The people who bring you this fine blog aren't faring so well at roulette, but the People's Pitstop is doing quite well on the track.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored 330 points during Sunday's Sprint Cup race in Fontana. Our season total is now 1,313, and we moved up 1 spot, to 6th place, in the 9beersfantasysportsforum group.
Here is a slightly detailed breakdown.
Jimmie Johnson: Started 16th, finished 2nd, 3 laps led and 98 fantasy points. He'll probably campaign to have next year's race be a lap shorter.
Ryan Newman: Started 9th, finished 5th, 8 laps led and 92 fantasy points. Ryan just keeps chugging along. Remember that we get to use him only 9times this season.
Juan Pablo Montoya: Started 1st, finished 10th, 7 laps led and 92 fantasy points. For fantasy players, he may not be just for road courses anymore.
David Ragan: Started 6th, finished 22nd and 48 fantasy points. We can hardly complain this week about our C list driver being the only one not to lead a lap.
Now we move from the 2-mile oval of Auto Club Speedway to the half-mile grind of Martinsville Speedway. The new lineup polls are now open and will close Friday. Please vote now.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Fearless Predictions - Fontana
This version of the fearless predictions will be brief, since the people who bring you this blog are in Las Vegas (BABY!) and will be watching this week's Sprint Cup race from one of the various sports books available here.
Here's hoping our luck at the blackjack table is better than our luck so far with these predictions for NASCAR drivers who will finish in the top 10. Once again, last week's forecasts went a pitiful 1-3, leaving us with a season record of 2-8. But here come another set of predictions anyway.
One from the front: We're going with someone who always seems to do well at tracks the size of Auto Club Speedway. Tony Stewart starts in fifth place and should be able to at least hold on to that spot.
One from the back: It's not the strongest of fields this week, in part because only 43 cars signed up for this race, so everybody qualified. When in doubt, you go with a former Sprint Cup champion. And we'll go with Bobby Labonte, who starts 34th.
Two from the middle: Lots of drivers to choose from here. Our choices are the current points leader, Kurt Busch, who starts 23rd, and Jimmie Johnson, who starts 16th and owns the Fontana track.
Enjoy the race, everybody. We'll be back with results.
Here's hoping our luck at the blackjack table is better than our luck so far with these predictions for NASCAR drivers who will finish in the top 10. Once again, last week's forecasts went a pitiful 1-3, leaving us with a season record of 2-8. But here come another set of predictions anyway.
One from the front: We're going with someone who always seems to do well at tracks the size of Auto Club Speedway. Tony Stewart starts in fifth place and should be able to at least hold on to that spot.
One from the back: It's not the strongest of fields this week, in part because only 43 cars signed up for this race, so everybody qualified. When in doubt, you go with a former Sprint Cup champion. And we'll go with Bobby Labonte, who starts 34th.
Two from the middle: Lots of drivers to choose from here. Our choices are the current points leader, Kurt Busch, who starts 23rd, and Jimmie Johnson, who starts 16th and owns the Fontana track.
Enjoy the race, everybody. We'll be back with results.
Friday, March 25, 2011
The People's Choice - Fontana
Some people are getting ready to watch college kids compete for spots in the Final Four. Some are getting ready for the start of baseball season, the only season that holds a candle to NASCAR's in terms of length. But we at the People's Pigskin are thanking you, the Internet, for coming out again in droves to vote on our lineup. Here are the drivers that will represent the People's Pitstop this weekend in Fontana, California.
A List: The winner of this poll is someone who was winning back when Charlie Sheen was just a guy in a troubled marriage. Five-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson took this poll. He and Carl Edwards will compete during qualifying for a chance to start for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team on Sunday.
B List: Don't let people tell you stock car racing is strictly for Americans. This poll was won by Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya. The runners-up were some usual suspects (Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne), but the final spot went to a Tasmanian named Marcos Ambrose. The two drivers who qualify the best will start.
