Ringers Ready for Infineon
P.J. Jones, Butch Leitzinger, Klaus Graf, Boris Said, Marc Goossens, Ron Fellows…
Any other week of the year, those listed above would make for a highly competitive, all-star type sports car race, as each of those competitors has impressive credentials in that particular form of racing. However, this is one of two road course weekends on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series circuit and that means only one thing – ‘Ringers.’
As the Series travels to Infineon Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, several teams have continued the tradition of asking their regular drivers to step aside and employing road course specialists in order to boost their chances at tracks where drivers are forced to make both left- and right-hand turns.
“I thoroughly enjoy doing them, whether it’s Busch, Cup, Truck,” said Fellows about racing on a road course. “The Nextel Cup Series is the cream of the crop and on the competitive side of it; these guys are all very, very good. And, the racing is incredibly close. That’s enjoyable. It’s also a lot shorter than what I’ve been doing recently (Le Mans 24-Hour-race) and I don’t have to get out of the car during the pit stops.”
Fellows is substituting for Tony Raines in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet.
Not only will the list of ‘ringers’ feel at home at the twisty Infineon Raceway, but they will also feel more normal inside the Car of Tomorrow, which will be making its debut on a road course this weekend.
While it may not look anything like a typical sports car, certain aspects of the COT came from the Daytona Prototype, which is run in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
"The Car of Tomorrow suits my driving style and experience,” said Graf, who is running in place of Mike Bliss in the No. 49 Paralyzed Veterans Dodge Avenger. “I am no stranger to road course racing and feel the COT will only enhance my performance on track."
With all these advantages, will a ‘ringer’ finally make it to victory lane? NEXTEL Cup regulars like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon along with former open-wheel standouts like Juan Pablo Montoya and AJ Allmendinger may have something to say against that this weekend, but keep an eye on the road course specialists, they may make things interesting come Sunday afternoon.
This weekend’s action gets underway Friday afternoon with a 90-minute practice session beginning at 3:30 p.m. (ET) before qualifying takes place at 7:05 p.m. (ET). Teams and drivers will get two final practices on Saturday (Noon - 12:50 p.m. (ET) and 3:20 - 4:20 p.m. (ET)) before Sunday afternoon’s running of the Toyota/Save Mart 350, which gets underway at 5 p.m. (ET).
Live coverage of the 16th race of the NEXTEL Cup Series season will be available on TNT (TV), PRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.
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Matt McLaughlin's Driver Handicaps : Infineon Edition
*2007 Infineon Driver Handicaps *
Jeff Gordon – Gordon’s win at Sonoma last year was his fifth triumph in fourteen starts. He also has a pair of second and a pair of third place finishes here. Given that he’s also won four races at the Glen, Gordon is always on a short list of favorites when NASCAR goes to the road courses.
Denny Hamlin – Hamlin didn’t do too badly on the road courses last year as a rookie. He finished twelfth here, tenth at the Glen and won the Mexican Busch race.
Jimmie Johnson – Johnson finished tenth in this race last year and led two laps. He finished fifth at Sonoma in 2004, so he now has Top 10 finishes in two of his five starts here. He won at Watkins Glen in 2004 and has Top 5 finishes in each of the WG races run since.
Matt Kenseth – Kenseth has started seven Cup races here without ever posting a Top 10 finish. He didn’t miss by much in 2005, when he finished eleventh, but his average finish at Infineon remains a lowly 22nd.
Jeff Burton – Burton’s seventh place finish here last year was his best result at Sonoma in thirteen Cup starts; he has three additional Top 10 finishes in those thirteen races. However, Burton’s best road course result to date was a second place finish at the Glen in 2001, which as my nephew might say was “a whole lot of yesterdays ago.”
Carl Edwards – Edwards enjoyed a pair of Top 10 finishes in last year’s two Cup road course races.
Tony Stewart – Stewart is one of the circuit’s better road course racers. He’s won at Sonoma twice and at Watkins Glen three times, once with a set of drawers full of excrement. So next time someone tells you Tony is full of it, tell them sometimes he leaks.
Kevin Harvick – Harvick finished third at Sonoma in ’03 and won at Watkins Glen last year, so he knows the difference between an apex and Ajax.
Clint Bowyer – Bowyer finished fourteenth and sixteenth in last year’s two Cup road course races. Well, I suppose that’s better than a poke with a stick to the eye.
Martin Truex, Jr. – Truex drove to an unremarkable fifteenth place finish here last year, but he’s showing remarkable improvement this season.
Kyle Busch – Busch didn’t do too badly on the road courses last year with an eleventh place finish here and a ninth place result at the Glen.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – Junior has no Top 10 finishes at Sonoma after seven Cup starts here. He does have three Top 10 finishes in Cup and a Busch series win at the Glen.
Jamie McMurray – McMurray opened a lot of eyes with a second place finish at Sonoma in 2004, but his other three Cup results here were decidedly midpack.
Ryan Newman – Newman finished second here last year and has Top 10 finishes in four of his five Cup starts at Infineon.
Kurt Busch – Busch won the pole here last year and has three Top 5 results in six Sonoma Cup starts.
Bobby Labonte – Labonte isn’t noted as much of a road course racer, at least in NASCAR events. He has two Top 5 finishes in fourteen career Infineon Cup starts and two more in fourteen starts at the Glen.
J. J. Yeley – The two Cup road course races were a disaster for Yeley last year with a pair of 33rd place finishes.
Casey Mears – Mears managed a pair of Top 10 finishes at the Cup road course races in 2004, but his other finishes here and at the Glen were less than remarkable.
Greg Biffle – Biffle did manage a fourth place finish last year, but Infineon remains his Waterloo with a best finish of thirteenth in three other Cup starts.
Others to Watch
Juan Pablo Montoya – Montoya won the Mexican Busch race this year (in ugly fashion) and used to race F1 and CART, so you’ve got to figure he knows a thing or two about road course racing.
Robby Gordon – Gordon won here in 2003 and pissed away a chance at a win at Infineon in 2001 when he lost his temper. He also won at the Glen in 2003 and was denied a victory there another year in bizarre fashion, when telemetry equipment the network had aboard his car overheated and set itself ablaze.
