Mayfield Motorsports to Yeley, "not so fast"

It seems like the announcement J.J. Yeley would drive the No. 41 was a bit premature, according to FoxSports.com. No driver has been officially named yet.

Our View: Does it really matter? This team has been nothing more than field filler all year and when they qualify, it's a start and park operation. Yeley would be a huge step up for this team, but the team is not capable of backing him.

"Cookie-cutter" kings dominate Texas/Atlanta

The four drivers with the best "cookie-cutter" Fantasy Power Rankings * average dominated the last two races on unrestricted, intermediate speedways.

Our View: Jeff Gordon won at Texas and finished second at Atlanta, which contributed to his Power average of 10.21. Jimmie Johnson was second at Texas and ninth at Atlanta (with a Power average of 6.90), Tony Stewart was fourth at Texas and eighth at Atlanta (11.17) and Matt Kenseth was fifth at Texas and 12th at Atlanta (10.80). Those are the four best Power averages on this track type.

* The Fantasy Power Rankings is a driver's raw finish plus the time they spend among the lead, average running position and several other strength'-based intangibles.

Truck: Billy Ballew gets four race sponsor

Billy Ballew Motorsports will have sponsorship from the Samsung Instinct mobile phone during the next four races beginning at Lowe's, according to SceneDaily.com. Brian Ickler and Ryan Lawler will share driving responsibilities.

Our View: Especially in the Craftsman Truck Series money is crucial to success since the purses are so small. This team has been able to do an amazing job with limited resources so far, mostly because of Kyle Busch's remarkable talent.

F1: Sauber's making progress

BMW Sauber earned their first two points of the season in the Spanish Grand Prix when Nick Heidfeld finished seventh, but team principal Mario Theissen believes the team is making notable progress, according to Formula1.com.

Our View: The team hopes to have a "modified KERS" system in place for the Turkish Grand Prix in June. The added boost could help in the long straights between turns 10 and 12.

Nationwide: Suspended crewman resigns

Ben Williams, the crewman suspended last week for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, has resigned from Roush-Fenway Racing.

Our View: The No. 16 team will need to find another gas man, and team chemistry always takes a while to build.

IRL: Everything falls in place for Sharp

Scott Sharp qualified only 20th for the Indy 500, but he's never been happier to be in the show, according to IndyCar.com.

Our View: "It seemed liked the car should have been faster, but you can only do what you can do," Sharp said. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence in potential fantasy players.

Notables on the outside looking in

Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are among the notable drivers on the outside of the top 12 in points who need to pick up the pace to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Our View: In the first several years of the Chase, it has been shown that drivers in the top 12 at this stage of the season are liable to stay there, which is bad news for these drivers' fans.

F1: Spanish GP Recap

Formula1.com has published a snapshot analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix, and no one will be surprised to see Brawn Racing highlighted after Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello swept the race.

Our View: Two traditional powerhouses, McLaren and Williams struggled, which makes this an interesting season to handicap.

Results

IRL: Hamilton confident about Indy

Davey Hamilton is approaching the Indy 500 with confidence after qualifying for the Indy 500 during the second day of time trials, according to RacingOne.com.

Our View: Hamilton has made the last two Indy 500s and finished ninth in the 2007 edition of this race, but he may yet be a little rusty. Those are his only two IRL events since midway through the 2001 season.

Yeley in for Mayfield

J.J. Yeley will sub for Jeremy Mayfield effective immediately, according to RacingOne.com.

Our View: It won't matter much who is behind the wheel; this team has struggled to finish better than 40th each time they have made the race. In addition, Mayfield cannot be listed as the owner, so any owner points will probably not help them climb toward the top 35.

Truex spends most time in Darlington top five

Martin Truex Jr. spent the most laps among the top five at Darlington, with 235 of 367 laps at the very top of the field. Tony Stewart (214), Ryan Newman (190), Greg Biffle (180) and Kasey Kahne (162) rounded out the top five.