C List: UPS representative David Ragan won this poll, followed by Bobby Labonte.
Thanks once again for voting. The results appear below, and a new poll on rule changes is available for your votes now.We'll try to update this post once the qualifying session is over.
UPDATED 9:45 P.M. You guys are good. And so is Montoya, who took the pole and will earn us a 10-point bonus. He's joined in the starting lineup by Ragan (who qualified 6th), Newman (9th) and Johnson (16th).
[polldaddy poll=4759885] [polldaddy poll=4759909] [polldaddy poll=4759927]
A List: The winner of this poll is someone who was winning back when Charlie Sheen was just a guy in a troubled marriage. Five-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson took this poll. He and Carl Edwards will compete during qualifying for a chance to start for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team on Sunday.
B List: Don't let people tell you stock car racing is strictly for Americans. This poll was won by Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya. The runners-up were some usual suspects (Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne), but the final spot went to a Tasmanian named Marcos Ambrose. The two drivers who qualify the best will start.
C List: UPS representative David Ragan won this poll, followed by Bobby Labonte.
Thanks once again for voting. The results appear below, and a new poll on rule changes is available for your votes now.
UPDATED 9:45 P.M. You guys are good. And so is Montoya, who took the pole and will earn us a 10-point bonus. He's joined in the starting lineup by Ragan (who qualified 6th), Newman (9th) and Johnson (16th).
[polldaddy poll=4759885] [polldaddy poll=4759909] [polldaddy poll=4759927]
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Not-So-Golden Rules
In addition to helmets and short fuses, one thing that both NASCAR and the National Football League have in common right now are rule changes.
And in both cases, the changes have more than a few critics.
First, let's deal with the NFL (while there still is one). The owners approved a few rule alterations this week. One of those changes is to bring kickoffs back to the 35-yard line. The idea is that giving the kicker 5 fewer yards of playing area will produce more touchbacks. And who doesn't love the idea of watching more touchbacks and fewer plays like this.
No matter which NFL team you follow, you can find a coach who doesn't like the change. And it's not hard to understand why. The goal might be keeping players safe, but those coaches who don't simply surrender to the urge to kick balls out of the end zone will simply tell the kicker to shorten the kick and try to pin the receiver deep. Players will still be injured, as they have been since the pigskin really WAS made from pig.
Now for the NASCAR changes. The revamp that France & Co. approved to their scoring system is summarized here. I say "summarized" because if the new system had any more 'if's, 'and's or 'but's, it would be a grammar textbook.
NASCAR tells us that the system is supposed to emphasize winning. That, of course, explains why the current points leader has no wins and only one top five finish so far this season. And please note that the wild card spots are available only to drivers who finish in the top 20. That would mean that if the Chase were to start right now, one of the four drivers who have won a race so far this season would not be in NASCAR's version of the playoffs.
Oh, and did I mention that the driver in question -- the one currently sitting 43rd in the new and/or improved points system -- won the alleged Super Bowl of NASCAR?
By the way, you still have a couple of hours to vote on the lineup polls on the right side of this page. Your votes, and your votes alone, will determine which drivers will represent the People's Pitstop at Sunday's NASCAR race in Fontana, California.
We'll be back with the results.
And in both cases, the changes have more than a few critics.
First, let's deal with the NFL (while there still is one). The owners approved a few rule alterations this week. One of those changes is to bring kickoffs back to the 35-yard line. The idea is that giving the kicker 5 fewer yards of playing area will produce more touchbacks. And who doesn't love the idea of watching more touchbacks and fewer plays like this.
No matter which NFL team you follow, you can find a coach who doesn't like the change. And it's not hard to understand why. The goal might be keeping players safe, but those coaches who don't simply surrender to the urge to kick balls out of the end zone will simply tell the kicker to shorten the kick and try to pin the receiver deep. Players will still be injured, as they have been since the pigskin really WAS made from pig.