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Fantasy Picks 'N' Pans: Toyota / SaveMart 350
NASCAR heads to Sonoma for the first of two road course races on the schedule this year. The twists and turns of these tracks always offer fantasy owners a chance to pick up a seldom used driver and score some points; the different style of racing leads to a different pack of drivers running up front more often than not. This year, there’s also an added wrinkle involved in picking your fantasy lineup; the Car of Tomorrow makes its debut on a road course, putting handling and performance in question for part-time road course racers who are not yet used to the new vehicle. Even with the full-time Cup road course specialists, talent will not automatically lead to triumph out in Wine Country; there will be some doubts as to whether teams that have not done well with the CoT so far can get it working well enough to turn right as well as left.
So, who’s going to end Sunday afternoon off in the California dirt, and who’s going to spend the weekend shoving dirt on the rest of the competition? Find out as we help you set your lineup in this week’s edition of Fantasy Picks ‘N’ Pans.
Cami’s Race Rewind:
The King reclaimed his crown last year at Infineon Raceway. No, not Richard Petty; it was Jeff Gordon who earned the ninth road course victory of his career in the 2006 Dodge / SaveMart 350. Gordon, who ended a 19-race winless streak with the victory, started from 11th position and led his first of 44 laps on lap 49. In order to claim the win, though, he had to work his way past former teammate Terry Labonte in the closing laps. Labonte, driving for Hall of Fame Racing, used pit strategy to gain the top spot, but a series of late race cautions and red flags proved to be his undoing as the lead he built up quickly evaporated. Ryan Newman edged Labonte for second place, with Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch rounding out the Top 5. Tony Stewart was going for a fourth straight road course win, but a pit road speeding ticket and late race cylinder problem dropped him to a 28th place finish.
Mike’s Keys to the Race:
Of the two road courses on the Nextel Cup schedule, Sonoma is far more technical than Watkins Glen. That means drivers who have the most success are generally the drivers with the most road course experience: past success is going to be a direct indicator of the potential for a solid finish this weekend. The only reason to have any doubts is the fact that this is going to be a Car of Tomorrow race, which could make things difficult for everyone. Fortunately, two of the strongest road course racers also drive for two of the strongest CoT teams. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have strong potential for impressive runs this weekend. Of course, two potential hidden gems for this race are also Juan Pablo Montoya and A.J. Allmendinger. Both drivers are experienced road racers with open wheel backgrounds, but are not normally on teams in draft leagues. Both should be available for little salary, so consider adding them for this weekend to pick up some bonus points.
Mike’s Picks:
Crank ‘Em Up:
Juan Pablo Montoya is one of the best road racers in the world, and now he runs in the Cup series. While he hasn’t lit the world on fire yet this year, there is no doubt that he will be a strong threat for the victory this weekend in Sonoma. He has already notched a road course win in a stock car by taking the victory in the Busch Series race held in Mexico this year, and needs a strong run to keep the upper hand in his Rookie Of The Year battle with David Ragan. As long as he can avoid ruffling feathers of some of the other drivers who are known to lose their cool from time to time, Montoya should be near the front, if not in first place, when the checkered flag falls.
Kurt Busch might be a bit of a surprise pick for a road course, but he has had some success in the past at Sonoma. He sat on the pole at Sears Point and Watkins Glen in 2006 and has finished third and fifth the last two times the series visited the wine country of California. Driving for Penske is also a plus, considering the owner’s open wheel experience and the success that Rusty Wallace had on road courses. There is a good chance Busch will be near the front this weekend.
Sit ‘Em Down:
Jimmie Johnson is the defending Cup champion and drives for the most powerful team in the sport, but he is not very good when it comes to road course racing. In five previous visits to Sonoma, he has one Top 5 and two Top 10s, with two finishes of 35th or worse. This is one of the few weeks when it is a good idea to leave Johnson on the bench.
Jeff Burton has been running less than stellar over the last few weeks in the Cup Series. Since AT&T has been on the hood, Burton has finishes of 12th, 13th, and 24th twice. Add to that an average finish at Sonoma of 22.2, and it totals up to be a good weekend to keep Burton on the sidelines.
Roll The Dice
Robby Gordon has been doing amazing things as an owner / driver this year. He is 29th in the driver standings right now with his single-car operation, and now, he’s headed to a road course, one where he always is a threat to win. Gordon has indeed won at Sonoma before and, if he can keep his temper in check, will be a threat to win again this weekend. There are only a couple of times a year that Gordon is worth running on your team, and this is definitely one of them.
Cami’s Picks:
Crank ‘Em Up:
Last year at Sonoma, Jeff Gordon celebrated his engagement to his now wife Ingrid Vandebosch with a victory. This year, he heads to Infineon Raceway looking to win a race for his newborn daughter, Ella, and there is a good shot of that happening. It’s no secret that Gordon is one of, if not the, best NASCAR driver on road courses, which is proven by five career wins at Infineon. Add to that the fact that he can seem to do no wrong this year, and Gordon is primed for a good finish this weekend.
One of Gordon’s main rivals on the road courses is Tony Stewart. In fact, Stewart came into this race last year looking for his fourth straight road course win, only to have mechanical problems take him out of contention. There is no doubt that Stewart is hungry to get into Victory Lane this year, and with a 10.5 average finish at Sonoma, this weekend could easily become feeding time.
Sit ‘Em Down:
Road course racing is hard for some drivers to get a knack for. Some get the hang of it over time, while some never seem to come to grips with making right-hand turns. Perhaps Reed Sorenson will fall into the first category in years to come; but right now, he isn’t a bright prospect for this weekend. In his first race at Sonoma, he finished 29th and managed to improve at Watkins Glen later in the year. But with only one Top 10 in the last 10 races, things really aren’t going Reed’s way right now. There are plenty of other drivers out there to use instead.
Sterling Marlin proves that not all drivers do get the hang of road course racing, no matter how long they have been at it. In 49 road course appearances, Marlin only has one Top 5 finish and ten Top 10s. You have to go back six races to find a race at Sonoma where Marlin finished higher than 18th; that was his career best road course finish of second in 2000. While rumors are swirling about Marlin going part-time next year, it’s best to give him time off right now from your fantasy team.
