NASCAR Bank of America 500 - Charlotte Preview...Beyond the Numbers

Charlotte Motor Speedway – the mile and a half Intermediate track that most people have strong feelings about. Love it or hate it, that's where our favorite NASCAR drivers are heading this weekend to fire up the engines in the fall. Charlotte Motor Speedway is considered a Quad-Oval track with 24 degree banking on the turns and 5 degree straightaways. CMS is located in Concord North Carolina, just northeast of Charlotte. Cup Series drivers will make 334 laps to reach the checkered flag in the Back of America 500 on Saturday night.



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 Will Charlotte Motor Speedway be Jimmie Johnson's house again on Saturday night? Johnson won the 2009 fall race at CMS and has finished in the top ten in 13 of his 18 Cup races in Charlotte. Jimmie's 10.2 average finish, paired with the six wins he claims at this track make him a formidable competitor. Sitting atop the Chase leader board, Johnson has no reason to worry that this track will cause him trouble.

Jeff Gordon is moving up; he has the Pole for Saturday night's race and moved up one spot in the Chase for the Championship after last week's 9th place finish at Fontana. He finished sixth at Charlotte in the Summer race and claims 20 top ten finishes in his 35 Cup Series starts at CMS. Jeff has finished in the top ten in three of the four Chase races so far; can he make it through another week with a top ten finish? There doesn't seem to be any good reason why not.

Saturday will be Mark Martin's 52nd start in a Cup race at Charlotte. In his previous 51 starts he has had 23 top ten finishes and four wins. Mark's average finish of 15.7 is in the upper third of all active Cup drivers. Martin has been around this track enough to have learned how the track responds to all different temperatures and weather conditions. If anyone has the experience to take a top ten finish away from the Back of America 500 it will be Mark.



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 Kyle Busch has never won at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a Cup Series race. Busch posts seven top ten finishes in his thirteen starts, but shows only a 17.8 average finishing spot because of three DNF's in the early part of his Cup career. Kyle has had two disappointing weekends, finishing 35th last week after the engine failed on his car at Fontana, and a 21st place finish at Kansas the week before. Busch's poor showings of the last two weeks have caused him to go from 3rd place in Series Points after Dover to 9th place going into CMS. It is do or die time for Kyle; a top ten finish is a must this week to keep his Championship hopes alive.

Clint Bowyer's last two finishes at Charlotte have been in the the top ten. Clint's goal is to make it to the top five in Chase standings by the end of the season; another finish in the top three will likely get him to 11th spot in front of Matt Kenseth. Still 247 pints back from the points leader, Clint has a lot of work to do. His temporary crew chief Scott Miller has the experience, and he and Bowyer have a good working relationship. With just one top five finish in Clint's past Cup outings at CMS, Clint will need to have another solid performance to bring the #33 Chevrolet to the front of the pack.




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  Jeff Burton won this race in 2008, has three total wins at CMS, and has posted 15 top ten finishes in his 33 Cup starts at CMS. Another veteran of this track, Jeff moved up one spot into 8th place in the Chase standings after last week's race at Fontana. Burton has not been good at this track lately; his races here since his 2008 win have all been outside the top 10. This Saturday Burton will need to come in strong and fight his way through traffic to gain the points he needs in his team's Championship quest.

Two-thirds of finishes by Kevin Harvick's team this season have been in the top ten. He has a 9.5 average finish on the season, but just a 20.7 average finish here in Charlotte. It has been 14 races since Harvick has finished in the top ten in a Cup Series race at CMS; this is the week for his comeback at this track. Kevin knows the importance of this weekend. Saturday night's race could help him gain points on the Chase leader or drop Harvick back significantly if he is unable to make it into the top ten by the end of the race. Just 54 points back from points leader Johnson, Kevin should come out an prove he is a contender Saturday night.

Denny Hamlin has a good shot at performing well in this week's race. Coming out of three of four Chase races ending in top ten finishes, Denny has momentum and confidence to count on. This track is not one of his best, however. The last time Hamlin finished in the top ten at CMS was the Summer 2007 race. Team Hamlin will be working on race set-up and going for more consistent runs than he has shown in recent racing in Charlotte. At the end of the day, Denny should find his way to the top ten.




