This Season's Not Over Yet

Martinsville Speedway may be one of the shortest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, but it's big enough to alter the Chase race as well as the fate of the People's Pitstop.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored 260 points during Sunday's Chase race at Martinsville. Our season total of 8,655 lifted us into a tie for fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league with SteelerFan4Tony.

As we start dreaming of a top three finish, let's look as this week's results.

Kyle Busch: Started 6th, finished 27th (7 laps behind the leaders), 126 laps led and 58 fantasy points. It just goes to show that one tire flying off your car can ruin your whole day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 9th, finished 7th and 78 fantasy points. That was Earnhardt's ninth and final start for the People's Pitstop this season. In his nine starts, he had an average finish of 15.7 and an average score of 66.3. Strangely, Talladega Superspeedway was the site of his best performance for us (95 points and a 4th-place finish in April) and his worst performance for us (52 points and a 25th-place finish in October). And Earnhardt would probably be the first to tell you that, even though he made the Chase this year, his team is still not where it wants to be. Fortunately, Hendrick Motorsports seems willing to give him another shot in 2012.

Brad Keselowski: Started 3rd, finished 17th and 58 fantasy points. If only Keselowski could have that last restart back.

Regan Smith: Started 26th, finished 13th and 66 fantasy points. It's a truly remarkable finish when you consider that Smith had to overcome the damage he suffered when Dave Blaney got into him early in the race.

That leaves us with three races to make our mark. The next stop is Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. The polls are now open and will stay open through Thursday evening. Get your votes in now.

We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

Fearless Predictions - Martinsville

It's not Sunday yet. At least, it's not Sunday yet in most of the United States. It's already Sunday evening in China, even though they don't have Faith Hill to inform them of that. But even if it's not Sunday where you are, you can still look forward to Sunday with the help of these predictions for the top 10 finishers in NASCAR's Chase race at Martinsville Speedway. Last week's predictions finished a paltry 1-3, leaving us with a season record of 43-77.

One from the front: Thanks to Saturday afternoon's washout, this week's starting order is being set by driver points. That means Kevin Harvick gets to start in fifth place. He always seems to drive better when he's absolutely ticked off at somebody. And it was awfully nice of Greg Biffle to step into that role for him this week.

One from the back: You won't find someone in this week's bottom 10 with a top 10 finish this season. But Travis Kvapil is probably the next best thing for our purposes. First, he's currently in 35th place (the last spot guaranteed a spot in every race), so he's motivated not to start and park and surrender that spot. Second, he has a name that's fun to try to say out loud. For those of you keeping score at home, it's pronounced KWAH-pul, according to this site.

Two from the middle: Denny Hamlin sits in 11th place and won the truck race that NASCAR was able to run in Martinsville on Saturday after it couldn't run its qualifying session. Oh, and the Virginia native has won four Sprint Cup races at Martinsville. Yeah, there's always that.

If you're nervous about Clint Bowyer having the 13th spot, don't be. It means he's got the highest point total among non-Chase drivers. He has momentum from last week's win at Talladega. And he has a new team owner to impress. (Maybe he can wear the dog suit in those commercials.)

Remember to get your votes in on the People's Pigskin lineup. The polls will close later tonight. Thanks. We'll be back with the results.

The People's Choice - Martinsville

In addition to wreaking havoc with football games up and down the East Coast, Saturday's storm of rain and snow washed out the qualifying session for this weekend's Sprint Cup race. However, it did not stop you, the Internet, from voting on the People's Pitstop lineup. Here are the drivers who will represent the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team at Sunday's Chase race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

A List: Somebody must think Jimmie Johnson still has a chance to win a sixth straight Sprint Cup. He won this week's poll over runner-up Kyle Busch. However, with qualifying washed out, the order for this race is set by driver points. Busch (6th) starts one spot ahead of Johnson and will earn a spot in our starting lineup as a result. Let's just hope NASCAR doesn't give out penalties for bad singing.

B List: Because of a computer error, this poll ended quicker than the other two. That might be why we had a four-place tie involving Dale Earnhardt Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne. By virture of points, Keselowski (3rd) and Earnhardt (9th) get starts, while Kahne (14th) and Allmendinger (16th) get spots on the bench. This will be Earnhardt's ninth and final start for the People's Pitstop this season. Let's hope he makes the most of it.

C List: To heck with foot injuries, the people said. The winner of this poll was Bobby Labonte. David Gilliland tied for second place with Regan Smith, who gets the roster spot by virtue of the driver point tiebreaker. Speaking of points, Smith (26th) gets the starting nod over Labonte (29th). So much for .

