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.

Fearless Predictions - Talladega

This post is going to be short and sweet, because we want you to get some votes in on the People's Pigskin lineup. But first, we want to give you our weekly predictions for the NASCAR drivers who will finish in the top 10. Last week's forecasts went 1-3, leaving us with a season record of 42-74.
One from the front: If Jeff Gordon is going to climb back into this Chase, this has to be the week he makes a move. He starts 5th at Talladega, a track where he has won six times and finished 18 times in the top 10.
One from the back: It was a gift from the fantasy NASCAR gods when Kyle Busch qualified 34th, or just far enough in the back to qualify for this selection. He won here in 2008, and he sits only 18 points behind the Sprint Cup leader. Speaking of which...
Two from the middle: Kevin Harvick wants this Sprint Cup bad enough to wreck his wife in an ESPN commercial. So something as petty as qualifying 13th won't stop him from finding the top 10.
Another driver hungry for a championship is Tony Stewart, who starts 12th in this race. Regan Smith probaly won't drive below the bottom line to let him win again, but Stewart does have a dozen top 10 finishes here.
We'll be back with the football poll results, so get those votes in while you can.

The People's Choice - Talladega

When the people of the Internet were not busy stocking up on Halloween candy or dealing with a pile of dead leaves, they were busy helping the People's Pitstop pick a lineup for this Sunday's Chase race at Talladega Superspeedway. Here are the drivers who made it through the votes (and the qualifying session) to start for us this week.

A List: They lead the point standings, and they also led the voting in this week's poll. Carl Edwards was the winner, followed by Kevin Harvick. Edwards also beat Harvick in qualifying (9th vs. 13th) and will start for us as a result.

B List: This poll produced a two-way tie at the top between Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. They were followed by Kasey Kahne and the drive he will soon replace, Mark Martin. But Martin didn't follow anyone on Saturday afternoon. He took the freaking pole, earning us 10 badly needed bonus points in the process. Earnhardt (6th) earned the other starting spot over Keselowski (16th) and Kahne (26th). Don't tell Michele Bachmann about all those sixes, though. She might make a bad joke about them.

C List: Stop me if you've heard this one before. The two top finishers in this poll were Regan Smith and Bobby Labonte. That sounds familiar. What might not sound so familiar is that Labonte (21st) qualified one spot in front of Smith and thus will start for us in his 650th NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Thanks again for all your votes. We'll be back shortly with some predictions. In the meantime, don't forget about the fantasy football polls on your right, which are still open. The People's Pigskin is looking to halt a losing streak, and we need your help to do it.

The Last Time We Were in Talladega

Normally on this blog, the "Last Time We Were in" posts are pretty straightforward. After all, the tracks remain the same, most of the drivers remain the same, and the conditions by and large remain, if not the same, then close enough for us to draw conclusions about one race from the one previously run on this track.

But this time, things are different. And not just in the pseudo-marketing "This Is Talladega" sense. Things have changed significantly in the six months since the NASCAR drivers made their last visit to Talladega Superspeedway, the largest oval track on the circuit.

First, we have the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Six months ago, Jimmie Johnson won on this track. Last week, he walked away from a horrible wreck with his body intact, but not his Chase chances. Now, instead of fine-tuning his championship run, he needs to swing for the proverbial fences.

Second, we have the rule changes. The April race was dominated by the recently discovered two-by-two racing pattern, which got less than glowing reviews from everyone involved. Now, NASCAR has tweaked the cars to prevent drivers from partnering up like members of a bobsled team.

(Oh, and if you're worried about the rule changes turning Talladega into a short track, check out these practice speeds.)

Third, and most recently, we have Dan Wheldon. Even though he didn't race in a single stock car race, his death certainly has had an impact on the entire racing community. Even SI has noticed.

Oh, and as far as our performance in the April race in Talladega, the People's Pitstop scored an impressive 367 points, fueled by Johnson's aforementioned victory. Can we repeat that feat? That depends on you. The NASCAR lineup polls will stay open for a few more hours. But the qualifying session is Saturday, so you need to get your votes in now.

We'll be back with the results.

Treading Water in Carolina

Under the circumstances, things could have gone worse for the People's Pitstop on Saturday night. They could have gone better, too.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored only 213 points during the Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Our season total of 8,169 leaves us in fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. We are now just over 100 points away from the current leader, Dale Jr Amp National Guard 88. In other words, it's still anybody's race.

