The People's Facts: Auto Club 500

There's still time for you, the Internet, to cast your vote on which drivers will be part of the People's Pigskin lineup in this week's episode of Who Wants to Win the From the Marbles Fantasy Racing League. Please remember that you're picking 2 drivers from the A List poll, 4 from the B List poll and 2 from the C List poll.

In the meantime, it's time to offer some basic information about this Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Race: the Auto Club 500.

Track basics: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, is a 2-mile oval, so it's slightly slower than Daytona. Jeff Gordon holds the record with an average speed of 155 miles per hour in 1997, the year the track was finished. However, since this speedway is also much younger than Daytona, it's had less time to develop potholes.

Recent winners: Matt Kenseth (2009), Carl Edwards (2008), Matt Kenseth (2007).

Who wins a lot here: According to this Yahoo race preview (PDF), among active drivers, Jeff Gordon leads the way with 4 wins at Fontana. Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are right behind him with 3 victories apiece.

Have you driven to Victory Lane lately? The last 5 versions of this race were won by Ford drivers, including Kenseth, who has won 3 of the last 4.

We'll be back Thursday night with the poll results.

The People's Damage Assessment

The drivers in the Daytona 500 weren't the only ones dealing with potholes on Sunday. (And we'll leave aside for the moment the question about how the folks in NASCAR allow a structural problem to affect the biggest race of the season on the most storied track in stock car racing.)

The People's Pitstop racked up a grand total of 236 fantasy points during Sunday's running of the Great American Race. That leaves the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team tied for 129th in the From the Marbles league. Here's the breakdown of our performance.

Jimmy Johnson (A List): Started 3rd, finished 35th (23 laps behind the leaders), 22 fantasy points. Rough starts are nothing new for the four-time defending Sprint Cup champion. But there's never a good time to break an axle.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (B List): Started 2nd, finished 2nd, led 4 laps, 98 fantasy points. Earnhardt gets the 10 bonus points for leading at least one lap, and he would have won it all if he had one extra lap.

Kevin Harvick (B List): Started 5th, finished 7th, led 41 laps, 98 fantasy points. Harvick got 10 bonus points for leading a lap, plus 10 more bonus points for leading more laps than anyone else. None of it makes up for the fact that under the old "one green-white-checkered attempt only" rules, he would have won the race.

Sam Hornish Jr. (C List): Started 36th, finished 37th (48 laps behind the leaders), 18 fantasy points. Oh, well. These drivers are on the C list for a reason.

(By the way, our bench drivers, including eventual winner Jamie McMurray, scored no points for the People's Pitstop, but they're still eligible for nine starts each.)

Now it's time to turn our sights west to Fontana, California, the site of next Sunday's Auto Club 500. This week, Yahoo will start awarding bonus points for qualifying well. In a related development, Yahoo also will start forcing fantasy players to turn in their lineups before the Friday qualifying session. Therefore, the lineup polls are up now and will close Thursday night. Please vote now.

The People's Choice - Daytona

Another NASCAR Sprint Cup season is about to begin, and you, the Internet, have spoken about who gets spots in the People's Pitstop lineup for Sunday's Daytona 500. Here are the results for the Internet's favorite fantasy racing team.

A List. You were asked to pick two drivers, and you selected Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. Since Johnson got more votes, he'll get the starting spot, while Busch will get the bench spot.

B List. Here you were asked to pick four drivers. Your choices: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray. Earnhardt Jr. and Harvick will get the starting spots. Kahne and McMurray will get the bench spots.

C List. The people of the Internet were asked to vote for two drivers. They chose Sam Hornish Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger. Hornish gets the start, while Allmendinger gets the bench position.

Thanks to all of you for voting. Our new poll is a pretty basic one, but one that needs to be asked: Who do you have winning this season's championship? We'll be back Monday with some results. Until then, enjoy the race, now with reduced gopher. (Carl Spackler will be pleased.) The poll results appear below.

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Random Pre-Daytona Thoughts

There's still time to vote in our polls on who gets into the People's Pitstop lineup for the Daytona 500. The polls will close Saturday night. In the meantime, here are some thoughts to tide over fans of fantasy racing.