We'll be back later today with predictions for Sunday's NASCAR race. In the meantime, be sure to get those votes in for the fantasy football polls. We need to get the People's Pigskin out of its losing streak, and your votes can help make it happen. Thanks.

That Could Have Gone Better

Talladega Superspeedway didn't give us anything that could be classified a Big One on Sunday, but that doesn't mean it didn't do any damage to the People's Pitstop.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team managed to score only 226 points during this week's Chase race. Our season total of 8,395 dropped us one spot in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league standings, to fifth place.

Here are all the relevant details.

Carl Edwards: Started 9th, finished 11th, 1 lap led and 80 fantasy points. The Edwards team strategy had him spending a lot of time in the back of the pack. But Edwards isn't complaining, since he retained his spot at the top of the driver standings.

Mark Martin: Started 1st, finished 20th, 2 laps led and 72 fantasy points. Martin got 10 points for winning the pole, 10 more points for leading a lap, but no points for having his car find Regan Smith's late in the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 6th, finished 25th, 2 laps led and 52 fantasy points. This blurb from SpeedTV says it all: "When he led briefly, the crowd went wild. Then reality set in."

Bobby Labonte: Started 21st, finished 35th (15 laps behind the leaders) and 22 fantasy points. It wouldn't be the People's Pitstop without a driver limping away from a race.

Time for some honesty. At this point, winning the 9beersfantasysportstavern season title is about as likely as Tony Sparano keeping his current job through New Year's Day. But we're going to keep competing through these last four weeks, because that's what fantasy players do.

And that means it's time to turn our attention to Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway. The lineup polls are now open and will close Friday night. Please feel free to get the voting process started right now.

We'll be back with the football results.

How to Be Right and Wrong Simultaneously

You have a couple of hours left to vote on the People's Pitstop lineup for Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. While you contemplate your votes, let's consider something that may have gotten lost in the shuffle last week at Martinsville.
Some of you might have noticed that Jimmie Johnson has not won yet this season. (By comparison, by this point last season, the five-time defending Sprint Cup champion had won three times.) At Martinsville, Johnson was essentially taken out of contention when he incurred a speeding penalty on Pit Row. And he did not react well. At all. He climbed out of his car and essentially accused NASCAR of lying.
Yes, he later apologized and said his misunderstood where on Pit Row he was caught speeding. But he still raises two interesting points.
First, he showed one way NASCAR is just like any other sport in North America. There are plenty of examples in plenty of sports where someone criticizing officials or the sport's sanctioning body was punished for it. Johnson probably will not be suspended for what he said, but he should remember that NASCAR would be well within its rights to punish him for what he did.
Second, he showed one way in which NASCAR is unique among sporting bodies. And not in a good way.
You see, the main difference between Jimmie Johnson being busted for speeding at Martinsville and you being busted for speeding on your local interstate is the defense Johnson can give but you can't.
"I didn't know I was speeding."
Unlike the car sitting in your garage/driveway, the NASCAR machines do not have speedometers. The teams generally record the tachometer's reading during the pre-race laps and tell the driver to keep the RPMs under that level on Pit Row. But there's a reason your car has both a tachometer and a speedometer. A traffic cop who pulls you over is never going to ask you "Do you know how many revolutions your engine was turning?"
Johnson is hardly the first person to suggest that NASCAR give the drivers a more accurate tool to measure something so crucial to their chances of winning. And it would make sense for the sport's governing body to give its drivers as much information as possible about when they're going to break the rules. When the NFL fines a player for hitting another player out of bounds, it doesn't have to worry about the fined player saying, "I had no idea where the boundary was."
Again, you have a couple of hours to make your choices for this week's race. We'll be back with the results.

