Spinning Our Wheels in Delaware

There are seven weeks left in the People's Pitstop's quest for supremacy in the 9beersfantasysportstavern fantasy NASCAR league, and we almost that many spaces to make up.
The Internet's favorite fantasy racing team scored 262 points during Sunday's Chase race at Dover International Speedway. Our season total of 7,648 leaves us in sixth place in our fantasy league.
Here are the detailed results.
Kevin Harvick: Started 22nd, finished 10th, 10 laps led and 82 fantasy points. Harvick's strong performance was good enough to put him in a tie with Carl Edwards the top of the point standings with seven races left in the Chase.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 7th, finished 7th, 8 laps led and 88 fantasy points. Allmendinger had a strong car from start to finish, especially for someone out of the Chase, thanks in part to a heck of a save. This was the eighth start for Allmendinger, who now will have the "LAST TIME" warning in our polls.
Martin Truex Jr.: Started 1st, finished 30th (4 laps behind the leaders), 2 laps led and 52 fantasy points. Good thing he got the pole. It was the only way he was going to lead a lap this race. For a more detailed breakdown of his performance, check out this nj.com blog post.
Bobby Labonte: Started 8th, finished 26th (2 laps behind the leaders) and 40 fantasy points. Labonte's slide on a restart ended his chances of contention.
Now we turn to our chances of contention. NASCAR takes its act to Kansas this week, and we have until Friday's qualifying session to field a roster. Therefore, the polls are now open and will close Thursday night. Please get your votes in now.
We'll be back with the fantasy football results -- without any golf comparisons.

The People's Choice - Dover

We've reached the month of October, when baseball starts a postseason that seems eternal but will be over long before NASCAR's. Speaking of which, the Sprint Cup drivers take on the Monster Mile of Dover International Speedway this Sunday. Here are the drivers who will represent the People's Pitstop in that race.
A List: Tony Stewart keeps racking up the wins. His latest came in this week's poll, where he beat a bunch of drivers. Kevin Harvick, by virtue of the points tiebreaker, took the second spot on the roster. And, by qualifying 22nd (six spots in front of Stewart), he earned a starting spot for this week.
B List: The winner of this week's pole was Brad Keselowski. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger tied for second place. Martin Truex Jr. grabbed the fourth and final spot. And then we had qualifying, which pretty much reversed things. Truex took the freakin' pole, earning us 10 badly needed bonus points. Allmendinger qualified 7th, earning himself a start. Earnhardt (21st) and Keselowski (15th) are relegated to the bench.
C List: Most of the drivers in this poll could have taken the week off as far as the voters were concerned. Regan Smith took the top spot again, followed by Bobby Labonte. And, like their B List counterparts, they reversed their order in the qualifying session. Labonte starts in 8th place (eight spots in front of Smith) and starts for us.
Thanks again for voting. And if you'd still like to participate in this little fantasy democracy experiment, take a crack at the football polls on the right side of this page. You can help decide who takes the field for the People's Pigskin this weekend.
We'll be back shortly with some NASCAR predictions.

