A Quick NASCAR Update

The People's Pitstop racked up 280 fantasy points during Sunday's Chase race at Texas Motor Speedway. That leaves us with a season total of 8,935, which is good enough for sole possession of fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league.

Before Kyle Busch tries to wreck us, here's the scoring recap.

Tony Stewart: Started 5th, finished 1st, 173 laps led and 110 fantasy points. It's hard to tell which is more amazing -- that this was Stewart's fourth win in this year's Chase, or that he's still trailing Carl Edwards in the driver standings.

Marcos Ambrose: Started 12th, finished 11th and 70 fantasy points. Ambrose got as close as 2nd place, but late tire changes were not enough to keep him in the top 10 at checkered flag.

Brad Keselowski: Started 8th, finished 24th (1 lap behind the leaders), 2 laps led and 54 fantasy points. It's hard to win a Sprint Cup if you can't avoid other cars on pit row.

Regan Smith: Started 10th, finished 23rd (1 lap behind the leaders) and 46 fantasy points. This was Smith's final start for the People's Pitstop this season. In his nine starts for us, he scored an average of 46.6 points and had an average finish of 22.6. His worst performances for us were his first two, at Phoenix in February and at Dover in May. In both cases, he finished 34th and scored 24 points. His best finish was last month at Martinsville, where he finished 13th and scored 66 points. And yes, we missed out on his single win of the season.

That's 34 races down and two to go. Next up is a Sunday afternoon Chase race at Phoenix International Raceway. Qualifying is Saturday, so the lineup polls will stay open through Friday night. Feel free to get your votes in now.

And, since this is Election Day, we at the People's Pigskin/Pitstop want to urge each and every one of you to get to a polling place and cast a ballot. You may not like all the people on the ballot, but this country would be worse off if we left the critical decisions about who represents us to the zealots. Yes, our troops deserve our thanks for defending our way of life, but a democratic form of government is one of the things that makes their sacrifices worthwhile.

Also, if you hear someone say today, "I don't vote. Why bother? What's the point?"...

Hit that person.

Very, very hard.

Fearless Predictions - Texas

Things you won't see anytime soon include Ron Hornaday inviting Kyle Busch over for Thanksgiving dinner anyone recommending these NASCAR predictions for anything other than "entertainment purposes." Last week's forecasts went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 45-79. But let's see which NASCAR drivers you should expect to see in the top 10 on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

One from the front: Everyone has been talking about Tony Stewart's victory last week, and rightly so. But you shouldn't forget that Carl Edwards remains the points leader. He starts in 7th place this week in Texas, where he has won three times in his Sprint Cup career.

One from the back: The usual suspects are occupying the back 10 spaces this week, so we'll go back to last week's selection, Travis Kvapil, who starts 41st. For the reasons behind this decision, see last week's predictions.

Two from the middle: Time for a trivia question: Who got his first Sprint Cup victory in a 2000 race at Texas Motor Speedway? The answer: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 9th in the April race here and starts in the 16th spot on Sunday.

For our final pick, we at the People's Pitstop would like to recognize Mark Martin. Sure, he's starting 30th on Sunday, but he has four top-six finishes in his last five races on this track. And he'll get more opportunities here, now that he's agreed to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. I wonder if they've warned Martin not to touch whatever is being put in the engines over there.

There are still a few hours for you to get some votes in on the People's Pigskin lineup. Your votes will determine who starts this week for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team against the Arcadia Roses. Thanks. We'll be back with the results.

The People's Choice - Texas

We have reached the last weekend of Daylight Savings Time, one of the few things that last nearly as long as NASCAR season. But before you worry about adjusting your clock, it's time to thank you once again for voting on the polls for the People's Pitstop. Let's see who will be starting for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team during Sunday's Chase race at Texas Motor Speedway.

A List: The voters were paying attention last week in Martinsville. They gave this poll to Tony Stewart, with Kevin Harvick coming in second. And Stewart must still have something left in the tank. He qualified 5th, or 16 spots in front of Harvick, and will start for us this week.

B List: The votes in this poll were all over the proverbial map. In first place, we had a tie between Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose. But maybe the voters were on to something. Keselowski (8th) and Ambrose (12th) earned starting spots over A.J. Allmendinger (26th) and Jeff Burton (31st). Interestingly, Ambrose will be making his first start of the season for us.

C List: This poll has fallen into a predictable pattern. As expected, Regan Smith won the vote over Bobby Labonte. As we might expect by now, Smith (10th) qualified better than Labonte (32nd). Therefore, as Yahoo Sports rules dictate, Smith will be making his ninth and final start for the People's Pitstop on Sunday.

