Treading Water in Carolina

Under the circumstances, things could have gone worse for the People's Pitstop on Saturday night. They could have gone better, too.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored only 213 points during the Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Our season total of 8,169 leaves us in fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. We are now just over 100 points away from the current leader, Dale Jr Amp National Guard 88. In other words, it's still anybody's race.

Here's how our team's weekend went.

Carl Edwards: Started 3rd, finished 3rd, 1 lap led and 99 fantasy points. Edwards maintained his spot at the top of the point standings, but he probably lost his spot on Kyle Busch's Christmas card list.

Mark Martin: Started 13th, finished 37th (47 laps behind the leaders) and 18 fantasy points. To the growing list of "phrases you never want associated with your fantasy NASCAR driver," you may add "broken wheel hub."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 15th, finished 19th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 54 fantasy points. Of course, having your driver's name next to the words "frustrate" and "disappoint" in a NASCAR.com story headline is no picnic, either.

Regan Smith: Started 21st, finished 22nd (2 laps behind the leaders) and 42 fantasy points. Smith might have known he had a better car than the results showed, but someone must have forgotten to tell his car that.

Next up for the NASCAR drivers is the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, so our lineup polls for the People's Pitstop will close Friday night. Please feel free to get your votes in early. NASCAR has penalties for a lot of things, but voting early in a lineup poll isn't one of them.

We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

Fearless Predictions - Charlotte

OK, so the quest to lift our NASCAR predictions to .500 for the season will fall a little short. Big deal. We can still finish this season with a bang. Here are this week's picks for the Sprint Cup drivers to finish in the top 10. Last week's forecasts went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 41-71.

One from the front: It's hard to ignore Jimmie Johnson (who starts 9th tonight) at this time of year and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in particular. He has a whopping six wins on this track. And he finished 3rd in this race last year on his way to a fifth straight Sprint Cup title. Let someone eles pick another driver from the top 10.

One from the back: The pickings in the bottom 10 are as supermodel slim as ever. This week, we'll take a flyer on Dave Blaney, who starts 35th and has finished in that position or better in the last five races. You don't do that if you're going to start and park.

Two from the middle: Don't count Kevin Harvick out of it yet. He's starting 14th tonight, but he's still 2nd in the points standings. Also, he's finished in the top 10 in five of the last six races this season, and he won the 600-mile race at Charlotte in May. And you have to respect a driver willing to wreck his wife just to star in an ESPN commercial.
For our final pick, we're going to reach all the way back to the 20th starting spot for Kurt Busch. He finished in the top five here in May, and he won a race here last year. Besides, the best way to snuff out questions about your crew chief is to have a strong day at the track.

Remember that you can still vote on the fantasy football polls on right side of this page while you watch the race. The People's Pigskin needs to mount a comeback, and we need your help to assemble the lineup. Please vote now.

We'll be back with the football poll results.

The People's Choice - Charlotte

Watching the New York Jets implode under the weight of their own hubris has been fun for the last couple of days. But fortunately, you, the Internet, have been busy making selections for the People's Pitstop. Here are the drivers who will represent the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team during Saturday night's Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

A List: This week's poll resulted in a tie between Carl Edwards, the current points leader and defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Thursday evening's qualifying session put Carl Edwards in the 3rd starting spot, six points in front of Johnson and high enough to get the People's Pitstop 3 bonus points.

B List: It's a good thing we have four roster spots for this group of drivers, because we had a four-way tie involving Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Juan Pablo Montoya. Martin (13th) and Earnhardt (15th) will start, while Keselowski (26th) and Montoya (32nd) will watch the proceedings from the bench.

C List: Another poll, another tie. We're starting to look like John Belushi in the disciplinary hearing scene of "Animal House." This tie was between the new usual suspects, Regan Smith and Bobby Labonte. And if there could have been a tie in qualifying, these two drivers probably would have done that, too. As it turns out, Smith (21st) is one spot in front of Labonte and gets the start.