The Climb Continues

This week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race could have gone much better for the People's Pitstop, but we'll take what we got.
What the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team got was 255 points at Martinsville Speedway. The season total is now 1,568, and we moved up one spot, to fifth place, in the highly competitive 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports. And here's how we did it.
Denny Hamlin: Started 5th, finished 12th, 89 laps led and 78 fantasy points. Hamlin surprised even the experts by having to pit early and being less than his usually dominant self in Martinsville.
A.J. Allmendinger: Started 6th, finished 14th, 6 laps led and 74 fantasy points. Mr. Allmendinger was one of only two Ford drivers to lead this race. Maybe they should fetch some of the cars they lent to American Idol.
David Ragan: Started 14th, finished 8th and 76 fantasy points. Ironically, the People's Pitstop's only top 10 starting driver at the finish was also the only one who did not lead a lap.
And yes, we've saved the worst for last.
Kasey Kahne: Started 3rd, finished 39th (281 laps behind the leaders), 1 lap led and 27 fantasy points. To the long list of things you never want to hear about your NASCAR driver, you can add this gem from Mike Joy: "That might be the hardest hit I've ever seen at this small a race track."
Everybody walked away, though, and now they can walk (or fly, really) to Fort Worth for a Saturday night shootout at Texas Motor Speedway. The lineup polls for the People's Pitstop are now open, but they will close Thursday night, so we can submit a roster in time for Friday's qualifying session. Please vote now. We'll be back.
(Oh, and by the way, here are the results for the Final Four poll. Apparently, the people who read this poll are not into underdogs.)
[polldaddy poll=4832562]

Fearless Predictions - Martinsville

As Sunday dawns on the People's Pigskin, two things are clear: Two of the choices in the Final Four poll no longer make sense, and it's time to make a fresh set of predictions for top 10 finishers at this week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
The people who bring you this blog are in a bit of a slump. For the third week in a row, last week's predictions went a pedestrian 1-3, leaving us with a very pedestrian season record of 3-9. I'd blame it on the margaritas, but our trip to Vegas is over. Oh, well. Here goes.
One from the front: Three of the People's Pitstop's starting drivers (Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and A.J. Allmendinger) start in the top 10, so they're ineligible for the forecasts. We'll go with the driver who sits second both in today's lineup and in the point standings. Ryan Newman gets the call.
One from the back: The usual gang of idiots populate the back 10 this week. Since there are no obvious candidates for moving up into the top 10, we'll go with a feel-good story. Hermie Sadler, a native of nearby Emporia, Virginia, is taking Andy Lally's spot in the number 71 car. What the heck--we'll back him.
Two from the middle: Fate (and the qualifying session) made these two choices much easier. We'll take current points leader Carl Edwards, who starts 23rd, and Jimmie Johnson, who starts 17th, nearly won last week and ... well, you already know the resume.
Enjoy the race, and don't forget to vote in the Final Four poll. We'll be back with the racing results.

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]

A Merry Time in Martinsville

We'll update the football happenings in a post Monday. But for now, it's time to celebrate a great rebound for the People's Pitstop. The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team piled up 326 points at Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway. Our season total is 8,506, good enough for 61,199th overall on Yahoo Sports and lifting us 13 spots, to 83rd, in the Fans of From the Marbles league. Amazingly, at a track where you can go a lap down by sneezing, all four of our drivers finished on the lead lap.

Here's how we got where we are.

Denny Hamlin: Started 1st, finished 1st, 40 laps led and 110 fantasy points. Days don't get much better than Hamlin's. He's now within 6 points of Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Joey Logano: Started 22nd, finished 6th and 80 fantasy points. All that was missing from Logano's day was the chance to lead a lap.

Jamie McMurray: Started 9th, finished 11th and 70 fantasy points. No word as of yet about whether McMurray gets to keep the title of NASCAR's most exciting driver.

Paul Menard: Started 12th, finished 13th and 66 fantasy points. Menard finishes his season for us with a surprisingly strong record for a C List driver. If he can avoid being swallowed whole by the mess at Richard Petty Motorspots, he should find himself on a different fantasy racing list next year.

The polls for next week's race will go up Monday. In the meantime, enjoy the Sunday night game. You, the Internet, have earned it.

Fearless NASCAR Predictions - Martinsville

We are less than 24 hours from kickoff and the green flag, so it's time to start offering predictions. We'll start with our picks for the drivers who will finish in the top 10 at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. Last week's picks went 3-7, lowering our season record to 143-157.

1. Jimmie Johnson. Yes, we are precisely that stubborn here at this Web site.

2. Denny Hamlin. If he wanted a way to catch Johnson, winning the pole for this race certainly helped.

3. Jamie McMurray. Because Hamlin needs some company from the People's Pitstop starting lineup here. (Oh, and there's that whole "winning last week" thing.)

4. Brad Keselowski. Not sure how much momentum you can carry from a Gateway win to a Martinsville race, but Keselowski has it.

5. Ryan Newman. We've given you plenty of stats on Newman, but here's one more: He's finished in the top 7 in his last three Martinsville races.

