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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F1: Compromise in the offing, Mosley stepping down

One moth ago, Max Mosley arrogantly proclaimed there would be "no compromise" with Formula 1 teams. Now it appears the salary cap rule has been all but scrapped and Mosley has agreed not to seek reelection as FIA's president next year, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View: This will keep FOTA—the Formula 1 drivers association—from forming a breakaway league.

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Week 26 Unified Power Rankings

For only the second time this year, there was chink in Jenson Button's armor, and unlike the Chinese Grand Prix where he still finished third, he struggled in last week's British Grand Prix. Finishing sixth still earned points in what remains a nearly insurmountable lead for the World Drivers Championship, but it opens the door for some alternate fantasy picks in coming weeks. If Red Bull Racing continues their assault, the game just got more interesting.

Tony Stewart remains the hottest NASCAR driver. Since the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, he's finished outside the top 10 only twice and both require an asterisk. One poor finish came as the result of crash damage at Talladega SuperSpeedway—in a race that is more lottery than contest—and the other came in the rain-altered Coke 341 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Otherwise, he's been as close to perfect as fantasy owners could want with seven top-fives in the other eight races.

In the Indy Racing League, Ryan Briscoe leapfrogged Helio Castroneves with a second-place finish versus seventh. Castroneves struggling came as little surprise since he has finished outside the top 10 in two of his last three races on IRL short tracks, (see Short Trackin' Indy Style), but Briscoe also had a spotty record on this track type last year. As the old adage goes, "that's why they run the race."

With a fourth-place finish in the Nationwide NorthenTool.com 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, Erik Darnell leapt into the top 10 and passed Brad Keselowski. That requires an explanation. Since the Unified Power Rankings looks at all the major series, Keselowski's position is currently being hampered by a failure to qualify at Dover International Speedway, for which he received minimal points. In the Nationwide Series, however, he's been great with a second- and two third-place finishes in his last three attempts.

Unified Power Rankings
Top 50

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	107.13	1	0
2	Tony Stewart	100.00	2	0
3	Ryan Briscoe	92.71	4	1
4	Helio Castroneves	92.67	3	-1
5	Dario Franchitti	90.86	8	3
6	Rubens Barrichello	88.63	9	3
7	Jimmie Johnson	87.92	7	0
8	Mark Webber	87.75	10	2
9	Erik Darnell	85.20	16	7
10	Brad Keselowski	85.13	14	4
11	Scott Dixon	85.00	12	1
12	Ryan Newman	83.81	11	-1
13	Kurt Busch	83.58	13	0
14	Mark Martin	83.54	5	-9
15	Jason Leffler	81.83	6	-9
16	Jeff Gordon	81.83	17	1
17	Danica Patrick	80.86	15	-2
18	Greg Biffle	80.47	22	4
19	Dan Wheldon	80.43	24	5
20	Denny Hamlin	79.83	19	-1
21	Carl Edwards	79.83	21	0
22	Matt Kenseth	79.13	25	3
23	Kyle Busch	78.96	18	-5
24	Joey Logano	78.90	27	3
25	Juan Montoya	78.17	26	1
26	Timo Glock	76.88	23	-3
27	Sebastian Vettel	76.75	32	5
28	Matt Crafton	75.29	20	-8
29	Nico Rosberg	74.50	30	1
30	Jeff Burton	73.29	28	-2
31	Kasey Kahne	73.00	31	0
32	Stephen Leicht	73.00	NA	NA
33	Ron Hornaday Jr	72.13	40	7
34	Jamie McMurray	71.42	44	10
35	Fernando Alonso	69.63	29	-6
36	Steve Wallace	69.55	37	1
37	Jason Keller	69.27	38	1
38	Brian Vickers	69.00	42	4
39	Tayler Malsam	68.29	41	2
40	Tomas Scheckter	68.00	NA	NA
41	Jarno Trulli	67.63	45	4
42	Justin Allgaier	67.45	36	-6
43	David Reutimann	67.36	33	-10
44	Marco Andretti	67.14	34	-10
45	Marcos Ambrose	67.00	47	2
46	Dale Earnhardt Jr	66.00	39	-7
47	Johnny Benson Jr	66.00	46	-1
48	Clint Bowyer	65.71	43	-5
49	Tony Kanaan	65.43	35	-14
50	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	65.00	NA	NA

Previous Unified Power Rankings:

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

Kurt Busch's 2008 was more than met the eye

In the 2008 Lenox Industrial Tools 301, Kurt Busch seemingly stole a trophy when he stayed on track and benefited from the race being shortened, but there was more to it than that. According to SceneDaily.com, fuel mileage was the hidden factor in that victory.

