It's a good day to be a racing fan. The NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers bring their act to one of the world's most famous tracks, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And the People's Pitstop has a good chance to retake the lead in the 9beersfantasysportstavern standings.
All you need now to round out your Sunday is a dose of predictions about which drivers will finish in the top 10. Our most recent forecasts (two weeks ago, back when the National Football League still had its head up its rectum) went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 22-46.
One from the front: The numbers are trending in Kurt Busch's favor. He has finished in the top 10 in three of the last four Sprint Cup races. He currently sits third in driver points -- only 11 behind leader Carl Edwards. And he starts fourth this week, making him the top driver not starting for the People's Pitstop.
One from the back: The statistics for this week's bottom 10 starters are almost as sad as the attendance forecasts for this race. Almost by default, we're going with David Gilliland, who starts 37th and does have a pair of top 10 finishes this season, including a third-place finish at the Daytona 500.
Two from the middle: Denny Hamlin, who starts 14th, is a good pick for several reasons. For one thing, he finished third in our last race at New Hampshire. For another thing, he sits in 10th place in points, and he probably doesn't want to take his chances with a wild card. Staying in the top 10 would allow him not to worry about whether one win is going to be enough to secure the last Chase spot.
And since we're in Indianapolis, we have to give our final selection spot to Casey Mears. After all, the Mears family has a pretty strong history on this track. (Admittedly, Mears made this pick easier by qualifying 11th.)
Enjoy ESPN's first race of this Sprint Cup season. We'll be back with the results.
Showing posts with label David Gilliland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Gilliland. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2011
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.
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