ADDICTed To Fantasy NASCAR

California Roading

I hope everyone’s fantasy team did better than mine did last weekend at Michigan.  It’s time to make up the deficit, so this week the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series is headed out to win country, known to the locals as Sonoma Valley, California.  This weekend is Infineon Raceway, a road-course plenty twisty and plenty rough.  Infineon is filled with left and right hand turns, along with multiple bankings and changes in elevation.  The guys to place on your team this week are those with experience on road courses.

The NASCAR on Fox analyst crew will scream about the “road course ringers” (or some other term) all weekend, and you should pay little attention.  As of writing, NASCAR has not released the entry list for Infineon, but look to see if guys like Boris Said, Scott Pruett, and Ron Fellows are on it.  These guys are professionals at road racing, and they live for these type of tracks.  I am 99% certain that Said will be on the entry list (as part of his MB/MB2/Sutton Motorsports deal), but look to see if the “ringers” are able to make the race.  These guys aren’t in the top 35 in points, so to qualify they will have to post impressive qual times.  If they do make the show, seriously think about whether or not you want them on your team.  If they make the race, I would give you a 50-50 shot that they would finish in the top ten.  They could ease the number of races your regulars can race (especially if you are restricted on Yahoo! Fantasy Sports), allowing the regulars to be run on normal race tracks.

So on to the Nextel Cup regulars – the one you should pay attention to is Robby Gordon.  Robby is running his own Cup team this year, and has had some problems.  But, and this is a big but, he is the most experienced of the Cup regulars on road courses.  If his engine and his car can survive the first 300 miles of this race, he has a huge shot at winning this week.  Robby needs that kickstart for his team, and this could be it.  Take you chances, and possibly reap the big rewards.

Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are two names that will be mentioned quite a bit this weekend.  After a spectacular (but second placed) dominance at Michigan, Stewart will be looking to use his road-racing background to his advantage this week.  He won last year’s race in Sonoma, even while battling stomach problems that forced him to cancel victory lane celebrations.  Jeff Gordon is the pre-eminent Cup racer at road courses, will 4 road victories recently.  But, and another big but, his DuPont team has been sliding downhill recently.  Three of his last four starts resulted in DNF’s, so once again, you are going to have to gamble on this decision.

There will be several other drivers that will be fighting for the finish at the end of the day; namely Ryan Newman and Mark Martin.  Back in the day, Martin was the Gordon (pick either one) of road-racing, winning three Sonoma victories in one year at one time.  He will be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday.  Ryan Newman has had mixed success on road courses since starting his Cup career, but his record shows that he has some road-racing spunk in him.  I think he would be a good bet for this week, more solid than several of the other shots. 

Kevin Harvick is another driver that has recently turned up his success on road-courses.  In fact, his average finish on road courses over the past three years is better than any other driver.  He is a definite bet for your team on Sunday.

Also, remember that this week Terry Labonte will be racing the #11 Fedex car for Joe Gibbs Racing, instead of the normal Jason Leffler.  Terry has a good history at road courses, and will try to show off his spunk while returning out of quasi-retirement this weekend.

EVERYONE, I am still looking for any kind of help with this column.  Any comments you could give me would help out.  If you have any comments, please email me at lindsey.chris@gmail.com

Yahoo Picks

Group A
Ryan Newman
Tony Stewart

Group B
Mark Martin
Kevin Harvick
Michael Waltrip
Robby Gordon
[Boris Said] 

Group C
Casey Mears
Terry Labonte
[Ron Fellows]