“In our eyes, it will always be a fuel-mileage win," Busch said. "I don’t think that the record was ever set straight about what all came down there during the June race last year."

Our View: Regardless of whether that event was won because of fuel mileage or rain, he struggled mightily that day. In the fall, however, he finished sixth, which makes him a driver to watch this week.

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Island in the Storm: Martin Truex Jr.

There are horses for courses and one of Martin Truex Jr.'s favorite tracks is New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Located in his backyard, Truex turned a lot of laps on this track in the NASCAR Busch North Series (now named the Camping World East Series), but he didn't have huge success until the last two years. Once he found the groove, however, he's been great.

In the Camping World East series, he won the 2003 New England 125 from the pole and took the 2005 Nationwide New England 200 after starting seventh. But on the heels of that, his rookie season in the Cup series was tough. In 2006, Truex finished outside the top 15 in both events. With an 18th in July and a 22nd in September, however, he gave the team a good set of notes from which to work.

They applied the lessons learned as a freshman and Truex swept the top five in his sophomore season. When he finished third in the July race, he had a ton of momentum on his side. He had recently won at Dover and was riding a three-race top-five streak. Earning a fourth such finish was seemingly easy, but it hasn't been quite so effortless since.

He's entered this race with progressively poorer results. In fall of that same year, Truex had just finished 15th at Richmond International Raceway the week before. Prior to the July 2008 race, he struggled through three consecutive finishes outside the top 15 and that fall, he was riding a four-race streak of sub-15th-place finishes. He managed to stop the bleeding at New Hampshire each time, finishing fifth in fall 2007, fourth in July 2008 and finally seventh last year.

That gives him an active four-race top-10 streak and only one other driver can claim as much. All eyes will be on the other racer Jimmie Johnson this week, which leaves you with an excellent opportunity to sneak up on the competition.

This will be his biggest challenge yet. Since he finished sixth in the Southern 500, Truex has been struggling. This year, he'll pull into New Hampshire with a five-race streak of finishes outside the top 15, but this is his safe harbor, his "Island in the Storm"—at least in recent years—and he is a dark horse to finish inside the top five.

Martin Truex Jr. at New Hampshire

Race Date	Series	Fin	Start
14-Sep-08	Cup	7	18
29-Jun-08	Cup	4	8
16-Sep-07	Cup	5	2
01-Jul-07	Cup	3	9
17-Sep-06	Cup	22	11
16-Jul-06	Cup	18	8
16-Jul-05	Busch	1	7
25-Jul-04	Cup	31	3
24-Jul-04	Busch	11	13
13-Sep-03	CW East	15	11
19-Jul-03	CW East	1	1
14-Sep-02	Modifieds	40	40
14-Sep-02	CW East	28	20
20-Jul-02	CW East	4	11
11-May-02	Busch	29	13
11-May-02	CW East	31	8
13-May-95	Busch	39	26
07-May-94	Busch	30	28
22-Aug-93	Busch	13	44

Kahne to run new Dodge engine

Kasey Kahne will run the new Dodge engine at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, according to @DustinLong.

Our View: He previously used this same engine at Dover and Michigan. In its debut, he ran strong at Dover and finished sixth. At Michigan, however, he finished only 21st, so it is uncertain how this impacts his fantasy odds.

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New Hampshire Yahoo! preview

This week starts the race for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and it is the most important race to date. They only get even more important with each passing week. Check out this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Preview (.pdf) for a sneak peak at who'll be their toughest competitors.

Kahne rumors distract at wrong time

Fresh off his victory in the Toyota / SaveMart 350k, rumors are flying that Richard Petty Motorsports will switch Kasey Kahne to Toyota.

