Monster Slayers

Event Day Games Preview: Drivers have been in survival mode lately. From the track Too Tough to Tame, to NASCAR's version of Noah's Ark last week in Charlotte, to the Monster Mile, it just keeps getting rougher.

Dover is one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. Concrete high-banked courses require drivers to pull heavy G-loads in the corners, and this track is nearly as much turn as it is straightaway. The groove at exit is narrow, since all of that momentum pushes a car from the bottom of the course to the outside wall and track blocking, "Big One" crashes are nearly as prevalent at Dover as on one of the restrictor-plate superspeedways.

It’s a rhythm track, however, and once a driver learns the secrets to conquering the Monster, they can often string together some incredibly long streaks. Carl Edwards enters the weekend with five consecutive results of third or better, and this could very well be the week he snaps out of his early-season funk.

Roush-Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are two other drivers who swept the top-five last year and in the fall, three of the Cat in the Hat's men finished first, second and third. If you think you see a pattern emerging, jump on it.

Expect Hendrick Motorsports to be in their mirrors. Last fall, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson finished fourth and fifth on the Roushketeers' bumpers and Jeff Gordon came home just a couple of spots further back in seventh.

Join us at http://www.eventdaygames.com/ this week to play along with our unique fantasy game.

Earnhardt gets new chief

Beginning this week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new crew chief, according to SceneDaily.com. At Dover, Brian Whitesell will take over the duties for one week, while Lance McGrew will take over the permanent post next week at Pocono. Meanwhile, Tony Eury Jr. is being put to pasture in the research and development department.

Our View: Fantasy owners can reasonably expect short term benefits, but Earnhardt still has a way to go before he's going to be recommended for your roster.

Week 22 Unified Power Rankings

The three major auto racing series ran one of the biggest races of their season last week when Formula 1 took to the streets of Monaco, the NASCAR Cup series ran the "Coke 341," and the IRL ran the granddaddy of them all: the Indy 500.

Each of those races carry bonus points. Instead of 110 points for a first-place finish, drivers receive 125, but we had to make some adjustments for the Cup race. Since several drivers remained on track and received better results than they earned through the strength of their cars, we based the Power Point system on average running position for this week.

No matter how count them, Jenson Button continues to be the hottest driver in auto racing having won his fifth Grand Prix in six starts. The twisty streets of Monaco make passing a near impossibility, so no one was surprised that he took the checkers after sitting on the pole. Rubens Barrichello continues to be his wing man and finished second in Formula 1 competition for the third time this season. He's going to be hard to dislodge from that spot, in fact, because he's swept the top-five alongside Button.

Tony Stewart had flashes of brilliance last week in the rain-shortened "Coke 341," but when the field was shuffled by the final rain storm he found his No. 14 Chevy stranded in 19th. Five top-fives in the previous six races, however, gave him enough momentum to stay third on the grid and first among Cup regulars.

Nationwide regular Jason Leffler ran a smart race in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 to finish sixth. That helped elevate him into the top 10 on the Unified Power Rankings scale since it was his sixth consecutive top-10 in recent races.

The Indy Racing League finally ran enough races to include them in this formula and despite winning the Indy 500, Helio Castroneves does not top their chart. There a reason for that; even though the series has run enough times, the driver has not since he was forced to sit out the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg while being his trial for tax evasion was going on.

Dario Franchitti gets that honor. After winning the Grand Prix of Long Beach and finishing in the top 10 in three of the first four IRL races this year, he's the best of class. He shouldn't get too used to the position, however; unless Castroneves crashes early next week at Milwaukee, he is virtually guaranteed to dislodge the Scotsman.