Now for the NASCAR changes. The revamp that France & Co. approved to their scoring system is summarized here. I say "summarized" because if the new system had any more 'if's, 'and's or 'but's, it would be a grammar textbook.
NASCAR tells us that the system is supposed to emphasize winning. That, of course, explains why the current points leader has no wins and only one top five finish so far this season. And please note that the wild card spots are available only to drivers who finish in the top 20. That would mean that if the Chase were to start right now, one of the four drivers who have won a race so far this season would not be in NASCAR's version of the playoffs.
Oh, and did I mention that the driver in question -- the one currently sitting 43rd in the new and/or improved points system -- won the alleged Super Bowl of NASCAR?
By the way, you still have a couple of hours to vote on the lineup polls on the right side of this page. Your votes, and your votes alone, will determine which drivers will represent the People's Pitstop at Sunday's NASCAR race in Fontana, California.
We'll be back with the results.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Back to the Middle
The People's Pitstop hasn't exactly reached Charlie Sheen's "winning" territory yet, but we're getting there.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team racked up 329 points during Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. That improved our overall score to 983 and raised us 2 spots, to 7th out of 14, in the prestigious 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports.
Here are scoring details.
Kyle Busch: Started 12th, finished 1st, 153 laps led and 100 fantasy points. You think it's safe to say Kyle is comfortable with Bristol, or would that be jumping the gun?
Martin Truex Jr.: Started 8th, finished 17th, 63 laps led and 68 fantasy points. Not only is Truex in the top 10 in driver points, but he's also winning awards you never knew existed.
Mark Martin: Started 9th, finished 12th and 68 fantasy points. Martin was our only starting driver who did not lead a lap.
Paul Menard: Started 4th, finished 5th, 35 laps led and 93 fantasy points. You know you're having a strong season when NASCAR.com writers are naming months after you.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement for the People's Pitstop this week was that, despite racing on one of the shortest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, all our starters managed to keep themselves on the lead lap.
Will that be the case again when NASCAR takes its act to Fontana, California? Only you, the Internet, can make that call. The polls are now open and will stay open until Thursday night. The results of the weekend poll appear below. Please feel free to exercise your voting rights now.
[polldaddy poll=4739447]
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team racked up 329 points during Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. That improved our overall score to 983 and raised us 2 spots, to 7th out of 14, in the prestigious 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports.
Here are scoring details.
Kyle Busch: Started 12th, finished 1st, 153 laps led and 100 fantasy points. You think it's safe to say Kyle is comfortable with Bristol, or would that be jumping the gun?
Martin Truex Jr.: Started 8th, finished 17th, 63 laps led and 68 fantasy points. Not only is Truex in the top 10 in driver points, but he's also winning awards you never knew existed.
Mark Martin: Started 9th, finished 12th and 68 fantasy points. Martin was our only starting driver who did not lead a lap.
Paul Menard: Started 4th, finished 5th, 35 laps led and 93 fantasy points. You know you're having a strong season when NASCAR.com writers are naming months after you.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement for the People's Pitstop this week was that, despite racing on one of the shortest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, all our starters managed to keep themselves on the lead lap.
Will that be the case again when NASCAR takes its act to Fontana, California? Only you, the Internet, can make that call. The polls are now open and will stay open until Thursday night. The results of the weekend poll appear below. Please feel free to exercise your voting rights now.
[polldaddy poll=4739447]
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Fearless Predictions - Bristol
We're just hours away from the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. While you prepare your snacks and beverages, we at the People's Pigskin are busy figuring out which drivers will finish in the top 10. Once again, drivers in our starting lineup are ineligible for selection. But that doesn't excuse our going 1 for 4 in the last edition of these picks.
One from the front: We have three starters in the top 10 (Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin), so that narrows the field considerably. We'll go with the driver who won the Phoenix race and has the pole this week: Carl Edwards.
One from the back: The bottom 10 this week is a veritable "Who's That" of auto racing. Except we find a driver who's currently in 4th place in Sprint Cup points but only 36th on the starting grid. That would be Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished 7th last August on this track.