Remember that the fantasy football polls are still open and will remain open until Saturday night. The People's Pigskin needs all the help it can get in getting its season back on track. Please vote now.

We'll be back with our weekly NASCAR predictions.

A Kansas Comeback

Don't count the People's Pitstop out just yet.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team piled up 308 points during Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway. The season total of 7,956 lifted us two spots in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league, to 4th place. We are just over 100 points behind the leader, so winning the championship is more than a mere mathematical possibility.
Here are the more detailed results.
Kevin Harvick: Started 14th, finished 6th and 80 fantasy points. These results probably would look even better if we hadn't benched the eventual race winner. Harvick slipped just enough late in the race to trail Carl Edwards in the points standings by a single point.
Kasey Kahne: Started 5th, finished 2nd and 88 fantasy points. The remarkable thing isn't that Kahne got so close to the front but never led a lap. It's that he got so close to the front after an early problem on pit row left him in 40th place.
Brad Keselowski: Started 12th, finished 3rd, 5 laps led and 96 fantasy points. The truly encouraging thing about Keselowski's day is that he was hungry for more when it ended. He'll be somebody to watch next year on the A List.
Regan Smith: Started 16th, finished 24th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 44 fantasy points. Frankly, this is probably as good as we can expect from the C List drivers available to us for the rest of the season.
And if you debated whether to watch this race or the Sunday afternoon NFL games (or if you sprained your finger switching back and forth), this is the week for you. NASCAR is taking its act to Saturday night for a Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The qualifying session is scheduled for Thursday, so we're going to need to pick our drivers by Wednesday night. The polls are now open. Please note that both Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger are down to their last starts for us. And please vote accordingly.
We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

At Least, WE Had Plenty of Gas

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car couldn't go the distance, but the People's Pitstop could. Not only did the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team rack up 330 points during Sunday's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but we scored more points than any other team in the prestigious 9beersfantasysportstavern league on Yahoo Sports. Our season total of 3,460 is good enough to keep us in first place.
Here's how we did it, with a little help from you-know-who.
Carl Edwards: Started 3rd, finished 16th, 61 laps led and 73 fantasy points. Edwards did his best work early in the race. Still, he remains your points leader. (Yes, even the New York Times noticed.)
Clint Bowyer: Started 10th, finished 15th and 62 fantasy points. Bowyer was the only driver in our starting lineup not to lead at least one of the race's 402 laps. Maybe he'll get that done this week in his home state, where he'll even race a truck.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 2nd, finished 5th, 5 laps led and 97 fantasy points. Like Edwards, Allmendinger had his best results early in the race, before the sun set. But he did collect his first top five finish of the season, and he was one of the many drivers whose standing improved when Earnhardt's gas tank went dry. But if you want a golden horseshoe, look for...
David Ragan: Started 8th, finished 2nd, 7 laps led and 98 fantasy points. Ragan was actually a lap behind the leaders when, at lap 396 (4 laps before the checkered flag was scheduled to fly), Jimmie Johnson blew his engine. Ragan got the "lucky dog" pass back to the lead lap, and he made the most of it.
The People's Pitstop certainly has momentum. Let's see how far it gets us as NASCAR heads for the heartland for Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway. The qualifying session is Saturday morning, so this week's polls will close Friday night. Get your votes in now, and help the People's Pitstop keep its wheels turning.