Our View: Rumors have a way of deflecting drivers from concentrating on what matters most, but Kahne has enough momentum that this should not have an immediate effect.

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Joe Gibbs Racing open to a fourth team

Joe Gibbs Racing could have a fourth team in place as early as next year if the right driver and a sponsor could be found, but don't count on it, according to SceneDaily.com.

“We’re in no hurry," J D Gibbs said at Infineon. "If we have to wait a year, that’s fine. You have got to have the right driver, the right core group and the right sponsor. But if that happened, we could do it pretty quick. I wouldn’t cross it off for next year but at the same time we’re not going to force it.”

Our View: Fantasy owners can afford to be patient. This studied approach is likely to result in a strong team whenever they decide to expand. In this economy, it's hard to imagine a new Gibbs team even as early as 2010.

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JR Motorsports closer to Cup

In order to offset some of the lost income from GM, Rick Hendrick is considering expanding his affiliate program, according to SceneDaily.com. That could mean JR Motorsports making a move to the Cup series in 2010 with Brad Keselowski as the probable driver.

Our View: Now that Mark Martin is going to stay in Cup for another full time season, they have to come up with something. They can't keep Keselowski on the shelf forever.

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New Hampshire entry list

The entry list for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 has been posted. In addition to the regulars, Brad Keselowski is in the No. 09 James Finch Chevrolet and Ted Christopher in Kirk Shelmerdine's No. 27.

Our View: One has to assume that Finch intends to go the distance with Keselowski this time after "starting and parking" several times in the last few weeks. At Infineon, Fellows ran incredibly well before fading to 27th at the end.

Christopher shouldn't be considered anything more than a sentimental favorite. The Modified champ will be a fan favorite.

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Inspection complete; no issues

Inspection of the cars at Infineon Raceway is complete, and not issues were found, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: The three random cars that will be taken to the R&D center for an engine inspection at the No. 9, No. 14 and No 96.

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Kahne gets improbable win

It's getting harder by the week to handicap these races. After posting a best finish of only 23rd in five starts—and every other result outside the top 30—Kasey Kahne held off favorites Tony Stewart and Marcos Ambrose to win his 10th career victory and his first on a road course.

Our View: No one could have seen this coming, but if you had Kahne on your roster—kudos to you.

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F1: British GP Results

Finally someone other than Jenson Button won a Formula 1 race. Prior to the British Grand Prix, he had won six of seven events with Sebastian Vettel taking the Chinese Grand Prix. It's only fitting that Vettel took this race as well after winning the pole and dominating at Silverstone.

For his part, Button finish only sixth. Is the competition finally catching up to him? Don't assume that just yet because teammate Rubens Barrichello was in third.

In several races this year the Brawn teammates Button and Barrichello finished one-two. Red Bull Racing kept that tradition alive by placing Mark Webber in second. That was his fourth consecutive top-five finish this season, which has made him a good driver to keep on your roster.
One other item of note: with the exception of Sebastian Bourdais and Heikki Kovalainen who retired at the start, everyone finished either one the lead lap or only one circuit off the pace and an impressive 11 drivers completed the distance.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	60	Running	10.00
2	3	Mark Webber	60	Running	12.43
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	60	Running	7.65
4	11	Felipe Massa	60	Running	7.86
5	7	Nico Rosberg	60	Running	8.75
6	6	Jenson Button	60	Running	9.90
7	4	Jarno Trulli	60	Running	11.46
8	9	Kimi Raikkonen	60	Running	4.78
9	8	Timo Glock	60	Running	10.50
10	16	Giancarlo Fisichella	60	Running	8.93
11	5	Kazuki Nakajima	60	Running	9.50
12	14	Nelson Piquet Jr	59	Running	14.00
13	12	Robert Kubica	59	Running	10.33
14	10	Fernando Alonso	59	Running	8.63
15	15	Nick Heidfeld	59	Running	10.40
16	19	Lewis Hamilton	59	Running	6.67
17	18	Adrian Sutil	59	Running	18.67
18	20	Sebastian Buemi	59	Running	18.00
19	17	Sebastian Bourdais	0	Retired	15.00
20	13	Heikki Kovalainen	0	Retired	10.67

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IRL: Perfection for Franchitti, wins Iowa

Dario Franchitti won the Iowa Corn 200 for his second Iowa victory in two starts as well as his third consecutive IRL short track race.

