers—if only they can identify them.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Joey Logano	1.00	1
David Gilliland	1.00			1
Scott Wimmer	2.50	2	3
Brad Keselowski	4.00	4
Martin Truex Jr	4.00				2	6
Ron Hornaday Jr	4.00					4
Bryan Clauson	5.00	5
Shane Huffman	5.00		5
Stephen Leicht	5.50		1	10
Aric Almirola	6.00		6
Kevin Harvick	6.00			6
Sterling Marlin	6.00				6
Mike Bliss	6.67	8	9			3
Paul Menard	7.00			9	5
David Ragan	7.50	7	8
J J Yeley	8.00		12	2	7	11
Marcos Ambrose	8.50	6	11
Clint Bowyer	8.50	9		12	3	10
Brad Coleman	8.50	15	2
Denny Hamlin	9.00			3	15
Landon Cassill	11.00	11
Robby Gordon	12.00					12
Greg Biffle	12.25		10	7	30	2
David Reutimann	12.33	13	16	8
Ashton Lewis	12.67			5	25	8
Kelly Bires	13.00	19	7
James Buescher	14.00	14
Tony Raines	14.00				13	15
Boris Said	14.00			14
David Stremme	14.25	12	4		32	9
Kyle Busch	14.67	30		13		1
Dave Blaney	15.00		15
John Andretti	15.00			15
Cale Gale	15.50	18	13
Casey Atwood	15.50				9	22
Mike Wallace	15.75	3	25	4		31
Brandon Miller	16.00				16
Jon Wood	16.00			22	10
Robert Pressley	16.00					16
Jason Keller	16.50	10	20		31	5
Steve Wallace	16.67	17	22	11
Timothy Peters	17.00		17
Stacy Compton	17.00			24	8	19
Kasey Kahne	17.00					17
David Green	18.00		26	21	12	13
Tyler Walker	19.00				19
Jason Leffler	19.25	16	14	40		7
Todd Kluever	20.00		23	17
Justin Labonte	20.50				11	30
Michel Jourdain Jr	20.50			18	23
Kevin Hamlin	21.00		21
Hermie Sadler	21.00					21
Randy LaJoie	21.00				21
Reed Sorenson	21.50			39	4
Chad Blount	22.00				22
Carl Edwards	22.50	20	33	36	1
Josh Wise	23.00	23
Steve Grissom	23.50				27	20
Kevin Lepage	24.00	24
Kenny Wallace	24.00	29		20	14	33
Brent Sherman	24.00		24
Billy Parker	24.00					24
Tim Sauter	24.00			28	20
Rusty Wallace	24.00				24
Aaron Fike	24.50			31	18
Kevin Grubb	25.00			25
Burney Lamar	25.50	32		19
Mark Green	26.00	22			33	23
D J Kennington	26.00	26
Mark McFarland	26.00			26
Stanton Barrett	26.33	25			17	37
Regan Smith	27.00		19	16	41	32
Shelby Howard	27.00		27
Joel Kauffman	27.00			27
Jimmy Kitchens	27.00					27
Richard Johns	28.00		28
Ryan Hemphill	28.00				28
Michael Waltrip	28.00				42	14
Bobby Hamilton Jr	28.33	21	36			28
Chase Miller	28.50	39	18
Kyle Krisiloff	29.00		29
Wade Day	29.00				29
Johnny Benson Jr	29.00					29
Chris Cook	30.00			30
Derrike Cope	31.00	31
Kertus Davis	31.00	37	30		26
Johnny Sauter	31.67			32	38	25
Kenny Hendrick	32.00	34			44	18
Justin Diercks	32.00		31	33
Andy Ponstein	33.00	33
Robert Richardson	34.00		34
Auggie Vidovich	34.00			34
Eric McClure	34.33	28	32	43
Jamie Mosley	34.50		40	35	37	26
Jay Sauter	34.50			29		40
Brian Keselowski	35.00	35
Danny O'Quinn Jr	35.00	44	38	23
Gus Wasson	35.00					35
Johnny Chapman	36.00	36
Clint Vahsholtz	36.00					36
Wayne Edwards	36.00				36
A J Frank	37.00		37
Tim Fedewa	37.00				40	34
Blake Feese	37.50				34	41
Justin Hobgood	38.00	38
Shane Hall	38.00			38
Buckshot Jones	38.00					38
Brett Rowe	39.00		39
Eric Jones	39.00				39
Travis Geisler	39.00					39
Jeff Fuller	39.33			41	35	42
Brad Teague	39.67	27			48	44
Dwayne Leik	40.00	40
Chris Horn	40.75		35	37	43	48
Larry Gunselman	41.00	41
Mike Harmon	41.00		41
Danny Efland	42.00	42
Morgan Shepherd	42.33	43	42	42
Carlos Contreras	43.00		43
John Hayden	44.00			44
Stan Boyd	44.50			46		43
Johnny Borneman III	45.00				45
David Odell	45.00			45
Shawna Robinson	45.00					45
Stuart Kirby	46.00					46
Damon Lusk	46.00				46
Jerry Robertson	47.00				47
Justin Ashburn	47.00					47

More Nationwide Newsbreakers

Double-file restarts are a non issue at Pocono

NASCAR now has one race under its belt with double-file restarts, but that was enough to allow Carl Edwards to offer suggestions, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Edwards suggested that the leader should have his own row—something known as a Delaware restart in dirt racing circles—which protects some of the advantage he has worked so hard to get.