Our View: This data is approximate and based on NASCAR.com's TrackPass, but it is a good gauge of who showed the greatest strength. Put their name in a reminder file for next year's Southern 500.

Buescher wins ARCA contest

Up and coming driver James Buescher held off Justin Lofton at Kentucky Speedway to win the ARCA Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150, according to ARCA.com.

Our View: This series provides a great opportunity to learn the fast line around tracks like Kentucky Speedway—one of the "cookie-cutter" courses. This slightly improves Buescher's odds in the Nationwide Series on the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks.

Keselowski earns respect

Brad Keselowski earned a Darlington stripe or two last weekend, but more importantly, he earned veterans' respect, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: Rookie success is not unheard of at Darlington, but it is certainly uncommon. After winning Talladega and then finishing in the top 10 at Darlington in consecutive attempts, Keselowski can pretty much write his on ticket among mid-range teams.

IRL: 11 more in the Indy 500 field

The second day of qualification is in the books at Indy and two-thirds of the field is now set.

Raphael Matos posted the fastest time of the day and rounds out row four.

Row five will be made up of Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira and Justin Wilson.

Row six will be made up of Hideki Mutoh, Ed Carpenter and Dan Wheldon.

Row seven will be made up of A.J. Foyt IV, Scott Sharp and Sarah Fisher.

And finally, Davey Hamilton qualified 22nd to take the final spot on the roster.

Our View: The pressure is off these drivers, but the remaining hopefuls have to sweat all week until next Saturday's session.

F1: Spanish Grand Prix Results

Jenson Button has gotten off to an amazing start in 2009 by winning four of the first five events on the Formula 1 calendar, but the Spanish Grand Prix was a study in domination for the entire team. This week, Button led teammate Rubens Barrichello to the line. Team orders may have come into play, but either way, both drivers earned maximum points.

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status
1	1	Jenson Button	66	Running
2	3	Rubens Barrichello	66	Running
3	5	Mark Webber	66	Running
4	2	Sebastian Vettel	66	Running
5	8	Fernando Alonso	66	Running
6	4	Felipe Massa	66	Running
7	13	Nick Heidfeld	66	Running
8	9	Nico Rosberg	66	Running
9	14	Lewis Hamilton	65	Running
10	6	Timo Glock	65	Running
11	10	Robert Kubica	65	Running
12	12	Nelson Piquet Jr	65	Running
13	11	Kazuki Nakajima	65	Running
14	20	Giancarlo Fisichella	65	Running
15	16	Kimi Raikkonen	17	Hydraulics
16	18	Heikki Kovalainen	7	Gear Box
17	7	Jarno Trulli	0	Accident
18	15	Sebastian Buemi	0	Accident
19	17	Sebastian Bourdais	0	Accident
20	19	Adrian Sutil	0	Accident

Two crewmen also suspended

In addition to Jeremy Mayfield, two NASCAR crew members were also suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. These were Tony Martin, a crew member with the No. 34 Cup team and Ben Williams, a crew member of the No. 16 Nationwide Series team.

Our View: Fans should appreciate the integrity that NASCAR tries to bring to their sport, as opposed to the stick and ball sports. Stock cars are just too dangerous to allow any leniency in regards to drugs.

Bowyer's streak ends at 83

Clint Bowyer came up one race shy of tying Herman Beam's long-standing record of 84 races in which he was running at the end. On lap 221 of the 367 that make up the Southern 500, he bounced off the wall and was turned into the inside retaining wall. The damage was too great to overcome.

Our View: In some ways, this was karma. Two weeks ago at Talladega, the team waited until two laps remaining to get his crash damaged Chevrolet back on track—most likely because it would not have been capable of meeting NASCAR's minimum speed requirement in that race.

IRL: 11 locked in to Indy 500

In the first day of qualification, 11 drivers have been locked into the Indy 500. Led by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe is in the middle of the first row and Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti is on the outside of that row.

Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan make up row two.

Mario Moraes, Marco Andretti and Will Power make up row three.

And finally, Danica Patrick and Alex Lloyd will take the inside and middle of row four. The rest of the field will be filled on Sunday and next Saturday.

Our View: Castroneves has bragging rights, but the remainder of the field can rest easier knowing they will start near the front of the field.

Gordon extends top-five streak

Jeff Gordon extended his top-five streak to six consecutive races, although he overcame long odds en route.

Our View: Gordon was forced to pit on lap 101 when he felt a vibration in his wheel. After that, he circled the track a lap off the pace for more than 110 circuits before getting NASCAR's "Free Pass." He stormed to the front as soon as he was back with the leaders and eventually finished fourth.

Darlington's rapid rookies

Rookies are not supposed to run strong at Darlington and everyone waited for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano to stumble in the Southern 500. When the checkers waved, however, both of them were in the top 10. Keselowski finished seventh and Logano was ninth.

Our View: It's time to be cautiously optimistic about starting the rookies, especially now that we are closing in on the second half of the season.

Southern 500 Results

Hendrick Motorsports dominated the top five. In addition to Mark Martin winning the race, Jimmie Johnson finishing second and Jeff Gordon in fifth, their engines were in the Stewart-Haas cars raced by Tony Stewart in third and Ryan Newman in fifth. Another HMS driver, Brad Keselowski finished seventh.

Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg. Fin at track
1	12	Mark Martin	367	46	Running	12.00
2	42	Jimmie Johnson	367	2	Running	6.91
3	18	Tony Stewart	367	1	Running	11.94
4	3	Ryan Newman	367	48	Running	12.45
5	2	Jeff Gordon	367	6	Running	11.28
6	16	Martin Truex Jr	367	61	Running	11.25
7	31	Brad Keselowski	367		Running
8	11	Greg Biffle	367	117	Running	14.00
9	5	Joey Logano	367	19	Running
10	1	Matt Kenseth	367	16	Running	18.00
11	24	Kevin Harvick	367		Running	20.08
12	6	Jeff Burton	367		Running	11.48
13	23	Denny Hamlin	367		Running	8.00
14	19	Elliott Sadler	367	2	Running	18.65
15	40	Paul Menard	367		Running	27.33
16	8	Kurt Busch	367		Running	17.46
17	38	A J Allmendinger	367		Running	26.67
18	27	Bobby Labonte	367	2	Running	15.24
19	41	Reed Sorenson	367		Running	25.50
20	25	Juan Montoya	367		Running	22.00
21	29	Regan Smith	367		Running	25.00
22	20	Jamie McMurray	367		Running	16.44
23	7	Kasey Kahne	366	45	Running	15.29
24	34	David Stremme	366		Running	27.67
25	39	Tony Raines	364		Running	33.67
26	32	Scott Speed *	362		Running
27	26	Dale Earnhardt Jr	360		Running	15.07
28	28	Robby Gordon	353		Running	25.07
29	21	David Reutimann	347		Running	27.00
30	4	Sam Hornish Jr	344		Running	34.00
31	35	Brian Vickers	333		Accident	28.57
32	9	Carl Edwards	314		Running	15.67
33	10	Marcos Ambrose	312		Running
34	14	Kyle Busch	303	2	Running	20.40
35	22	Max Papis	302		Running
36	13	Casey Mears	238		Running	30.22
37	17	Clint Bowyer	221		Accident	21.00
38	15	David Ragan	199		Accident	23.33
39	37	Scott Riggs	101		Quit	29.67
40	36	Michael Waltrip	73		Engine	22.44
41	33	Dave Blaney	56		Quit	24.38
42	43	Sterling Marlin	38		Quit	18.91
43	30	David Gilliland	27		Fuel Pump	31.00
44		Jeremy Mayfield	0		Did Not Qualify	19.91
45		Scott Speed *	0		Did Not Qualify
	32	Joe Nemechek	0		Did Not Start	24.38

* Speed failed to qualify, and then worked out a deal to race Joe Nemechek's car, so he's listed twice in this week's results.