Roll The Dice
When you think of Ryan Newman, a few things automatically come to mind: engineering graduate, cell phone pitchman, and Mr. Bud Pole Award. But road course ace? You wouldn’t think of Newman right away when giving a short list of the best left and right turners in the sport, but, in fact, his average of 7.8 at Sonoma is tops among active drivers. In five Infineon starts, he has no finish lower than 14th and four Top 10s. With the roll that he is on already, look for Newman to pad those stats this weekend.
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THREE THINGS TO WATCH HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK’S NEXTEL CUP RACE ON TELEVISION
1 Juan Pablo Montoya. The former Formula One driver will be in his first Nextel Cup road race this weekend. It should be interesting to see what he does in his own element. He won the Busch series road race in Mexico earlier in the year.
2 Jeff Gordon. He has won two of the last three races at Infineon. He is driving well and leading the points. He will also be going for his fifth victory of the season. Yes, he could be considered a favorite.
3 The cars. Sunday’s race will mark the road-course debut for the Cars of Tomorrow. The winged things have gotten mixed reviews on the short tracks this season because of their difficulty in handling high-speed corners. There are no high-speed corners at Infineon Raceway.
•Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
•3 p.m. Sunday on TNT
•The track is a 1.99-mile road course, 350 kilometers in length with 110 laps
•The purse is $5,477,835
•Last year’s race winner was Jeff Gordon. Kurt Busch won the pole.
Road killers
Politely, the drivers some teams bring in to race road courses are known as Road Warriors. Not so politely, they are called ringers. Whatever, there will be at least eight of them at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.
They are: P.J. Jones (No. 00 Toyota), who will step in for David Reutimann; Klaus Graf (No. 49 Dodge), for Mike Bliss; Terry Labonte (No. 55 Toyota), for Michael Waltrip; and Ron Fellows (No. 96 Chevrolet) for Tony Raines.
Also, four road-course specialists will attempt to qualify. They are Butch Leitzinger (No. 36 Toyota), Brian Simo (No. 37 Dodge), Boris Said (No. 60 Ford) and Marc Goossens (No. 91 Toyota).
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Toyota/Save Mart 350 HOT! Sheet
With all the attention at Hendrick Motorsports recently focused on Jeff Gordon’s quest for a 5th title, Jimmie Johnson’s quest to repeat, and Kyle Busch’s quest for a new ride, it’s been Casey Mears that has shined above them all. After only one top 15 in the first 11 races, he has an average finish of 5.5 in the last four. It all started when he got a blackjack after gambling on fuel in the Coca-Cola 600 and gained his first ever victory. At Dover he managed to come from 41st up to 13th. Then it was back-to-back 4th place finishes the last two weeks. Until he cools off, we’d suggest you leave him in your lineup.
Second on the rundown this week is Martin Truex, Jr. To get a gauge on what kind of current success he’s experiencing, all you have to do is look in the “last 3” column. No, that’s not a misprint. He really has been running that good. At Dover, he dominated the field, leading well over half of the race en route to his first career trip to victory lane in the Cup series. At Pocono, he may have made it two in a row but the rains came and he settled for 3rd. Last week at Michigan, he was fast the second they took the car off the hauler and ended up 2nd. He doesn’t have much experience turning left and right, but we think he’ll be fine this weekend.
It wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when” the #99 team of Carl Edwards was going to get back to victory lane. After a year and a half wait, it finally happened last weekend at Michigan. Making it a little extra special was the fact that it came in his 100th career start on the circuit. It continues a stretch of the last 6 races in which his worst finish was 15th at Charlotte. He is solidly placed among the top 12 and is now just racing for more victory bonus points. Keep him active.
At the other end of the spectrum this week is a man who has been falling in the standings. David Stremme started off the season with 6 top 20s in the first 7 races. But in the last 8 events, he’s only posted two of them. In that span, the team has only finished on the lead lap twice. His average finish in the last three races is right at 33rd position. His inexperience on road courses leads us to believe the struggles will continue this Sunday.
It’s not too often that you’ll find the name Jimmie Johnson near the bottom of our rundown, but that’s the case this week. In the last 3 races, his average finish is a whopping 25th place. He has also finished at least one lap down from the leaders in each of those three. At Dover, he limped his way to a 15th place showing. On a track that he has been highly successful at, Pocono, he had a tire issue and was forced home 42nd. Last week, he managed to lead over a quarter of the race before the problems hit and he was scored 19th. By no means are we saying bench him, however he does get our “buyer beware” label this week.
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Toyota/Save Mart 350 PreQ
Over the last few months Denny Hamlin has been in contention to win only to see his chance evaporate late in the event. It occurred once again as his pit crew failed him at Michigan sending him back in traffic on the final pit stop. Hamlin has been running well despite the failure to make it to victory lane and once again comes out among the top drivers to grab for the road course race at Infineon Speedway. Many would not consider selecting Hamlin on a road course but those thoughts should be dismissed. Hamlin placed 12th at Infineon last season while recording a 10th place finish at Watkins Glen International. He is even more dominant in the road course races at the Busch level winning the event in Mexico last season while taking the runner-up spot to Juan Pablo Montoya this season. Hamlin will once again be among the top finishes for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Hamlin’s teammate, Tony Stewart, is a driver many fantasy players will have in their starting lineup as he dominates the series on road courses. In the last three seasons Stewart has won three of the six road course races while averaging an 8th place finish. He did have some problems in this race last season finishing in 28th place. However, it was his only finish outside the top 15 in his eight career starts at the track. Stewart, like Hamlin, is still searching for his first win of the season and it would not be much of a surprise to see the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet in victory lane at the end of the day.
