Reutimann changes engines

David Reutimann's No. 00 has an engine problem, according to a tweet from @mw55, and will have to change it. That will send him to the back of the grid, no matter where he qualifies.

Our View: Front or back doesn't make much difference at Daytona. Anyone can win from anywhere, but Reutimann's record on this track is not stellar. Save him for another week.

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Biffle, Hornish to backups at Daytona

Following a crash in Happy Hour, both Greg Biffle and Sam Hornish Jr. will have to roll out backup cars.

Our View: Biffle might have the highest hurdle to clear; his backup is a brand new car that will have only two qualification laps under its hood before the race begins.

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Reutimann fastest in Happy Hour

David Reutimann posted the fastest lap in Happy Hour, with a speed of 192.135.

Our View: Reutimann should have the horsepower and the setup to run up front, but so far he's been unsuccessful on the plate tracks. In 10 previous attempts, he's failed to crack the top 10 a single time.

Ragan posts single fast lap in Daytona afternoon practice

David Ragan posted the single fastest lap in Daytona's first practice session with a speed of 190.714 mph.

Our View: Of course all that means is that he was in a fast draft at the time, but one would prefer to at the top of the grid than at the bottom.

Week 27 Unified Power Rankings

Jenson Button and Tony Stewart kept their positions atop the Unified Power Rankings. Button's number one spot is unchanged because Formula 1 had the week off, but Stewart only enhanced his second-place position with a solid fifth-place finish at New Hampshire—his fifth consecutive result of seventh or better. These two drivers have redefined the concept of place-and-hold.

Mark Webber also jumped up the grid, improving his rank from 10th to third. How is that possible with the series going idle? The Power Ranking formula looks at the last 90 days for a snapshot of how drivers are performing right now, and that means that Webber's 12th-place finish in the ING Australian Grand Prix is no longer held against him. Since that race, he has posted five top-fives in seven races—including three runner-up results.

Dario Franchitti also climbed the charts from eighth to fourth on the strength of his solid second-place run on the short track in Richmond. In his last four Indy short track starts, that's his worst result after winning the other three. Chip Ganassi fans should be quite proud of the organization; last week they finished 1-2, and Scott Dixon—the winner of the SunTrust Indy Challenge—settled in right behind Franchitti in fifth.

It was a great weekend for Brad Keselowski. He competed in the Nationwide and Cup series and earned accolades in both. A third-place finish in the Camping World RV Sales 200 was his fifth consecutive top-five, which easily makes him the best Nationwide Regular in the game. He also finished sixth in Cup competition and while that may have been aided by rain, the points pay the same to fantasy owners.

Ron Hornaday Jr. is slowly making his way back up the grid. With back-to-back victories at Milwaukee and Memphis, he's improved 10 positions and lands 32nd on our chart. That may not seem like much, but only two weeks ago he was in danger of falling out of the top 50. Better still, he is in striking distance of the highest ranked Camping World Truck Series driver—Matt Crafton. In the last three months, Crafton has finished worse than seventh only once, and consistency is often more important than raw strength in fantasy games.