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  The big mover in Chase points last week was Tony Stewart; he moved up five spots into the 5th place in the standings, 107 points behind Johnson. Coming into the Charlotte race Tony has claimed one win and 11 top ten finishes in his previous 23 Cup starts ay CMS. With Stewart's win last week he gained the confidence that a driver needs to perform under pressure. Stewart is a veteran driver and should be able to take the pressure. We should expect Tony to move up the Chase to the Championship leader board with another good finish this week.

Since the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship began, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been quietly improving his game. This Hendrick Motorsports Team has struggled all season but looks like they have started to pull things together. With a 4th place finish at New Hampshire and last week's 16th place day in Fontana, Dale has started to feel some confidence in his team and in himself. This improved attitude has carried over into Earnhardt's qualifying efforts; he starts from within the top ten Saturday night at CMS. At the end of the 334 laps I expect to see Dale still running in the top ten with a solid night all the way around from the pits to the track.




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  My pick for the win this week is Kevin Harvick, with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rounding out the top three. Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart complete my top ten. Kurt Busch will be mired back in the mid-20's with Matt Kenseth as both slide backwards in Chase Points. 

NASCAR Raceday comes on the air on the SPEED Channel at 5 p.m. Saturday. NASCAR Countdown begins at 7 p.m. On ABC. Bank of America 500 coverage continues on ABC at 7:30 p.m. Race coverage will also be aired on MRN Radio Stations. Don't miss the fifth race in the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship as points driver try to battle for points while non-Chase drivers battle for bragging rights. Saturday night under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway should be a wild ride.

Amy McHargue
http://ellipticalcurrents.blogspot.com

Fontana Auto Club 400 Preview: Beyond the Numbers

For the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship NASCAR travels to California. The Auto Club Speedway, located in Fontana California, is a 2 mile D-shaped oval. Lying due east of Los Angeles by about 50 miles, the Auto Club Speedway will host the Pepsi Max 400 on Sunday afternoon as NASCAR Cup Series drivers make 200 laps around the circuit for 400 miles. Not only has this years fall race in California been shortened by 100 laps, but this will be the last running of the fall race at Fontana – as part of NASCAR's Chase realignment the fall race has fallen victim to poor attendance and is not part of the 201 schedule.



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 Jeff Gordon has a 10.9 average finish at Fontana, with ten top ten finishes coming from his 20 Cup series starts at this track. A disappointing 20th finish at the Auto Club Speedway in February broke a string of back to back second place finishes for Jeff that he had in 2009. With Chevrolet winning four of the last five fall races at Fontana, and a Hendrick Motorsports driver the last three Jeff should have the team knowledge to get it done, if the cards fall the right way.

Keep an eye on Carl Edwards this weekend; he moved up two spots after last week and has taken over the number four place in season points. Only two of Carl's starts in Fontana have resulted in finishes outside of the top ten. His 7.2 average finish at the Auto Club Speedway reflects the consistency Edwards has been able to bring to this track. His early-season performance in 2010 was less than stellar; Carl finished 13th at the end of the day. With four of Edwards' last five races resulting in top ten finishes, however he has the momentum coming into this race to post a finish that will continue his climb toward the top of the Chase leader board.



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 Jimmie Johnson has won the last three late season races at the Auto Club Speedway and has wins in four of the last six races held in Fontana. As Chase points leader, and four-time in a row season Champion Johnson comes to Fontana with more than a healthy dose of experience at winning here. Jimmie's average finish of 5.5 and 11 top ten finishes in 15 starts in Fontana track shows that he could come out on top again this week and increase his points lead over the other Chase drivers. One thing that could hurt Jimmie as he goes for another win is that he has 50 fewer laps to get to the front of the pack.

With the drama and ensuing stress that the Clint Bowyer team has experienced since New Hampshire finally over, Clint finds himself 252 points behind the Points leader and in the 12th position. Bowyer said before the Kansas race that he doesn't expect to win the Chase after the 150 point penalty but does see finishing the season in the top five as a realistic goal. To reach the top five, Bowyer needs to come out strong this weekend and post a top ten finish, at the very least. With an average finish at the Auto Club Speedway of 12.0 and only one of his nine Cup starts showing a top five finish Clint will have his work cut out for him as he drives toward the front of the pack. If determination alone can do it, Bowyer will find his way to the top ten by the 200th lap on Sunday but it's going to have to be a good day for the RCR # 33 team.