Our View: Franchitti took last year off to compete in NASCAR, but he swept both short track races in 2007. That makes him an equally good value next week at Richmond.

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Stewart, Kahne and Blaney to race 410 sprint at Sharon

Tony Stewart will make a rare start in a 410 Sprint car at Sharon Speedway, according to WhoWon.com (caution, this site is notoriously bad about pop-ups). He will be joined in the Lou Blaney Memorial Classic by Kasey Kahne and Dave Blaney.

Our View: That makes this a star-studded event on a track owned by the Blaney family.

N'Wide: Edwards wins at Milwaukee

Carl Edwards has had a dismal year in 2009, but you wouldn't know that by how he race Saturday night. He ran away from the field in the final segment to earn his first win of the season.

Our View: You had to know that Edwards wouldn't be kept down forever. He should relish it, because Sunday is going to be a challenge on the road course.

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IRL: Beatriz wins Iowa Indy Lights race

Ana Beatriz blasted into the lead on the final lap as another female driver Pippa Mann ended up on her lid. Beatriz navigated the crash and is now the first two-time female winner.

Our View: Perhaps Jack Roush should be talking to her about making the switch to NASCAR; she wouldn't have any issues paying her dues in Nationwide.

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ARCA: Kligerman wins Mansfield

Parker Kligerman led most of the Tim Richmond Memorial 200, but don't let that fool you. For most of the second half of the event, Joey Coulter was on his back bumper.

Our View: With three laps to go a caution waved, which made Kligerman's job even tougher. By then, Coulter's tires were gone and he had to fight off a furious charge from Chris Buescher.

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CW West: Logano finishes 17th

After leading from lap 26 through 63, Joey Logano finished only 17th in the Camping World West finish. He was spun on the final lap in the turn 11 hairpin by Patrick Long.

Our View: His finish at this level is not nearly as important as the experience he gained. Logano was also strong in this event last year before blowing an engine and he's got a lot of promise as a road racer.

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IRL: Iowa lineup with avg. start/finish

It was a tough day at Iowa Speedway as persistent weepers in the track canceled qualification. The Indy Racing League did their dead-level best to get the session in the books, but could never send more than two cars out without stopping the action. That forced them to set the lineup by owner points, which places Helio Castroneves on the pole. That is familiar territory; in two previous starts on this track, he's started second on average, but doesn't have nearly as good a record in race trim. In two races at Iowa, he's finished eighth and 14th.

Scott Dixon starts second and he would seem to be a much better value. In his two starts, he's started on the pole in both events. He's swept the top-10 on this track, but the greater recommendation is that he swept the top five on the IRL's short tracks last year with a fourth in Iowa and a third at Richmond.

The best value this week, however, is Dario Franchitti. In his last two short track races, he swept victory lane at Iowa and Richmond in 2007. He rolls off the grid fourth.

Lineup with avg. start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Helio Castroneves	11.00	2.00	2
2	Ryan Briscoe	7.00	5.00	1
3	Scott Dixon	7.00	1.00	2
4	Dario Franchitti	1.00	3.00	1
5	Danica Patrick	9.50	8.50	2
6	Dan Wheldon	6.00	6.00	2
7	Tony Kanaan	17.00	5.50	2
8	Marco Andretti	2.50	10.00	2
9	Graham Rahal	10.00	16.00	1
10	Justin Wilson	12.00	20.00	1
11	Hideki Mutoh	2.00	7.00	1
12	Raphael Matos
13	Ed Carpenter	14.50	7.00	2
14	Robert Doornbos
15	Mario Moraes	19.00	24.00	1
16	Tomas Scheckter	19.00	14.00	1
17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	14.00	1
18	E J Viso	13.00	13.00	1
19	Mike Conway
20	Jaques Lazier

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ARCA: Lofton on Mansfield pole

Justin Lofton will lead the ARCA field to green for the Tim Richmond Memorial 200, according to ARCARacing.com.