Unified Power Rankings

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	110.67	1	0
2	Rubens Barrichello	99.83	2	0
3	Tony Stewart	91.67	3	0
4	Jason Leffler	88.50	7	3
5	Kurt Busch	88.45	5	0
6	Ryan Newman	85.93	10	4
7	Jimmie Johnson	85.91	8	1
8	Jeff Gordon	85.45	4	-4
9	Denny Hamlin	85.08	6	-3
10	Ron Hornaday Jr	83.75	11	1
11	Dario Franchitti	83.50	NR
12	Ryan Briscoe	83.50	NR
13	Mark Webber	82.00	14	1
14	Tony Kanaan	81.25	NR
15	Danica Patrick	81.00	NR
16	Dan Wheldon	80.75	NR
17	Jeff Burton	79.75	12	-5
18	Mark Martin	79.75	20	2
19	Kyle Busch	79.59	13	-6
20	Timo Glock	79.50	9	-11
21	Brad Keselowski	79.23	23	2
22	Carl Edwards	77.37	15	-7
23	Greg Biffle	76.54	16	-7
24	Fernando Alonso	76.17	21	-3
25	Joey Logano	74.89	31	6
26	Kasey Kahne	74.36	29	3
27	Matt Kenseth	74.19	18	-9
28	Scott Dixon	74.00	NR
29	Matt Crafton	73.75	27	-2
30	Juan Montoya	72.00	19	-11
31	Dale Earnhardt Jr	71.79	26	-5
32	Nico Rosberg	70.00	37	5
33	Brian Vickers	69.50	24	-9
34	Mike Skinner	69.50	32	-2
35	Johnny Benson Jr	68.75	34	-1
36	Jason Keller	68.25	30	-6
37	Scott Lagasse Jr	68.25	42	5
38	David Reutimann	68.23	28	-10
39	Sebastian Vettel	67.50	17	-22
40	Steve Wallace	67.38	43	3
41	Kevin Harvick	66.76	25	-16
42	Justin Allgaier	66.75	45	3
43	Clint Bowyer	65.92	22	-21
44	Jamie McMurray	65.91	46	2
45	Martin Truex Jr	64.00	38	-7
46	Rick Crawford	63.75	56	10
47	Lewis Hamilton	63.67	36	-11
48	Stacy Compton	63.00	53	5
49	James Buescher	62.00	62	13
50	Marcos Ambrose	61.91	35	-15

Dover Yahoo! preview

At one-mile in length with high banks and a rough, concrete surface, Dover is one of the most challenging tracks on the circuit. It's a rhythm track where drivers post long streaks of top-10 finishes. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for a sneak peak at who'll be strong.

Johnson has Darlington chassis

This week at Dover, Jimmie Johnson will run the same chassis that he took from 42nd to second at Darlington two weeks ago, according to a team press release.

Our View: Don't worry overly if something happens to this car. His backup chassis is the same one he started and finished third at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards finds success in the corners

Carl Edwards attributes success in the corners at Dover to success on the track, according to a team press release.

"Dover is pretty much a one-groove track so you need to handle well through the center of the corners in order to keep your position. We won this race in 2007, and we had two strong races there in 2008. My Aflac team is working hard and making some improvements."

Our View: If Edwards is going to turn his season around, this is a great place to do so. His last five efforts at Dover ended in finishes of third or better.

Kenseth's strong at Dover

It took a while for Matt Kenseth to get a hang of this track, according to a team press release, but once he did, the No. 17 has been one of the best cars on the track.

Our View: According to the team, Kenseth did not lead a single lap in his first nine starts at Dover, but he's been up front in seven of his last 11 attempts. He's turned that into five top-10s in his last six races.

IRL: New tire for Milwaukee

Firestone will bring a new tire to the Milwaukee Mile in an attempt to get rid of the tight condition that plagued teams last year, according to a press release from the company.

Our View: All cars will be on the same tire, which levels the playing field, but veterans usually adjust to new circumstances faster than Young Guns.

Gordon Dover preview

"Getting the car balanced right to maximize grip is pretty tricky here," said Jeff Gordon in this week's preview press release. "It's a one-mile track that is high-banked, fast and action-packed. And you're in the corners a lot here."

Our View: Gordon has been one of the strongest drivers on this concrete course during his career, but he has not posted a victory there since 2001. This is one of the most important tracks on his personal schedule, since sponsor DuPont is headquartered just up the road.