As always with the road course events there will be a handful of ‘ringers’ on the entry list. The most notable is Boris Said. Said is averaging a 10th place finish in his last four starts at Infineon making him on of the best road course specialists in the series. It also helps that Said runs in a handful of other events during the season which keeps him used to the competitive at the Cup level. Along with Said look for strong runs from Ron Fellows who will be behind the wheel of the of the Hall of Fame Racing #96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet. Fellows has a pair of top 10s in his last three starts at Infineon. Also consider long time Cup veteran Terry Labonte who will be driving the MWR #55 NAPA Toyota as Michael Waltrip steps down for the event. Labonte has posted a 12th place finish and a 3rd place finish in the last two races held at the track.
There is, of course, the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to road course events with plenty of drivers hating these types of races. One of those is Kasey Kahne. In six career starts on road courses Kahne has just two top 20 finishes with an average of 26th place. Kahne is off to a horrible start to the season sitting well back in the point standings as he has virtually no chance of making the Chase for the Championship. With a pair of road course races still on the schedule he will more than likely take hits in each. Avoid him for the race this weekend as well as the event coming up at Watkins Glen.
Kahne’s teammate, Scott Riggs, also struggles on the road courses. In six career starts he has never finished in the top 20 in road course events while averaging a 28th place finish. Riggs, like Kahne, has had all sorts of problems this season as he sits in the 36th position in the point standings and will have a difficult time even making the race this weekend. Riggs can only hope to at least make the race and salvage a decent run. It is unlikely, however, as Riggs, and Dodge in general, has had a rough 2007 season. There are plenty of other ‘road course specialists’ to grab this weekend. Avoid overpaying for drivers that will not produce.
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Driver Handicaps: Sonoma
This weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series heads to Infineon Raceway for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 - the seventh Car of Tomorrow race of the 2007 season. To help you make your Dale Jr. Reality Cup Racing fantasy picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 110-lap event.
Who's HOT at Infineon
* Jeff Gordon, the defending winner, leads all drivers with five victories.
* Ryan Newman has the best average finish among all drivers at 7.8.
* Tony Stewart has finished second or better in three of the last six races, which includes two wins.
* Two-time winner Ricky Rudd leads all drivers with 10 top fives.
* Robby Gordon is the only other driver entered in this event with a win.
Keep an Eye on at Infineon
* Road course "Ringers" Boris Said and Ron Fellows have combined for five top 10s at Infineon.
* Kurt Busch's average driver rating of 121.2 leads all drivers at Infineon.
* Rookies Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the Mexico Busch race, and AJ Allmendinger have had a bunch of success on road courses in open wheel racing.
* Kevin Harvick has won at the track in the NASCAR West and Southwest Series.
* Denny Hamlin leads all drivers with 581 laps led with the Car of Tomorrow.
* Jimmie Johnson, has two top 10s at Infineon, and has a 6.7 average finish with the COT.
* Martin Truex Jr., who won the 2005 Busch race in Mexico, will look to push his 2007 top five streak to four.
COT Performers
Jeff Gordon leads all drivers in starting average (3.7) and finishing average (3.3) in the six Car of Tomorrow races that have been contested so far. Gordon is tied with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for the most wins with two. Kyle Busch, who won the first COT race driving for Hendrick, has a finishing average of 10.2. Denny Hamlin has dominated the competition by leading an impressive 581 laps, but has yet to win a race. Hamlin ranks third in average start (9.3) and second in average finish (4.8). Matt Kenseth (Ford), Ryan Newman (Dodge) and Brian Vickers (Toyota) hold the best average finish among their manufacturers at 8.0, 17.2 and 25.7, respectively. David Gilliland has the worst average finish among all the drivers that have made every COT start at 36.0. COT Driver Averages | COT Lap Leaders
Runnin' It
Since the Car of Tomorrow will be phased in on the road courses this weekend, that will mean all new COT chassis for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350. Although the COT has not been in competition yet on the road courses, a majority of the teams have tested the new car on courses that include Road Atlanta and Virginia International Raceway.
Infineon Rookie Report
None of the Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates have made a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start at Infineon Raceway. Paul Menard is the only one with road course experience in a Cup car, finishing three races at Watkins Glen with an average of 28.3. Juan Pablo Montoya, who won this year's Busch race in Mexico, built his career up winning races on road courses in Champ Car and Formula One. AJ Allmendinger is another rookie with open wheel success on road courses and is looking forward to this weekend. David Ragan has never competed at Infineon, but he has been to the track twice to test. David Reutimann will not race this weekend and will concentrate his efforts on the Busch race in Milwaukee. Rookie Standings
Qualifying Tidbits
Jeff Gordon has won five of the last 10 Bud Pole Awards at Infineon Raceway, including two consecutive in 2004, 2005. In 2003, Boris Said captured his first Cup Pole driving for the injured Jerry Nadeau in the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac. Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are the only two full-time drivers that have won a pole in the 10 race span, with Busch the most recent in 2006. Gordon's 2005 lap of 94.325 mph still stands as the track record. Past Pole Winners | Starting Positions of Infineon Winners
Top 20 Driver Notes - Based on Current Standings
1. Jeff Gordon (Points: 2392): Last year, Gordon led 44 of the 110 laps from the 11th position en route to his last win (fifth overall) at Infineon Raceway. Gordon's 92 laps led en route to his 2004 victory was the most laps he led in the nine races where he has held the lead there. He took victories (two from the pole) for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000 leading a combined total of 171 laps. He has finished outside the top 11 three times, including the 2005 event when he led 32 laps from the pole before suffering transmission problems. His worst finish of 37th came in 1994 (only DNF) and 2002. Gordon is the leader in wins and laps led (437) at Infineon.
2. Denny Hamlin (Points Behind: -264): Hamlin finished 12th in his first NEXTEL Cup start at Infineon Raceway in 2006. He prepared for this weekend's race with a test at Virginia International Raceway. Hamlin has one road course win in the Busch Series at Mexico City in 2006.
3. Jimmie Johnson (Points Behind: -337): Johnson captured his best finish (fifth) at Infineon Raceway in 2004 in his third of five career starts at the track. In 2005, Johnson scored his worst finish of 36th after starting a best second. Last year he led his first laps (2) at Infineon en route to a 10th-place finish. This weekend he will debut a new COT chassis (No. 442) in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
4. Matt Kenseth (Points Behind: -348): Infineon Raceway is the only track where Kenseth has yet to score a top-10 finish. His 22.0 average finish is second only to Homestead for the worst among all tracks. Kenseth's best finish at Sonoma was an 11th in 2005.