Green, white ... oh, wait, start over. NASCAR may be the only body in professional sports that changes its rules in the week before its regular season starts. The latest change involves the "green-white-checkered" format for overtime racing. Instead of giving the drivers only one chance at a "green-white-checkered" finish, NASCAR now will give them up to three chances to get it right.

Drivers and crew chiefs are less than pleased; Jeff Gordon said, "All you're going to do is set yourself up for another wreck. You give us two laps out there under green and we're going to find a way to wreck." Right, like drivers need an excuse to wreck at Daytona.

If it's Wednesday, this must be Showtime. NASCAR has listened to the complaints of folks who said Michael Waltrip wasn't getting nearly enough camera time. This season Showtime will air the weekly show "Inside NASCAR," featuring one talking head (Chris Myers), one reporter (Randy Pemberton), one team owner/former NBA All-Star (Brad Daugherty) and one driver (Waltrip).

Two things struck me as I watched the initial episode Wednesday. First, having no crew chief, active or otherwise, on the set is a bit like having an NFL pregame show without a former coach. Second, given Waltrip's 33rd-place finish in last year's Sprint Cup standings, shouldn't he be spending a little more time working on his cars and a little less time in the television studio (especially if they are going to tape your show in Charlotte while you're qualilfying in Daytona)?

The weekly reminder that we follow fantasy football, too. It's been less than a week since the New Orleans Saints shocked a good portion of the football world by winning the Super Bowl. But that doesn't mean it's too early for fantasy football players to start thinking about their drafts this summer. In fact, the Sporting News has already published rankings to help you decide important things like, say, which receiver you should draft in the fifth round.

We'll be back tomorrow night with results from our polls. Vote now, please.

Fearless Predictions - Daytona

Those of you who followed the People's Pigskin during its quest for supremacy in fantasy football will remember the predictions that appeared every week of the NFL season with varying degrees of success. That tradition will continue as the People's Pitstop seeks dominance in fantasy NASCAR.

Each week, this blog will offer a prediction of which drivers will finish in the top 10 of each race. This week we have a forecast for the Daytona 500, whose starting grid was finalized with today's Gatorade Duels. Like the football predictions, these forecasts are for entertainment purposes only. Anyone foolish enough to bet on the basis of them would probably buy this.

1. Jeff Gordon. When it doubt, take a driver who has been there and done that. Gordon has three Daytona 500s under his belt.

2. Tony Stewart. He doesn't have any Daytona 500 wins, but he does have three victories on this track. Oh, and did I mention to two cup championships?

3. Joey Logano. The rookie stripe is off his car, and Logano seems primed to compete for a spot in the Chase this season.

4. Jeff Burton. He's won on this track, and his team needs to rebound from a disappointing 2009. This would be a great way to start.

5. Mark Martin. Your pole-sitter may not have a Daytona 500 win on his resume, but he's got 17 finishes in the top 10 on this track.

6. Jimmie Johnson. Hmmm. Why is Johnson on this list? Is it because of the TV show following him around, or is it because he's won FOUR CUPS IN A ROW? (Sorry, but if a baseball team were on a streak like that, its fans would be shouting from the mountaintops about it.)

7. Kyle Busch. He won't win any Miss Congeniality contests, but he's shown a willingness to put his car anywhere he feels will give him an advantage.

8. Brad Keselowski. Another one making more waves than friends.But he does have a win on a restrictor plate track.

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He has the Hendrick Motorsports team behind him. Eventually that has to start counting for something, right?

10. Kasey Kahne. He won his Gatorade Duel today. That victory will put him near the front of the pack to start the race. That improves his chances of avoiding the first big wreck of the day.

We'll be back tomorrow with some more racing-related thoughts. Until then, feel free to vote in this week's polls.

Who Wants Some Swag?

Those of you who have been following NASCAR racing for a while know that the folks involved in the sport--racers, racing teams, sponsors, tracks, etc.--love to give away stuff, especially stuff you can wear. The cynical would call it free advertising. Everyone else would call it free stuff.