6. Tony Stewart. And Newman's car owner has 13 top 10 finishes of his own here.

7. Jeff Gordon. This stat comes courtesy of the good folks at Yahoo Sports' invaluable From the Marbles blog: "Gordon has been in the top 10 in the last 15 Martinsville races, or every race since 2002."

8. David Reutimann. Top 10 finishes the last 2 weeks plus a top 10 start this week add up to something good.

9. Kevin Harvick. Someone at Richard Childress Racing must think Harvick has a chance to catch Johnson. Mr. Happy is getting Clint Bowyer's pit crew this week.

10. Marcos Ambrose. The Tasmanian devil is stepping into the #9 car vacated by Kasey Kahne's early move to Red Bull Racing. Ambrose says he's staying with the troubled Richard Petty Motorsports "as long as the boat is floating." That type of loyalty earns you a pick as the medium to long shot.

We'll be back early Sunday with fantasy football picks. Speaking of which, please vote for the People's Pigskin lineup. We need you.

The People's Choice - Martinsville

Yet another week has come and gone, and it's time once again to thank you, the Internet, for selecting the People's Pitstop lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. Here are your selections.

A List. It really wouldn't be the People's Pitstop if we didn't have at least one tie. This one was between two teammates: Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Once again, we will use the qualifying session to break this tie, so stay tuned.

B List. This poll produced some more clear-cut results. Our winner is Jamie McMurray, and our runner-up is Joey Logano. Both drivers will start, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne will watch the proceedings from the bench.

C List. This week, we will say farewell to yet another driver. Paul Menard will start his last race of the season. Try to contain your tears. Our old friend Sam Hornish Jr. will sit on the bench.

Thanks again for voting on this lineup, and if you haven't done so already, please cast your votes for the People's Pigskin lineup for its fantasy football matchup against Team Z. Those polls will close Sunday morning, while the poll on the worst NFL team will close Saturday. The results of the NASCAR polls appear below. We'll update this post after the qualifying session.

UPDATED 4:30 P.M. Qualifying just wrapped up, and Hamlin just wrapped up a 10-point bonus by winning the pole. He earned a starting spot alongside McMurray (who qualified 9th), Menard (12th) and Logano (22nd).

[polldaddy poll=3937453] [polldaddy poll=3937459] [polldaddy poll=3937462]

The People's Facts - Tums Fast Relief 500

Fantasy NASCAR fans have until Thursday night to vote on the People's Pitstop lineup for this week's Sprint Cup race. To help you make your decisions about the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team, here is some information about this week's track.

Track basics: NASCAR returns to one of its most historic tracks, Martinsville Speedway. The half-mile Virginia track has been called a lot of things, including "the Paperclip." One thing it's never been called is easy, especially on the brakes.

Last time we were here: The March race at Martinsville was postponed until Monday because of rain. In that race, Denny Hamlin made a late surge to win for the second straight week. The People's Pitstop scored only 226 points, one of the worst totals of the season (until last week, anyway). Our best performer was Jimmie Johnson, who finished 9th.

Other recent winners: Hamlin (fall 2009), Johnson (2008), Johnson again (2007).

Who wins here a lot: Jeff Gordon leads active NASCAR drivers with 7 victories on this track, followed by Johnson (6) and Hamlin (3).

This malaise brought to you by: Some weeks, NASCAR seems to pick the race sponsor by sticking their hand in a hat. And then there are the Martinsville races. The March race was sponsored by a headache remedy. This week's race is sponsored by an antacid. Coincidence?

If you'd like to learn more about this race, click here to download the Yahoo Sports guide. And then vote on the polls on the right side of this page.

We'll be back with some fantasy football thoughts.

Fearless Predictions - Martinsville

Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race is just minutes away, but there's still time to post some predictions for the top 10 finishers. Last week's predictions went 5-5, leaving the Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team with a season record of 17-23.

1. Jimmie Johnson. Third starting position, three wins out of five races and FOUR STRAIGHT TITLES! What more do you need?

2. Matt Kenseth. Yes, him again. He's got five top 10 finishes in five races. That streak continues.

3. Greg Biffle. So does his.

4. Jeff Gordon. Hard to argue with his history of winning on this track.

5. Denny Hamlin. He's a Virginia kid, and he seems to be due.

6. Tony Stewart. He put himself in a position to win last week's race at Bristol.

7. Kevin Harvick. The rain gave Harvick his first pole of the season. His strong driving over the first two months of the NASCAR season put him in a position to claim that pole.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Maybe last week's tirade lit a fire under Mister 88 and his crew.