Here's how our team's weekend went.

Carl Edwards: Started 3rd, finished 3rd, 1 lap led and 99 fantasy points. Edwards maintained his spot at the top of the point standings, but he probably lost his spot on Kyle Busch's Christmas card list.

Mark Martin: Started 13th, finished 37th (47 laps behind the leaders) and 18 fantasy points. To the growing list of "phrases you never want associated with your fantasy NASCAR driver," you may add "broken wheel hub."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 15th, finished 19th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 54 fantasy points. Of course, having your driver's name next to the words "frustrate" and "disappoint" in a NASCAR.com story headline is no picnic, either.

Regan Smith: Started 21st, finished 22nd (2 laps behind the leaders) and 42 fantasy points. Smith might have known he had a better car than the results showed, but someone must have forgotten to tell his car that.

Next up for the NASCAR drivers is the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, so our lineup polls for the People's Pitstop will close Friday night. Please feel free to get your votes in early. NASCAR has penalties for a lot of things, but voting early in a lineup poll isn't one of them.

We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

Fearless Predictions - Talladega

NASCAR is mere minutes from dropping the green flag at its biggest oval track, Talladega Superspeedway. The People's Pitstop has an outstanding lineup for this Sprint Cup race. Now all we need to do is improve the predictions for drivers that will finish in the top 10. Last week's predictions improved (if that's the word for it) to 1-3, leaving us with a season record of 4-16. Maybe this is the week we turn things around.
One from the front: Only one driver starting in the top five is eligible for selection. Fortunately, that driver won the pole and has won a record 12 times on restrictor plate tracks. Jeff Gordon may not like how plate races work, but he knows how to do well on them. He'll continue that trend today.
One from the back: We have a surprise driver in the back 10 this week. Kevin Harvick only qualified 38th, but he won on this track last year. He's a good bet to get things done.
Two from the middle: Nothing says "confidence" like getting a contract extension from your car owner and sponsor. Greg Biffle may be starting 17th, but he knows where he's driving in the near future, and that kind of momentum can propel him to the top 10.
Our other pick is Matt Kenseth, who qualified 25th but showed last week that he still knows how to win a race.
Enjoy the race. We'll be back with the results.

The People's Choice - Talladega

There will be no need to update this post later; we already know who's starting for the People's Pitstop. The qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway is over, and you won't believe how the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team did.
A List: This poll ended in a dead heat between Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards. The start goes to Johnson, who qualified 2nd, or 18 places ahead of Edwards.
B List: The people who vote on this poll clearly knew that Talladega is a restrictor plate track. They gave the win in this poll to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has a strong history on such tracks. Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman tied for second, and Mark Martin squeaked his way into the fourth spot. But there was no squeaking when it came time to qualify. Martin (3rd) and Earnhardt (4th) earned the starting spots over Bowyer (10th) and Newman (23rd).
C List: Even the drivers from the fantasy equivalent of the discount rack found their way to the front of the pack. Paul Menard and David Ragan tied for the top spot in this poll, again. And Menard qualifed 5th, or two spots ahead of Ragan.
If you've been paying attention, you know that we got bonus points from Johnson (5), Martin (3) and Earnhardt (1). And this is definitely the first time in People's Pitstop history that all our starters come from the top five.
We will be back tomorrow with another set of predictions. In the meantime, we have a poll about the fact that NASCAR makes its drivers wear plates for this race. Jeff Gordon, who won the pole, made his thoughts clear. Now it's your turn. Feel free to vote now.
Here are the lineup poll results.
[polldaddy poll=4913685] [polldaddy poll=4913695] [polldaddy poll=4913709]

Knocking on the Door

Sorry this post is so late. Would you believe we were waiting on the verdict? No? Didn't think so...
Anyway, the People's Pitstop is red hot. We scored 376 points during last week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. That lifted our season total to 1,944, and it leaves us in second place in the prestigious and competitive 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports. And you know something? We can catch the group's leader, Wild Kyle, who sits only 21 points ahead of us.
Here are the details.
Matt Kenseth: Started 4th, finished 1st, 169 laps led and 111 fantasy points. Kenseth picked one heck of a time to break that winless streak. And picked a great way to do it; the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team got a 10-point bonus for having the driver who led the most laps.
Clint Bowyer: Started 3rd, finished 2nd, 44 laps led and 101 fantasy points. What's better than having the best driver in a race? Having the two best drivers, especially when one of them had to make a top-notch save to stay in the top two.
Juan Pablo Montoya: Started 14th, finished 13th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 66 fantasy points. Montoya is this week's "driver who failed to lead a lap" in our lineup. But he's keeping himself in top 10 lists like this one from the Sporting News.
David Ragan: Started 1st, finished 7th, 11 laps led and 98 fantasy points. No, getting his first career pole was not a fluke. He'll be a contender for the Pitstop's lineup for some time to come.
Speaking of the lineup, it's time to pick a new one. NASCAR takes its act to Talladega Superspeedway, where Ragan has his best average finish and will try to avoid the big one. The qualifying session is Saturday, so the polls will stay open until Friday night. Please vote now. Keep your hot streak going--because it's your hot streak.