Anyway, From the Marbles, the fine Yahoo blog hosting the fantasy auto racing league that the People's Pitstop will attempt to dominate, is running a contest. The task: Figure out which 10 cars will finish in front at the Daytona 500, add up their numbers, and give the indomitable Jay Busbee the sum. Yes, math is involved. (Don't tell Barbie.) But first prize is a Dale Earnhardt Jr. jacket. Is that a prize or ... something else? I'll let you decide.

We'll be back tomorrow with some predictions for the Daytona 500.

The People's Facts: Daytona 500

I do not pretend to be an expert on NASCAR racing. I have neither the resources nor the insights to compete head to head with media outlets like the Charlotte Observer or the Orlando Sentinel or Speed TV or anyone else. However, I do hope to offer a few facts on each week's Sprint Cup Series race. My hope is that offering these basics will persuade you, the Internet, to cast your votes in the weekly polls that will determine the People's Pitstop lineups.

This week, of course, we have the Daytona 500, aka the Great American Race.

Track basics: Daytona International Speedway is one of the largest (a 2.5-mile tri-oval) and fastest tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Last year's winner had an average lap speed of nearly 133 miles per hour. In fact, it's so fast that it's one of two tracks where NASCAR requires cars to use restrictor plates, which tend to bunch the cars together. What happens when fast cars get bunched together in packs? Crashes like this one.

Recent winners: Matt Kenseth (2009), Ryan Newman (2008), Kevin Harvick (2007).

Who wins a lot here: Daytona hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup races a year, excluding last week's Bud Shootout, the racing equivalent of football's Hall of Fame Game. Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with six wins in points races here, followed by Bill Elliott (four), Tony Stewart (three) and Michael Waltrip (three).

Who may be due: Mark Martin has 17 top 10 finishes at Daytona, including nine finishes in the top five, but has yet to win here. Since NASCAR fans are fond of calling this race their Super Bowl, would that make Martin the equivalent of Jim Kelly (with a cooler haircut)?

Want to know more about each week's race? Post a comment and let me know. In the meantime, feel free to vote in this week's polls.

Pick the People's Pitstop - Daytona 500

First, a quick update on the fantasy football side. Thanks to the input of you, the Internet, the People's Pigskin finished the NFL Fantasy Playoff Challenge with 477 points. The most valuable player on our team was also the most valuable player of Super Bowl XLIV: Drew Brees, who scored 57 points. The Pigskin ended up tied for 55,478th overall and in 18th place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. And we have you to thank.

With the fantasy football completed for the time being, it's time to shift gears (pardon the pun) to fantasy NASCAR. And once again, it's time for you, the Internet, to speak up.

The People's Pigskin will be running the People's Pitstop team in Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Auto Racing. We'll be part of the Fans of From the Marbles league. Our goal: to win by picking a lineup via Internet polling.

Here are some of the rules. (You can learn more by clicking here.) Each week the fantasy players pick a roster of eight drivers for that week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It's sort of like a Chinese menu. You can have two drivers from the A List (basically the top 10 drivers from the last season), four drivers from the B List (the 16 next-best drivers in NASCAR), and two drivers from the C List (everyone else). From those drivers, we pick four starters (one from the A List, two from the B List, and one from the C List). The starting drivers score points for the fantasy team according to how well they do in that week's race.

Oh, and one more thing: No driver can start more than nine races for a fantasy team. Once a driver has started his ninth race, he (yes, for the time being, that's still the correct pronoun) is off limits.

In future weeks, there will be points for qualifying well for that week's race. However, this week's race is the Daytona 500, and qualifying for that race -- well, it's complicated. They had a typical qualifying session this past weekend, but only for the front two positions. They went to Mark Martin (one of the drivers on the A List) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one of the drivers on the B List). On Thursday, NASCAR will hold a pair of 125-mile races to determine the rest of the grid for Sunday's version of the "Great American Race."

Got it? Good. Cause now it's your turn to vote. The polls are now open. You're voting for two drivers in the first poll, four drivers in the second poll, and two drivers in the third poll. The drivers with the most votes will get the spots in the People's Pitstop lineup. If you want to learn more about the race, you can click here for a Yahoo-written PDF or click here for a RotoSports.com preview. Because I will be on the road Sunday for a Chinese New Year dinner (again, it's complicated), the polls will close on Saturday night. Please vote now. We'll be back later with some more thoughts on the NASCAR season.