Fearless Predictions - Charlotte

Throw another hot dog on the grill, or anything else you like; we at the People's Pigskin don't judge. It's a Sunday packed with racing, whether your favorite drivers are in Monaco or Indianapolis or Charlotte Motor Speedway. If you chose option C from that list, then you'll be interested in reading our predictions for the Sprint Cup drivers who will finish in the top 10 in the NASCAR marathon, aka the Coca-Cola 600. Our most recent forecasts went a respectable 2-2 at Dover, but our season record is a less-than-respectable 10-26, so don't read them while operating heavy machinery (or taking a test drive with Kyle Busch).
One from the front: Your picks for the People's Pitstop this week left us with a smaller field of eligible drivers. We'll go with Jimmie Johnson, whose long list of career accomplishments includes six victories on this track. And, as longtime readers of this blog know, he starts 6th in this race.
One from the back: Jamie McMurray is starting back in 35th place. That makes this pick supremely easy. Last year, he finished 2nd in the 600 and then won the fall race in Charlotte. This year, the man who grew up in Joplin, Missouri, is representing a community devastated by last week's tornado. If there's anyone motivated to charge to the front, it's McMurray.
Two from the middle: Ryan Newman starts 12th, and we discussed his nine poles on this track in our last post. Now we need to consider a single win by Matt Kenseth, who starts 19th. He won Saturday's Nationwide race. How is that remarkable? It was the first Nationwide race he has entered all season.
Enjoy today's racing, but keep in mind why we call it Memorial Day. We'll be back with results.

The People's Choice - Charlotte

This post got caught in the Memorial Day weekend traffic, but better late than never.
This week was a short one for voting, but you, the Internet, came through with your picks for the People's Pitstop. Thanks to you, the Web's favorite fantasy NASCAR team is a little like Casey Kasem: All our starters are in the top 10.
A List: The people must have been impressed with the way Carl Edwards performed last Saturday. (Well, for the most part, anyway.) He won this poll handily over runner-up Jimmie Johnson. He also won a starting spot by qualifying 3rd, three spots ahead of Johnson. As a result, we get an extra 3 bonus points.
B List: This race was considerably tighter. Ryan Newman squeaked out a victory over Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger, who tied for second place. However, the man with nine poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway could not outqualify Allmendinger (2nd) and Bowyer (10th), both of whom earned starting spots over Newman (12th) and Earnhardt (25th; he should stick to fan votes). In fact, Allmendinger got us 5 bonus points for getting on the front row.
C List: Two of the usual suspects rose to the top of this poll. David Ragan beat Paul Menard in terms of both votes and qualifying (8th vs. 16th).
We'll be back sometime before the race with predictions.

Now, Back to the Races That Count

The Sprint All-Star Race last Saturday night was cool if you are a NASCAR fan, though not if you're the guy who has to fix Carl Edwards' car. (As least we know his crew can afford the parts.)
Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the recipients of your votes in last week's poll, made it into the main event on the strength of his popularity. (Shocking, isn't it?) Jeff Burton and Marcos Ambrose, the other Sprint Cup drivers who got your votes, fell short in the Sprint Showdown and had to watch the rest of the festivities just like the rest of us.
But said festivities are now in our rear-view mirror.
And we at the People's Pitstop can't spend too much time looking back or planning our Memorial Day barbecue. We have to turn to the longest race on the NASCAR calendar, the Coca-Cola 600 this Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The qualifying session for this race is Thursday, so our lineup polls will have to close on Wednesday night. Please get your votes in now. We need your help to stay on top of the 9beersfantasysportstavern league.
We'll be back with, of all things, a book review.

Are You Ready for Some All-Stars?

Our thanks to all of you who took some time out of your busy schedule to vote in this week's poll about the NASCAR All-Star Race Fan Vote. Unfortunately, you could come to a consensus about which Sprint Cup driver should the extra vote for tonight's featured race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Therefore, the people who bring you this fine blog cast one vote each for Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Of course, casting a vote for Earnhardt in this contest has a "coals to Newcastle" feel to it, but there it is.
If possible, we will update this post after the Sprint Showdown. In the meantime, you still have time to cast votes yourself in the Fan Vote. Enjoy your day.