NASCAR Results, New Polls and Recommended Reading

First, a fantasy football update: The People's Pigskin walks into Monday night's game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans with an 82-50 lead over the nuckin' futs. The Futs have Pierre Garcon and Arian Foster in tonight's matchup. The Pigskin has Peyton Manning. Not to jinx it, but things are looking good for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.

We can't say the same thing for the People's Pitstop, which managed to scrape together only 171 points during Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Our season total is now 8,677, putting us in 72,036th place overall on Yahoo Sports and dropping us 7 spots, to 90th place, in the Fans of From the Marbles league.

Clint Bowyer, who was awarded the win from the Pitstop's bench, did contribute 5 points for qualifying in 2nd place. Here's how our starters did.

Tony Stewart: Started 26th, finished 31st and 30 fantasy points. Ironically, in his last start of the season for us, Stewart was the only People's Pitstop starter who did not lead a lap in this wild race. Unfortunately, he was caught up in the last-lap crash and led to Bowyer's win.

Jamie McMurray: Started 12th, finished 36th (5 laps behind the leaders), 4 laps led and 30 fantasy points. McMurray's chances were essentially extinguished when he got caught up in Jeff Burton's crash roughly two-thirds of the way into the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 6th, finished 39th (25 laps behind the leaders), 24 laps led and 34 fantasy points. Earnhardt took the blame for the Burton wreck, which ended the day for the 88 car, as well. And that's too bad; Earnhardt wound up leading the most laps in this race.

Sam Hornish Jr.: Started 10th, finished 15th, 5 laps led and 72 fantasy points. Raise your hand if you thought Hornish would score twice as many points as any other driver in our lineup. Now put your hand down, you liar.

Here's the truth: The People's Pitstop has only three races left, starting with Sunday's contest at Texas Motor Speedway. The polls are up and will close Thursday morning. Please vote now.

By the way, if you're a football fan, you owe it to yourself to get your hand on a copy of Ron Jaworski's book "The Games that Changed the Game." In this book, Jaworski (with the help of Greg Cosell and David Plaut of NFL films) breaks down seven games that demonstrated a system that altered the way players and coaches across the league viewed the sport. For example, here's an excerpt from Jaworski's analysis of Buddy Ryan's 46 defense:

"Another change the 46 brought about was how teams drafted. More an more personnel directors now pick receivers specifically to beat press coverage. Cornerbacks who cover wider field areas are also popular draft choices. And offenses have had to put in greater numbers of deception plays, such as quick screens where the quarterback gets the ball out fast to a receiver with linemen blocking in front of him."

There's plenty more where that came from, so get a copy and enjoy the Monday night game. In the meantime, we have to pick a defense/special teams for next week. A poll on that topic is now open and will close Tuesday evening. Please vote now.

We'll be back with the full football results.

Fearless NASCAR Predictions - Talladega

It's time to let you know which NASCAR drivers will finish in the top 10 in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Last week's predictions went 4-6, lowering the season record to 147-163.

1 and 2. Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Whichever driver finishes in front of the other on Sunday will be in the driver's seat for the rest of the Chase.

3. Kurt Busch. Among drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Busch has the best average finish on this track (11.8).

4. Jamie McMurray. Hard to go wrong picking the driver who won on this track last fall. (Especially when he's planning to use this paint pattern.)

5. Kevin Harvick. Not only did Harvick win here in April, but he also had the foresight to bury the hatchet with Jeff Burton before this race.

6. Jeff Burton. If it takes two to fight, it also takes two to make up.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya. One way to escape the "Big One" is to be in front of it when it happens. Montoya got a head start on that strategy by winning the pole.