Two from the middle: Believe it or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top 10 in the last two races this season. The networks might be able to manufacture crowd noise when he passes, but they can't manufacture a top 10 finish.
And quick, before you reach for that cup of coffee, name the driver who sits on top of the point standings as of right now. If you guessed Tony Stewart, either you know your racing stats or you peeked at one of the links earlier in this post. Either way, Stewart finished 2nd at Bristol last spring and starts in 13th place today. Pencil him in for a strong day.
We'll be back with the results. Enjoy the race.
One from the front: We have three starters in the top 10 (Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin), so that narrows the field considerably. We'll go with the driver who won the Phoenix race and has the pole this week: Carl Edwards.
One from the back: The bottom 10 this week is a veritable "Who's That" of auto racing. Except we find a driver who's currently in 4th place in Sprint Cup points but only 36th on the starting grid. That would be Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished 7th last August on this track.
Two from the middle: Believe it or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top 10 in the last two races this season. The networks might be able to manufacture crowd noise when he passes, but they can't manufacture a top 10 finish.
And quick, before you reach for that cup of coffee, name the driver who sits on top of the point standings as of right now. If you guessed Tony Stewart, either you know your racing stats or you peeked at one of the links earlier in this post. Either way, Stewart finished 2nd at Bristol last spring and starts in 13th place today. Pencil him in for a strong day.
We'll be back with the results. Enjoy the race.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A Post That Shouldn't Have to Be Written
While NASCAR is getting its season off to a rollicking start, the other sport covered on a regular basis on this Web site is heading into a tailspin.
By now, unless you're living in a cave, you've heard about the problems the National Football League and its players have had trying to divide $9 billion of revenue. Words that should never enter the vocabulary of sports stories, like decertification and plaintiff and lockout and boycott, are becoming as common as upside and OTA.
Another unfortunate side effect of this battle of wills is the way fans are being asked to choose sides. Poll after poll asks the people who provide all that revenue which side should be allowed to get more of it. On behalf of sports fans everywhere, we at the People's Pigskin would like the people who put these polls together to borrow a tactic from the Richard Pryor movie "Brewster's Millions" and add another choice to these polls.
"None of the above."
Asking us to say we like one side because we don't like what the other is doing is kind of like asking us to enjoy a toadstool breakfast simply because we don't want to eat skunk. Asking us to choose between someone who signs an eight-digit contract and then talks to us about the costs of health care or someone who takes a billion dollars from the taxpayers for a stadium and then talks to us about revenue distribution is as false a choice as we can get. In the immortal words of Buffalo Springfield, nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Which side are we on? We're on the side of the fans. They provide the revenue that the players and owners are having trouble dividing. They are the ones buying the tickets, the jerseys, the concessions and the satellite TV packages. They are the ones making the Super Bowl the highest-rated show in the country year after year. They are the ones passing the bond or tax measures that finance the construction of new arenas.
And they seem to be the only ones without a seat at the bargaining table.
Roger? DeMaurice? Whether you realize it or not, you work for the fans. Because their revenue also funds those paychecks you're so cavalierly declining in an empty and futile gesture to convince us that you're right.
If you ignore them or take them for granted, you do so at your own peril. Just ask Gary Bettman.
By now, unless you're living in a cave, you've heard about the problems the National Football League and its players have had trying to divide $9 billion of revenue. Words that should never enter the vocabulary of sports stories, like decertification and plaintiff and lockout and boycott, are becoming as common as upside and OTA.
Another unfortunate side effect of this battle of wills is the way fans are being asked to choose sides. Poll after poll asks the people who provide all that revenue which side should be allowed to get more of it. On behalf of sports fans everywhere, we at the People's Pigskin would like the people who put these polls together to borrow a tactic from the Richard Pryor movie "Brewster's Millions" and add another choice to these polls.
"None of the above."
