Tires were the subject of the day after the race at Atlanta last weekend. In my opinion it wasn’t that the tires were “bad”. It was more that it wasn’t the right tire to use at Atlanta. What I really don’t get is that they do a tire test at Atlanta and Good Year isn’t happy with the results they get. So, instead of retesting on a different compound they just change it and give new tires to the teams to use without any idea how they will perform. Does it make sense to you?

            This week we head to Bristol where the COT debuted last year. This made last years race a crapshoot because no one knew what to expect. This year the teams have had time to develop their COT programs and most seem to have gotten the feel of it. I am going to pick Greg Biffle to come away with his first win of the year this weekend. Greg has been close every week and I think this week is his week to shine.

            Kyle Busch has been in a league of his own so far this season and won the first COT race last year here. Right now I think that you are seeing the very best drivers having great seasons. The COT puts the races back in the driver’s hands instead of just being the equipment. As the year goes on the racing will get even better as the other drivers get used to driving these cars.

            Matt Kenseth has been having a great year himself and has won here multiple times. Matt struggled a little bit last year with the new car but he seems to have a pretty good handle on it right now and we should see him towards the front of the field quickly in the race.

            Carl Edwards won here last fall and has really been driving well this season. If not for an engine problem at Atlanta and a penalty after the race in California, Carl would probably be leading the point standings right now.

            Kevin Harvick has always been good at Bristol. After qualifying way back in the field last spring, Kevin charged to the front of the field in the first 100 laps of the race and came away with a solid 4^th place finish. Kevin won the spring race in 2005 and finished 2^nd in the spring of 2006.

            Jeff Gordon hasn’t won here since 2002 when he punted Rusty Wallace with 2 laps to go and has had his ups and downs here since then having 5 top 10 finishes in the last 10 races. Jimmie Johnson hasn’t done any better during his career here either with a best finish of 3^rd back in 2004 and 6 top 10 finishes in 12 races.

            Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some dominating race at Bristol at DEI and has been putting together a great year at Hendrick Motorsports. Since the fall of 2001 Junior's worst finish at Bristol has been 16^th. Combined with 7 top 10 finishes in his last 9 races (the other 2 finishes were both 11^th) Dale will be there fighting for the win at the end once again this year.

            Kurt Busch has 5 wins at Bristol and finished 6^th last fall after struggling in the first Cot race last spring when he finished 29^th. Kurt is one of those drivers that have the attitude that it takes to win at Bristol. A few years ago Kurt cut a tire down and found himself 3 laps down early in the race. He fought back and ended up winning that race. This is what it takes to win at Bristol.

            Tony Stewart had the car to beat last spring before a cable on his fuel cell broke and took him out of the race. Denny Hamlin also had a great car that race but was doomed by a poor pit stop late in the race. Either of these guys could visit victory lane this weekend at Bristol.

            Yahoo Picks for Bristol

            Group A

            Kurt Busch (starter)

            Jeff Gordon

            Group B

            Greg Biffle (starter)

            Kyle Busch (starter)

            Dale Earnhardt Jr.

            Kasey Kahne

            Group C

            Brian Vickers (starter) must qualify for race

            Scott Riggs

            Top 5 Overall at Bristol

1.      Greg Biffle

2.      Kyle Busch

3.      Kurt Busch

4.      Matt Kenseth

5.      Jeff Gordon

Dark Horse: Bobby Labonte

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

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