9. Jamie McMurray. Last week's finish showed that the Daytona 500 was anything but a fluke.

10. Martin Truex Jr. This week's medium-to-long shot came close to getting his second top 10 finish of the season last week. Maybe the switch from wing to spoiler will get him over the hump.

Speaking of spoilers, our latest poll asks about your preferences in auto accessories. (The results of our underachiever poll appear below.) Feel free to vote now, and enjoy the race.

[polldaddy poll=2922124]

The People's Choice - Martinsville

One will have to wonder if the voters in this week's polls were meteorologists.

You, the Internet, selected our starting lineup for the People's Pitstop before Friday's qualifying session at Martinsville. Then Mother Nature decided to cancel the qualifying session, so the field has been set by owner's points. Maybe you fantasy racing fans saw this coming, because you selected the top three drivers in points for our starting lineup. (We'll get no bonus points for that foresight, though.)

A List. This should come as no surprise, given his three wins so far this season, but you chose Jimmie Johnson for the starting spot. He won out over Kurt Busch by virture of the points tiebreaker. (Please bear in mind, though, that Jimmie can be used only nine times over the course of this season, and this week will be his fourth start for our fantasy NASCAR team.)

B List. Our starters this week are the two drivers on the front row for Sunday's race: Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. On the bench, we have Dale Earnhardt Jr. (PG-rated version) and Jeff Burton.

C List. Even this starter, Paul Menard, has a top 10 spot for this race. Backing him up, we have A.J. Allmendinger.

We will leave the underachiever poll up through the weekend. The lineup polls results appear below. We'll be back with our top 10 predictions.

[polldaddy poll=2938376] [polldaddy poll=2938392] [polldaddy poll=2938407]

The People's Facts - Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500

Fantasy racing fans, you still have time to vote on the People's Pitstop lineup for this Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. While you ponder your votes (remember, 2 from the A List, 4 from the B List and 2 from the C List), here are some things to know about this week's site.

Track basics. Martinsville Speedway, with its famous "paper clip" shape, is the shortest track NASCAR uses. It's only 0.53 miles long, and it's been hosting races since 1948. That's right; it's even older than Mark Martin.

Recent winners. Jimmie Johnson (2009), Denny Hamlin (2008), Johnson (2007)

Who wins here a lot. Jeff Gordon has 7 wins on this track in the Sprint Cup series. Johnson (you may have heard of him) has 6.

We hardly knew ye, wing. I guess if the NHL can change its rules on head shots in the middle of its season, NASCAR can change the look of its cars in the middle of its season. This week marks the return of a rear spoiler, replacing the three-year-old wings. So does this mean all those folks designing pink cars with kitties for Kyle Busch have to resubmit their designs?

So what's with the clock? In 1964, Martinsville Speedway's founder, H. Clay Earles, found a way to distinguish his race from all the others on the NASCAR circuit and support local businesses. He awarded the winner a grandfather clock from a nearby manufacturer. The tradition stuck, even though the manufacturer has changed.

For a more thorough preview of Sunday's race, click here to download a PDF from the fine folks at Yahoo Sports.

We'll be back tomorrow with the poll results.

The Bristol Breakdown (and Martinsville Polls)

Bristol races are never easy to predict, but the People's Pitstop had a particularly rough week this week. The Internet's favorite fantasy racing team scored only 223 points on Sunday. No starter led a lap, so we got no bonus points for doing so. The season point total is now 1,320, good enough to be tied for 105,293rd overall and 123rd in the Fans of From the Marbles fantasy racing league.

Here's the driver-by-driver breakdown:

Mark Martin. Started 13th, finished 35th (92 laps behind the leaders), 22 fantasy points. At one point the Venerable One was threatening to take the lead in Sunday's Sprint Cup race. And then this happened.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Started 18th, finished 7th, 78 fantasy points. The good news is that Earnhardt found his way into the top 10. The bad news is that he failed to lead a lap on a track where he has a strong track record.

Matt Kenseth. Started 7th, finished 5th, 82 fantasy points. He did continued his every-week-in-the-top-10 streak. That's good.

Scott Speed. Started 29th, finished 31st (20 points behind the leaders), 30 fantasy points. He never really was a threat to do anything Sunday. That's bad.

Now it's time for you, the Internet, to turn your attention to our next race, which will take place at another fan-favorite short track, Martinsville. The polls are open and will close Thursday night, so that we can get the lineup in for Friday's qualifying session. Please vote now.