Fearless Predictions - New Hampshire

TNT has its season finale today as the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers take on New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (For some, this will be a good thing.) The People's Pitstop isn't at the finish line yet, so we have time to take back first place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. We also have time to improve our record for predicting which drivers will finish in the top 10. Last week's forecasts went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 20-44.
One from the front: Tony Stewart has all the ingredients for a strong pick. He qualified 2nd, behind only polesitter Ryan Newman (who, thanks to you, the Internet, is in our starting lineup). Stewart also has two wins on this track, and he finished second at this race last year. Finally, he sits 11th in driver points but does not have a win that would help him secure a wild card Chase spot, if necessary.
One from the back: The pickings aren't all that promising this week in the bottom 10. We'll go with Joe Nemechek, who starts 35th today and won on this track back in 1999. In fact, the victory was the first of Nemechek's career, making him one of five drivers to get his first Sprint Cup win on this track.
Two from the middle: Even if he is starting in 19th place this week, it's hard to bet against Kyle Busch these days. He leads the Sprint Cup series in driver points, and his Nationwide win on this track Saturday was the 100th of his NASCAR career.
Denny Hamlin starts in 14th place at this race, but he knows how to get to the front in New Hampshire. He finished 2nd in the fall race last year, and he beat Jeff Gordon in 2007 in the closest finish in this track's history.
Enjoy the race. We'll be back with the results.

Now, Where Were We?

Sorry about the delay in posts. I was busy helping Tim McCarver find his airbrush. (Besides, if the Sprint Cup can take a random week off in July, so can the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team, right?)

Anyway, last week the People's Pitstop racked up only 269 points at Chicagoland Speedway. That leaves us with a season total of 5,070, good enough for 53,004th place overall in Yahoo Sports and lifting us another 6 spots, to 63rd, in the Fans of From the Marbles league. Yes, there are people having a worse time than us. Johnny Jolly, for instance.

Here is a more detailed breakdown.

Jeff Gordon: Started 6th, finished 3rd, 47 laps led and 96 fantasy points, including the 10 bonus points for leading a lap. You just get the feeling it's only a matter of time before he shakes that winless streak.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 25th, finished 23rd (1 lap behind the leaders) and 46 fantasy points. Well, at least he can still make kids' wishes come true. I guess no kid has wished for Dale to win a Sprint Cup race yet.

Jeff Burton: Started 14th, finished 7th and 78 fantasy points. Again, all that's missing is the ability to take the lead, even in Sporting News polls.

Sam Hornish Jr.: Started 5th, finished 24th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 44 fantasy points. Too bad there aren't any fantasy points for having NASCAR randomly select your car for postrace inspection.

(And for you math majors, the weekly total also includes 5 points for Jimmie Johnson, who qualified second but was benched in favor of Gordon.)

This week, NASCAR heads a place where certain drivers should feel quite comfortable: Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It also heads to the Walt Disney family of networks. To celebrate, this week we have the usual lineup polls and a bonus TV poll. Please feel free to vote now. The results from the Chase poll appear below.

Also, this week you'll notice that Jeff Burton's name has a note attached. Mr. Burton may only start one more race for the People's Pitstop. Vote wisely.

[polldaddy poll=3447975]