8. Clint Bowyer. This driver also did himself a favor by qualifying second. (He did the People's Pitstop a favor by earning us a 5-point bonus.)

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. These numbers come courtesy of Yahoo Sports: Mister Marketing has had 11 top 10 finishes in 21 races at Talladega.

10. Robby Gordon. Why is a driver who's going nowhere getting our medium to long shot this week? Well, at least he still knows how to get people to talk about him.

We'll be back later today with predictions for the People's League. In the meantime, be sure to vote on the People's Pigskin lineup for its matchup against the award-winning nuckin' futs.

The People's Choice - Talladega

Given an extra day to vote, you, the Internet, came through and picked a fine set of drivers to represent the People's Pitstop at Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race Talladega Superspeedway.

Unusually enough, there are no ties to be broken with a qualifying session. Every starting spot is already settled. Here are your selections.

A List. It's now or never for Tony Stewart, both in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and in fantasy racing. In addition to painting the new start/finish line at Daytona, Stewart earned his final start of the season for the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team. Former teammate Denny Hamlin earned a spot on the bench.

B List. In this poll, you liked the still-reasonably-hot hand of Jamie McMurray and the "at least he still knows how to handle a restrictor plate track and get good press, right?" hand of Dale Earnhardt Jr. They will start. Our bench warmers are Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer.

C List. Sam Hornish Jr. may still be wondering about next season, but he can rest assured that he's starting for the People's Pitstop on Sunday. Scott Speed is on the bench.

Again, thanks for voting. The results appear below. And if you haven't done so already, be sure to vote in the football polls, which close Sunday morning. We'll be back with the weekly predictions.

[polldaddy poll=3983971] [polldaddy poll=3983982] [polldaddy poll=3983994]

The People's Facts - Amp Energy Juice 500

It's going to be a busy week for the People's Pigskin. First, we have to get a new kicker off the waiver wire for this week's matchup against the nuckin' futs. That poll will close tonight, so please vote now. Then we have to worry about which drivers will represent the People's Pitstop in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Speaking of that race, here is some information about this week's race site.

Track basics: Talladega Superspeedway is the biggest of the big. It's 2 and 2/3 miles long, and its status as a restrictor plate track ensures drivers get together in big packs, leading to many incidents known as the "Big One." (And you thought James Harrison could hit you hard.)

Last time we were here: Back in late April, Kevin Harvick had a great day. He edged his way past Jamie McMurray at the end of the third green-white-checkered sequence to win for the first time in 116 races. The People's Pitstop had a terrible day, scoring only 232 fantasy points and leaving 7th-place Clint Bowyer on the bench.

Other recent winners: McMurray (fall 2009), Tony Stewart (2008), Jeff Gordon (2007).

Who wins here a lot: It's a familiar refrain -- Gordon leads active NASCAR drivers with 6 victories at Talladega, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 5. No other NASCAR driver has more than 2 wins here.

Who's still contending: With four races to go, the Chase for the Sprint Cup is far from over. Here are the points standings. Jimmie Johnson remains your overall leader, but Denny Hamlin pulled himself within 6 points of the defending champion with his win at Martinsville. Harvick is still in contention, too; he's only 62 points out. The other drivers need a miracle -- or a Big One that breaks just the right way.

Once again, the good folks at Yahoo Sports have assembled a handy fantasy guide for this race. You can download your copy by clicking here. The NASCAR lineup polls will actually close Friday night, since the qualifying session will be held Saturday. But you should feel free to vote on them now.

No, This Isn't a Typo

157-56.

That's right. The People's Pigskin, a fantasy football team guided by you, the Internet, outscored Team z of the People's League by 101 points. We are now 6-1 for the season. Please take a bow before you read how we did it.

Chad Henne, QB: 23 of 36 passing, 257 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. On a day when our primary quarterback had a bye week and one of our backups had an injury, Henne brought his Miami Dolphins within one point (one call, actually) of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Michael Turner, RB: 23 rushes for 121 yards, 2 receptions for 23 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. There's the Turner who earned a first-round draft pick from the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.

Justin Forsett, RB: 9 rushes for 41 yards, 2 receptions for 31 yards and 7 fantasy points. As we'll see later, Forsett was the closest thing the People's Pigskin had to a misfire this week.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 10 receptions, 108 yards, 1 touchdown and 16 fantasy points. Ochocinco broke the Cincinnati Bengals career touchdown catch record, but I'm sure he'd trade that mark for a few more victories.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 3 receptions, 81 yards, 2 touchdowns and 20 fantasy points. Most weeks, being one of the primary scoring weapons in a 42-20 win would make you the highlight of your fantasy team. But not this week.