Asking us to say we like one side because we don't like what the other is doing is kind of like asking us to enjoy a toadstool breakfast simply because we don't want to eat skunk. Asking us to choose between someone who signs an eight-digit contract and then talks to us about the costs of health care or someone who takes a billion dollars from the taxpayers for a stadium and then talks to us about revenue distribution is as false a choice as we can get. In the immortal words of Buffalo Springfield, nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Which side are we on? We're on the side of the fans. They provide the revenue that the players and owners are having trouble dividing. They are the ones buying the tickets, the jerseys, the concessions and the satellite TV packages. They are the ones making the Super Bowl the highest-rated show in the country year after year. They are the ones passing the bond or tax measures that finance the construction of new arenas.
And they seem to be the only ones without a seat at the bargaining table.
Roger? DeMaurice? Whether you realize it or not, you work for the fans. Because their revenue also funds those paychecks you're so cavalierly declining in an empty and futile gesture to convince us that you're right.
If you ignore them or take them for granted, you do so at your own peril. Just ask Gary Bettman.
Friday, March 18, 2011
The People's Choice - Bristol
Today, instead of focusing on what's wrong with sports (we'll cover some of that territory over the weekend), we'd like to extend a special thanks to you, the Internet. You found time during your busy bracket-filling (and shredding) schedule to vote in the lineup polls for the People's Pitstop. As a result, the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team has a roster for this week's Sprint Cup race at Brisol Motor Speedway.
A List: One driver ran away with this poll, and he should be familiar to longtime readers of this blog. Kyle Busch, last seen reporting "flames in my face," was the winner. He'll be joined in the roster by runner-up Tony Stewart. Whoever qualifies better Friday afternoon will get the starting nod.
B List: We another clear-cut winner here. That would be NAPA commercial co-star Martin Truex Jr. Three other drivers tied for second place: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.
C List: Paul Menard is threatening to become the first driver in People's Pitstop history to use up all his starts before Independence Day. He won this week's poll yet again, and he'll be joined in the roster by Trevor Bayne, who hopefully celebrated Saint Patrick's Day responsibly, seeing that he's still 20 years old and all.
Again, thanks for voting. The results appear below. A new poll about your weekend plans is now available for your consideration.We'll update this post once qualifying is complete.
UPDATED 11:30 P.M. At least Menard is earning your faith in him. He qualified 4th, earning not only a starting spot but a bonus point for the People's Pitstop. Busch (12th) edged out Stewart (13th). Truex (8th) and Martin (9th) beat out Kahne (10th) and Earnhardt (22nd).
[polldaddy poll=4730878] [polldaddy poll=4730892] [polldaddy poll=4730910]
A List: One driver ran away with this poll, and he should be familiar to longtime readers of this blog. Kyle Busch, last seen reporting "flames in my face," was the winner. He'll be joined in the roster by runner-up Tony Stewart. Whoever qualifies better Friday afternoon will get the starting nod.
B List: We another clear-cut winner here. That would be NAPA commercial co-star Martin Truex Jr. Three other drivers tied for second place: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.
C List: Paul Menard is threatening to become the first driver in People's Pitstop history to use up all his starts before Independence Day. He won this week's poll yet again, and he'll be joined in the roster by Trevor Bayne, who hopefully celebrated Saint Patrick's Day responsibly, seeing that he's still 20 years old and all.
Again, thanks for voting. The results appear below. A new poll about your weekend plans is now available for your consideration.
UPDATED 11:30 P.M. At least Menard is earning your faith in him. He qualified 4th, earning not only a starting spot but a bonus point for the People's Pitstop. Busch (12th) edged out Stewart (13th). Truex (8th) and Martin (9th) beat out Kahne (10th) and Earnhardt (22nd).
[polldaddy poll=4730878] [polldaddy poll=4730892] [polldaddy poll=4730910]
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
A Quick Bristol Preview
While everyone in the western world is getting their brackets filled out and/or prepping for fantasy baseball drafts, the NASCAR world is getting back from its random week off and heading to the bull ring of Bristol Motor Speedway.
