Fantasy Nascar

Subway Fresh Fit 500 Preview

            Congratulations to Carl Edwards on getting his 3^rd win of the season. This team most definitely has the mile and a half tracks down so far this season. If he wouldn’t have lost an engine at Atlanta he might have won there too.

            This week we have our first Saturday night race of the year in Phoenix. Yahoo Picks must be made by 5:00 am EST on April 10^th!  Last year Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson split the spring and fall races for Hendrick Motorsports. This year I am picking Denny Hamlin to visit victory lane. Denny seems to have a better handle on the short flat tracks than most of the other drivers as he proved at Martinsville a few weeks ago.

            As I stated before Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each won here last year and they are the two most consistent drivers on these types of tracks. Jeff has finished in the top 10 at Phoenix in 12 of the last 13 races with his only non top 10 being a 12^th place finish during that stretch. Jimmie has 7 top 10’s in 9 races with the other 2 finishes each being 15^th. 

            Jeff Burton leads the point standings over teammate, Kevin Harvick and both of these guys are good at Phoenix. He has 9 top 10 finishes in his last 13 races with a worst finishing position of 15^th during that time. Kevin swept the races here in 2006 and has finished in the top 10 in the last 4 events at Phoenix.

            Tony Stewart has 8 top 10 finishes in the last 12 races at Phoenix including a win and twice being the runner-up. 4 of his last 5 finishes have been top 5’s. Tony will be around at the end of the race to give the leader a run for the checkers.

            Carl Edwards is not only good on the intermediate tracks but he is also good at Phoenix. Carl’s best finish here is 4^th but he has 4 top 10 finishes in 7 starts and he was running in the top 10 last year when he lost an engine early in the race.

            Dale Earnhardt Jr. swept the races here in 2004 and had a great run at Martinsville this spring. Junior will do well once again this week but will finish behind Jeff and Jimmie at the end.

            Kurt Busch got a win here back in the spring of 2005 but has only 1 top 10 finish at Phoenix since moving over to Penske Racing. This team is struggling a little bit at this point in the season but will improve as the year goes on.

            Greg Biffle has finished 2^nd twice at Phoenix and could have won one other time when he ran out of gas. He is having his best start ever and needs to come away with one of those top 10 finishes on a short track where he seems to struggle to prove to me that he is a legitimate contender for the championship.

            Martin Truex Jr. has been quietly having a good year so far if we eliminate his finish last week at Texas where he lost an engine with only 6-miles to go in the race. Martin has only run 4 races at Phoenix with a best finish of 7^th but he was very strong during the test sessions here earlier this spring.

            Yahoo Picks for Phoenix

            Group A

            Denny Hamlin (starter)

            Jeff Gordon

            Group B

            Martin Truex Jr. (starter)

            Juan Pablo Montoya (starter)

            Dale Earnhardt Jr.

            Greg Biffle

            Group C

            Regan Smith (starter)

            Johnny Sauter start him if he makes the race

            Top 5 Overall at Phoenix           

1.      Denny Hamlin

2.      Jeff Gordon

3.      Carl Edwards

4.      Jimmie Johnson

5.      Tony Stewart

Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.

Stay Away From: Casey Mears

As always you can email me with any questions, comments or suggestions at gutsamaniac@hotmail.com. Good luck once again this week!