Our View: In his last short track race at Toledo this season, he finished second at Toledo after starting second.

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N'Wide: Darnell on Milwaukee pole

Erik Darnell has captured the pole for the Nationwide race in Milwaukee. Brad Coleman is on the outside pole.

Our View: Last year, he qualified Carl Edwards's car 11th for this race, but he'll get a chance to race this week in the No. 6. In five previous Nationwide starts, he has one top-five, two top-10s and four top-15s.

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IRL: Iowa qualification canceled, Castroneves on pole

According to live timing and scoring at IndyCar.com, qualification has been canceled and the field will be set by owner points. That places Helio Castroneves on the pole.

Our View: Castroneves finished only 14th in this race last year, but he should still be considered a strong threat because he finished second on the other short track of Richmond International Raceway.

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CW West: Long penalized, Bowles wins Infineon

Strike that. Patrick Long has been penalized by NASCAR for intentionally spinning Joey Logano, which has given the victory to Jason Bowles.

Our View: Long lost the lead of the Camping World East race in the next to last turn after contact by Ryan Truex—and he vowed "what goes around, comes around." Unfortunately, he seems to have lost sight of the fact that Logano wasn't Truex.

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CW West: Long wins, Logano spins

Road racing specialist Patrick Long won the Camping World West race at Infineon on the final lap after Joey Logano spun from the lead, according to a tweet from @NASCARHomeTrack.

Our View: As disappointing as that is for the teenage Cup rookie, he got a chance to battle a great road racer and earned a ton of experience. He's not recommended for Sunday's Cup race, but he could get a solid finish nonetheless.

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Infineon pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections for the Infineon Toyota / SaveMart 350k.

Our View: Brian Vickers took the 23rd slot instead of the first. This pit has an opening in front of it and should allow him to have a little more momentum at pit out. Outside pole sitter Kyle Busch has pit No. 11—also with an opening in front—and Marcos Ambrose has pit stall No. 1.

Casual contact between Ambrose/Johnson at Infineon

Apparently there was casual contact between Marcos Ambrose and Jimmie Johnson during Happy Hour, according to a tweet from @BobPockcrass.

Our View: Ambrose was on track for only two laps. It's hard to imagine that he found trouble in that short a period. According to that same tweet, Johnson's car had minimal damage.

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Said to be pitted by Wood Bros.

The Wood Bros. team will pit Boris Said's No 08 John Carter Ford this week, according to Jayski.com.

Our View: Said will roll off the grid from a top-10 spot, but his practice times were not overly strong. The Wood Bros. will do a great job in the pits, but currently we favor Ron Fellows and Patrick Carpentier among the road course ringers.

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Trucks: Hornaday wins 41st Truck race

Ron Hornaday held off Dennis Setzer and Brian Scott at the Milwaukee Mile following a caution with less than 10 laps remaining.

Our View: This was a birthday present for Hornaday and he has a chance to get an even bigger win. He will be running in the Nationwide Series race later on Saturday in equally strong Kevin Harvick, Inc. equipment.

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R Gordon wins Infineon Happy Hour

Robby Gordon posted the quickest time in Infineon Happy Hour, with a speed of 91.684 during 13 laps.

Our View Gordon was not very fast in the morning session and he struggled in qualification, but it's great to see him finally find some speed. A top-10 is possible for the No. 7.

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Allmendinger posts single fast lap in Infineon Happy Hour

A.J. Allmendinger posted the single fastest lap in Happy Hour for the Toyota / SaveMart 350k at Infineon Raceway.

Our View Allmendinger has a lot of road racing experience in the Indy Racing League and Indy Lights, but unfortunately his average speed during this session was only mid-pack. You will find much better values at his level.

Gilliland gets road course backup

Fantasy owners who heard David Gilliland say the team did not have a road course backup will be glad to know that he is going to borrow a backup from Martin Truex Jr., according to a tweet from @BobPockrass.