Unified Power Rankings
Top 50

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	106.71	1	0
2	Tony Stewart	99.62	2	0
3	Mark Webber	93.14	10	7
4	Dario Franchitti	92.63	8	4
5	Scott Dixon	88.13	12	7
6	Kurt Busch	86.75	13	7
7	Brad Keselowski	86.39	14	7
8	Rubens Barrichello	86.29	9	1
9	Jimmie Johnson	86.25	7	-2
10	Erik Darnell	84.83	16	6
11	Joey Logano	83.36	27	16
12	Helio Castroneves	82.57	3	-9
13	Ryan Briscoe	82.50	4	-9
14	Greg Biffle	82.50	22	8
15	Kyle Busch	82.44	18	3
16	Jeff Gordon	82.25	17	1
17	Mark Martin	82.15	5	-12
18	Jason Leffler	81.77	6	-12
19	Danica Patrick	81.75	15	-4
20	Sebastian Vettel	81.43	32	12
21	Carl Edwards	80.96	21	0
22	Ryan Newman	80.13	11	-11
23	Matt Kenseth	79.25	25	2
24	Juan Montoya	78.17	26	2
25	Dan Wheldon	78.00	24	-1
26	Denny Hamlin	77.08	19	-7
27	Matt Crafton	76.86	20	-7
28	Kasey Kahne	74.92	31	3
29	Timo Glock	74.43	23	-6
30	Nico Rosberg	73.29	30	0
31	Stephen Leicht	73.00		NR
32	Ron Hornaday Jr	72.38	40	8
33	Jeff Burton	70.88	28	-5
34	Steve Wallace	70.33	37	3
35	David Reutimann	70.29	33	-2
36	Brian Vickers	69.18	42	6
37	Felipe Massa	68.86	63	26
38	Marco Andretti	68.38	34	-4
39	Justin Allgaier	68.00	36	-3
40	Jason Keller	67.92	38	-2
41	Tayler Malsam	67.71	41	0
42	Tony Kanaan	67.63	35	-7
43	Fernando Alonso	67.00	29	-14
44	Sam Hornish Jr	67.00	52	8
45	Kimi Raikkonen	66.71	57	12
46	Johnny Sauter	66.57	59	13
47	Jamie McMurray	66.50	44	-3
48	Colin Braun	65.71	76	28
49	Tomas Scheckter	65.40		NR
50	Dale Earnhardt Jr	65.13	39	-11

Previous Unified Power Rankings:

Week 26
Week 25
Week 24
Week 23
Week 22
Week 21
Week 20

Mayfield wins injunction

Jeremy Mayfield has prevailed in his request for a temporary injunction against NASCAR's indefinite suspension, according to a tweet from @DustinLong. He plans to try and qualify at Daytona for the Coke Zero 400.

Our View: If he makes the show, expect him to try and run as long as he can. Anything can happen on a restrictor-plate superspeedway, which means he has as great a chance to finish in the top 20 as anyone else.

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Newman a busy man at Bristol

When the NASCAR Cup series rolls into Bristol Motor Speedway this August, Ryan Newman is going to be a very busy man.

During the wildly popular August race week at the World's Fastest Half-Mile, Newman will start his marathon with the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 Whelen Modified race and the O'Reilly 200 Camping World Truck Series event Wednesday, Aug. 19. On Friday, Aug. 21 he will compete in the Food City 250 Nationwide Series event and run the final leg, the Sharpie 500 Sprint Cup Series race, Saturday, Aug. 22, according to his Website.

Our View: Apparently his crash in the Modifieds last week at New Hampshire has not dulled his enthusiasm any. Those pocket rockets on the high banks should put on one heck of a show.

Petty weighs in on Patrick

Richard Petty has added his two cents on Danica Patrick's potential move to NASCAR, saying this is no sport for a woman, according to Don Coble. He's quoted as saying, "It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity. It gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."

Our View: On second thought, that opinion is not worth two cents. It's another form of bigotry that is not needed in NASCAR.

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Kenseth 2nd, Stewart 5th at Madison

With a few days off, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart traveled to Madison, Wis. And took on the local stock car drivers. Kenseth led until lap 90, but ultimately fell to Chris Wimmer. Stewart finished fifth.

Our View: With so few short tracks on the NASCAR circuit, it's nice to see these guys keep their skills sharp.

Complete story and results

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Logano making ground

Joey Logano is making huge strides in the Cup series, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Last week's victory in the rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301 may have been a gift, but he is perhaps the most improved driver in NASCAR. His first eight races this season netted an average finish of 29.1; his last nine races have improved to 14.3—an advance of 14.8 positions.

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Chevy at Daytona International Speedway

Highlights from a GM Press Release

Team Chevy drivers have won 37 of the 124 points-paying races at Daytona International Speedway (DIS)-more than any other manufacturer

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, leads all active drivers with six (6) Daytona wins;

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard “Serving America”/AMP Energy Impala SS, has two (2) DIS victories

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Burger King Impala SS has two (2) DIS wins

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Impala SS, has one (1) DIS victory

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Pennzoil Platinum Impala SS, has won once (1) at DIS

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Impala SS, has one (1) DIS win

Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army/Haas Automation Impala SS, has won once (1) at DIS

Dodge at Daytona International Speedway

Highlights from a Dodge Press Release

• Dodge Motorsports has 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Daytona International Speedway.

• Dodge placed four drivers inside the top 10 at this year’s Daytona 500. AJ Allmendinger (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth), Reed Sorenson (ninth) and Kurt Busch (10th).