Kurt Busch on double-file restarts
Tony Stewart on double-file restarts
Kasey Kahne on double-file restarts

Penske Takes Parker Kligerman to Prom

From an ARCA Press Release

Following his sixth-place finish in Saturday's Pocono 200, Rookie of the Year Contender Parker Kligerman traveled from Long Pond, Pennsylvania, to his hometown of Westport, Conn., to attend his Senior Prom. Kligerman, a Penske Development driver for Cunningham Motorsports, has spent his senior year of high school juggling school work and fulltime ARCA RE/MAX Series competition in hopes of landing a fulltime career in motor sports.

"It's kinda a hectic schedule," said Kligerman. "I go to Staples High School. It's the public school in my hometown of West Port, Connecticut. I have a lot of support from my principal. The day that I walked into school Freshman year I said 'You know I want to be a racecar driver and I'm going to have to travel a lot.' I didn't know exactly how far I was going to go but at the time I was racing open wheel cars on the West Coast. He said as long as you keep your grades up, it's a cool endeavor, we like it. My parents said, 'well it keeps you focused so we'll support it as much as we can as long as you keep your grades up'.

"My parents, actually [were the harder sell than my principal in convincing that I should be a racecar driver]. You would think that it would have been the principal but he thought it was awesome right away."

In seven ARCA RE/MAX Series starts in 2009, Kligerman has finished outside of the top-10 on just one occasion. He earned his first Series win at Toledo Speedway on May 17.

More ARCA Newsbreakers

Trucks: Benson's ride shut down

Johnny Benson Jr. will be without a ride for the moment since Red Horse Racing has been forced to shut down the No. 1 team.

"It hasn't been for a lack of effort," owner Tom DeLoach said. "We had several people working on finding a sponsor for the No. 1 and Johnny Benson. I've been working on it myself. We gave it our best shot, and we tried as long as we could, but nothing materialized."

Our View: How tough is the economy when the defending champion of a major race sanction can't secure sponsorship? It is hard to visualize a scenario in which Benson would be a good value with any team that picks him up; most of the strong teams are already set.

More Camping World Truck Series Newsbreakers

LifeLock 400 roster posted

The roster for the NASCAR Cup LifeLock 400 has been posted and only 44 drivers are listed. In addition to the regular cast of characters Tony Raines in the No. 37, Bill Elliott and Max Papis will attempt to make the show.

Our View: This is good news for most of the "go-or-go-home" drivers. Our best guess is that Raines will be the odd man out.

LifeLock 400 roster

Pocono 500 Results

Now the questions will end. Tony Stewart kept getting closer and closer with six top-fives in his previous eight attempts and during that time, he's been strong enough to win on several occasions. This week, it took a combination of speed and strategy to beat Carl Edwards to the line.

Edwards had the dominant car for most of the afternoon, but he was forced to pedal the throttle and conserve fuel as well, which made for some drama late in the Pocono 500. Still, it could have been worse, because the second most dominant driver Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas in turn two and had to coast to the finish line in seventh.

The majority of the other top-10 finishers climbed that high on the back of their own pit strategy, and fantasy owners with good instincts were rewarded. Owners who did this by the numbers suffered early after one of the favorites Denny Hamlin broke a fuel pump on the opening lap. Even with his 38th-place finish Sunday, the flat track master has an average finish of 10.71 on this track.

Results with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Tony Stewart	200	39	Running	12.43
2	11	Carl Edwards	200	103	Running	12.89
3	13	David Reutimann	200		Running	26.20
4	2	Jeff Gordon	200	9	Running	10.09
5	5	Ryan Newman	200	1	Running	13.33
6	20	Marcos Ambrose	200		Running	6.00
7	3	Jimmie Johnson	200	31	Running	9.60
8	15	Juan Montoya	200		Running	24.40
9	10	Jeff Burton	200		Running	16.29
10	26	Sam Hornish Jr	200		Running	26.00
11	9	Greg Biffle	200	4	Running	17.77
12	16	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	19.57
13	22	Jamie McMurray	200	1	Running	20.69
14	21	Casey Mears	200	1	Running	20.38
15	14	Kasey Kahne	200		Running	16.45
16	8	Matt Kenseth	200	6	Running	14.26
17	32	Michael Waltrip	200		Running	21.48
18	19	Martin Truex Jr	200		Running	15.57
19	12	Mark Martin	200	1	Running	10.84
20	25	Reed Sorenson	200		Running	28.86
21	17	Brian Vickers	200		Running	15.09
22	6	Kyle Busch	200		Running	22.00
23	23	Joey Logano	200		Running	23.00
24	24	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	15.82
25	27	Elliott Sadler	200	2	Running	20.90
26	31	David Ragan	200		Running	22.80
27	18	Dale Earnhardt Jr	200		Running	16.84
28	28	Bobby Labonte	200		Running	18.00
29	33	Paul Menard	200		Running	30.00
30	30	A J Allmendinger	199		Running	25.00
31	34	Robby Gordon	199		Running	27.94
32	37	Scott Speed	199		Running	32.00
33	42	Regan Smith	198		Running	28.67
34	29	David Stremme	198		Running	27.40
35	35	John Andretti	198		Running	28.52
36	43	Dexter Bean	196		Running	36.00
37	4	Kurt Busch	182	2	Running	16.94
38	7	Denny Hamlin	178		Running	10.71
39	36	Sterling Marlin	56		Quit	17.87
40	41	Dave Blaney	37		Quit	23.53
41	39	Joe Nemechek	36		Quit	25.21
42	38	David Gilliland	34		Quit	33.00
43	40	Patrick Carpentier	32		Quit	37.50