Our View: That is great news. If he had to use his speedway backup a possible top-15 was a long shot. Now he should be regarded as fair value with a top-15 potential.

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N'Wide: Coleman fastest in final Milwaukee practice

Brad Coleman posted the fastest single lap in the final practice session at Milwaukee, according to a tweet from @NASCAR_NNS.

Our View: Coleman is in the No. 20 normally driven by Joey Logano, so he has the horses to run with the leaders all day. As a part time driver, he will be a good value in Nationwide games as well—which makes him a double threat.

Practice Times

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IRL: Dixon tops first practice at Iowa

Scott Dixon posted the fastest lap in Iowa's first practice session, according to a tweet from @IndyCarPR.

Our View: In his last three races on IRL short tracks, Dixon has swept the top five. He finished fourth at Iowa and third at Richmond last year, so he definitely deserves a spot on your roster.

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Fellows wins Infineon Saturday a.m. practice

Marcos Ambrose posted the quickest average speed in the Saturday morning practice session, but he blew an engine midway through and will be forced to change his engine. Ron Fellows—in the No. 09 of James Finch—was the next quickest driver with a speed of 91.784 during six laps, so we'll credit him with leading this session.

Our View: Fellows has the skills and this team has already won on a specialty track at Talladega SuperSpeedway with Brad Keselowski at the wheel. Fellows should be considered one of the favorite road ringers and he could finish in the top 10.

Ambrose blows engine in Infineon practice 2

Marcos Ambrose blew an engine about halfway through the Saturday morning practice session and he will be forced to change the powerplant and give up his third-place spot on the grid.

Our View: At Watkins Glen last year, Ambrose climbed from 43rd to third, so he should still be considered a good value. However, his odds of winning have taken a huge hit.

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N'Wide: Allgaier crashes in Milwaukee practice

Justin Allgaier has crashed hard in practice at the Milwaukee Mile and will be forced to roll out a backup car, according to a tweet from @NASCAR_NNS.

Our View: Allgaier was in fast equipment and his backup is likely to be just as strong, but as is nearly always the case in these situations, his odds have slipped slightly.

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Gilliland, Andretti crash at pit out

David Gilliland rammed into the back of John Andretti at the end of pit road. It appeared that Andretti was waiting for a hole in traffic and Gilliland was not expecting him to be so slow.

Our View: Gilliland has heavy damage and will almost certainly have to roll out a backup car. He was starting near the back anyway, but this still hurts his chances to finish in the top-10. A top-15 is still possible, however.

Dark Horse Report: Sadler best at Infineon

Elliott Sadler is not the first driver who pops into fantasy owners' heads at Infineon Raceway, but in terms of average finishes, this is his best track. He boasts an average of 15.8 in 10 attempts.

Our View: Three of his last five races on this track resulted in top-10s, but his last two efforts were only 14th and 19th. Not bad, but he will only fit the last slot on your roster.

Dark Horse Reports

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Red Bull buys Speed a ride

As expected, Red Bull Racing has struck a deal with Joe Nemechek to get Scott Speed into the show, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: Normally, we approach these agreements with skepticism, but at least Speed will try to run the full event and not "start and park" as Nemechek has done in recent weeks. Before failing to qualify, Speed was on a top 10 pace, so he could be a decent value.

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Vickers wins fourth pole of the season

Brian Vickers has become a qualifying master. He earned his fourth pole of the season, and these have come on speedways, a short track and now a road course.

Our View: Starting position is critical to success on a road course, so Vickers odds of a good finish have skyrocketed with this effort.

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Yahoo! Qualification Story – Infineon

Qualification on a road course is critical to winning, but someone forgot to tell that to Juan Montoya and Kyle Busch during the last two years. They started in the 30s en route to the checkers at Infineon. Who'll win this week? check out our predictions in this weeks Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

F1: FOTA votes to breakaway

The Formula One Teams Association has voted to form their own series in 2010, citing irreconcilable differences with Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone, and most importantly Max Mosely, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View: From the sidelines, it seems that Mosely's stubborn refusal to allow any type of compromise is going to ensure that war is declared between the two parties. It really doesn't matter what either side says is at the heart of the matter—this boils down to personalities.

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