Random Thoughts from the Pit

On Thursday night, as part of its All-Star Weekend, NASCAR held its annual Pit Crew Challenge in Charlotte. This gave the folks who hoist the jacks and haul the tires and all those things a chance to shine on their own, instead of getting blamed for their driver's woes.
The most interesting aspect of the evening, by far, was learning how many of the pit crew members are former athletes. Once upon a time, the pit crews were people who had been working on cars since they could walk. (Think Tiger Woods with an air wrench.) Nowadays, the crews seem to be made of people who already had the athletic ability to haul rear end in the pit and now are being trained how to do mechanical stuff. One gas can man played running back for Appalachian State. A few of the jackmen had played lineman for colleges in and around North Carolina. One member of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew is a former professional wrestler, and he seemed to play that role when Speed TV interviewed him.
One wonders if these crew members could have beaten the Carolina Panthers this season.
Back to the contest, which was designed to showcase what these people do week after week. However, in showcasing them, the people running this event also seemed to diminish what they do.
The crews went head to head--sort of. Jackmen worked on one car, while the front tire changers and carriers worked on a second, rear tire changers and carriers worked on a third, and the gas men (two gas men per crew, plus a supporter, despite the recent NASCAR rule change in that area) worked on a fourth. After they were finished with their individual work, the crew members congregated at a fifth vehicle and pushed it to the finish line. The fastest crew, after accounting for penalties, advanced.
Did anyone else watching this think the crew members should all have been working on the same car, the way they do in a typical race? After all, one of the hardest parts of their job has to be staying out of one another's way long enough to finish a pit stop. That's one reason you have occasional incidents like this.
Anyway, Denny Hamlin's crew won the contest. In addition to their cash reward, that crew got their choice of pit for Saturday's All-Star Race. Speaking of which, the polls for that race are still open. Remember that each driver who gets a vote in that poll will get a Fan Vote from the People's Pitstop. The driver who gets the most votes in our poll will get an extra vote. Get your vote in now. We'll be back with the results.

Not-So-Good Charlotte

Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte can be described for the People's Pitstop in one word: ugly.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored only 114 points on Saturday night. The season total is 8,180, good enought for 74,900th overall on Yahoo Sports and dropping us 37 spots, to 99th, in the Fans of From the Marbles league.

We could give you extensive links to detail our team's Charlotte woes. Instead, we'll steer you to NASCAR.com's Lap-by-Lap summary of the race. It has all the information we need to give you on all our drivers.

Jeff Gordon: Started 1st, finished 23rd (1 lap behind the leaders), 7 laps led and 66 fantasy points. From the Lap-by-Lap report: "Lap 296 -- Jeff Gordon serves a penalty for entering too fast on pit road."

Ryan Newman: Started 11th, finished 36th (62 laps behind the leaders) and 20 fantasy points. "Lap 2 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 1: Ryan Newman gets loose in Turn 3 and finds the wall." That's right ... on the SECOND FREAKIN LAP!!!!

Kasey Kahne: Started 25th, finished 38th (120 laps behind the leaders) and 16 fantasy points. "Lap 123 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 5: Kasey Kahne gets loose and hits the wall..."

Sam Hornish Jr.: Started 19th, finished 40th (212 laps behind the leaders) and 12 fantasy points. "...Sam Hornish Jr. was at the wrong place at the wrong time and has sustained plenty of damage to the No. 77." One accident essentially took two of our drivers out of contention.

Newman is done for the season, but the People's Pitstop is not. A new set of NASCAR polls will go up shortly. Also, the football polls will close soon, so please get your last votes in. We'll be back with the results.

Fearless NASCAR Predictions - Charlotte

If NASCAR can move its Sprint Cup race from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night, then we can move our predictions for the top 10 finishers up a day, too. Last week's forecasts went 6-4, leaving us with a season record of 140-150. That's right; the only thing separating us from a .500 record is a perfect 10-0 week. Shouldn't be that hard, right?

1. Jimmie Johnson. Lather, rinse, repeat.

2. Jeff Gordon. Does winning the pole mean he's finally ready to win a race again?

3. Kyle Busch. Among the drivers in this year's Chase, he has the best recent record at Charlotte.

4. Tony Stewart. His Charlotte record isn't quite as strong, but he does have the hot hand by virtue of last week's win.

5. Ryan Newman. Speaking of hot hands, Newman has finished in the top 10 in 6 of his last 7 races. And that race where he didn't finish in the top 10? He finished 11th.