Mediocre performance plagues Roush-Fenway

In 2009, Roush-Fenway Racing has been plagued by mediocrity, according to SceneDaily.com, with no wins in the last 10 races and two drivers (Jamie McMurray and David Ragan) outside the top 20 in points.

Our View: Dover could be a cure for that ill, however. The other three Roushketeers, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards each swept the top-five on this concrete track last year and they could be extremely good values.

IRL: Tracy to drive for Foyt

According to IndyCar PR, Paul Tracy will drive AJ Foyt's No. 14 at the Milwaukee Mile. Last week, Vitor Meira took a hard hit to the wall in the Indy 500.

Our View: The combination of these two fiery personalities could either be explosive on the track, or one of the biggest train wrecks in auto racing history, but one way or another—something exciting is going to happen.

Reutimann wins Coke 600

David Reutimann had the right strategy by staying out during the last (of many) rain delay and he won the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: He was nowhere close to the strongest driver, but NASCAR pays points based on winning no matter what the circumstances.

Penske may add 4th team

According to Jayski.com, Penske Racing South is considering adding a fourth Cup team with Justin Allgaier as a part time pilot.

Our View: With so many Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series, it's been a while since the Cup guys have seemed to have a developmental plan in place. Allgaier will be a good value in selected events—not because of his talent, but due to the strength of this organization.

Riggs, Baldwin part company

After the Coke 600 is completed (assuming that ever happens), Scott Riggs and Tommy Baldwin will part ways, according to SceneDaily.com. Riggs cites the lack of competitiveness of the No. 36 as the reason.

Our View: Mike Skinner and Patrick Carpentier are schedule to run the car in most or all of the remaining races, but without sponsorship, this team will not be a good fantasy value.

Competition caution coming

According to Dustin Long, NASCAR is expected to throw a competition caution around lap 40 in the Coke 600.

Our View: Since drivers have not been able to touch there cars and the race has switched from a night race to a day race, this is going to be critical to a team's success.

IRL: Milwaukee, Last five races

Tony Kanaan had another terrible Indy 500 when he crashed before the halfway mark and finished 27th in a 33-car field. If the past is any indication though, he should rebound nicely this week. The Indy Racing League has been going to the Milwaukee Mile for five years and Kanaan has never finished outside the top-five there. In fact, he took top honors in back-to-back season in 2006 and 2007, which makes him one of the favorites to win again this week.

Nearly as stout, Dario Franchitti is back from his NASCAR sojourn and he's never finished worse than sixth in four starts on this track. He won the inaugural race in 2004 and then posted runner-up results in 2005 and 2007. Last week, he was in contention for the 500 victory until trouble in the pits relegated him to seventh, so he will be looking for redemption.

Dan Wheldon does not have the overall numbers of Kanaan and Franchitti, but he's certainly come on strong lately. He struggled to an 18th-place finish in 2004 and was a modest eighth in 2006, but every other result has been a top-five—and that is enough to recommend him for this week's Milwaukee race.

Results, Last five years

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Tony Kanaan	2.60	3	1	1	4	4
Dario Franchitti	2.75		2	6	2	1
Sam Hornish Jr	3.75		9	2	1	3
Oriol Servia	6.00	6
Justin Wilson	7.00	7
Patrick Carpentier	7.00				7
Bryan Herta	7.33			7	6	9
Alex Barron	7.50				8	7
Dan Wheldon	7.60	4	3	8	5	18
E J Viso	8.00	8
Adrian Fernandez	8.00					8
Townsend Bell	8.50	11				6
Jeff Simmons	9.50		10	9
Danica Patrick	10.00	9	8	4	19
Scott Dixon	10.20	2	4	10	13	22
Scott Sharp	10.75		6	12	10	15
Tomas Scheckter	11.00		17	3	3	21
Vitor Meira	11.20	22	5	15	9	5
Buddy Rice	11.60	10	18	11	17	2
Hideki Mutoh	12.00	12
Kosuke Matsuura	12.50		12	17	11	10
Helio Castroneves	12.60	5	16	14	16	12
Felipe Giaffone	13.00					13
Jeff Bucknam	13.00			13
Ed Carpenter	13.20	20	7	16	12	11
Ryan Briscoe	13.67	1		18	22
Marco Andretti	13.67	21	15	5
Mark Taylor	14.00					14
Jimmy Kite	14.00				14
Will Power	14.00	14
Sarah Fisher	14.00		14
Anthony Foyt IV	16.75	17	13		21	16
Roger Yasukawa	15.00				15
Ryan Hunter-Reay	15.00	15
Darren Manning	15.75	13	11		20	19
Enrique Bernoldi	16.00	16
Jaques Lazier	17.00					17
Bruno Junqueira	18.00	18
Buddy Lazier	18.00				18
A J Foyt IV	16.75	17	13		21	16
John Andretti	19.00	19
Tora Takagi	20.00					20
Mario Moraes	23.00	23
Jaime Camara	24.00	24
Graham Rahal	25.00	25
Mario Dominguez	26.00	26
Marty Roth	27.00	27