The polls for this week's lineup are up (finally) and will stay up until Thursday night. So please vote now, and encourage a friend to vote, too. The People's Pitstop is depending on you.
We'll be back with some thoughts on that other sport.
The polls for this week's lineup are up (finally) and will stay up until Thursday night. So please vote now, and encourage a friend to vote, too. The People's Pitstop is depending on you.
We'll be back with some thoughts on that other sport.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Moving Up ... the Hard Way
Watching Sunday's NASCAR race was about as pleasant as having to interview Tony Stewart afterward, but the People's Pitstop did benefit from it.
The Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team scored 230 points in the Sprint Cup at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That was good enough to move us up three spots, to 8th place, in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing.
Here is the breakdown of our results. We'll take care of the bad news first.
Kyle Busch: Started 5th, finished 38th (160 laps behind the leaders) and 16 fantasy points. There are plenty of things you don't want to hear your driver say during the course of a race. One of them is "I've got flames in my face."
Ryan Newman: Started 8th, finished 5th and 82 fantasy points. Once again, all that was missing was a lep led, but Newman certainly has his cars working the way he wants them.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 7th, finished 19th and 54 fantasy points. Even though he barely kept himself on the lead lap at the end, Allmendinger did manage to stay in the top 10 in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Paul Menard: Started 18th, finished 12th, 3 laps led and 78 fantasy points, including 10 for leading a lap. Does anyone really care if Menard did his best fantasy racing work when everyone else was taking a pit stop? Didn't think so. As Bleacher Report points out, Menard is currently the top-scoring driver on the Richard Childress Racing team.
Maybe that's why NASCAR is giving the Sprint Cup folks this week off. Or maybe it's for one of the reasons listed in this week's poll. Feel free to vote now. The results of our Vegas poll appear below.
[polldaddy poll=4656800]
The Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team scored 230 points in the Sprint Cup at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That was good enough to move us up three spots, to 8th place, in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing.
Here is the breakdown of our results. We'll take care of the bad news first.
Kyle Busch: Started 5th, finished 38th (160 laps behind the leaders) and 16 fantasy points. There are plenty of things you don't want to hear your driver say during the course of a race. One of them is "I've got flames in my face."
Ryan Newman: Started 8th, finished 5th and 82 fantasy points. Once again, all that was missing was a lep led, but Newman certainly has his cars working the way he wants them.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 7th, finished 19th and 54 fantasy points. Even though he barely kept himself on the lead lap at the end, Allmendinger did manage to stay in the top 10 in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Paul Menard: Started 18th, finished 12th, 3 laps led and 78 fantasy points, including 10 for leading a lap. Does anyone really care if Menard did his best fantasy racing work when everyone else was taking a pit stop? Didn't think so. As Bleacher Report points out, Menard is currently the top-scoring driver on the Richard Childress Racing team.
Maybe that's why NASCAR is giving the Sprint Cup folks this week off. Or maybe it's for one of the reasons listed in this week's poll. Feel free to vote now. The results of our Vegas poll appear below.
[polldaddy poll=4656800]
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Fearless Predictions - Version 2.0
As NASCAR fans get ready for this week's Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it's time to offer the first set of predictions for this season.
Only this time, we're going to do things a little differently.
Let's be honest; an elephant throwing darts could pick 10 drivers and get half of them into the top 10 each week. And since we're fresh out of darts, we need a new system, so here goes.
Each week for the rest of the season, the fine folks who write this blog will pick four drivers -- one starting in the top 10, one starting in the bottom 10 and two starting somewhere in between those ranges. We will not pick drivers starting for the People's Pitstop that week, but we will do our best to pick drivers who have a good shot of finishing in the top 10 for one reason or another.
Here are the picks for this week.