6. Denny Hamlin. If Johnson falters in any way, shape or form, Hamlin will be in the best position to benefit.

7. Mark Martin. Longtime readers of this blog know that Martin has won here 4 times. Coincidentally, 4 also is his starting spot this week.

8. A.J. Allmendinger. With three top 10 finishes in his last five races and a 3rd-place starting position this week, Allmendinger is no longer eligible for the term "long shot." (He's also no longer eligible for our lineup, but still ...)

9. Carl Edwards. He helped his slim Sprint Cup hopes by qualifying on the front row with Gordon.

10. Dave Blaney. Anyone brave enough to sport this paint pattern has to be our medium to long shot. If nothing else, we know he won't be a "start and parker" with that paint on his hood.

Make sure you vote in the football polls on the right side of this page. We need you, the Internet, to help us pick the players that the People's Pigskin will start this week against cowboys romero. We'll be back with the fantasy football predictions.

The People's Choice - Charlotte

In a shorter than usual week, you, the Internet, came through again.

We asked you to select the People's Pitstop lineup for Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Here is the lineup you produced.

A List. With Jimmie Johnson now ineligible for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team, you were all over the place on this poll. Four drivers tied for first place. We used the current point standings to select two: Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. Thursday evening's qualifying session will determine which one will start.

B List. This poll was a little clearer, but not by much. Three drivers tied for the top spot. Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne will compete for the two available starting spots. The one who qualifies the worst will join Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the bench. (If Newman starts, it will be his final start of the season for us.)

C List. This was the only poll that produced an honest-to-goodness winner. Our old friend Sam Hornish Jr. will make his 7th start for the People's Pitstop. Paul Menard will watch the festivities from the bench.

Thanks again for voting. The results appear below. We will update this post after the qualifying session. In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, please vote in the football polls. The People's Pigskin needs your help to bounce back from its first loss of the season.

UPDATED 9:20 P.M. The results are in, and Gordon earned the A List spot (and a 10-point bonus) for taking the pole for Saturday's race. And Newman will be driving his swan song with the People's Pitstop. He qualified 11th, while Kasey Kahne qualified 25th, beating out McMurray by 2 spots. Hornish, who qualified 19th, had already locked in a starting spot.

[polldaddy poll=3907760]  [polldaddy poll=3907774]  [polldaddy poll=3907785]

The People's Facts - Bank of America 500

First, an update on the NASCAR polls: They have to close TONIGHT because the qualifying session for Saturday's Sprint Cup race will take place on Thursday. So we need you to vote on the People's Pitstop lineup tonight. In the meantime, here's some basic information about the site of this week's race.

Track basics: NASCAR comes home to the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Charlotte suburb of Concord, North Carolina. (Click here for the Yahoo Sports preview.)

Last time we were here: In the longest race of the NASCAR season, Kurt Busch won the Coca-Cola 600 for owner Roger Penske, who also won the Indianapolis 500 that day with Dario Franchitti. The People's Pitstop did not have quite as memorable a day. The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored 300 points but left Kyle Busch (who finished 3rd) on the bench.

Other recent winners: Jimmie Johnson (fall 2009), Jeff Burton (2008), Jeff Gordon (2007).

Who wins here a lot: Surprise, surprise ... Johnson leads active NASCAR drivers with six wins here, followed by Gordon (five) and Mark Martin (four).

Who needs new gear: At this point, you have to hope Tony Stewart fans aren't going bankrupt. They've gone from wearing his Home Depot orange to wearing his Old Spice/Office Depot red to now wearing the red, white, blue and whatever else of Mobil 1. If nothing else, the sponsor switches by Stewart and others are sure to stimulate one part of the economy: yard sales.

Once again, the polls close tonight, so please vote now. We'll be back with the results.

Charlotte Results, Pocono Polls

We'll overlook the People's Pigskin's prediction about Dario Franchitti winning Sunday's Indianapolis 500 (except to wonder what they say about monkeys and typewriters). For now, we have to thank two groups: those who put themselves in harm's way for our country, and those of you who voted on the People's Pitstop lineup for Sunday's Coca-Cola 500 in Charlotte.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team managed to score 300 points this weekend. That leaves us with a season total of 3,385, lifting us to 83,329th place overall in Yahoo Sports and lifting us 20 spots in the Fans of From the Marbles league to 102nd place. Here are the detailed results.