IRL: Indy 500 Results

It was an exciting Indy 500 with several incidents and drama surrounding who would win. That is until the final laps. At the close of the 500-miler, Helio Castroneves ran away from the field in the closing laps.

Dan Wheldon finished second, but the next biggest newsbreaker in the race was female driver Danica Patrick, who posted a career-best finish of third in the Indy 500. One or two more tweaks and she might have been the first lady to win American auto racing's biggest event.

Indy 500 Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Helio Castroneves	200	Running	6.11
2	18	Dan Wheldon	200	Running	9.00
3	10	Danica Patrick	200	Running	9.00
4	24	Townsend Bell	200	Running	12.00
5	9	Will Power	200	Running	9.00
6	5	Scott Dixon	200	Running	9.14
7	3	Dario Franchitti	200	Running	9.00
8	17	Ed Carpenter	200	Running	13.83
9	13	Paul Tracy	200	Running	5.50
10	16	Hideki Mutoh	200	Running	8.50
11	30	Alex Tagliani	200	Running	11.00
12	26	Tomas Scheckter	200	Running	17.25
13	11	Alex Lloyd	200	Running	19.00
14	20	Scott Sharp	200	Running	16.08
15	2	Ryan Briscoe	200	Running	13.25
16	19	Anthony Foyt IV	200	Running	17.00
17	21	Sarah Fisher	200	Running	25.38
18	27	Mike Conway	200	Running	18.00
19	28	John Andretti	200	Running	21.67
20	31	Milka Duno	199	Running	23.33
21	14	Vitor Meira	173	Accident	9.00
22	12	Raphael Matos	173	Accident	22.00
23	15	Justin Wilson	160	Accident	25.00
24	29	E J Viso	139	Mechanical	25.00
25	32	Nelson Phillippe	130	Accident	25.00
26	25	Oriol Servia	98	Mechanical	18.50
27	6	Tony Kanaan	97	Mechanical	14.25
28	23	Robert Doornbos	85	Accident	28.00
29	22	Davey Hamilton	79	Accident	14.22
30	8	Marco Andretti	56	Mechanical	14.75
31	4	Graham Rahal	55	Accident	32.00
32	33	Ryan Hunter-Reay	19	Accident	19.00
33	7	Mario Moraes	0	Accident	25.50
34		Alex Tagliani	0	Did Not Qualify	11.00
35		Buddy Lazier	0	Did Not Qualify	11.23
36		Stanton Barrett	0	Did Not Qualify

F1: Monaco GP Results

Is there any stopping Brawn Racing? Already the dominant force in not only Formula 1, but also the Unified Power Rankings (which is our attempt to compare all of the major series), Jenson Button has now won five of the first six races and he's going to pad his lead in those standings because the Monaco Grand Prix has a bonus attached to it as one of racing's marquee events.

Of course teammate Rubens Barrichello came in second, but that didn't catch anyone by surprise either.

Pretty much everyone held serve and finished close to where they started, with the exception of drivers like Heikki Kovalainen who crashed on lap 51 and slipped from seventh to 16th and Sebastian Vettel, whose stellar fourth-place qualification effort went for nothing when he wrecked on lap 15.