By the way, if you haven't already, feel free to add your voice to the lineup polls for the People's Pigskin. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team is trying to pull out of a tailspin, and we'll need your help to avenge an earlier loss against the Arcadia Roses. Thanks.

We'll be back with some racing predictions.

The Last Time We Visited Texas

People like to criticize the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball (and, until recently, the National Basketball Association) for having seasons that are too long, but consider this. Back in early April, when baseball was having its opening ceremonies, the NASCAR season was already six weeks old. And now that baseball has crowned a champion for this year, the NASCAR season continues to roll along. This week, it's pulling into Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

And this just might be the cure for what's ailing the People's Pitstop.

Again, turn back to early April. That's when NASCAR held the first of its two Sprint Cup races of the season in Fort Worth. The Internet's favorite fantasy racing team racked up a mind-boggling 376 points in that race.

It would be easy to write that off as the side effect of having race winner Matt Kenseth starting for us. But the truth is that three of our starters finished in the top 10 that day and led at least one lap. And the fourth starter, Juan Pablo Montoya, managed to finish in 13th place.

As the People's Pitstop considers its lineup for this week's race, two of our starters from that golden weekend (David Ragan and Clint Bowyer) are no longer available. Both are victims of the Yahoo Sports "nine starts only" rule. So are two of our bench drivers that week (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Paul Menard), who both finished in the top 10 that April day. But results like that show you that good things can happen on any given weekend in fantasy sports. Hope doesn't have to be simply a word on a poster. Ask the St. Louis Cardinals about hope. Heck, ask the St. Louis Rams about hope. It springs eternal, even in November.

Our hope is that you'll get your votes in for our lineups. The fantasy NASCAR polls will close later tonight, while the fantasy football polls will stay open through Saturday night. Thanks in advance for your votes and your support.

We'll be back with the poll results.

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.

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.

Fearless Predictions - Texas

It's a good time to be the People's Pitstop. The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team sits in 5th place in the prestigious 9beersfantasysportstavern group on Yahoo Sports. But right now is not a good time to be either a Tampa Bay Rays fan or a follower of this blog's predictions. After a series of 1-3 performances, the forecasts for top 10 drivers hit rock bottom last week by going 0-4. The season record is now 3-13. However, like the Rays, these predictions have plenty of time to salvage the season.
One from the front: Three of the top four drivers in today's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway are starting for the People's Pitstop this week, so they are ineligible for these picks. We'll go with the only top-four starter who is eligible: Carl Edwards, who also happens to be second in points and won Friday night's Nationwide race on this very track.
One from the back: The pickings are slim once again in the bottom 10. But there is a local favorite lurking here. Bobby Labonte has done well at Fort Worth; he's won the pole twice and has three finishes in the top five. We'll take him as the likeliest driver to surge into the top 10.
Two from the middle: It's surprising that Kyle Busch, who leads the way in points and could have won Friday if not for a close encounter with Tim Schendel, is eligible for this pick. However, he qualified 11th, so technically, he's in the middle. He gets one pick. The other one goes to another "How the heck did he end up back here?" driver, Denny Hamlin. Not only did he win both races in Texas last year, but he's getting praise from folks like Yahoo's Geoffrey Miller, who's not ready to write him off just yet.
Enjoy tonight's race and today's golf. We'll be back with the race results.

The People's Choice - Texas

It doesn't matter how long or short the voting period is. You, the Internet, come out in droves to vote on the People's Pitstop's lineup week after week. Thanks to you, we have a roster of drivers to represent us at Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
A List: It's a good thing we have two spots to offer from this poll, because it ended in a tie between Kevin Harvick (aka the winner of back to back races) and Matt Kenseth (aka the other guy to win this poll).
B List: He might not have a stock car win on an oval track yet, but Juan Pablo Montoya does have a win in a People's Pitstop poll. He beat a field that included Dale Earnhardt Jr., A.J. Allmendinger and Clint Bowyer, all of whom join him on this week's roster.
C List: Maybe you just like the color brown. Or maybe you're impressed that he finished in the top 10 last week at Martinsville. Either way, David Ragan is your winner here. He'll be joined in the lineup by a familiar C List face: Paul Menard.
As usual, the qualifying session will determine which of these racers start and which will ride the pine. Thanks for voting. The results appear below. And a new poll about everyone's favorite golf tournament is now available for voting.
We'll upate this post when the qualifying session is complete.
UPDATED 9:50 P.M. Maybe you voters should consider buying extra Powerball tickets this week. Ragan got his first career pole, and we got 10 bonus points for having the foresight to pick him. Bowyer qualified third and got us 3 bonus points, while Kenseth qualified fourth and got us a single bonus point. They'll be joined in the starting lineup by Montoya, who qualified a relatively modest 14th.
We'll be back with some fearless predictions.
[polldaddy poll=4845921] [polldaddy poll=4845935] [polldaddy poll=4845947]

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]

Racing Results and New Polls

As of Monday morning, the People's Pigskin trails the Fighting Amish by a score of 116-68. All is not lost, however. There's still the Monday night game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Amish have no remaining players, while the Internet's favorite fantasy football team has Chad Ochocinco.