Tony Stewart. Started 26th, finished 15th, 1 lap led and 72 fantasy points. Maybe Smoke was distracted by concerns about what will happen to his monkey.

Kevin Harvick. Started 23rd, finished 11th, no laps led and 70 fantasy points. Yes, Happy Harvick retained his lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points race, but fans of the People's Pitstop should know that he is eligible to start for us only twice for the rest of the season.

Ryan Newman. Started 1st, finished 9th, 11 laps led and 94 fantasy points. That includes 10 points for starting on the pole and another 10 points for leading at least one lap, making him easily our star of the week.

A.J. Allmendinger. Started 18th, finished 14th, 0 laps led and 64 fantasy points. Notice that all four of our drivers finished within six spots of one another this week. (Good thing they didn't all wreck being so close together.)

This week, NASCAR takes its act from Fox to TNT and from the hub of North Carolina to the triangle of Pocono Raceway. This week's polls are up. The poll about Sunday plans appears below. Please vote.

[polldaddy poll=3261834]

Fearless Predictons - Charlotte

As Sunday's double dose of auto racing approaches, it's time to offer another set of predictions for the top 10 finishers, this time for the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. Last week's predictions went 4-6, leaving us with a season record of 51-59.

1. Jimmie Johnson. This seems to be about the time of year when the No. 48 team starts to exert its will on the rest of NASCAR.

2. Kyle Busch. Some drivers seem to do their best when they are ticked off at the rest of the world.

3. Denny Hamlin. And some seem to tick off the rest of the world when they are putting up their best results.

4. Ryan Newman. Here's a driver who must like the home cooking. He's on the pole for this race for the second year in a row.

5. Kurt Busch. Another driver enjoying the NASCAR home stand in Charlotte. He won the Sprint All-Star Race, and he's on the front row with Newman.

6. Kasey Kahne. The good folks at Yahoo Sports tell us that Kahne has finished in the top 10 in the last five races here.

7. Joey Logano. The 600-mile race is supposed to favor the veterans, but Logano finished in the top 10 in both Charlotte races last season.

8. Greg Biffle. 12 races, eight finishes in the top 10. Lather, rinse, repeat.

9. Kevin Harvick. Oh, did we mention the Sprint Cup points leader?

10. David Reutimann. Yes, he's in our medium-to-long-shot slot this week. But he is, for better or worse, the defending champion of this race. Yes, he got an assist from Mother Nature, but he still had to put himself in position to get that assist.

Oh, and here's a bonus prediction: Look for Dario Franchitti to win his second Indianapolis 500.

We'll be back with race results.

The People's Results - Charlotte

The People's Pitstop wants to thank those of you who helped us deal with a short week. The powers that be at NASCAR decided to hold the qualifying session for Sunday's Sprint Cup race on Thursday, so that gave you, the Internet, less time to choose our lineup. But choose you did. Here are the results.

A List. We had one clear-cut winner in this week's poll: Tony Stewart. He'll get the starting spot for the first time this season. The bench spot will go to the runner-up, Kyle Busch, who hopefully has cooled off a little.

B List. A pair of drivers won this week's poll. One is a familiar face: Kevin Harvick, who will make the seventh of nine possible starts for the People's Pitstop. The other starter is another first-timer, Ryan Newman. The bench spots went to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

C List. Another week, another start for A.J. Allmendinger. And another bench spot for Paul Menard.

The lineup poll results appear below. The latest poll asks about your viewing plans for Sunday.

[polldaddy poll=3250913] [polldaddy poll=3250929] [polldaddy poll=3250937]

And Now, Back to the Polls...

Thanks to those of you who voted in our poll about who would win the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race. You can see the results below.