The People's Choice - Richmond

Another week has come and gone. Some people have become superstars, others have become spouses, and the People's Pigskin has settled into its new home on Blogger. We'd like to thank those of you who made the move with us and voted on the People's Pitstop's lineup for this week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Here are the drivers who will be driving for starting spots during Friday's qualifying session at Richmond International Raceway.
A List. Kyle Busch may not be everybody's favorite driver, but he did win this week's poll. Jimmie Johnson, who was last seen winning the Talladega race by a whisker, came in second. Both get roster spots for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team.
B List. Clint Bowyer is still hunting for his first win of the 2011 season, but that didn't stop him from winning our poll. There was a three-way tie for second involving Ryan Newman, A.J. Allmendinger and Martin Truex Jr. All three get to take the track Friday with a chance to start for us.
C List. It's a good thing we have two roster spots available here. Two drivers got all the votes--a young one (25-year-old David Ragan) and a not-so-young one (Bobby Labonte, who is days away from turning 47).
We will update this post when the qualifying session is over. In the meantime, enjoy the draft. And before you assume the NFL draft concluded on Thursday night, consider this fact: Twenty-eight current members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were drafted in the second round, including Jack Lambert, Mike Singletary and Thurman Thomas. Nineteen Hall of Famers were drafted in the third round, including Ray Nitschke and this guy.
EDITED 9:00 P.M. The good news comes first. Bowyer qualified third for this race, earning a starting spot for himself and 3 bonus points for the People's Pitstop. Next comes the awkward moment: Instead of Martin Truex Jr., we mistakenly put Mark Martin on the roster. The saving grace is that Martin qualified 5th, beating Newman (13th), Allmendinger (18th) and Truex (21st).
As for the other starters, Busch (20th) beat Johnson (30th) for the A List slot. Labonte (14th) outfoxed Ragan (27th) for the C List slot.
Well, it could be worse. We could be on the Chicago Bears staff.

The People's Choice - Martinsville

We're back from our sojourn in Las Vegas. We'd like to tell you all about the ultimate margaritas, the Michael Jackson impersonator, the world's dumbest roulette player, the 70 beers, the roller coaster, the lions and the man lying unconscious on the Strip, but what happens there stays there. (Really, it's in the contract.)
It's back to work for the People's Pitstop, but you, the Internet, did not take this week off. You came out and selected a lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. Here are your results.
A List. You must have seen something in Jimmie Johnson's near-win last week in Fontana. The five-time defending Sprint Cup champion won this poll, followed by Denny Hamlin.
B List: This race was a lot closer. Three drivers (Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne) tied for first place, while A.J. Allmendinger came in fourth. Good thing we have four spots -- two starting and two bench -- to give them.
C List: Only two drivers received votes in this poll. One of them, surprise, surprise, was Paul Menard. The other was David Ragan. You know the drill by now. Whoever qualifies better will start. The other one will sit.
Thanks again for voting. The results appear below, and a new poll about college basketball's big event is available for voting. We will update this post after the qualifying session.
UPDATED 2 P.M. Kahne has spent a lot of time on our bench this season. Not this week; he qualified 3rd and earned the People's Pitstop 3 bonus points. The other starters are Hamlin (5th), Allmendinger (6th) and Ragan (14th). That's right; Paul Menard, who qualified 16th, finally gets a seat on the bench.
We'll be back with a fresh set of predictions.
[polldaddy poll=4801881] [polldaddy poll=4801961] [polldaddy poll=4802021]

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 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]

The People's Choice - New Hampshire

If it's Friday, that must mean two things: Dave Blaney will struggle to qualify a car that will be parked before the race's first commercial break, and you, the Internet, have chosen the lineup for the People's Pitstop for Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

Here are the drivers in the mix for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team.

A List. He only had to win five of the season's first 16 races to do it, but Denny Hamlin has earned your confidence. He won this poll in a rout and will get his first starting spot of the fantasy racing season over Jeff Gordon.

B List. To paraphrase the Sundays, here's where the certainty ends. We had a logjam in this poll. Using points as the tiebreaker, we have four drivers competing for two starting spots: Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. This will come down to the qualifying session. The drivers who qualify the best will start.

C List. Another tie here. This time it comes down to Paul Menard and Sam Hornish Jr. Again, we'll use the qualifying session as the tiebreaker, and the People's Pitstop could end up with more juniors than this year's NBA Draft.

We'll update this post after the qualifying session. In the meantime, the new poll about you know who is up and open for voting.

10:25 p.m. UPDATE. The qualifying results are in. In addition to Hamlin, your starters are Clint Bowyer (who starts 9th), Jeff Burton (17th) and Sam Hornish Jr. (8th). And for those of you who don't think "football" involves diving like Greg Louganis, we'll be back with another fantasy football preview.

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.