The People's Choice - Super Bowl XLIV

You, the  Internet, found time between your shopping for snacks and your selection of lucky jerseys to voice your opinion on the People's Pigskin lineup for the Super Bowl round of the NFL Fantasy Playoff Challenge. Here's the lineup, and here's the breakdown.

Quarterback. For the third round in a row, the votes went to Drew Brees. Because he's starting for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team for the third straight week, he gets triple the points.

Running back. Super Bowl Sunday's starters are the same as the conference championship starters: Pierre Thomas and Joseph Addai. They both get double the points.

Wide receiver. Again, we have a couple of repeat starters who will get double the points: Reggie Wayne and Marques Colston.

Tight end. Yes, Virginia, it's possible to run an Internet poll on fantasy football and get a unanimous vote. Everyone picked Dallas Clark, another beneficiary of the double points for starting a second straight round.

Kicker. This race did not feature anyone getting bonus points. In fact, we are using the fourth kicker in as many rounds, because each kicker has lost in the first three rounds. I don't know if New Orleans Saints fans will be happy to hear that you, the Internet, have selected Matt Stover for our Super Bowl starting spot.

Defense/special teams. I guess it wouldn't be a People's Pigskin team without at least one poll that resulted in a tie. Following the long and proud People's Pigskin tradition, we flipped a coin (without the help of these guys). The winner: the Indianapolis Colts.

You can see the poll results below. The new poll is about the halftime entertainment, but feel free to vote before the game. We'll be back tomorrow with a look at the Daytona 500 and how you, the Internet, will select the People's Pitstop lineup. Until then, enjoy the Super Bowl, and try not to drown in nacho cheese.

[polldaddy poll=2625507] [polldaddy poll=2625523] [polldaddy poll=2625539] [polldaddy poll=2625549] [polldaddy poll=2625558] [polldaddy poll=2625563]

The Obligatory Super Bowl Prediction

There's still time for you to vote on the People's Pigskin's lineup for the final round in the NFL Fantasy Playoff Challenge. The polls will close Sunday in time to set the Internet's favorite fantasy football lineup for Super Bowl XLIV.

In the meantime, before we switch our focus to fantasy NASCAR racing, it's time to make one last football prediction: the Super Bowl. There are plenty of places to find matchup breakdowns and thoughts on things like prop bets and whether Reggie Bush should allow himself to get within 100 yards of a Kardashian. But I couldn't call myself a football writer of any sort (fantasy or otherwise) without offering a prediction for Sunday's game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints.

In fantasy football terms, you would be happy to have just about any of the starters on either team, offense or defense. Both quarterbacks were in the top four at their position in ESPN fantasy points this season. Each team had a running back and a wide receiver in the top 20. Dallas Clark ranked 2nd among tight ends (and will stay in the top five until someone decides he's not a tight end just because the Colts call him one), but Jeremy Shockey also made the top 20. Dwight Freeney's injury might make the Colts defense slightly less valuable, but both defenses ranked in the top 20. (The Saints ranked third.)

In other words, no matter who wins this year's Super Bowl, you could point to fantasy football stats to explain why.

The People's Pigskin predictions went 2-0 in the conference championship round, raising the season record to 6-4 and guaranteeing a winning postseason for the forecasts. But it nearly wasn't so. The Minnesota Vikings were in position to at least give its kicker a chance to win the game in regulation. If Brett Favre doesn't throw one of the dumbest interceptions of the year, the Vikings probably beat the Saints. And that was despite the fact that the Vikings had already fumbled the ball six times and turned it over four times before that throw.

If the Saints are hoping for a similar performance from the Colts in general or Peyton Manning in particular, they must have gotten a hold of some bad gumbo. The Colts will take care of the ball and take care of the Saints.

We'll be back tomorrow with the poll results. In the meantime, enjoy the Bud Shootout, a sneak preview of the NASCAR season that's just getting started as football season winds down.