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 Greg Biffle moved up one spot in the Chase after his win last week; Biffle would like to bring home another trophy and gain more points on the Chase leaders this weekend. With 15 starts at Fontana Greg can claim five top ten finishes – including one win. Three of Biffle's last five starts have resulted in top ten finishes, including a 10th place finish at the end of the February race at the Auto Club Speedway. Coming off of a win at Kansas, Greg has confidence and may ride the wave of momentum to another top ten at Fontana.

Losing four spots in Chase standings after a disappointing 21st place finish at Kansas last week, Kyle Busch is coming into Fontana in free fall. With an average of 10.8, Kyle posts a top ten finish in more than 66% of the races he starts at the Auto Club Speedway. Knowing the track can go a long way in getting a driver to the front and in twelve Cup Series starts at Fontana, Busch has eight top ten finishes to prove that he knows how to navigate this track. Chances are that we will see Kyle near the front of the field by the end of Sunday's race.

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Matt Kenseth is 149 points behind Chase points leaders and sits in 11th place. Matt has a 9.1 average finish at Fontana and comes to this track with 12 top ten finishes is his 17 starts here. Kenseth has shown in the past he can be a contender at the Auto Club Speedway; only one of his last ten starts here has found him outside of the top ten by the end of the day. With three previous wins, there seems to be little reason to expect that Matt will finish any lower than the top ten this weekend.

With just three Cup Series starts under his belt at Fontana, Joey Logano comes to this weekend with a 15th place average finish at the Auto Club Speedway. Logano has been fairly quiet in recent weeks, but this could be the weekend he gets back into headlines. Joey posted a 5th place finish in California in the February race and arrives in Fontana with confidence that he can get the job done. A strong qualifying run will be key to getting Logano off to a good start on Sunday.



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 Tony Stewart is looking for his first win at Fontana. In Stewart's 18 Cup starts at the Auto Club Speedway he has laid claim to 10 top ten finishes but has not made a trip to the Winner's Circle. Tony is coming off of a solid fourth place finish at Kansas, and has a fourth place finish at his last trip to the Auto Club Speedway to remember. Consistency is the key to the remainder of Stewart's season, as he is in 10th place in the Chase standings; it's time for Tony to move up and finish strong to keep his Chase hopes alive.

With 14 starts and five top ten finishes to his credit at the Auto Club Speedway Jamie McMurray shows 16.4 as his average finishing spot at this track. Just outside of the top ten at Kansas, Jamie finished 11th. McMurray will be looking to improve on that result as he makes his way through the field on Sunday. He started the season with a win, then posted a win at Indy; can he show that he can win late in the season, too? Although this may be Jamie's best track, he should be in the top ten by the end of Sunday's race.



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 Winner pick for Fontana is Tony Stewart with Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson filling the remainder of the top three. Also predicted to finish in the top ten are Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, and Jamie McMurray. With this being the halfway mark in the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship it is do-or-die time for many Chase drivers. I call for Kurt Busch to end up in the middle of the pack at the close of the race, causing him to drop back in the standings and for Harvick to have an uncharacteristically rough day with pit stop problems leaving him behind the leaders.

Practice at Fontana comes on the air Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2 for practice, qualifications will also be on ESPN2 being aired at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's practices will not be aired on television but occur at 1:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. RaceDay on SPEED begins Sunday at Noon, and coverage switches to Pre-Race on ESPN at 2 p.m. The Pepsi Max 400 goes live on ESPN at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Don't miss the fifth race in the NASCAR Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship as drivers continue to battle for position, on the track and in the points.

Amy McHargue
http://ellipticalcurrents.blogspot.com

Kansas Price Chopper 400 Preview: Beyond the Numbers

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On this, the first weekend of October, NASCAR travels to the Midwest for a stop at Kansas Speedway. The Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods will get underway Sunday afternoon, where Cup Series driver will make a scheduled 267 laps around the 1.5 mile D-Oval. The third race in the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship is pivotal for drivers like Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart who reside at the low end of the current point standings.

In his nine Cup starts in Kansas, Kevin Harvick has placed in the top ten on three occasions. In the 2009 race at Kansas, Kevin was only able to post a 24th place finish. His 2010 season has been more consistent than last year, however. Harvick claims a 9.8th place average finish for the 2010 season and historically, he finishes nearly 40% of races at intermediate tracks in the top ten. After sliding back three spots in the Chase standings to the 5th spot, Kevin will be out to prove he is still a contender and can make his way back to the top of the board.