Now, it's time to turn our sights back to the People's Pitstop and its quest for fantasy NASCAR glory. The Sprint Cup racers will stay in Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend for the only 600-mile race on the schedule. And once again, it's time for you, the Internet, to tell us who should be strapped into our ride for this racing marathon. The polls are open and will close Thursday night Wednesday night to allow us to send in the lineup in time for Friday's Thursday's qualifying session. Please vote now.

We'll be back with more about this week's race and more.

[polldaddy poll=3241321]

All-Star Updates

This post will offer occasional updates on tonight's All-Star festivites.

11:17 p.m. EDT The final segment of this race (only 10 laps, officially) took nearly as long to complete as the first one. That's because Kyle Busch wrecked, and then Jimmie Johnson spun out. In the end, Kurt Busch won. As I write these words, Kyle is still waiting to confront his "teammate" Denny Hamlin about the way his race ended. Good thing they won't have to contend with a 600-mile race next week or anything.

10:30 p.m. EDT The third segment is over, and now we have what has to be the most random element in the entire All-Star Race: a 10-minute break. All the teams get 10 minutes to work on their cars (but not to change the tires; at the end of the break, the cars will drive back to pit row for a mandatory four-tire change).

If anyone can explain the logic behind this, I'd love to hear it. After all, they've run a grand total of 90 laps so far, and they're getting ready to run only 10 more. And this is the third break they've had so far tonight.

If you want to put a 10-minute break into a Charlotte race, wouldn't you want to put it into the 600-mile race they'll be running a week from Sunday?

10:04 p.m. EDT The second segment just ended, and over in the Yahoo Sports chat room, we've had ... well, I'm not sure if it's a hoax or something that would have been better suited for another forum:

"10:03 [Comment From thats what she said] JENNY- I know you are on this chat since you texted me right now....i wanted to ask you if you will take my hand in marrige?"

No word yet on whether she said yes. But really, what more could she want from a future husband?

9:44 p.m. EDT The first segment of tonight's four-segment race (and, at 50 laps, the longest one by far) has just concluded. And Darrell Waltrip, in his infinite wisdom, just told the Speed TV viewers that now the exciting part of this race will begin. Thanks, DW. Thanks for telling those of us who turned on our sets in time to watch the start of this race just wasted their time.

8:48 p.m. EDT Well, I'd like to say that your vote in the All-Star poll helped put Jeff Burton over the top and into tonight's main event. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. That spot went instead to Carl Edwards. Uh, oh. One of the drivers who already qualified for the race: Brad Keselowski. Hopefully, they won't get together tonight.

8:13 p.m. EDT The Sprint Showdown has just concluded, with Martin Truex Jr. and Greg Biffle earning spots in the All-Star race. This was preceded by what may be the proudest moment of my race chatting career. The details below. To set the scene, Juan Pablo Montoya had just nearly gotten into two different wrecks by trying to squeeze other drivers off their lines.

"7:45 [Comment From peoplespigskin] Over/under on number of laps until Montoya actually wrecks someone?"

"7:46 Jay Hart: CAUTION"

"7:46 Jay Hart: JPM wrecked."

"7:47 [Comment From Robby Gordon Fan Club] peoplespigskin is a clairvoyant. Does he know tonight's Powerball numbers?"

How can I top that? Stay tuned.

A Quick Pre-All-Star Post

Thanks to those of you who voted in the poll about who should get a spot tonight in the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race. Jeff Burton was the winner, and in his honor, the People's Pigskin has just cast a vote for him on NASCAR.com. The results can be found below, and a fresh poll about the race's results can be found to the right of this post.

Unfortunately, one of your options for tonight's race won't be Brian Vickers, who has been sidelined for the season by his ongoing treatment for blood clots. Fortunately, NASCAR is allowing Casey Mears to use the spot Vickers had earned to run in tonight's All-Star Race. It's nice to see NASCAR earn itself some good karma for once.

If you're still online in about an hour and a half, be sure to visit the Yahoo Sports live chat for both the Sprint Showdown and the All-Star Race. We'll try to be there.

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