Kenny Britt, Flex: 7 receptions, 225 yards, 3 touchdowns and 40 fantasy points. This performance is even more amazing when you consider that Britt was benched for a quarter for his alleged role in a fight. We won't be trite enough to suggest that Britt get into a fight every week, but he should continue doing anything else he did in the past week.

Antonio Gates, TE: 4 receptions, 50 yards, 1 touchdown and 11 fantasy points. Yes, he did most of his fantasy scoring on a single play, but he did have a decent day for someone who was a game-time decision.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 2 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown), 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 sack, 19 points allowed and 15 fantasy points. It's too bad you don't get fantasy points for encouraging the opposing coach to go back to his other quarterback once he's healthy.

Matt Bryant, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 4 for 4 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Bryant did everything his coaches asked him to do, unlike Kris Brown.

Bench: Believe it or not, Britt was not even the top scorer on the Pigskin roster. Darren McFadden, who was scratched from his previous 2 games with a hamstring injury, scored 43 points in a 4-touchdown effort. Knowshon Moreno scored 20 of his own in a losing effort, and Robert Meachem scored 3.

Instead of basking in our own glow, we need to get ready for next week's People's League game against the nuckin' futs. We also need to get the People's Pitstop ready for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. The polls for both lineups are now open.

Since Bryant has a bye week, we need to get a kicker off the waiver poll, so that poll appears first and will close Tuesday night. NASCAR polls will close Thursday night, while the rest of the football polls will close Sunday morning. Please vote, and enjoy Hank Williams and the rest of the Monday night crew.

The Talladega Damage Report (and New Polls)

On Sunday, Talladega Superspeedway saved its "Big One" for the end of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. But the Sprint Cup race sure felt like a wreck for the Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team.

The People's Pitstop managed to score only 232 points during the Aaron's 499 race. The team now has 2,299 season points, tied for 111,712nd overall on Yahoo Sports and tied for 143rd in the Fans of From the Marbles league. If we were a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, we'd be Sam Hornish Jr. right now.

The good news is that each of the four drivers who started for the People's Pitstop managed to lead a lap in this record-setting race, and each driver got 10 bonus points for doing so. Here's how we got the points.

Jeff Gordon. Started 5th, finished 22nd, 4 laps led and 58 fantasy points. It's too bad Yahoo doesn't award bonus points for grudges with teammates.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Started 7th, finished 13th, 8 laps led and 76 fantasy points. Even the guy who used to own restrictor plate races couldn't find the key to victory Sunday.

Matt Kenseth. Started 2nd, finished 28th (4 laps behind the leaders), 1 lap led and 46 fantasy points. Kenseth got caught in a "Little One" wreck on Lap 84 and fell out of contention for good.

Paul Menard. Started 18th, finished 25th (2 laps behind the leaders), 1 lap led and 52 fantasy points. If you had gone to Vegas (or somewhere else where this is legal) and bet that Menard would  lead the same number of laps as Kenseth, you would be quite wealthy right now.

And now we turn our sights to Saturday night's Sprint Cup race in Richmond. The polls are up and will stay up until Thursday evening. Feel free to vote now.

Fearless Predictions - Talladega

Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone, the People's Pigskin can turn its sights back on the NASCAR Sprint Cup race that may (or may not) take place today at Talladega Superspeedway. And you can't sit down to watch the race until you learn the predictions for which drivers will finish in the top 10. Last week's forecasts went 4-6, dropping our season record to 33-37.

1. Denny Hamlin. OK, maybe he can drive on that knee after all.

2. Jeff Gordon. He nearly won last week, he's comfortable with this track and, perhaps most importantly, he's ticked off.

3. Greg Biffle. He's now seven for eight in top 10 finishes this season. His one miss: the race where the People's Pitstop started him. But we don't hold grudges here.

4. Jimmie Johnson. He's leading NASCAR in three different categories: points, wins (three) and top five finishes (five).

5.Matt Kenseth. The rain in central Alabama means Kenseth is starting next to Johnson on the front row. They both have six finishes in the top 10.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He finished eighth last week in Texas, and he would probably petition NASCAR to use restrictor plates at every track if he could get away with it.