• Dodge Motorsports finished 1-2 at the 2008 Daytona 500 – Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

• Dodge returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001 after an absence of more than 20 years (Dodge exited after the 1978 season). Bill Elliott and Evernham Motorsports made it an impressive return by claiming the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500.

• Dodge has five wins in the July race (A.J. Foyt, Sam McQuagg, Bobby Isaac and Richard Petty-2) at Daytona.

Mayfield sample independently tested

NASCAR sent Jeremy Mayfield's urine sample to an independent lab in Minnesota, according to Court documents. They reportedly confirm the conclusion reached by NASCAR's "in-house" lab.

Our View: Mayfield continues to insist that a combination of prescription and over the counter drugs created a false positive. We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out, but Mayfield is seeking an injunction from the court that would allow him to compete at Daytona.

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Dysfunction at Red Bull Racing

Heading into Daytona this week, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed have issues to work out after an incident on the final lap of the Nationwide race, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Vickers took the first shot immediately following the Saturday race, saying that Speed was frustrated because he was running so badly in the Cup series. Speed responded by suggesting that someone paid Vickers to wreck him on Sunday.Teammates don't have to get along, but if they are going to share notes, it certainly helps. More importantly on the restrictor-plate superspeedways, Speed needs a drafting partner and those are hard to come by for rookies.

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Busch, Speed test Daytona prototype

In advance of this week's Brumos Porsche 250 road course race at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch and Scott Speed tested their Chip Ganassi Lexus at Putnam Park in Indiana, according to Grand-Am.com.

Our View: This is going to be a grueling schedule with the road course race wedged between the NASCAR Cup and Nationwide activity—particularly for Busch, who will participate in both stock car races.

Extra seat time on the twisty tracks is always beneficial for the Cup drivers, which slightly improves their odds at Watkins Glen in a couple of weeks.

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IRL: Changes at the top

On Tuesday, the Board of Directors of Hulman and Company announced a change in leadership, according to a Press Release from the organization. Effectively this ends Tony George's reign and puts two executives in his place.

Our View: In a tough economy with attendance at all top level motorsports shrinking, something had to give.

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Daytona Yahoo! preview

Rattle them bones folks because winning or losing on a plate track is a simple roll of the dice. Even with the multitude of "Big One" crashes, the cream rises to the top at Daytona and Talladega. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for a sneak peak at who'll be their toughest competitors.

171 winners

With his rain-aided victory, Joey Logano became the 171st driver to win a NASCAR Cup race. He joins a long list of active drivers with one win that includes David Reutimann, Juan Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers, Casey Mears and Brad Keselowski.

Our View: Most of these victories were earned on specialty tracks such as the restrictor-plate superspeedways and road courses, or through pit strategy like the one employed by Logano, which shows just how difficult it is to handicap a NASCAR race.

However several highly productive drivers such as Jeff Gordon (tire) and Ryan Newman (rain-aided) were given their first victory by strategy.

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Logano wins rain-shortened race at New Hampshire

For the second time this year a driver has won his first NASCAR race with an assist from Mother Nature. Joey Logano stretched his fuel mileage and caught a final rain shower to win the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

Our View: This is precisely how Kurt Busch won this same race last year, but the points still count the same.

Our other rain-aided winner David Reutimann finished fourth.

No one to the rear at New Hampshire

None of the cars will drop to the back of the pack, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays.

Our View: Of course, this would be more meaningful if qualification had been complete, but it's good news for everyone at the front of the field.

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Competition caution coming on lap 35

NASCAR will throw a caution on lap 35 to allow the teams to gauge their tire wear, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays. The track has had all its rubber washed away by rain.

Our View: This will allow the frontrunners to make needed changes and since they have the best pit stalls, they should be able to stay up front.

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IRL: SunTrust Indy Challenge Results, with avg. finish

It was a good day for Chip Ganassi. His racers ran away from the field and finished first and second at Richmond International Raceway. The victory was Scott Dixon's 19th career win in IRL competition, which ties him with Sam Hornish Jr. for the most in the series. With Ganassi and Roger Penske dominating the Indy Racing League for the moment, it's a fair bet that he will sit alone at the top before long.