Stewart-Haas sweep top five again

Stewart-Haas Racing placed both Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman in the top five for the second straight week. Tony Stewart finished third and Ryan Newman was fourth.

Our View: Last week, Stewart was second at Richmond and Newman was fourth. These two tracks could not be any more dissimilar, and that underscores just how strong Stewart-Haas is this year. It's only a matter of time until they win, so fantasy owners should treat them both as place-and-hold drivers.

Hendrick dominates Darlington

Hendrick Motorsports dominated Darlington. In addition to Mark Martin's victory in the Southern 500, Jimmie Johnson finished second, Jeff Gordon was fifth and rookie Brad Keselowski was seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running in the top 10 until he hit the wall late in the race.

Our View: There are horses for courses and HMS is one of the best values on nearly any track, and a rough-surface track brings the cream to the top.

Martin wins Southern 500

The "Old Man" did it again. Mark Martin stayed out during a lap 319 caution flag and held the field at bay on old tires and very little fuel to win his second race of 2009.

Our View: Rick Hendrick lured him into the No. 5 with promises that he could win and challenge for the championship. Looks like he was right.

IRL: Castroneves on Indy pole

Helio Castroneves held on to win the pole for the Indy 500, with an average speed of 224.864 mph during four laps.

Our View: A 500 mile race is a long event, but there is no more prestige for any other pole in American racing.

Mayfield suspended

Jeremy Mayfield has been indefinitely suspended for violations of NASCAR's substance abuse policy.

Our View: NASCAR has said the team may continue to operate, but someone else will have to head up the operation. Mayfield failed to qualify for the Southern 500.

Gordon scheduled for work on his back

Jeff Gordon will have some work done on his back in between the All-Star race and the Coke 600, according to Dustin Long.

Our View: "(The treatment) is nothing invasive," Gordon told Long. "It's just some injections that are going to do deal with the pain. They say it's sort of like an arthritis and it's excessive because of some of the trauma that my back has gone through, maybe through some wrecks or something. So that's what we're going to do. That's the plan.'' If this increases his comfort, Gordon will be even stronger on race day.

Pit stall selections

Jayski.com has published the pit stall selection for the Southern 500.

Our View: As expected, pole sitter Matt Kenseth took the pit closest to pit exit. Jeff Gordon selected the final pit in the front group, with an opening behind him. Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose are the remaining drivers with an opening in front of them.

IRL: Castroneves takes pole from Briscoe

With a speed of an average 224.864 mph, Helio Castroneves has taken the provisional pole from Ryan Briscoe.

Our View: You have to love the four-lap qualification procedures for the Indy 500. That means a driver has to make four perfect laps.

IRL: Philippe crashes

Add Nelson Philippe to the list of drivers who have crashed at Indy. He destroyed his primary car.

Our View: Philippe does not have a backup at the track today, so he will not get a chance to qualify in the top third of the field.

Speed to replace Nemechek

Scott Speed will replace Joe Nemechek in the No. 87 car, which will allow him to start the Southern 500 after failing to qualify on Friday, according to a Tweet from Dustin Long.

Our View: Part of Nemechek's stable of cars are some on Red Bull Racing Toyotas, so Speed should be right at home.

IRL: Wheldon crashes in Indy practice

Dan Wheldon crashed coming off turn two during practice for the Indy 500.

Our View: There appears to be major suspension damage at the back of the car, so this will certainly cause the team to roll out their backup. This is the second damaged car for Panther Racing after Scott Sharp crashed on Friday.

Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Results

Kyle Busch dominated the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, but he was denied the victory in the closing laps because of a cut tire from debris from a Scott Lagasse Jr. / Joe Nemechek crash late in the event. The accident occurred with two laps remaining.