7. Clint Bowyer. Five top 10 finishes make him perhaps the quietest contender in NASCAR.

8. Jamie McMurray. He won last year's fall race at Talladega and the Daytona 500. For those of you keeping score, that means he's won the last two Sprint Cup races featuring restrictor plates.

9. Brad Keselowski. He won last year's spring race at Talladega, and he's shown he's willing, right or wrong, to put his car anywhere on the track to get a win.

10. Michael Waltrip. One way to avoid the Big One (yes, that's the third different Talladega crash to earn a link to this site) is to stay in front of the pack. Another way is to stay behind it. So this may be the one place where starting 43rd can be construed as a good thing.

We'll be back with a race wrap-up. Until then, enjoy.

The People's Facts - Aaron's 499

The results of the St. Louis Rams draft poll can be found at the bottom of this post. (And as you can see, the results are pretty definitive.)

While the fantasy football fans bask in the glory of the NFL Draft Round 1, it's time to offer the fantasy racing fans some information about the biggest track NASCAR will use all season.

Track basics: Talladega Superspeedway in central Alabama has more than earned the moniker "super." First of all, it's big. Really big: 2.66 miles, or 0.16 miles longer than Daytona. The drivers use restrictor plates and pray they are not involved in the other big thing here: the Big One.

Recent winners: Brad Keselowski (2009), Kyle Busch (2008), Jeff Gordon (2007).

Who wins here a lot: Hendrick Motorsports has to feel confident coming here. Gordon leads active NASCAR drivers with six Sprint Cup victories. Dale Earnhardt Jr. trails him with five.

499? Huh? I'd love to tell you that the number 499 is the result of some extensive mathematical formula involving 2.66 miles, or perhaps a tribute to NASCAR's storied past. Nope. According to the expert analysis of Michaelwaltrip.com, it's a tribute to the ripoff shop, er, rental retailer that sponsors the race. "Dreams come true at Aaron's for $99 a month." Get it? For...99? Ha ha.

As always, you can get a more extensive preview from our friends at Yahoo Sports by clicking here. The lineup polls will close in a few hours, so please vote now. We'll be back with results and draft thoughts.

[polldaddy poll=3073659]

In Most Places, It's Called Lying

Sometimes you plan an event but have to move it back or even cancel it because of unpredictable circumstances. Last weekend both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races were moved to Monday because Mother Nature had other plans. If you're running a sport, like the folks at NASCAR, there's nothing you can do about that. You just take your meteorological lumps and move on.

And then we have situations like the one NASCAR has with Fox.

If you go to NASCAR.com's official schedule, you will find that Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega is scheduled to start at about 1 p.m. EDT. If you go to ESPN's NASCAR coverage, those folks will tell you the same thing. And the good folks at Yahoo Sports will essentially agree. (Yahoo even goes through the trouble of predicting that, after we get through the national anthem and the other usual stuff, the green flag will wave at 1:19 p.m. EDT.)

The only people who seem to have a different idea about the start of the race are the people broadcasting it.

If you watched the telecast of Monday's Samsung 500 for any length of time, you saw and heard Fox telling you to tune in Sunday for the race at Talladega -- at noon EDT. If you have satellite TV and try to look up the race, it will show you "NASCAR Racing" starting at noon EDT.

What it won't tell you is that Fox plans to spend the hour from noon to 1 p.m. EDT giving you previews, analysis, interviews and other stuff. When done well, these can all be informative and entertaining and even worth the fantasy racing fan's time. What they are not is coverage of the race itself.

Now, Fox Sports also covers the National Football League, and before each NFL game, it has folks like Jimmie Johnson and Terry Bradshaw give their insights, opinions and analysis. And if you look in your TV listings, you'll see this analysis is called "FOX NFL Sunday." You'll also see that the game itself is at its actual start time.

In other words, they call their pregame show a pregame show. They just don't call their prerace show a prerace show. Is it because Roger Goodell has more sway over Fox than NASCAR does? Or is it because he has less?

And a disclaimer for those reaching for their e-mail applications: This post has nothing to do with the politics and opinions of Fox Sports, Fox News or any other News Corp. holding or any of the people working there. You don't have to think anything at all -- good, bad or indifferent -- about Bill O'Reilly or Simon Cowell or Darrell Waltrip or anyone else to have an opinion about Fox Sports telling its viewers that the race starts an hour before it actually does.

We'll be back Wednesday with some facts about the race itself.