Dario Franchitti led most of the race, but was beaten in the pits on the final stop. In dirty air on a 0.750-mile track, he was never able to get around Dixon and recorded his worst IRL short track finish in his last four attempts—he won the three previous.

Danica Patrick continues to be one of the hottest drivers in the series. With a fifth-place finish at Richmond, she recorded her seventh consecutive top-10, of which five were also top-fives. She's been great on the ovals, but the series now turns its attention to a string of road and street courses. There is some hope; the last time the IRL was on a twisty track was at Long Beach and Patrick kicked off her streak with a fourth there after starting deep in the field in 22nd.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	2	Scott Dixon	300	Running	6.86
2	1	Dario Franchitti	300	Running	4.00
3	5	Graham Rahal	300	Running	10.50
4	8	Hideki Mutoh	300	Running	8.50
5	10	Danica Patrick	300	Running	8.40
6	17	Tony Kanaan	299	Running	8.29
7	16	Marco Andretti	299	Running	8.00
8	6	Raphael Matos	299	Running	8.00
9	12	Robert Doornbos	299	Running	9.00
10	13	Dan Wheldon	299	Running	5.71
11	9	Tomas Scheckter	299	Running	9.71
12	7	E J Viso	299	Running	11.00
13	14	Ed Carpenter	299	Running	11.67
14	15	Justin Wilson	298	Running	10.50
15	18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	298	Running	15.50
16	19	Mario Moraes	297	Running	16.50
17	3	Helio Castroneves	245	Accident	7.88
18	11	Mike Conway	135	Accident	18.00
19	4	Ryan Briscoe	26	Accident	18.33
20	20	Jaques Lazier	0	Accident	18.33

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Trucks: MemphisTravel.com 200 results, with avg. finish

It appears that Ron Hornaday Jr.'s troubles are behind him after he dominated and won the MemphisTravel.com 200 to record his second consecutive victory. He led three times during the race for a total of 175 laps and the victory was never in question—not even when a late caution for a two-car incident set up a green-white-checkered finish. More importantly, he stopped the bleeding after back-to-back finishes outside the top 15 gave the owner points' lead over to No. 51 of Billy Ballew.

Brian Scott turned in another gutsy performance. Driving with a cast on his hand, he's posted back-to-back top-fives following the accident at Michigan that left him injured. He was third at the Milwaukee Mile and second this week at Memphis. Scott led 20 laps during the event and was the only other driver to lead more than a couple of circuits.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Ron Hornaday Jr	201	175	Running	5.29
2	8	Brian Scott	201	20	Running	7.50
3	14	David Starr	201		Running	12.10
4	4	Aric Almirola	201	1	Running	17.25
5	11	Matt Crafton	201		Running	8.33
6	3	Mike Skinner	201		Running	13.50
7	9	Timothy Peters	201		Running	12.33
8	15	Johnny Sauter	201		Running	8.00
9	5	Colin Braun	201		Running	19.00
10	12	Todd Bodine	201		Running	14.00
11	13	Rick Crawford	201		Running	12.92
12	10	Brian Ickler	201		Running	12.00
13	2	Terry Cook	201		Running	16.42
14	16	Ricky Carmichael	201		Running	14.00
15	7	Dennis Setzer	201		Running	7.36
16	17	Tayler Malsam	201		Running	16.00
17	6	Stacy Compton	200	1	Running	14.20
18	24	T J Bell	200	4	Running	18.00
19	22	Mario Gosselin	200		Running	19.00
20	18	James Buescher	197		Running	20.00
21	34	Norm Benning	196		Running	21.00
22	23	Brent Sherman	162		Rear Gear	22.00
23	29	Jason White	144		Valve	26.33
24	19	Jason Young	140		Running	24.00
25	20	J J Yeley	139		Rear Gear	25.00
26	26	Hal Martin	119		Overheating	26.00
27	21	Chris Fontaine	115		Suspension	23.50
28	25	Chris Jones	111		Running	30.00
29	31	Wes Burton	94		Vibration	29.00
30	35	Brandon Knupp	28		Engine	30.00
31	32	Trevor Boys	24		Engine	26.50
32	33	Nick Tucker	23		Overheating	33.00
33	36	Mike Harmon	20		Overheating	33.00
34	30	Michelle Theriault	17		Vibration	34.00
35	28	Butch Miller	16		Drive Shaft	19.00
36	27	Brent Raymer	11		Handling	36.00
37		Andy Ponstein	0		Did Not Qualify
38		Paul Bamburak	0		Did Not Qualify

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IRL: Ganassi guys finish 1-2

Scott Dixon beat Dario Franchitti off pit road in the final pit stop and that was all it took. Dixon held onto the lead and beat his teammate to the checkered flag by mere car-lengths.