(Yes, it's a long shot, but so were the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.)

The People's Pitstop had a very pedestrian Sunday, scoring only 212 points during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Our season total is 8,889, good enough for 78,903rd overall on Yahoo Sports and dropping us 16 spots, to 107th, in the Fans of From the Marbles league.

Denny Hamlin, who not only won the race but took over the overall Sprint Cup points lead, was left on our bench. Here's a look at the drivers who started.

Jeff Gordon: Started 15th, finished 37th (144 laps behind the leaders) and 18 fantasy points. Gordon's day ended early thanks to his on-the-track encounter with Jeff Burton. The only way he could have helped us after that is if Yahoo awarded fantasy points for post-wreck fights.

Jamie McMurray: Started 25th, finished 16th and 60 fantasy points. As this chart shows, about the only thing McMurray didn't do during this race is lead a lap.

Clint Bowyer: Started 7th, finished 7th and 78 fantasy points. Bowyer was a top 5 driver most of this race, but again, he couldn't get his car into the lead.

Sam Hornish Jr.: Started 27th, finished 18th and 56 fantasy points. A big improvement over last year, when Hornish crashed into Jimmie Johnson in lap 3. This, of course, was Hornish's last race for us this season.

It's clear now that the People's Pitstop won't win the Fans of From the Marbles league, but with your help, we can still make the top 100 or better. That's why we have a new set of polls for next week's race at Phoenix International Raceway. Please vote now.

We'll be back to wrap up the People's Pigskin's week.

Fearless NASCAR Predictions - Texas

Now that you've been able to give our football predictions their proper consideration, it's time to tell you which NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will finish in the top 10 at Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. Last week's predictions went 5-5, leaving us with a season record of 152-168. There's still a chance for these forecasts to reach .500 by the end of the season.

1-3. Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick. As these standings show, one of these three will walk away from this race in the driver's seat (so to speak) for the Sprint Cup.

4. Jeff Gordon. He thinks he can do better than just validate this prediction -- he says he can win the race.

5. Greg Biffle. Not only will he start on the front row, but Biffle also has four straight top 10 finishes on this track.

6. Joey Logano. This young man has an equally impressive streak going; he's finished in the top 10 the last three weeks.

7. Carl Edwards. If you believe in momentum, you have to like Edwards' chances after he won the Nationwide race on Saturday.

8. Kyle Busch. Ditto for the younger Busch brother, who won the Camping World truck race on Friday.

9. Jamie McMurray. Back to the Sprint Cup for a moment. People pay a lot of attention to the drivers who made the top 12 and are (theoretically) eligible for the Cup, and rightly so. But take a look at who's in the "best of the rest" spot, also known as 13th place. You get the feeling McMurray is making a run for next year's A List?

10. Elliott Sadler. Not only did he win the pole for this race, but he also secured a ride for next season. That's good enough to make him our medium to long shot.

Remember: The polls for the People's Pigskin will close Sunday morning. Please vote now. We'll be back with the results.

The People's Choice - Texas

As we get ready for another weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers are preparing for Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. And the People's Pitstop will be there with a lineup thanks to you, the Internet. Here are your choices.

A List. With 2 of the 10 drivers on this list now officially ineligible for the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team, the pickings got a little slimmer. Maybe that's why you put Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin in a dead heat. They will compete during the qualifying session for a spot in the starting lineup.

B List. This poll produced one clear-cut winner: Jamie McMurray, who will start for us. But it also produced a tie for the second spot. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer will battle it out in qualifying. The loser will join David Reutimann on the bench.

C List. This will be the fantasy racing swan song for Sam Hornish Jr., who will start for the final time this season. Scott Speed gets the bench slot.

Thanks for voting. The results appear below. And while you're here, feel free to vote on the People's Pigskin lineup for this weekend's fantasy football match with the Fighting Amish.

We'll update this post after the qualifying session.

UPDATED 9:30 P.M. Gordon qualified 15th and will start over Hamlin, who qualified 30th. And Bowyer, who qualified 7th, will get the other starting spot over Earnhardt, who qualified 22nd.

We'll be back with our weekly fearless predictions.