Monaco Grand Prix Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Jenson Button	78	Running	9.88
2	3	Rubens Barrichello	78	Running	8.41
3	2	Kimi Raikkonen	78	Running	9.44
4	5	Felipe Massa	78	Running	6.71
5	8	Mark Webber	78	Running	9.33
6	6	Nico Rosberg	78	Running	13.25
7	9	Fernando Alonso	78	Running	6.63
8	14	Sebastian Bourdais	78	Running	14.00
9	13	Giancarlo Fisichella	78	Running	9.64
10	19	Timo Glock	77	Running	11.00
11	16	Nick Heidfeld	77	Running	9.60
12	20	Lewis Hamilton	77	Running	5.00
13	18	Jarno Trulli	77	Running	11.38
14	15	Adrian Sutil	77	Running	16.33
15	10	Kazuki Nakajima	76	Running	11.00
16	7	Heikki Kovalainen	51	Accident	12.33
17	17	Robert Kubica	28	Brakes	8.00
18	4	Sebastian Vettel	15	Accident	11.50
19	12	Nelson Piquet Jr	10	Crash Damage	18.00
20	11	Sebastian Buemi	10	Accident	20.00

Castroneves wins Indy 500

Helio Castroneves won the 93rd Indy 500 in dominant fashion.

Our View: He was uncontested in the last segment, which took all the stress away from his fantasy owners.

Rain suspends HH practice

Moments after Robby Gordon slapped the wall in Happy Hour, rain started to fall, which suspended practice. This will probably be it for the night.

Our View: Drivers knew this was coming and spent most of the first session testing things they would have tested in Happy Hour, so the net effect will not be very great.

R Gordon hits wall in HH

Robby Gordon slapped the wall at the five minute mark of Happy Hour and dropped debris on the track. He porbably won't need a backup car.

Our View: The urgency of practice is picking up with rain just outside the track.

N'Wide: Edwards on Lowe's pole

Carl Edwards posted a lap of 183.175 mph to sit on the Nationwide Carquest Auto Parts 300 pole. His closest rival in the points, Kyle Busch qualified second, but will have to drop to the back of the pack Saturday night because of an engine change.

Our View: Starting up front in a 300-mile race is very important, so Edwards has to be considered a threat. Busch cannot be discounted, however, since that kid can work traffic better than almost any other driver in the field.

Rain does not affect Kahne

In response to a question of whether Kasey Kahne approached the first practice session differently because of potential rain canceling Happy Hour, he replied “not really. We just tried to get as many laps in as we could. Hopefully we can get the last session in because the conditions will be very similar to what we should have for tomorrow night’s race. We have a pretty good Budweiser Dodge Charger and we need to keep wrenching on some things to make it as good as we can.”

Our View: Kahne has been able to run strong at Lowe's even when he's struggled elsewhere, which makes him a very interesting sleeper.

Hamlin posts fastest lap in Sat a.m. practice

Denny Hamlin posted the single fastest lap in Friday morning's practice with a speed of 184.338 mph.

Our View: That's all well and good, but his average speed of 179.385 mph during 27 laps was only seventh best on that grid.

F1: Vettel has lightest car

Sebastian Vettel qualified fourth for the Monaco Grand Prix with the lightest car on the grid. With the driver weight and fuel load, his car is nearly 10.5ks lighter than anyone else. The complete list can be found at Crash.net.

Our View: If not for the fact that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were in front of him, Vettel might be able to scoot to the lead, but they are going to be hard to pass. Once in the lead, they have more fuel on board to give them a chance to employ alternate strategy.

Newman wins Sat a.m. practice

Ryan Newman posted the quickest average speeds in practice one, with a speed of 180.180 mph during 17 laps.

Our View: With regards to the talking heads at Fox – one fast lap does not win either practice or a race.

Sorenson slaps wall, McMurray eats donut

Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray got together at the seven minute mark in the first practice session, which put a donut on the No. 26 and slammed the No. 43 into the wall.