Jeff Gordon won the first two races at Kansas back in 2001 and 2002 but hasn't seen a win there since. Going into the weekend Jeff posts an impressive 8.9 average finish at Kansas, the best among Chase drivers. In Gordon's nine Cup starts at this track he has finished outside of the top ten just twice. Eighth in Championship Points, Jeff is likely to move up with a strong weekend performance.



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Another two-time winner at Kansas that NASCAR fans should keep an eye on this weekend is Tony Stewart. After winning the 2009 Price Chopper 400 but having back-to-back 39th and 40th place finishes the two years prior Tony shows 13.2 as his average finishing spot at Kansas Speedway. 162 points behind the Chase leader, Stewart will be driving for another win in Kansas this weekend.

After his win last week at Dover raised him to second place in the Chase standings, Jimmie Johnson is again a valid contender for the Championship. Johnson won at Kansas in 2008, has finished outside the top ten in just two of his eight starts, and shows a 10.2 average finish. Jimmie will be looking for Victory Lane again this weekend with hopes of getting to the top of the Chase Leader Board.



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 Points leader Denny Hamlin has five Cup starts at Kansas Speedway; just one of those has given him a top ten finish. With momentum and confidence in his court I cannot see how Denny will not find his way to a competitive race on Sunday, however. Hamlin has proven he is more than competent on the smaller ovals this year and with his win at Richmond, a ¾ mile D-oval, he should be able to transform his small track skills to the larger D-oval in Kansas.


Mark Martin comes to Kansas showing four top ten finishes in nine Cup Series starts at this track. Martin has won at this track once, and placed in the top five on one additional occasion. At Intermediate tracks, Mark has ended his day of racing in the top ten 56% of the time. 2010 has not been a great year for Mark by any means, but this could be his weekend to get back into the headlines.

Jamie McMurray has not seen a top ten finish at Kansas since his first two Cup races there in 2003 and 2004. Jamie qualified in the 4th position in 2009 but finished in a disappointing 31st place. Just on the edge of the Chase for the latter part of the regular season, McMurray finished just outside of the top ten last week in 13th place. Jamie has proven his worth this year on the big tracks but is under his average for the Intermediates. Throughout his career McMurray has historically finished in the top ten in 30% of his races at Intermediate tracks. With another good qualifying run at the Kansas Speedway and a mistake-free day in the pits, the #1 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet should be in the top ten by then end of his 400 laps.



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 Martin Truex, Jr. is my surprise top ten finisher of the week. In his four Cup Series starts at Kansas his best finish has been a 11th in his freshman year of 2006. Truex made his way to a 16th place finish in the 2009 Price Chopper 400. What may work in Martin's favor is his 8th place performance this year at the August Michigan race. The Michigan two mile track has similar banking to Kansas all the way around and the same five degree banking on the long backstretch. The #56 NAPA Toyota Team should find that a similar set-up will find them running competitively throughout the day.


Greg Biffle, in 9th place in Chase standings, has the second best average finish at Kansas with a 9.0, just one-tenth behind Jeff Gordon. Greg won the 2007 race in Kansas, has finished in the top ten in another four of his eight career Cup starts at the track. With over 42% of Biffle's starts at Intermediate tracks ending with top ten finishes, and 62.5% of his starts at Kansas resulting in top tens, Greg should be coming to the Midwest with a good amount of confidence.

Juan Pablo Montoya has started three Cup Series races at Kansas. During each of three appearances he has improved his finish from the previous year. In 2007 Juan finished in 28th place, in 2008 he finished in 20th place. In 2009 he finished the day in the 4th spot. Almost 25% of Montoya's starts at Intermediate tracks have resulted in top ten finishes.



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 My winner pick for the Price Chopper 400 Presented by Kraft is Greg Biffle with Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin finishing in second and third. The remainder of my top ten includes Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex, Jr., and Juan Pablo Montoya. I am calling for another week of stress induced mistakes by the Clint Bowyer team as they await the next round of appeals hearings and predict that both Busch brothers will be non-contenders in this race.

Sprint Cup Series practice will air on SPEED Channel Friday beginning at 1 p.m. and qualification begin at 4:30 p.m., also on SPEED. The first practice on Saturday, starting at 12:30 will not be televised and although the second practice begins at 1:50 p.m. it will not air until 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening on ESPN2. NASCAR RaceDay begins Sunday on SPEED at 10 a.m. And NASCAR Countdown can be seen on ESPN2 starting at Noon. The Price Chopper 400, Presented by Kraft Foods will come on air at 1 p.m. On Sunday. Tune in to see how the Chase Leader Board gets shaken up this week!