[polldaddy poll=4018406] [polldaddy poll=4018414] [polldaddy poll=4018422]

The People's Facts - AAA Texas 500

Before we get into racing, let me offer a word of thanks to those of you who voted in the poll on which defense/special teams the People's Pigskin should acquire for its fantasy football showdown against the Fighting Amish. As you can see at the bottom of this post, the New England Patriots won this one unanimously and have earned a spot in our starting lineup.

Now, let's turn our attention to the People's Pitstop, which is hoping to bounce back with a strong performance at Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. We need you, the Internet, to select our drivers. Here is some information you might find useful.

Track basics: Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth. You can call it a "cookie cutter" if you want, but consider this. The Sprint Cup qualifying record on this track was set by Terry Labonte in 2000. His speed? Over 192 miles an hour. That's one fast cookie.

Last time we were here: Back in April (yes, seven months ago), Denny Hamlin held off a late charge by Jimmie Johnson and took the checkered flag in his second race after ACL surgery. The People's Pitstop fared well, scoring 307 fantasy points. Our top scorer was Kevin Harvick, who finished 7th.

Other recent winners: Kurt Busch (fall 2009), Carl Edwards (2008), Johnson (2007).

Who wins here a lot: For once, there's not a Hendrick driver in sight. Edwards leads all active NASCAR drivers with three victories in Texas, followed by Jeff Burton with two.

Where we stand: For the first time in a while, this race and the two that will follow are going to matter in the big picture. Take a look at the top of the points standings. Johnson normally has the Sprint Cup title all but sewn up by now, but Hamlin sits just 14 points behind, and Harvick is just 38 points behind. That means every pit stop, restart and passing decision will play a role in determining this year's championship. So much for conspiracy theories.

As always, you can learn more by downloading this guide from our friends at Yahoo Sports. The NASCAR polls will close Thursday night, so please vote now.

We'll be back with some football thoughts.

[polldaddy poll=4018395]

Texas-Size Results (and Polls)

NASCAR fans (most of them, anyway) would tell you that in this case, the wait for the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway was worth it. And the Internet's favorite fantasy auto racing team would agree. The People's Pitstop managed to score 307 points in the Samsung 500. That lifted us to a tie for 99,704th overall on Yahoo Sports and a tie for 118th in the Fans of From the Marbles league. Here's how the points break down.

Greg Biffle: Started 3rd, finished 10th, 13 laps led and 85 fantasy points. Biffle's total included 3 bonus points for qualifying 3rd and 10 more bonus points for leading at least one lap. And yes, that's his seventh top 10 finish of the season. Remember that when the next set of predictions come out.

Kevin Harvick: Started 19th, finished 7th, 78 fantasy points. Surprisingly, Harvick was one of the few top 10 drivers who didn't lead a lap this week. (And by the way, he has only four starts left for the People's Pitstop for the rest of the season.)

Jeff Burton: Started 6th, finished 12th, 10 laps led and 78 fantasy points. Burton was actually in the lead when the Big Wreck took out nearly a quarter of the field. Unfortunately, Burton couldn't hold on to that lead.

A.J. Allmendinger: Started 17th, finished 13th, 66 fantasy points. Allmendinger took some damage from the aforementioned wreck, but he stayed on the track to finish right behind Burton.

Now, we move on to Talladega and a whole new set of polls. They can be found underneath our St. Louis Rams draft poll. As always, the lineup polls will close Thursday night, so we can submit a lineup in time for Friday's qualifying session. The Rams poll will close Wednesday night. We'll be back with more thoughts on racing and football. In the meantime, please vote.

Fearless Predictions - Texas

The People's Pitstop had a rough weekend at Phoenix, but the march toward .500 for the predictions gained some momentum. The predictions went a very respectable 7-3 on Saturday night, leaving us with an almost respectable season record of 29-31. Here's the Texas Motor Speedway version of the predictions. (And remember that this is a projection of which NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will finish in the top 10. It is NOT a prediction of who will finish first, who will finish second, etc. Even we're not that crazy.)

1. Greg Biffle. Yes, he's one of the three drivers who didn't come through for us in last week's predictions (and the only one who wasn't a long shot), but he's still one of only two drivers with six finishes in the top 10 this season.

2. Matt Kenseth. Surprise, surprise...yes, he's the other one.

3. Tony Stewart. Smoke found his way to the pole this week, and one of his employees found his way to Victory Lane last week, so someone at Stewart-Haas has figured it out.

4. Ryan Newman. The win was Newman's second finish in the top five this season.

5. Kurt Busch. The former Sprint Cup winner has three top 10 finishes under his belt this season, including his victory last month in Atlanta.