5. Jeff Burton (Points Behind: -473): Burton has competed in 13 races at Infineon Raceway scoring four top-10 finishes. His best Infineon finish, seventh, came in 2006 in his second track start with Richard Childress Racing. In 2005, he was running 10th in the closing laps, until another competitor spun him out. Infineon is Burton's worst track on the circuit when it comes to laps led. His three total laps led came in the 1999 race.
6. Carl Edwards (Points Behind: -487): Edwards will look to use some information gathered in a test at Road Atlanta to help him score his second consecutive top 10 at Infineon Raceway. Edwards will once again travel long distance to pull double duty, as he will be driving the No. 60 Ford in the Busch race at Milwaukee. Travis Kvapil will be practicing and qualifying his Busch car.
7. Tony Stewart (Points Behind: -489): Stewart won his first NEXTEL Cup road race and the first for Joe Gibbs Racing in this event in 2001. The next season he won his only pole at Infineon Raceway and finished second. In 2005, Stewart won his second race and led 39 of his career total 60 laps at the 1.99-mile track. Stewart, who will make his 300th NEXTEL Cup start on Sunday, is third among full-time drivers with a 10.5 average finish.
8. Kevin Harvick (Points Behind: -598): In NEXTEL Cup racing, Harvick has started six times at Infineon Raceway, with a best finish of third coming in the 2003 event. He has, however, won twice at the track, in the NASCAR West Series in 1998 and the Southwest Series in 2003. In 2004, he picked up 24 spots in the final 70 laps to salvage a 12th-place finish after an early pit road miscue. Harvick's worst finishes, and only ones outside the top 15, have come in the last two events when he placed 37th and 24th, respectively. In 2004, he picked up 24 spots in the final 70 laps to salvage a 12th-place finish after an early pit road miscue.
9. Clint Bowyer (Points Behind: -618): Bowyer is one of the drivers that will not be racing a new chassis in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. The No. 07 Team has opted to bring back the same car (chassis No. 194) that finished ninth at Richmond in May. last year he posted an average finish of 15.0 in his first two NEXTEL Cup road course starts.
10. Martin Truex Jr. (Points Behind: -620): Truex Jr. will be seeking his fourth consecutive top-five finish of 2007 this weekend at Infineon Raceway. He tested this weekend's chassis (No. 057) at Virginia International Raceway. Truex, who finished 15th after the team had to change engines last year at Infineon, won the 2005 Busch Series road course event in Mexico.
11. Kyle Busch (Points Behind: -629): Last year, Busch lowered his finishing average at Infineon Raceway to 25.5 with an 11th-place finish. He spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Phoenix at Bob Bondurant's Racing School to prepare for this weekend.
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Points Behind: -701): Infineon Raceway is Earnhardt Jr's worst track by finishing average at 23.3. Along with Homestead, Infineon is the only track where Junior has yet to score a top 10. He is coming off finishes of 42nd and 26th, respectively, on the California road course. The 2004 race marked the only time Junior has led a lap(s) at Infineon after holding the No. 8 Chevrolet up front for nine laps. He will race a brand new chassis (No. 052) in his eighth career start at Infineon.
13. Mark Martin (Points Behind: -730): Martin will not race this weekend.
14. Jamie McMurray (Points Behind: -763): McMurray has made four starts at Infineon Raceway and finished a career best second in 2004 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Last year in his first track start with Roush Fenway Racing he qualified second and finished 18th. He tested this weekend's chassis (RK-485) a couple of times last month at various tracks, including the road course in Kershaw, S.C.
15. Ryan Newman (Points Behind: -776): Newman has finished no worse than 14th in four starts at Infineon Raceway. In fact his 14th-place finish in 2004 is his only outside the top 10. Last year Newman scored his best Infineon finish with a second-place run. He also led laps (11) for the first time at the track in that event. Newman, who has the best average finish (17.2) among the Dodges with the COT, tested for Sunday's race at Virginia International Raceway.
16. Kurt Busch (Points Behind: -845): Last year in this event, Busch won the pole and finished fifth in his first start at Infineon Raceway with Penske Racing. In 2005, he finished a best third in his fifth and final track start with Roush Fenway Racing. Busch's only other finish inside the top 20 came in 2002 when he finished fourth.
17. Bobby Labonte (Points Behind: -885): Labonte has competed in 14 races at Infineon Raceway, posting five top 10s. His best finish is fourth, twice, most recently in 2000. Last year in this event, he finished 35th in his first track start with Petty Enterprises.
18. J.J. Yeley (Points Behind: -888): Yeley was the worst finishing rookie at Infineon Raceway in 2006 after he was involved in an accident with the No. 41, 43 and 88 cars in the closing laps. He finished 33rd after starting 38th. Yeley did have a shot of scoring a top 10 at Watkins Glen last August, but was forced to pit because of a tire going down while running in the top five. He prepared for this weekend's event by testing the COT at Virginia International Raceway.
19. Casey Mears (Points Behind: -918): This weekend Mears will be making his first start with Hendrick Motorsports at Infineon Raceway. In his four previous starts at the 1.99-mile track with Chip Ganassi racing, Mears posted an average finish of 18.2 with one top 10 in 2004.
20. Greg Biffle (Points Behind: -931): Biffle captured his first top five at Infineon Raceway last year in this event after finishing fourth. Like his teammates, Biffle will be racing a new COT that has been developed by the Research and Development team over the past couple months. He tested the car for a few laps at Road Atlanta before rain moved in.
Road Course Ringers
Boris Said: Last year at Infineon Raceway, Said finished ninth and led one lap driving the No. 60 Ford. The finish was his third top 10 in the last four races at Infineon. In 2003 he won the pole driving the No. 01 U.S. Army for MB2 Motorsports. At Watkins Glen he scored his best finish in 2005 when he finished third after starting 41st in the No. 36 MB2 Chevrolet.