One from the front: This week, it's particularly challenging to make this pick, since three of the top 10 starters (Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Newman) are in our starting lineup. We'll go instead with a driver who's in the top 10 in both today's starting grid and the Sprint Cup point standings: Mark Martin, who won Saturday's Nationwide race on this very track.
One from the back: The pickings are pretty slim back here in the land of start-and-parkers (or, in the case of Robby Gordon, start-and-perp-walkers). However, believe it or not, we have another driver currently in the top 10 in points: David Gilliland. He's as good a bet to move up the pack as anybody.
Two from the middle: The only driver in this group who is ineligible is Paul Menard. Instead, we'll go with Jeff Gordon, the driver who ended a 66-race losing streak last week, along with the driver who currently sits right behind his brother at the top of the point standings: Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native who probably doesn't want to see your Elvis impersonation.
Enjoy the race. We'll be back with the results.
Only this time, we're going to do things a little differently.
Let's be honest; an elephant throwing darts could pick 10 drivers and get half of them into the top 10 each week. And since we're fresh out of darts, we need a new system, so here goes.
Each week for the rest of the season, the fine folks who write this blog will pick four drivers -- one starting in the top 10, one starting in the bottom 10 and two starting somewhere in between those ranges. We will not pick drivers starting for the People's Pitstop that week, but we will do our best to pick drivers who have a good shot of finishing in the top 10 for one reason or another.
Here are the picks for this week.
One from the front: This week, it's particularly challenging to make this pick, since three of the top 10 starters (Kyle Busch, A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Newman) are in our starting lineup. We'll go instead with a driver who's in the top 10 in both today's starting grid and the Sprint Cup point standings: Mark Martin, who won Saturday's Nationwide race on this very track.
One from the back: The pickings are pretty slim back here in the land of start-and-parkers (or, in the case of Robby Gordon, start-and-perp-walkers). However, believe it or not, we have another driver currently in the top 10 in points: David Gilliland. He's as good a bet to move up the pack as anybody.
Two from the middle: The only driver in this group who is ineligible is Paul Menard. Instead, we'll go with Jeff Gordon, the driver who ended a 66-race losing streak last week, along with the driver who currently sits right behind his brother at the top of the point standings: Kurt Busch, a Las Vegas native who probably doesn't want to see your Elvis impersonation.
Enjoy the race. We'll be back with the results.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The People's Choice - Las Vegas
Another week has come and gone, and the People's Pitstop has a lineup thanks to you, the Internet. Here are the drivers who will represent the Web's favorite fantasy NASCAR team in Sunday 's Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
A List: It's appropriate that a pair of Vegas natives won this poll. Kyle Busch gets the starting spot over Kurt by qualifying 5th, 17 spots in front of his brother.
B List: Some familiar names show up in this poll. A.J. Allmendinger (7th) and Ryan Newman (8th) beat out Mark Martin (10th) and Kasey Kahne (30th). If we don't place well this week, it won't be because we had no one near the front.
C List: Longtime readers of this blog will remember that Paul Menard had to be retired early because of his frequent poll wins. Well, he's on his way to doing the same this year. By qualifying 18th, he edged out Bobby Labonte, who qualified 24th.
Thanks again for your votes. The poll results appear below, and a poll about this weekend's race site is available for voting. We'll be back with the first predictions of the season.
[polldaddy poll=4640079] [polldaddy poll=4640091] [polldaddy poll=4640107]
A List: It's appropriate that a pair of Vegas natives won this poll. Kyle Busch gets the starting spot over Kurt by qualifying 5th, 17 spots in front of his brother.
B List: Some familiar names show up in this poll. A.J. Allmendinger (7th) and Ryan Newman (8th) beat out Mark Martin (10th) and Kasey Kahne (30th). If we don't place well this week, it won't be because we had no one near the front.
C List: Longtime readers of this blog will remember that Paul Menard had to be retired early because of his frequent poll wins. Well, he's on his way to doing the same this year. By qualifying 18th, he edged out Bobby Labonte, who qualified 24th.