Amy McHargue
http://ellipticalcurrents.blogspot.com/

Bowyer's Distraction

 After it was announced that the #33 RCR Cheerios Team was losing 150 owner points, would pay a fine of $150,000, Crew Chief Shane Wilson would serve a six week suspension, Car Chief Chad Haney would serve a six week suspension, and driver Clint Bowyer was to lose 150 driver points the questions started to fly. Everyone was asking what the violation had been and NASCAR wasn't saying. Richard Childress was the first to announce that the penalty handed down was due to the rear of the chassis being sixty-thousandth of an inch outside of specified tolerances. Bowyer elaborated today and said that the rear quarter panel was the piece of the car outside of specifications.


Clint Bowyer put that measurement into perspective during Friday's Media conference. “Sixty-thousandths of an inch, folks. Grab a quarter out of your pocket. Less than the thickness of that quarter right there is worth a 150-point fine?” Not to mention the other penalties. Clint went onto say that he does not believe the team did anything wrong. He made it clear he was going on the record as saying that, and that he felt his fans needed to hear him say it.

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To further make his feelings clear, Clint said “There's a lot of integrity that goes into this sport, I'm damn proud to be a part of this sport, I love this sport, and I wouldn't cheat to win a race in this sport. We have a lot more integrity in the race team and RCR.” Coming out of the media session, Bowyer headed to the first weekend practice at Dover International Speedway. Admitting that he has had trouble focusing on this weekend with the incident looming overhead as RCR awaits an appeal hearing in the next week or so, Clint went to the first practice session at Dover under extreme pressure.

The first practice session closed with Bowyer in fourth place on the leader board with a speed of 155.072, just .123 seconds behind the fastest car in practice on Friday. Qualifications did not turn out as well. When qualifications wound down and found Jimmie Johnson atop the leader board, Bowyer was way back in 24th place. Bowyer's speed of 153.997 was .261 behind Johnson, the 43 qualifiers were separated by less than nine-tenths of a second in Qualifications.


Bowyer now must come out during the two Saturday practice sessions and forget the happening of the past week and focus on what is going on this weekend – a race to gain invaluable lost points. With an average finish at Dover of 14.7 Clint will have to come out on Sunday and perform better than average to make up some of the lost ground. Although the appeal is in process and will be heard before officials sometime, hopefully in the next week Richard Childress made it clear that the team is not counting on winning the appeal. Childress said “...in the history of RCR don't think we have been but to maybe three appeals. We didn't win any of them."


Amy McHargue
http://ellipticalcurrents.blogspot.com

AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway...By the numbers and Beyond

This week NASCAR heads to Dover International Speedway, a one-mile track located just west of Delaware Bay and north of Dover. The AAA 400 will run Sunday afternoon as the second race in the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship. Drivers will navigate the oval at Dover 400 times before the checkers fly.


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After Clint Bowyer's impressive run last week at Louden that moved him from 12th to second in the Chase standings, his car failed post-race inspection. NASCAR officials determined that the rear end of the RCR chassis did not meet NASCAR-approved specifications. The team was penalized through a suspension for Crew Chief Shane Wilson for the next six races, and more importantly 150 points. This penalty takes Clint from second place back down to 12th, 185 points behind points leader Denny Hamlin.

Although Clint has not won at this track, he has finished in the top ten in three of the nine Cup races at Dover. Bowyer finished in seventh place at this track in the spring. With an average finish at Dover of 14.7 Clint will have to step up his game to finish near the front of the field and regain some of his lost points. As Clint said after his win last weekend, “...if we can continue to ride that momentum wave through this Chase, we can have a shot at it just like we did in 2007.”

Jeff Gordon comes to Dover in the fifth place in the Chase standings after a sixth place finish in New Hampshire helped him move up three spots in the standings. Without a win this season, Gordon is hungry for victory. Gordon has two wins at Dover, but the last was in 2001. Through 1995 and 1996 Jeff won three in a row at Dover. In the spring race this year Gordon posted an 11th place finish. With Jeff's 35 previous Cup races at Dover International Speedway lending their experience, this could be week he ends his losing streak.