Ron Fellows: Fellows will make his sixth start at Infineon Raceway driving the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Chevrolet. This team, which finished third with Terry Labonte in 2006, will mark the fourth different team he has driven for at Infineon. He captured his only top 10s at the 2.52-mile road course in 2003 and 2005 finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, with DEI and PPI Motorsports. Fellows has also enjoyed success at Watkins Glen International in the NASCAR Busch and Truck Series where he has visited victory lane a combined five times. The Glen is also the site of Fellows' career best NEXTEL Cup finishes - two second-place runs in 1999 and 2004.
Brian Simo: This weekend Simo will attempt to qualify for his fourth race at Infineon Raceway driving the No. 37 Dodge. In his last track start in 2005, Simo finished 10th driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Others entered include: P.J. Jones (No. 00 Toyota), Klaus Graf (No. 49 Dodge) and Marc Goossens (No. 91 Toyota).
www.racingone.com
NASCAR Notebook: Infineon
Barry F. Hess
Cruising in Wine Country
After two weeks in the old car the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series returns to the Car of Tomorrow as the circuit travels to Sonoma, California and the first of two road course tracks on the schedule, Infineon Raceway.
With a difficult combination of flat track racing, banked turns and oh yea, don’t forget those pesky, right hands turns, drivers are in for one of the most demanding courses out there as they navigate the 11-turn maze that is Infineon.
There isn’t a style of racing that Robby Gordon hasn’t at least tried once or twice in his life but to say he feels right at home on a road course would be a bigger understatement than saying race fans in Talladega don’t particularly care for Jeff Gordon.
Gordon, who earned one of his three career wins at Infineon in 2003, is currently 29th in points and would love nothing more than a chance to gain valuable positions with a solid finish Sunday.
Look for Gordon to make a run at the pole before running solid all afternoon.
After suffering from a less than sufficient engine package last year at Infineon, at least in his eyes, Gordon made the switch to Ford during the off-season in the hopes it would help him get back to Victory Lane at races like this.
It has been an up and down season for Jamie McMurray and the rest of the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford team through 15 races.
McMurray appears to have a strong handle on the COT and has run some of his better races of the year in it.
Look for last year’s outside pole sitter in this race to put together another solid run after finishing eighth last weekend in Michigan.
With just 62 points separating him from the last position inside the Chase McMurray has to be on his game should he want to continue considering he and his team a legitimate contender for this year’s championship.
The weather is hot, the days are long and the racing has never been more intense, this is usually the time of year when two-time Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart begins to make a run towards the title.
Stewart, who has two career wins and a second place finish at Infineon, is currently seventh in the point standings and while he has yet to fall from the top 10 since entering it back in March he hasn’t come closer than sixth all year.
Look for Stewart, who didn’t earn his first win of the season until June in his first championship season and July in his second to begin his march to the top with a strong outing Sunday afternoon.
Don’t be surprised if he challenges for the pole as well as the most laps led award, as one of the better road course racers on the circuit, Stewart could officially throw his name in the small hat of challengers to beat out Jeff Gordon for the Championship.
Since the announcement that Juan Pablo Montoya was making the switch to NASCAR most around the sport circled this Sunday’s date as the best chance Montoya had to earn his first career Nextel Cup win.
Already with a win in the Busch Series, the road course in Mexico, Montoya will have all eyes on him as he navigates the No. 42 Havoline Dodge around the difficult 11-turn course.
Though Montoya may make a serious run at the pole don’t expect him to dominate the way he did in the Busch Series.
With a stronger field and a seriously more difficult course look for Montoya to earn a respectable finish, maybe even lead a lap or two.
Having already shown he is an aggressive driver Montoya will have to pick and choose his spots wisely else he’ll finish the day watching the end of the race from the garage area.
Prediction: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no reason to believe the 43-car field will show up to race this weekend and Jeff Gordon will beat them all to the start/finish line.
Gordon is in the midst of arguably the greatest season of his illustrious career and fresh off the birth of his newborn daughter, his first child, expect Gordon and the No. 24 DuPont Chevy to get to the front early and stay there.
As one of the greatest road course drivers in the history of the sport look for Gordon to navigate the course with ease, or at least making it look easy before sailing to his fifth win of the season and quite possibly his fifth championship.
Busch-Whacked By a Junebug
As Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat in his comfortable JR MotorSports garage to announce his recent signing with Hendrick MotorSports for the 2008 season you could almost see the 10,000 pound gorilla finally get off his shoulders.
Those who may have been sitting around Kyle Busch around the same time may have seen that very same gorilla throw itself on the young 21-year old driver’s back with the intentions of staying for quite a while…like the last 21 races of 2007.
07’ was turning out to be the coming of age party for the younger of the two Busch brothers before his racing world fell out from underneath him, or more accurately was pulled out from beneath him.
Having already won a race, the very first COT race earlier in Bristol, Busch has yet to fall from the top 10 in the point standings and is considered a legitimate contender for the championship.
Having forged a solid relationship with crew chief Allen Gustafson and the rest of his pit crew Busch even managed to tone down the immature actions on the track and remarks off them.
All seemed well in the No. 5 camp.
But Junior changed all that.
Suddenly we hear Rick Hendrick telling us he and Busch have struggled to renegotiate a new deal and that the two sides simply couldn’t come to an agreement on almost anything.
Then we learn from Busch himself that isn’t entirely true.
So lets call a spade a spade, Hendrick saw the opportunity to grab Junior and make his already powerhouse stable even more dominant that ever before, somebody had to go and in this case it was Busch.
So now the question becomes what happens to this 21-year old, extremely talented driver with no ride lined up for 08’?
“I'm interested in talking to anybody who wants to talk,” Busch said. “Whether it's DEI, whether it's Gibbs, RCR, Evernham, Yates, whoever's got an open seat. Whatever, lets go, let's sit down. Let's have dinner.”
And while Hendrick and Busch have squabbled occasionally over maturity issues Busch’s aggressive attitude is hardly scaring potential employers away.
“If you make a simple comparison, it's not like the kid's Mike Tyson,” said team owner Ray Evernham. “He's not out grabbing women and doing drugs. He has a temper, and he says things once in a while. To me, that's not really a bad thing.”