Our View: McMurray was faster, but discretion dictates a little give and take. That is the same kind of impatience that has made him a risky proposition on a weekly basis during the race.

Practice begins amidst sprinkles

The first race-trim practice session for the Coca-Cola 600 is underway with rain sprinkling the track.

Our View: Actually, this may replicate Sunday night's conditions fairly well. The track is cooler than it otherwise would be and the heavy air mimics dew,

F1: Monaco GP Lineup

Jenson button continues to be the hottest driver on the Formula 1 circuit. Despite an average starting position of nearly 12th in seven attempts, he put down a blistering fast lap of one minute, 14.902 seconds and will roll off from the pole. That is critical to success on the tight, twisty Monaco road course.

Kimi Raikkonen is in the second position in a Ferrari.

Button is not the only Brawn driver at the front of the field. This new organization has topped the Unified Power Rankings in recent weeks, and teammate Rubens Barrichello starts third.

Lewis Hamilton's struggles continue. He crashed barely four laps into qualification and will have to roll off the grid deep in the field in 16th. He will be lucky to earn a single championship point and should not be considered a good bet to win.

Lineup

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Jenson Button	11.14	11.71	7
2	Kimi Raikkonen	10.25	6.25	8
3	Rubens Barrichello	8.81	8.94	16
4	Sebastian Vettel	5.00	19.00	1
5	Felipe Massa	7.17	10.83	6
6	Nico Rosberg	15.67	6.33	3
7	Heikki Kovalainen	10.50	9.50	2
8	Mark Webber	10.20	10.20	5
9	Fernando Alonso	6.57	5.71	7
10	Kazuki Nakajima	7.00	13.00	1
11	Sebastian Buemi
12	Nelson Piquet Jr	17.00	17.00	1
13	Giancarlo Fisichella	9.69	9.38	13
14	Sebastian Bourdais	20.00	16.00	1
15	Adrian Sutil	17.50	18.50	2
16	Lewis Hamilton	1.50	2.50	2
17	Nick Heidfeld	9.44	13.56	9
18	Robert Kubica	3.50	6.50	2
19	Jarno Trulli	11.25	7.50	12
20	Timo Glock	12.00	10.00	1

F1: Ecclestone to Ferrari "quit and I'll sue"

In the latest barrage in the war of words, Bernie Ecclestone has told Ferrari that if they carry through with their intention to leave F next year, FIA would sue for breach of contract, according to PlanetF1.com.

Our View: Ferrari has become too accustomed to getting their way in motorsports, but fair is fair, If they have a contract, they should be expected to honor it.

Elliott to make 800th start

Bill Elliott will make his 800th Cup start this weekend when he rolls off the grid in the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Experience counts in this race and no one in the field has more than the Georgia native.

Persistent back pain could shorten Gordon's career

If last week's procedure to alleviate his back pain is not successful, Jeff Gordon may retire from NASCAR sooner than he hoped, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Gordon has talked about retirement off and on for several years now, so it would seem that any further problem could push him over the edge.

Hendrick has confidence in 2 Juniors

Rick Hendrick has expressed confidence over the pairing of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Tony Eury Jr., according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: The first question is "based on what?" (Obviously something we can't see.) Regardless of whether Hendrick is confident, none of that will matter if Earnhardt continues to make catastrophic mistakes in the pits.

IRL: Castroneves free at last

Friday was a good day for Helio Castroneves. In addition to topping the practice chart, it was announced that federal prosecutors dropped the final charge against him in his tax evasion case, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Our View: Stress free, Castroneves can now turn 100% of his attention to winning the Indy 500.

Dominating the front of the pack

A driver's finishing position on a track is certainly important—and in the long run, that is the only way most fantasy games pay points—but it is not always the best indicator of who has been strongest. When handicapping a race, we often find it helpful to look at the number of laps drivers have spent in the top 10.

There are two reasons why this is important. The most obvious of these is that driving in the first quarter of the field means a racer and his car has raw power, but equally important is the fact the further forward a car is in the pack, the less likely the driver is to get into trouble. Top-10 drivers are far less likely to make silly mistakes that could cause your fantasy selection to end the day in the garage.