Two-mile tracks, top-10 laps

Despite the somewhat derisive description "cookie-cutter" tracks for the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile courses, no two tracks on the circuit are closer in terms of layout than Michigan International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway—but you won't hear too many people complaining about the competition this week. That is because the two-milers offer some of the best side-by-side racing on the schedule.

On these tracks, the conventional wisdom says to load up on Roush-Fenway drivers and they have the numbers to back that up. During the last five years at Michigan and Auto Club combined, the three top drivers for the Cat in the Hat dominate the top five among laps spent inside the top 10, but they are not without opposition.

Jimmie Johnson has actually spent the most time among the leaders on this track type during the last five years. With 1,273 laps among the top 10 at Michigan and another 1,970 in California, he has been spent 73 percent of his time at the head of the field. Unfortunately, bad luck and misfortune has caused him to finish outside the top 15 eight times in the last 24 races on these two tracks and nearly all of those disappointments came at Michigan.

Carl Edwards has spent considerably less time in the top 10, but he's made the most of his opportunities. With 1,260 top-10 laps at Michigan and 1,725 at California, he's competed with the leaders for 69 percent of his possible laps and all but two of his 19 races in that span have ended in top-10 finishes.

Matt Kenseth has actually spent more time among the top 10 during the last five years than Edwards, but that is because he has five more races to his credit. In 24 starts on the two-mile tracks since the beginning of 2003, Kenseth has spent 67 percent of his laps battling for a top-10 finish and he's sealed the deal 83 percent of the time with 20 top-10 finishes in 24 starts.

Another Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and another Roushketeer Greg Biffle are locked in a virtual tie for fourth and fifth on the grid. Gordon has 2,534 laps in the top 10 out of a possible 4,440 during the last five years; Biffle has 2,509, which equates to 57 percent of the time. However, Biffle may be the better value this week because his top-10 laps at Michigan (1,267) are superior to Gordon's (1,081).

Top-10 laps on two-mile tracks

Driver	Michigan	California	Total	%
Jimmie Johnson	1,273	1,970	3,243	73%
Matt Kenseth	1,260	1,725	2,985	67%
Carl Edwards	1,261	1,475	2,736	69%
Jeff Gordon	1,081	1,453	2,534	57%
Greg Biffle	1,267	1,242	2,509	57%
Kyle Busch	844	1,532	2,376	59%
Kurt Busch	1,040	1,220	2,260	51%
Tony Stewart	986	1,204	2,190	49%
Kasey Kahne	604	1,452	2,056	46%
Mark Martin	630	1,234	1,864	47%
Brian Vickers	811	865	1,676	38%
Dale Earnhardt Jr	920	538	1,458	33%
Kevin Harvick	381	869	1,250	28%
Denny Hamlin	488	748	1,236	43%
Jeff Burton	289	883	1,172	26%
Jamie McMurray	368	770	1,138	26%
Ryan Newman	500	621	1,121	25%
Elliott Sadler	640	390	1,030	23%
Joe Nemechek	442	367	809	18%
Clint Bowyer	235	507	742	26%
Martin Truex Jr	256	469	725	25%
Casey Mears	485	235	720	16%
Michael Waltrip	406	152	558	13%
Sterling Marlin	254	221	475	17%
Bobby Labonte	255	137	392	9%
David Ragan	195	159	354	17%
David Reutimann	34	270	304	15%
Robby Gordon	99	130	229	5%
Reed Sorenson	131	67	198	7%
Juan Montoya	2	179	181	9%
A J Allmendinger	23	157	180	13%
Dave Blaney	105	72	177	4%
Paul Menard	28	27	55	2%
Bill Elliott	17	30	47	2%
Sam Hornish Jr	37	0	37	3%
David Gilliland	0	35	35	1%
Tony Raines	19	2	21	1%
David Stremme	5	10	15	1%
John Andretti	1	11	12	1%
Mike Skinner	3	0	3	0%
Joey Logano		0	0	0%
Marcos Ambrose	0	0	0	0%
Scott Speed		0	0	0%