Richard Childress concurs.
“You have to remember his age -- I can name you eight or 10 guys in here at his age that were a handful,'' Childress said. “He's learning. Every new experience, you get educated a little more and I'd say this has educated him a little more.”
So where does the young driver end up?
Rumors of a Ginn ride, possibly to replace Sterling Marlin have risen as have talks with Joe Gibbs Racing as a possible replacement of JJ Yeley in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevy.
While his future is still undecided one thing is for sure, don’t be surprised to see Busch and the No. 5 continue to drop down the point standings as he’s done each of the last two weeks now that he will be driving for another team in 08’
Random Thoughts
+ Kudos to Michael Waltrip for breaking into the top 10 for the first time this year last week in Michigan. With Terry Labonte driving the car this week in Infineon it may be the start of a long over due success for Waltrip and his race team.
+ Now that Kyle Busch is looking for anew home I would love to see him driving the No. 16 Roush Racing Ford next year. With talks of Greg Biffle’s departure at year’s end Busch’s young talent would revitalize an already young and talented stable.
+ With all the various “Ringer” drivers headed west to try and crash the Nextel Cup party this weekend in Sonoma. I can’t help but think all of them are over rated…I mean, there’s a reason why none of them have won a race, they aren’t good enough.
www.americanchronicle.com
Drivers to put COT through first road test at Infineon
By NASCAR.COM
Nextel Cup Series drivers will be put to the test again this week as the Car of Tomorrow goes road-course racing for the first time.
Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT) at Infineon Raceway will mark the COTs seventh race of the season, but first away from an oval.
"The original design of the Car of Tomorrow has many characteristics of the current road-course car," said Brett Bodine, NASCAR director of cost research. "Particularly in the fact that both are more symmetric than the oval track current cars."
Having raced in the COT six times previously, drivers are beginning to become accustomed to its characteristics and expect more of the same this week.
"I think they are going to be a challenge to drive," Harvick said. "The forward bite is not as good as the other cars. The cars are also a little slower and hard to handle."
Tony Stewart felt very much the same way after testing the COT on the road course at Virginia International Raceway.
"Well, it crashes the same. I went off track twice and tore up a lot of stuff," Stewart said. "It's just slower. It doesn't drive as well, obviously. It's been top-heavy everywhere we've been, so we're kind of used to it. It'll be the same on a road course."
Much talk has been made of the front-end splitter, one of the defining characteristics of the COT.
"I think the splitter is not as big of an issue as we believed it would be. The splitter has proven to be an extremely durable piece of material," Jeff Burton said. "I could be proven wrong but when we tested at VIR last month, the curves were pretty aggressive, and I don't think it's going to be that big of an issue. Certainly it's potentially an issue but I don't think the splitter is going to be that big of an issue in and of itself."
With that said, Burton warned:
"It's a lower grip car and it doesn't make as much grip as the cars we are running today and on a road course, it will make a big difference. They're heavier and the CG is higher. There are a lot of things that work against the car driving well and that will show up on a road course."
Jimmie Johnson isn't as concerned with the COT as much as the tires they'll be racing on.
"The things that are going on with this car I think will lead to more tire give-up and more tire fall-off, which will make Infineon more challenging than it has been in the past," Johnson said.
NASCAR was hoping to level the playing field, so to speak, with the COT. With road-course testing limited to VIR, Infineon could do just that.
"It's going to be a guessing game for a lot of people," Bobby Labonte said. "I don't know if anyone has a huge head start with the new car on a road course. There are teams out there that have tested on the ovals a lot, but we haven't heard much about the road courses.
"We have seen some teams really get a handle on the new car on the ovals. We aren't that far behind. We have had good runs with the car and feel good about it. There just isn't that much information about road courses."
Early results of the COT have proven that the drivers who have ran well in the current car also have been successful in the new one. Johnson and Jeff Gordon each have four wins this season, and they have been split evenly between the COT and the current car.
Because of that, Harvick thinks the drivers who generally race well at Infineon might have the advantage.
I think you will really see the good road-course drivers shine this year at Sonoma," he said.
Right and Left
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series heads to the road courses only two times per year. In June, they gear up for Infineon Raceway and in August, they turn right and left at Watkins Glen International. While the tracks are both road course, there are many drivers who do much better at one than the other. However, fantasy owners will want to compare the tracks' numbers to get a true picture of who the favorites are this week.
One nice thing about road racing is that it opens up the fantasy racing options. It is true that there have only been three different winners on those tracks in the last three years, but owners will find that there are several drivers who are viable options at a track like Sonoma.
Favorites
Almost every fantasy owner will want one of two drivers this week: Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart. Between the two, they have won eight of the last 11 races on the road courses and five of the previous six. While they have earned their reputations as the best road racers in NASCAR, fantasy owners will have other options as well among those likely to finish in the top five.
When it comes to road racing, owners cannot go wrong with Gordon or Stewart, but the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet has the edge at Infineon. Gordon's five wins there lead all drivers at the track. Along with his wins he has added three more top-fives and four top-10s since 1996. The two times that he has not been in the top 10 in those 11 years can be chalked up to equipment problems, not driver errors.
Juan Montoya will be in his natural element this week on the road course. The former open-wheel champion has mostly raced on road courses in his career. Although he has never been to Sonoma before, his pedigree speaks for itself; he won seven Formula One races—including the prestigious Monte Carlo Grand Prix—and was a championship contender in the road-course-only circuit. He won his first stockcar event ever entered in the Busch Series in March on the road course of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. This is Montoya's week to shine.
Dark Horses
The road racing specialists will be aplenty this week. Making appearances this week will be Ron Fellows, P.J. Jones, Brian Simo, Klaus Graf and Marc Goossens. However, except for Fellows, these drivers will race for teams that are outside the top 35 in owners' points, and might be a little risky.
Boris Said is a staple of NASCAR when it comes to the winding tracks in Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Said consistently runs at the head of the field on the road courses. For his Infineon career, he has two sixth-place finishes and a ninth, which he earned last year, as well as five top-20s in seven attempts. Since last year, he has been driving the No. 60 Ford, which he co-owns with Brian's brother Mark Simo and the partners use Roush-Fenway Racing equipment. What gives him the advantage over his road racing specialist competition is that he knows his team better than they know theirs.