During the last five years, one driver stands head and shoulders above the competition, and he will come as no surprise to anyone who's played the game for more than a year. Jimmie Johnson remains the master of this track, with five victories and 14 top-15s in 16 starts and his time spent in the top-10 reflects this. Johnson has been that far up on the grid in 79 percent of the laps he's run, boasting 2,588 of a possible 3,275 circuits.

The next driver on the list might be a bigger surprise, however. Despite finishing 25th or worse in five of the last 10 races held at Lowe's, Kyle Busch has managed to log 1,850 laps with the leader, which equals 56.5 percent of the time. More important still, most of these laps came in the last three Lowe's races and he converted those strong runs into three consecutive top-fives.

Kasey Kahne is the only other driver to spend more than half of his time among the top-10 during the last five years. He's run with the leaders 50.8 percent of the time (1,665 laps) and has been even more productive than Busch or Johnson in recent events. In his last six starts on this track, Kahne has won three times and finished second on another occasion. With the new Dodge engine in his car this week, he should be considered a threat once more.

Top-10 Laps, last five years

Driver	Top-10 Laps	Possible Laps	%
Jimmie Johnson	2,588	3,275	79.0%
Kyle Busch	1,850	3,275	56.5%
Kasey Kahne	1,665	3,275	50.8%
Mark Martin	1,634	3,275	49.9%
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1,634	3,275	49.9%
Greg Biffle	1,625	3,275	49.6%
Jeff Burton	1,553	3,275	47.4%
David Ragan	593	1,471	40.3%
Ryan Newman	1,274	3,275	38.9%
Kurt Busch	1,227	3,275	37.5%
Jeff Gordon	1,172	3,275	35.8%
Clint Bowyer	726	2,205	32.9%
Denny Hamlin	835	2,541	32.9%
Matt Kenseth	1,060	3,275	32.4%
Tony Stewart	1,043	3,275	31.8%
Brian Vickers	914	2,938	31.1%
Elliott Sadler	866	3,275	26.4%
Carl Edwards	816	3,275	24.9%
Casey Mears	789	3,275	24.1%
Joe Nemechek	577	2,538	22.7%
Scott Riggs	726	3,275	22.2%
Jamie McMurray	682	3,275	20.8%
David Reutimann	283	1,407	20.1%
Bobby Labonte	620	3,275	18.9%
Michael Waltrip	510	2,875	17.7%
Kevin Harvick	459	3,275	14.0%
Dave Blaney	444	3,275	13.6%
Martin Truex Jr.	349	2,605	13.4%
Reed Sorenson	227	2,205	10.3%
David Gilliland	174	1,805	9.6%
Tony Raines	212	2,539	8.3%
Sam Hornish Jr.	56	734	7.6%
David Stremme	80	1,807	4.4%
Robby Gordon	141	3,275	4.3%
Bill Elliott	43	1,471	2.9%
Mike Bliss	31	1,070	2.9%
A.J. Allmendinger	8	1,471	0.5%
Juan Montoya	5	1,471	0.3%
Paul Menard	1	1,471	0.1%
Todd Bodine	0	334	0.0%

F1: Ecclestone sees end in sight

"I think everybody is more or less happy with the budget cap," Bernie Ecclestone said in a report at AutoRacingDaily.com, "although just how much? They will go with it higher, maybe it will be lower. It’s just a case of sorting it out. I am confident all the teams will still be racing next year.”

Our View: It appears that teams are willing to participate, so long as the two-tier technical requirements are scrapped. Any kind of salary cap should provide closer competition, which will make fantasy races more interesting.

IRL: Indy 500 Final Practice

The final practice for the Indy 500 is in the books and only two drivers topped the 223 mph mark. Helio Castroneves posted a single fast lap of 223.920, which was nearly one mile per hour faster than the third quickest driver Mario Moraes. The only racer in the same zip code was Will Power, who clocked in at 223.560.