Matt Kenseth was chasing him down at the time, however, and they would have had a heck of a battle.

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status
1	6	Matt Kenseth	153	4	Running
2	7	Jason Leffler	153		Running
3	3	Carl Edwards	153	5	Running
4	5	Erik Darnell	153		Running
5	16	Justin Allgaier	153		Running
6	2	Ryan Newman	153		Running
7	19	Mike Bliss	153		Running
8	9	Jeff Burton	153		Running
9	31	Scott Wimmer	153		Running
10	10	Brian Vickers	153		Running
11	8	Brad Keselowski	153		Running
12	4	Joey Logano	153		Running
13	24	Scott Speed	153		Running
14	14	Steve Wallace	153		Running
15	11	Jason Keller	153		Running
16	1	Kyle Busch	153	143	Running
17	23	Patrick Carpentier	153		Running
18	17	Kenny Wallace	153		Running
19	15	Brendan Gaughan	152		Running
20	21	Brian Scott	152		Running
21	18	Tony Raines	152	1	Running
22	13	Scott Lagasse Jr	152		Running
23	32	Jeff Green	151		Running
24	29	Brian Keselowski	151		Running
25	30	Brandon Whitt	150		Running
26	25	Kevin Hamlin	150		Running
27	28	Danny O'Quinn Jr	150		Running
28	27	Eric McClure	149		Running
29	20	Michael Annett	149		Running
30	26	Jeff Fuller	148		Running
31	33	Morgan Shepherd	148		Running
32	22	Joe Nemechek	142		Accident
33	12	Michael McDowell	140		Running
34	35	John Wes Townley	117		Throttle
35	37	Kevin Lepage	57		Accident
36	36	Kenny Hendrick	54		Accident
37	43	Mike Harmon	36		Brakes
38	38	Travis Kittleson	19		Overheating
39	40	Mark Green	17		Quit
40	39	Kertus Davis	15		Quit
41	41	Terry Cook	13		Quit
42	42	Johnny Chapman	12		Quit
43	34	Casey Atwood	11		Transmission

IRL: Wilson's time disallowed

Justin Wilson's first qualification attempt was disallowed because he had weight or ballast in an unapproved position. Speculation is that the team failed to accurately gauge how his body weight would affect IndyCar's allowable balance.

Our View: This counts as one of Wilson's three attempts on pole day, but he still has two chances to lock his team in the race in the front third of the field.

Southern 500 Starting Grid

Starting position is critical to running well at Darlington and a race has been won from the front row there 33 percent of the time. Matt Kenseth blistered the asphalt with a new track record, but the biggest news is that he bettered his average start by more than 20 positions.

Jeff Gordon has the best average start among Saturday's starters with a 6.76, and he padded that with his outside pole run.

Starting Grid

Start	Driver	Avg. Start at Track
1	Matt Kenseth	21.38
2	Jeff Gordon	6.76
3	Ryan Newman	9.00
4	Sam Hornish Jr	13.50
5	Joey Logano
6	Jeff Burton	21.30
7	Kasey Kahne	10.00
8	Kurt Busch	11.23
9	Carl Edwards	15.00
10	Marcos Ambrose
11	Greg Biffle	8.22
12	Mark Martin	13.07
13	Casey Mears	19.56
14	Kyle Busch	18.20
15	David Ragan	18.00
16	Martin Truex Jr	25.50
17	Clint Bowyer	14.75
18	Tony Stewart	17.18
19	Elliott Sadler	11.41
20	Jamie McMurray	16.00
21	David Reutimann	21.67
22	Max Papis
23	Denny Hamlin	14.00
24	Kevin Harvick	16.23
25	Juan Montoya	28.33
26	Dale Earnhardt Jr	15.87
27	Bobby Labonte	15.69
28	Robby Gordon	30.86
29	Regan Smith	22.50
30	David Gilliland	33.67
31	Brad Keselowski
32	Joe Nemechek	25.48
33	Dave Blaney	22.54
34	David Stremme	22.67
35	Brian Vickers	20.86
36	Michael Waltrip	23.19
37	Scott Riggs	23.50
38	A J Allmendinger	28.00
39	Tony Raines	38.00
40	Paul Menard	34.67
41	Reed Sorenson	28.00
42	Jimmie Johnson	12.00
43	Sterling Marlin	15.74