Our View: Earlier in the day, Gibbs' guys Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished first and second, but it wasn't all rosy for teammates. Both Penske drivers crashed out of the IRL race.

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Trucks: Hornaday dominates and wins Memphis

Last month's troubles are a distant memory. Ron Hornaday Jr. has won back-to-back races at the Milwaukee Mile and Memphis Motorsports Park.

Our View: He made this one look easy and best of all, he gets to savor it for two weeks before the series returns to Kentucky Speedway on July 18.

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N'Wide: Camping World RV Sales 200 Results

One of the most amazing records in NASCAR was extended this week when Kyle Busch became the 23rd different winner of a Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. If he stumbled, teammate Joey Logano was on his bumper ready to strike and he was also looking for his first victory on this track.

That Joe Gibbs Racing would win was never in question. Logano led the most laps even though Busch led the last one. These two drivers were the class of the field.

The remainder of the drivers was left to fight for third on back and Brad Keselowski was best in class. With a third in the Camping World RV Sales 200, he posted his fifth consecutive finish of third or better and that makes him the hottest driver on the circuit. Mike Bliss and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Jason Leffler has his own streak going and he barely extended it this week. With a 10th-place finish at New Hampshire, he posted his 11th consecutive top-10 finish. He almost saw that streak end, however. On the final lap teammates Brian Vickers and Scott Speed got into a tangle that saw Vickers fall out of the top-10 on the final lap.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	9	Kyle Busch	200	Running	11.25
2	1	Joey Logano	200	Running	2.00
3	7	Brad Keselowski	200	Running	6.50
4	10	Mike Bliss	200	Running	18.00
5	5	Kevin Harvick	200	Running	5.22
6	2	Carl Edwards	200	Running	3.20
7	6	Greg Biffle	200	Running	18.25
8	4	Scott Speed	200	Running	8.00
9	11	Erik Darnell	200	Running	9.00
10	12	Jason Leffler	200	Running	17.71
11	24	Steve Wallace	200	Running	15.67
12	8	Brian Vickers	200	Running	8.00
13	13	Justin Allgaier	200	Running	13.00
14	3	Clint Bowyer	200	Running	10.00
15	16	Michael McDowell	200	Running	15.00
16	14	Scott Lagasse Jr	200	Running	28.00
17	20	Scott Wimmer	200	Running	11.71
18	28	Elliott Sadler	200	Running	20.00
19	31	Michael Annett	200	Running	19.00
20	21	Kenny Wallace	199	Running	19.06
21	38	Brendan Gaughan	199	Running	21.00
22	43	Sean Caisse	198	Running	22.00
23	23	Jason Keller	198	Running	17.94
24	35	Matt Carter	196	Running	24.00
25	30	Ken Butler III	196	Running	25.00
26	39	Danny O'Quinn Jr	196	Running	25.67
27	18	Joe Nemechek	196	Running	18.75
28	36	John Wes Townley	196	Running	28.00
29	25	Bobby Hamilton Jr	196	Running	12.38
30	40	Tony Raines	196	Running	21.00
31	34	Benny Gordon	196	Running	31.00
32	42	Chase Mattioli	192	Running	32.00
33	41	Eric McClure	176	Engine	32.33
34	26	Brian Keselowski	92	Overheating	34.00
35	15	Paul Menard	50	Engine	16.00
36	32	Mark Green	23	Start and Park	27.43
37	33	Derrike Cope	19	Start and Park	29.71
38	29	Travis Kittleson	13	Start and Park	38.00
39	27	Kevin Lepage	13	Start and Park	20.00
40	22	Casey Atwood	8	Start and Park	23.14
41	19	Kelly Bires	4	Start and Park	29.00
42	37	Willie Allen	3	Start and Park	42.00
43	17	Johnny Chapman	2	Start and Park	37.00
44		Justin Hobgood	0	DNQ
45		Morgan Shepherd	0	DNQ	32.50
46		Kertus Davis	0	DNQ	34.67
47		Mike Wallace	0	DNQ	17.63

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N'Wide: Gibbs guys finish 1-2

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano dominated the Camping World RV Sales 200 and finished first and second. Logano led the most laps, but Busch led the one that mattered most and won.