After losing five spots in the Chase standings last week with a disappointing 25th place finish last week at Louden, Jimmie Johnson has to come to Dover to prove he is still the man to beat. Johnson has claimed five wins in his 17 Cup starts and 11 top ten finishes at Dover. Jimmie and his #48 Lowe's Team have the knowledge to tame this mile track, come out with a top ten finish this week, and move back up toward the top of the Chase leader board.


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 Not giving up the number one spot in the Chase standings easily, Denny Hamlin will likely come out as a man on a mission this weekend. With nine Cup starts at this track, he has claimed three top ten finishes but no wins. Hamlin has finished fourth twice at Dover, including in this year's spring race. Denny has been a solid performer at almost every track this year, his all-around racing ability will likely gain him another top ten this week, and keep him at least near the top of the Chase leader board.

Tony Stewart is another driver who lost five spots in the Chase standings after a bad finish last week. After running out of gas with the white flag in sight while leading the race, Stewart finished 24th in New Hampshire. Coming into Dover, Tony has to feel confident that his team can put together another strong run. Stewart has finished in the top ten in his last three appearances in Delaware for Cup racing, and in his 23 Cup starts at Dover International Speedway has posted five wins and 15 top ten finishes. Watch for Tony to try to move up the leader board a few spots with a solid run on Sunday.

Gaining momentum last week is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. after a fourth place finish last week. Out of the Chase the only pressure Dale feels is the pressure to win the race for his Hendricks #88 Team. In 21 Cup starts at this track Earnhardt has finished in the top ten seven times and went to Victory Lane once. Dale finished 30th in Delaware in the spring and has not seen a top ten finish here since the first Dover race in 2007. Earnhardt should be able to put together a good run this week and crack the top ten again.

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Greg Biffle slipped two spots in the Chase standings after finishing 17th last week. He has proven himself able to stay with the competition at this track in the past, however. With 10 top ten finishes, six top fives and two wins at Dover Greg could be a contender for the top spot this weekend. With a 10.5 average finish at Cup races in Delaware, Biffle should finish strongly and gain back a place or two in the Championship standings.

Kevin Harvick has not seen a win in his 19 starts at Dover International Speedway. Harvick has claimed seven top ten finished and two top fives at this track during his Cup career and will be looking to perform strongly on Sunday to move back up the leader board from his current third position in Chase standings. Kevin only posts three top ten finishes at Dover in his last ten starts; Harvick will have to run better than his norm in order to meet his goals for the week.

Kyle Busch has claimed a finish in the top five in more than half of his starts at the Delaware oval. Six of his 11 starts have resulted in top five finishes; the other five Cup starts have ended with Kyle outside of the top ten and just one of those gave Kyle a finish in the top 15. Kyle's last four Cup starts have ended with top five finishes; provided that Kyle stays out of any wrecks that occur nearby his position he should come out of Sunday's race with at least a top ten under his belt.


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 Carl Edwards has one win at this track, what's more impressive is that in his 12 Cup starts at Dover he has finished in the top ten eight times. After his 11th place finish last week Carl gained a spot in the standings and is now in eights place in the Chase. Carl finished eighth here in the spring and has only finished outside the top ten twice in his last ten Cup starts in Delaware. Wanting to make up more ground in his Chase for the Championship, Carl should run for a solid top ten this week if he performs as his 7.9 average finish indicates that he should.

My pick for the win this week is Jeff Gordon, with Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle close behind. The remaining seven drivers I have picked for top ten finishes are Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice will air on SPEED Channel on Friday at 11:30 a.m.. Qualifications are on ESPN beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. The Saturday 12:30 p.m. Practice session will air on SPEED, but the later 1:50 p.m. Practice session will not be shown on television. NASCARaceday on SPEED is on the air Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and runs until Noon. NASCAR Countdown picks up on ESPN2 at Noon and AAA 400 coverage from Dover International Speedway will air on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. Don't miss any of the exciting action in this week's second race in the Chase to the Championship.

Team Focus on Richard Childress Racing

Team History and Richard Childress
Debuting in 1969 at the Talladega 500 Richard Childress Racing entered the NASCAR scene during a boycott by the majority of drivers due to a lack of tire grip from the Goodyear tires. Other drivers not a part of the Professional Drivers Association stepped in to race on that September day in Alabama, including Richard Childress where Childress finished 23rd out of 36 drivers in his first race in his own car.