Thanks again for your votes. The poll results appear below, and a poll about this weekend's race site is available for voting. We'll be back with the first predictions of the season.
[polldaddy poll=4640079] [polldaddy poll=4640091] [polldaddy poll=4640107]
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Quick Poem
You still have a couple of hours to vote on the drivers who will represent the People's Pitstop in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The polls are on the right side of the page. Remember that you're picking 2 A List drivers, 4 B List drivers and 2 C List drivers. We have to close the polls tonight, because the qualifying session is Friday.
In the meantime, here's some evidence that auto racing fans are not all illiterate heathens. TOEJAM, one of the players in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing, posted a brief NASCAR poem. I thought I'd share it with all of you, because if you've every played fantasy racing (or any other fantasy sport, for that matter), you've had thoughts similar to these:
"no need to be checkin
those are my guys who are wreckin...."
OK, it's not exactly "There once was man from Nantucket," but it works.
We'll be back with the poll results.
In the meantime, here's some evidence that auto racing fans are not all illiterate heathens. TOEJAM, one of the players in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing, posted a brief NASCAR poem. I thought I'd share it with all of you, because if you've every played fantasy racing (or any other fantasy sport, for that matter), you've had thoughts similar to these:
"no need to be checkin
those are my guys who are wreckin...."
OK, it's not exactly "There once was man from Nantucket," but it works.
We'll be back with the poll results.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Getting Better All the Time
If Jeff Gordon can break a 66-race slump, then the People's Pitstop certainly can break a 1-race one, and we did.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored 282 points during Sunday's Sprint Cup race in Phoenix, sponsored by the folks who think they invented the word "footlong." We rose 2 spots in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group rankings, to 11th place.
Here's how we did it.
Kurt Busch: Started 2nd, finished 8th, 31 laps led and 91 fantasy points, including 5 qualifying bonus points and 10 points for leading a lap. Yes, we would have gotten more if we had started his brother, but we'll take it anyway.
Ryan Newman: Started 14th, finished 5th, 7 laps led and 92 fantasy points. If the early results are any indication, Newman is leaving 2010 in his rear view mirror.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 15th, finished 9th and 74 fantasy points. All that was missing from his Sunday was a lap led, but you get the feeling that's just a matter of time.
Regan Smith: Started 5th, finished 34th (99 laps behind the leaders) and 24 fantasy points. We all knew the Daytona 500 would have a major wreck, but the one that collected Smith on Sunday had to be a surprise.
This week, NASCAR loads up its haulers and heads to Las Vegas. And we at the People's Pitstop need your help once again in picking the eight drivers that will fill our roster in Sin City. The polls will close Thursday night, so feel free to vote now. And tell a friend.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored 282 points during Sunday's Sprint Cup race in Phoenix, sponsored by the folks who think they invented the word "footlong." We rose 2 spots in the 9beersfantasysportstavern group rankings, to 11th place.
Here's how we did it.
Kurt Busch: Started 2nd, finished 8th, 31 laps led and 91 fantasy points, including 5 qualifying bonus points and 10 points for leading a lap. Yes, we would have gotten more if we had started his brother, but we'll take it anyway.
Ryan Newman: Started 14th, finished 5th, 7 laps led and 92 fantasy points. If the early results are any indication, Newman is leaving 2010 in his rear view mirror.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 15th, finished 9th and 74 fantasy points. All that was missing from his Sunday was a lap led, but you get the feeling that's just a matter of time.
Regan Smith: Started 5th, finished 34th (99 laps behind the leaders) and 24 fantasy points. We all knew the Daytona 500 would have a major wreck, but the one that collected Smith on Sunday had to be a surprise.
This week, NASCAR loads up its haulers and heads to Las Vegas. And we at the People's Pitstop need your help once again in picking the eight drivers that will fill our roster in Sin City. The polls will close Thursday night, so feel free to vote now. And tell a friend.
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