F1: Williams goes to Hell

Williams Racing will have additional backing from Hell Energy Drinks, according to a team press release. This Hungarian manufacturer has aspirations of becoming the No. 2 brand behind Red Bull.

Our View: It's great to see new "sponsors" in the sport because they bring a new vibe to the series.

Nationwide regulars run strong at Darlington

A Cup veteran, Matt Kenseth may have won the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, but Nationwide Regulars acquitted themselves well. Jason Leffler finished second, rookie Erik Darnell was fourth, rookie Justin Allgaier was fifth, Mike Bliss was seventh and Scott Wimmer came home in 10th.

Our View: It's been quite some time before three Nationwide Regulars finished in the top five and since these drivers command a lower salary cap, fantasy owners got a lot of bang for their buck.

Nationwide: Kenseth wins Darlington

Kyle Busch dominated the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, but a cut tire on the final caution flag handed the victory to Matt Kenseth. It was his 25th win in the series.

Our View: With a handful of laps remaining, Kenseth was catching Busch, but the fans were denied a great battle by Busch's misfortune.

F1: Ferrari Spanish GP preview

The season may already have four races under its belt, but the emotional start to the year happens when the series runs its first European race, according to a press release from Ferrari.

Our View: Ferrari will be challenged with a new chassis and aero-package this week and their thoughts about how this will impact Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa can be found in this release.

Yahoo! qualification story

After two wild practice sessions and an equally dramatic time in qualification, it's hard to find a favorite this week. Here are our best guesses: check out this week's Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

Matt Kenseth may be the only truly happy driver on Friday night; he set a new track record and sits on the pole.

Kenseth breaks track record, on Darlington pole

Matt Kenseth earned the Darlington in fine fashion. He eclipsed Greg Biffle's mark of 179.442 set last year and earned a rare pole.

Our View: Kenseth is not known as a strong qualifier, but when he starts up front, he is hard to beat. With a smooth driving style, he has to be considered one of this week's favorites.

F1: Massa loves Spain

Felipe Massa told press this week: "in terms of the car, we have made a good improvement since the last race, but you have to remember that the other teams are not sleeping and they have also been working a lot to improve their own position," according to a team press release.

Our View: In six previous starts on the Circuit de Catalunya, Massa has amassed an average finish of 5.3 in six starts. He also has a victory on the Valencia Street Circuit, which makes him a master of Spain.

Happy Hour stripes

Here is a partial list of the cars that received stripes in Darlington's Happy Hour:

In Happy Hour:

Sam Hornish Jr. scraped the wall and spun
David Stremme slammed the wall; into backup
Denny Hamlin got a light stripe
Max Papis striped his car
Greg Biffle striped his car
A.J. Allmendinger striped his car
Scott Speed got another stripe
Reed Sorenson changed an engine
Bobby Labonte striped his car
Marcos Ambrose big stripe (backup?)

Martin quickest in Darlington Happy Hour

Mark Martin posted the quickest average speed in Happy Hour practice, with a speed of 176.310 mph during a short seven lap stint.

Our View: Martin is usually one of the drivers who spends a lot of time on track, but with approximately 20 incidents in both sessions, he can be forgiven for not spending a lot of time on track Friday.

F1: Drivers side with Ferrari

Max Mosley may believe Formula 1 can survive without Ferrari, but most of the drivers in the sport do not agree, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Our View: Drivers are concerned that politics will damage the sport, but that has never kept this fiery sanction from following their own council. “Without Ferrari it’s not Formula One anymore,” Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella said Thursday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.