6. Jimmie Johnson. Another week, another top five finish. Ho-freakin-hum.

7. Clint Bowyer. Stop the presses: Bowyer has just as many top 10 finishes (five) as the four-time defending Cup champion.

8. Kasey Kahne. How do you quiet speculation about how you're going to spend next year while waiting for someone else's contract to expire? You kick some asphalt on the track, of course.

9. Jeff Burton. He qualified sixth, and he has he's won here twice. What's that about muscle memory?

10. Brian Vickers. You may recall from the People's Facts that a few drivers were selected to test the rear spoiler last winter at Texas Motor Speedway. They were Biffle, Stewart, Kurt Busch and Vickers, our medium-to-long shot for this week.

By the way, fantasy football fans should note this. The poll on your viewing plans for the NFL draft will close Sunday. In its place, we'll have a new poll about the draft. So get your votes in while you can.

The People's Choice - Texas

With the help of you, the Internet, the lineup has been set for this Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Remember: Once the eight drivers for our lineup are selected, we are now using qualifying order to break any ties between drivers who get the same number of votes. That said, here's this week's lineup:

A List. And we got a chance to put that new tiebreaker to work right away, since two drivers tied for the most votes on this list: Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Since Biffle qualified third, he gets the start, while Gordon sits on the bench.

B List. We had one clear-cut winner in this vote: Kevin Harvick. The next three drivers were Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano. Burton qualified sixth for Sunday's race, so he gets the start, while Earnhardt and Logano will watch from the bench this week.

C List. Another list, another tie, this time between A.J. Allmendinger and Scott Speed. Allmendinger, by virtue of qualifying 17th, gets the starting spot.

The poll results appear below. We'll be back tomorrow with the forecasts for the top 10.

[polldaddy poll=3040513] [polldaddy poll=3040526] [polldaddy poll=3040539]

The People's Facts - Samsung Mobile 500

There's still a couple of hours to vote on the polls for the People's Pitstop lineup for this Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race deep in the heart of Texas. But first, here's a primer on the track everyone will be trying to tame.

Track basics: Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval that has a reputation for generating a lot of speed. Terry Labonte holds the qualifying record with a speed of 192.137 miles per hour. Even Sammy Hagar would be impressed. (As always, Yahoo Sports had provided a more extensive preview, which you can read by clicking here.)

Recent winners: Jeff Gordon (2009), Carl Edwards (2008), Jeff Burton (2007)

Who wins here a lot: Almost nobody. Edwards has three wins on this track. Burton has two. No one else has more than one.

Now THAT'S a test drive: You might have heard about NASCAR's switch back from the rear wing to the spoiler. Well, what you might not know is that before the switch was announced, NASCAR had a few select drivers test the new/old spoiler package. The test site? Texas Motor Speedway. Will the drivers have an advantage Sunday? Only time will tell.

Damage Assessment, New Polls and Rule Change

First of all, a show of hands, please ... how many of you expected Ryan Newman to win Saturday night's race?

OK, now that we know who the liars are, let's discuss the People's Pitstop results. The Internet's favorite fantasy racing team scored only 214 points at this week's Sprint Cup race in Phoenix. The season total is 1,760, leaving us tied for 140,102nd overall and tied for 171st in the Fan of From the Marbles league.

Here are the detailed results.

Greg Biffle. Started 30th, finished 22nd, 48 fantasy points. I guess all we had to do to break Biffle's top-10-finish streak was to put him in the starting lineup.

Matt Kenseth. Started 27th, finished 6th, 90 fantasy points. That includes 10 points for leading a lap. Kenseth was the only People's Pitstop starter who found his way to the front of the pack at any point during Gnatfest 2010.

Jeff Burton. Started 15th, finished 25th, 42 fantasy points. At least Burton was able to wind up on the lead lap.

Paul Menard. Started 32nd, finished 29th (1 lap behind the leaders), 34 fantasy points. Ugh.

The polls are now up for the next Sprint Cup race Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. As usual, the polls will stay up until Thursday night, so we can turn in a lineup in time for Friday's qualifying session.

Speaking of qualifying, it's time to announce a rule tweak for this fantasy NASCAR team. From now on, if a starter and a bench driver get the same number of votes, we will use the driver to qualifies better in the starting spot. We'll still use driver points to determine who does and doesn't make the lineup we turn in Thursday night, but from now on if, say, Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson are tied in votes, and Johnson qualifies SEVEN WHOLE ROW in front of Biffle, Johnson will get the start, and Biffle will sit on the bench.

(OK, rant over.) Feel free to vote now. We'll be back with a look at some driver trends.