Over twelve years of racing at the Cup level in NASCAR Richard Childress competed in 285 races. Beginning in 1969 and closing in 1981 Childress earned 76 top ten finishes, six top fives, and no wins. In 1981 Childress handed some of the driving over to drivers Dale Earnhardt and Kirk Shelmerdine. 1982 brought Ricky Rudd to RCR but the first win for the team did not occur until 1983 with Rudd behind the wheel. Dale Earnhardt took over full-time driving rights for RCR in 1984 and won 67 races for Richard Childress Racing over the next 18 seasons.


RCR has raced during 37 seasons; over those years the team has seen 1,985 starts at the Cup Series level as of the start of today's Truck Series Race. RCR's starts have resulted in 92 wins, 399 top five finishes, 818 top tens, and 42 starts from the pole. The team has won over $218 Million through its 41 seasons and has an average finish of 15.7th place. RCR drivers have driven more than three-quarters of a million miles at the Cup Series level. After having all three Sprint Cup drivers for 2010 make the Chase to the Championship there is a strong possibility that RCR will have another Championship to add to the previous six that RCR drivers have earned at the Sprint Cup level.


Kevin Harvick (Cup #29)

The #29 car has been sponsored by Shell/Penzoil for 2010 but will be bringing Budweiser on board for 2011. Harvick has 10 seasons under his belt in Cup Level Racing and posts 14 wins, 72 top five finishes, 147 top tens, and has started from the pole seven times.


Harvick and wife DeLana started Kevin Harvick Incorporated in 2007 for the NASCAR Trucks Series, although Kevin had raced his own truck in prior years. KHI Racing now has entries in both the Truck Series and Nationwide Series. Harvick has proven himself to be effective as both a driver and team owner through his accomplishments in Cup Series racing and through his KHI Team performance in other series racing. Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday brought home the Championship for KHI in 2009 and Kevin has made the Chase for the Championship in Cup level racing for RCR in four of the last five years.


Jeff Burton (Cup #31)

Racing at the Cup Series level since 1993 and full-time since 1997 Jeff has 573 starts, 21 wins, 127 top five finishes, 235 top tens, and has started from the pole six times. Burton is another driver for RCR who has made the Chase for the Championship four of the last five years. A solid performer in 2010 Jeff has 13 top ten finishes and starts the Chase in the 10th spot with a 12.7 average finish thus far in 2010.


Clint Bowyer (Cup #33)
2010 is Bowyer's 7th season at the Sprint Cup level, his 6th year as a full-time Cup Series driver. Clint has posted season finishes in the top twelve three of the last four years, his best season being 2007 when he finished third in season points. Over his 171 Cup Series starts Bowyer has claimed two wins, 24 top five finishes, 75 top tens, and two starts from the pole.

Bowyer also has a full-time dirt track late model team that races under Clint Bowyer Racing. Carrying over momentum from this year's Sprint Cup Series successes, dirt driver Dale McDowell posted a win just two weeks ago for Clint Bowyer Racing, earning a $20,000 check at the Pepsi 75 River Days Rumble at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth, Ohio on September 4th. It was McDowell's third win of the season for Clint Bowyer Racing.  It seems that Bowyer is a success both on and off the track.

#21 Nationwide Series Car

The #21 car has had Clint Bowyer, Morgan Shepard, Scott Riggs, and John Wes Townsley behind the wheel in 2010 and has earned seven top ten finishes in 2010, no top fives, and no wins. The #21 car for RCR has been in the Nationwide Series, at least on a part-time basis since 2000. At the end of August the team developed a partnership with Morgan Shepard to form Shepard Racing Ventures to keep the #21 car on the track for the remainder of the season.


Austin Dillon (Trucks #3)

The Grandson of Richard Childress, Austin Dillon is in his rookie season in the Camping World Truck Series. An impressive start in his first full-time season Dillon has one win, five top five finishes, 12 top tens, and is 6th in season points standings. Austin participated in four different series in 2009 as part of his development from RCR; Dillon raced in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series along with K & N Pro Series starts and ARCA races. With wins in the Nationwide, Camping World Truck Series, and K & N Dillon has proven he can be competitive in various series and his freshman year in the Camping World Truck Series has shown he can hold his own on the track with the more experienced drivers.