Practice Times

Rank	Driver	Speed
1	Helio Castroneves	223.920
2	Will Power	223.560
3	Mario Moraes	222.951
4	Dan Wheldon	222.386
5	Ryan Briscoe	222.374
6	Dario Franchitti	222.357
7	Scott Dixon	222.017
8	Graham Rahal	221.771
9	Townsend Bell	221.434
10	Davey Hamilton	221.371
11	Tony Kanaan	221.104
12	Paul Tracy	220.979
13	Vitor Meira	220.607
14	Raphael Matos	220.348
15	Marco Andretti	220.205
16	A.J. Foyt IV	220.119
17	Scott Sharp	219.977
18	Tomas Scheckter	219.887
19	Alex Tagliani	219.833
20	Hideki Mutoh	219.627
21	Ed Carpenter	219.602
22	Mike Conway	219.560
23	Danica Patrick	219.328
24	Oriol Servia	219.317
25	Alex Lloyd	219.262
26	Justin Wilson	218.919
27	Ryan Hunter-Reay	218.593
28	Robert Doornbos	218.164
29	E.J. Viso	217.788
30	Milka Duno	217.599
31	Sarah Fisher	217.315
32	John Andretti	217.296
33	Nelson Philippe	216.631

Schrader 13th at Cresco

Ken Schrader finished 13th in an USMTS Modified race at Cresco Speedway in Iowa in a race won by Zack VanderBeek. He was competing in his third consecutive race with that series after finishing 13th at Oskaloosa and 12th in Marshalltown.

Our View: At least he was consistent.

Yahoo! Qualification Story

Check out this five-page summary (.pdf) of who's hot at Lowe's after qualification for the Coca-Cola 600.

Newman wins 44th pole

Ryan Newman paced Lowe's with a speed of 188.475 mph to earn his 44th pole for the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Despite the length of this race, qualification is important and Newman is in great shape to earn his first top-10 at this track since 2005.

IRL: The Granddaddy of Them all

Event Day Games Preview: When NASCAR was just a gleam in Big Bill France's eye, America already had one of the biggest sports events in the World—the Indy 500.

Memorial Day is one of the best days in auto racing. Get up early to watch the Monaco Grand Prix, grab a second cup of coffee, and then fire up your cell phones to play Event Day Games' first-ever IRL contest. We just couldn't help becoming part of the 93rd running of this great American race.

The Indy 500 is so big that the Indy Racing League takes the entire month of May to prepare for it and the drama has already started. Helio Castroneves drew first blood by winning the pole over his Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe. The front row is crowded with Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti lined up to the outside of this amazing three-abreast configuration and watching them barrel down into turn one is hair raising.

Further back in the field, equal rights are alive and well as Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno locked up more than 25 percent of the field for women drivers. Fisher starts 21st and has the most experience of the group as she competes in her eighth Indy 500, but Patrick has better odds since she rolls off the grid 10th.

Join us at http://www.eventdaygames.com/ this week to play along with our unique fantasy game.

Qualification order

Jayski.com has posted the qualification order for the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Track position is important at Lowe's and the track should get fastest as the temperatures cool. Jimmie Johnson rolls off the grid 19th and most of the fastest cars in practice are earlier than that, which should create an interesting session.

N'Wide: Townley crashes

John Wes Townley became the latest casualty of Nationwide practice. He crashed near the end of practice two.

Our View: Have you noticed how much more exciting Nationwide practice is? That's why these guys need track time.

Martin wins practice

Mark Martin continues to be the hottest driver on the NASCAR circuit and he topped the first practice session with a speed of 185.217 mph. This is a session in which drivers typically work on qualification setups.

Our View: That makes him the favorite to win Thursday night's pole and the way he's run in the last month, he has to be considered a front runner for the Coca-Cola 600 as well.

F1: Ferrari loses round one in budget spat

According to PlanetF1.com Ferrari has lost the first round of the budget gap spat after a French court ruled against their injunction, saying there is no "imminent danger" preceding the May 29th deadline to declare intentions to run 2010.

Our View: Max Mosley needs to become familiar with the term, "win the battle; lose the war," however.