Our View: The last time these two drivers finished one two, it was Logano winning at Kentucky, so turnabout is fair play.

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Newman, Kahne crash in NASCAR Modifieds

The foray into the NASCAR Modified series ended in accidents for both Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne. Finishing 34th, Newman crashed on lap 64 while running second; Kahne crashed on lap 72 and finished 31st. Donny Lia won.

Our View: Both drivers spent time in the top 10, so hopefully they enjoyed the experiment.

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Truex announcement coming in two weeks

According to a tweet from @BobPockrass, Martin Truex Jr. expects to make an announcement about his future in two weeks. That is the same time Michael Waltrip has an announcement scheduled about the future driver of the No. 55.

Our View: Two plus two equals four. Michael Waltrip Racing is on the uptick with strong showings by Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann. Truex will raise the bar even higher.

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Trucks: Hornaday on Memphis pole

Ron Hornaday Jr. has won the pole for the MemphisTravel.com 200 and will lead the field to the green Saturday night.

Our View: After three tough weeks in which he earned only one top-10, Hornaday was back on track last week with a victory at the Milwaukee Mile. That makes him one of the favorites for this week's race as well.

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New Hampshire pit stall selections

Jayski.com has published the pit stall selections. As expected, Tony Stewart took the pit closest to the exit. Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson have the only other three pits with an opening in front of them.

Our View: New Hampshire can develop a tendency in which it is hard to pass, so these four drivers have improved their odds considerably with their selections.

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Harvick wins New Hampshire Happy Hour

Kevin Harvick posted the quickest average speed in New Hampshire's Happy Hour with a speed of 126.350 during 43 laps.

Our View: That should make him a compelling dark horse and he ran strong at Martinsville earlier in the year, but so much has gone wrong this year that it's hard to recommend him.

Truex posts single fastest lap in Happy Hour

Martin Truex Jr. posted the fastest single lap in Happy Hour with a speed of 128.186. His average speed was not bad either. At 126.253 during 43 laps, he was fifth best on average.

Our View: Truex was one of our dark horses at the beginning of the week and he's solidified his position as a strong mid-cap driver. A top-10 in well within his reach.

N'Wide: Logano on New Hampshire pole

Joey Logano has figured out qualification in the Nationwide Series. He earned his third consecutive pole at New Hampshire on the heels of the same feat at Dover and Kentucky.

Our View: In the two previous races, Logano finished second at Dover (and would have won if he teammate Kyle Busch had communicated better) and he won at Kentucky.

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Sorenson posts single fast lap in NH Sat. am practice

Reed Sorenson posted the single fastest lap in the Saturday morning practice session with a top speed of 128.472 mph. He also had the quickest average speed of 126.921 during 29 laps. That certainly makes him a driver to watch in Happy Hour.

Our View: Sorenson has been uneven on the short, flat tracks, but so far this year he's finished 17th at Martinsville and 12th at Phoenix.

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IRL: Richmond lineup with avg. start/finish

Dario Franchitti continues to prove his prowess on the short tracks of the Indy Racing League. After sweeping both events last year at Iowa and Richmond, he got off to another fast start on Rusty Wallace's track near Des Moines.

Teammate Scott Dixon is to his outside, while Helio Castroneves lines up behind him. Notably, Castroneves' teammate Ryan Briscoe is on the outside of tow two, so all of these drivers should feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Lineup with avg. start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Dario Franchitti	4.50	7.00	4
2	Scott Dixon	7.83	7.50	6
3	Helio Castroneves	6.57	5.71	7
4	Ryan Briscoe	18.00	7.00	2
5	Graham Rahal	18.00	3.00	1
6	Raphael Matos
7	E J Viso	10.00	19.00	1
8	Hideki Mutoh	13.00	7.00	1
9	Tomas Scheckter	9.50	12.83	6
10	Danica Patrick	9.25	14.25	4
11	Mike Conway
12	Robert Doornbos
13	Dan Wheldon	5.00	8.67	6
14	Ed Carpenter	11.40	14.20	5
15	Justin Wilson	7.00	23.00	1
16	Marco Andretti	8.33	7.00	3
17	Tony Kanaan	8.67	7.67	6
18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	16.00	25.00	1
19	Mario Moraes	17.00	20.00	1
20	Jaques Lazier	17.50	10.00	2

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IRL: Franchitti on Richmond pole

Dario Franchitti won the pole for Saturday night's SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond with a speed of 167.315 mph.

