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.

Fearless Predictions - Atlanta

Today's post could be called a hybrid, since it covered both fantasy football and NASCAR.
Let's take care of the football news first. You, the Internet, were kind enough to vote in our polls about the People's Pigskin and which players it should target first in Monday night's People's League draft. You decided that we should target Larry Fitzgerald as our primary wide receiver (OK, as long as we don't have to pay him) and Jason Witten as our tight end. Those are the players we will try to pick up for those positions.
Now, we turn our attention to NASCAR. The Sprint Cup drivers will spend their Sunday night taking on Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the people who bring you the People's Pitstop will spend it hoping the drivers we pick for the top 10 don't make us look like clowns. Last week's forecasts went 2-2, lifting our season record to 29-59. All in all, it's still been a better season than Jerry Lewis is having.
One from the front: It probably wouldn't shock you to learn that Jeff Gordon has won four Sprint Cup races at Atlanta. It also probably won't shock you to learn that he's finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races. Given all this, it probably shouldn't shock you that Gordon starts tonight in 5th place.
One from the back: The pickings in the back 10 are particularly meager for this race. If hard pressed, we'll go with Dave Blaney, who starts 35th tonight and sits highest among the bottom 10 drivers in point standings (30th).
Two from the middle: Brad Keselowski did not qualify well enough (14th) to earn a starting spot this week, but a busted oil pan has been his team's only misstep since the Road America test. Keselowski has finished in the top 10 in the last five races, including two that he won outright.
Right in front of him tonight, in the 13th starting spot, we find Denny Hamlin. He currently holds the final wild card spot, but he probably would prefer one of the top 10 automatic qualifying spots. And he got a top 10 finish last week at Bristol.
Enjoy the race (and the telethon), everybody. We'll be back with results and new polls.