Development and the Future of RCR
The future is taken seriously at Richard Childress Racing. From the #21 Zaxby's car in the Nationwide Series down to dirt track racing RCR involvement with many talented drivers to step up into the higher series' as their skill is developed. Names to watch for in the future with Richard Childress Racing include Ty Dillon, Ryan Gifford, Blake Koch, and Tim George, Jr.


Richard Childress Racing announced earlier this year that the team will be adding a fourth car to its Sprint Cup Series stable for 2011 with driver Paul Menard; this addition will come with Menard's Sponsorship. Menard will be joining RCR veteran drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer. With just the three cars guaranteed starting spots based on owner's points carryover from 2010, Menard will have to qualify in on speed to begin the 2011 season. Next year will prove to be another pivotal year at RCR with the strong 2010 season to answer to.

*All stats current as of PRIOR to Louden Race


Photo Credits
Photo 1: http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/13951521
Photo 2: http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/13951521
Photo 3: http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/13951521
Photo 4: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Photo 5: http://www.sacbee.com

Saturday Racing in Louden: Camping World Truck Series Preview

The track at Louden is just over a mile long and the trucks will make 175 laps around the circuit in this years TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175, shortened from the previous 200 laps. For today's Saturday afternoon CWTS Race Kyle Busch will start from the pole in New Hampshire. Kyle also won the 2009 fall race at Louden and has the Trucks race record, also from 2009. Busch has had a stellar season in the Camping World Truck Series, winning four of his ten starts, and finishing in the top ten in eight of his CWTS starts in 2010.

Todd Bodine still leads the points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with a 261 point lead. With just seven races to go in the CWTS Season time is running out for anyone to catch up with Todd. For Aric Almirola to have any hopes of taking over the top spot in the standings Bodine will have to make several large mistakes; Todd Bodine usually doesn't do that.

Kevin Harvick's #2 Chevrolet will start in the second spot with teammate Ron Hornaday starting the #33 Truck in third. Harvick has some pretty impressive stats of his own in the 2010 CWTS Season; with four starts, Kevin has posted three wins. In the one race Harvick did not end the day in Victory Lane he came home with the runner-up spot. Watch for another atrong Harvick run today and a finish in the top three.

Hornaday is another driver to watch today; he has starts in all 18 races so far this season and 11 top ten finishes. Ron has won twice before at this fall race in New Hampshire, in 2007 and 2008. With just one win in the 2010 Season thus far Hornaday may not be a favorite to win today but is definitely a driver who is likely to end up in the top five at the end of the 175 laps.

Johnny Sauter owns the third place in CWTS Standings, 318 points back from leader Bodine. Sauter starts seventh in today's race and will need to run strong to remain in the hunt for the Championship. Although highly unlikely that Sauter can catch Bodine over the next seven races a strong performance today by Sauter and a less than excellent day by Almirola, Sauter could take over the second place slot in the standings.

Aric Almirola starts in the sixth spot for the TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 today. Aric has two wins this season, and 14 top ten finishes in his 18 starts. Almirola has been consistent for the most part of the season, finishing outside of the top 15 in just two races. Almirola should be a strong competitor today and I would not be surprised to see him come out of today's race with a top five finish.

James Buescher should be a contender today, as well. Buescher is the highest ranked driver in the NCWTS Points Standings who has not started all 18 races. With 15 starts James is in 13th place coming into this weekend. With no wins this season and six top ten finishes in his 15 races, James has put together a good season for a driver who has been unable to start all races. Missing the first three races of the season has taken Buescher out of contention for the Championship for sure, but it has been a season to be proud of. Watch for James Buescher to be a name we hear a lot of in today's race at Louden.

With all of these strong competitors along with others like Matt Crafton, Austin Dillon, and Mike Skinner it is a tough race to pick a winner. On this short track the action is liable to get turned up a notch as the drivers feel the season winding down. After the beating and banging is complete through 175 laps watch for a win by Kevin Harvick, a runner-up finish by Kyle Busch, and a third place finish by points leader Todd Bodine. The CWTS Race is on SPEED Channel this afternoon from Louden, New Hampshire starting at 2:30 p.m. EST. The race will also be aired on MRN Radio Networks.

Photo Credits
Photo 1: http://www.nascar.com/races/truck/ 
Photo 2: http://www.foxnews.com/sports
Photo 3: AP Photo/ http://blog.al.com/
Photo 4: http://www.examiner.com/