Our View: Franchitti will be gunning for his fourth consecutive IRL short track win—and in his last five attempts at Iowa and Richmond, he's not finished worse than third.

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N'Wide: Double file restarts coming

NASCAR has announce that double-file restarts are coming to the Nationwide Series, beginning next week at Daytona International Speedway, according to a twee from @NASCAR_NNS.

Our View: That won't have any impact next week, since cars are two abreast moments after the green falls anyway, but it will add excitement to the rest of the season.

Yahoo! Qualification Story – New Hampshire

Mother Nature won time trials for the third time this year, but history suggest that is not a bad thing. check out our predictions in this weeks Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

Qualification canceled

Qualification has been cancelled at New Hampshire. The grid will be set by the NASCAR rule book, which puts Tony Stewart on the pole.

Our View: The last time this happened was at Pocono. Stewart wrecked a car there and had to race his backup. That sent him to the back of the pack, but since he wrecked early this week, he will be able to start his backup on the pole. (Unless, of course, he wrecks again and has to roll out another car.)

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Ku Busch wins first practice

Kurt Busch posted the fastest single lap in the first practice session for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 with a speed of 130.667 mph. This practice session is typically focused on qualification setup, but with rain in the area, teams also worked on trace trim much of the day.

Our View: Busch is the defending winner of this race, but that victory came as the result of stretching his fuel mileage and catching the right shower in a rain-shortened afternoon. This week, he's strong enough to earn the win outright.

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Stewart crashes in NH practice 1

Tony Stewart preceded Mark Martin into the wall early in the first practice session at New Hampshire, but he did much more damage. The No. 14 team will roll out a backup.

Our View: So long as they change the engine before qualification, they should be able to hang onto their grid position from qualification. Fantasy owners will also remember how well he did in his backup at Pocono – he won.

The backup is reportedly the same one that finished second at Richmond—another relatively flat track.

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Martin spins in NH practice 1

Mark Martin drifted high in turn four, lightly slapped the wall and spun in the first practice session.

Our View: There appeared to be very little damage to his Chevrolet, however, so he should be fine for qualification and practice.

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Newman, Kahne qualify for NH Modified race

Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne have qualified for the Modified portion of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway weekend, according to a tweet from @NASCARHomeTracks. Newman will start seventh, while Newman is quite far behind in 17th.

Our View: These cars are very different from anything they have run, so it is amazing that Newman qualified so well. Aside from the novelty of them racing in this series, it will not have much impact on their fantasy value.

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Bowyer about New Hampshire

It's been a special track for me. It's where I got my first win in the Cup Series. It's just a fun racetrack. It seems like these mile racetracks are playing in my favor, and I enjoy it. Running in the Nationwide race this weekend. So looking forward to an action-packed weekend and Shane and all of the guys on The Hartford Chevrolet have been working hard and making sure that we are ready to go.

I think we have stopped the bleeding a little bit. We got going the wrong way in the points there and stopped the bleeding, got things pointed back in the right direction and I think we have got four Top-12s here in a row, so definitely got the consistency back that we are made out of and hopefully we'll start our march back into inside the Chase here in the next few weeks.

But you know, getting back to New Hampshire, I just enjoy the racetrack. I enjoy the raciness of the racetrack, being able to control a little bit of your own destiny. As you said, getting back to my first win, that's the one that you'll never forget, you know, and to be able to win it in pretty much dominant fashion meant a lot to me, and beating your peers and everything else. It's just a great weekend.

This is our second race with having The Hartford on the Chevrolet, so looking forward to that, and the first week of our contest. Enter to win this contest, enter at thehartfordracing.com, enter a chance to win a trip to Homestead Miami at the season final and a boating excursion with me championship weekend. It will be a lot of fun and a good time, so make sure you enter at thehartfordracing.com.

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