Fantasy owners will not want to get too caught up in the "road ringers" to forget about Carl Edwards. Last year, he had his best road course finishes, picking up a sixth at Infineon and a fifth at Watkins Glen. He is coming off his first win of the season, and that will have his confidence high on a track where he has proven he can run with the leaders. Jack Roush has a history of success on the road courses with Mark Martin—who will turn the wheel of his No. 01 Chevy over to rookie Regan Smith—and Edwards will be the frontrunner for the team this week.
Avoidance Principal
Matt Kenseth has the talent to win races on any track. The problem is that he has not shown that aptitude on a road course. In his 14 career starts at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, he has just two top-10 results. Unfortunately, the last time he did that was in 2004 and neither top-10 was earned at Sonoma. He has consistently finished in the top 20 in the last three starts at Infineon, but there is too much doubt to pick him over any other driver this week.
Things are going to go from bad to worse for Kasey Kahne this week. Even in his better seasons, he has never been a road course driver. For his career, his best finish was a 14th at Watkins Glen in his first start there in 2004. As for Infineon, he has never been higher than 31st, giving him an average result of 34th. His results in New York suggest that he has the potential to run in the top 20 on the road courses, but he is well behind the curve when he is in Sonoma.
www.fanball.com
Gordon, Johnson parked for failing inspection 😮
Going through inspection this morning, the No. 24 and the No. 48 cars failed the inspection where NASCAR lays the grid of templates on the Car of Tomorrow.
NASCAR has parked these two cars for the day. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will not be able to practice and qualify. NASCAR will meet with the teams in the morning to let them know their status and whether they can participate in Saturday's practices.
They will start this race at the rear of the field, in 41st and 42nd, with the 43rd position reserved for the past champion's provisional.
McMurray in a hurry at Infineon
June 22nd, 2007
Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Jamie McMurray captured the pole for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 from the Infineon Raceway road course. But the big story is that neither Jeff Gordon nor Jimmie Johnson were allowed to qualify. Both cars failed pre-race inspection and the cars were not allowed on the track for practice or qualifying.
Without Gordon, a five-time winner in Sonoma and the holder of the qualifying record, the No.26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford won the pole with a lap of one minute, 17.521 seconds (77.521 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was McMurray's first of the season and third of his Nextel Cup career. His last pole was in 2005 at Pocono.
"We unloaded and our engineering team gave us a really good car," said McMurray.
Starting on the front row with McMurray will be Robby Gordon who posted a time of 77.533 seconds.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (77.546) and road course specialist Boris Said (77.606) will make up row two.
Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Tony Stewart (fifth), Jeff Burton (sixth), Kasey Kahne (eighth), Ryan Newman (ninth), Carl Edwards (15th), Martin Truex Jr. (18th) and Juan Montoya (32nd).
Gordon and Johnson will be allowed to repair their cars and practice on Saturday - if they pass inspection. They will start 41st and 42nd in the race.
"The body was out of the range with what we thought was acceptable in the template inspection," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.
"It's important to know this is a Car of Tomorrow penalty," Poston added. "The inspection process and NASCAR's response to Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was penalized 100 points and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for an illegal rear wing bracket on a COT in May.
The No.5 and No.25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets both passed their inspections without incident.
More penalties or suspensions will be determined next week, if necessary.
The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 5 p.m. (et).
Sonoma: Driver Updates
June 23, 2007
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com
Top 5 Cars after all Sonoma Practice and Qualifying sessions:
1) Tony Stewart
2) Kevin Harvick
3) Ron Fellows
4) Jeff Gordon
5) Juan Pablo Montoya
Best longshot candidates to win:
1) Jamie McMurray 20 to 1 or higher
2) Denny Hamlin 25 to 1 or higher
Drivers to avoid betting against just because of how far they start:
1) Jimmie Johnson
2) Jeff Gordon
3) Juan Pablo Montoya
Masquerade Ball; those who fooled us with time:
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr
3) Kasey Kahne
4) Robby Gordon
Drivers to take at plus money
1) Ron Fellows
2) Butch Leitzinger
3) PJ Jones
4) Carl Edwards
5) Terry Labonte
Green Flag: Toyota/SaveMart 350k
June 23, 2007
The two road races each year are typically easy to handicap as the field can be split into three categories: 1) NASCAR regulars who enjoy road racing and have put the effort into learning how to go fast on these tracks, 2) NASCAR regulars who simply want to survive the weekend with as many points as possible, and 3) road racing specialists that are brought in to run these two events each year.
While it may be a relatively simple task to determine who is going to be strong, most of these drivers are clumped in Tier one, which leaves some hard decisions to be made further down the gird.
Drivers to avoid are simple as well. Stay away from the "Survivors".
Tier One
Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have dominated the road courses in the past three years and between them have earned five of the last six trophies on the twisty tracks. Stewart holds the edge with three wins, but Gordon has the advantage at Infineon after winning in 2004 and again last year. One of these two drivers should be on your roster and if both of them have the same number of allocations remaining, the easiest way to pick which one will be to flip a coin. While both have been incredibly strong, neither has been perfect and mechanical failures caused Stewart to finish 28th last year and Gordon to finish 33rd in 2005.
Even though Gordon will have to roll off the grid at the back of the pack—after getting slapped with a penalty from NASCAR for altering his fenders—he still has the ability to drive to the front. He should still be considered a favorite for a top-five, but a victory might be a tougher battle.
While Gordon and Stewart are your favorites this week, you may want to choose a dark horse for your second selection to differentiate your roster from the other players. Before those drivers went on their current rampage, Robby Gordon swept the road course victory lanes in 2003. He's lost races just about every way possible since then, but every bad finish on a road course can be explained by misfortune and he hasn't lost any of his strength. If he stays out of trouble, a top 10 is guaranteed.
In an interview with the Associated Press this week, Juan Montoya said he considers himself to be a favorite this weekend at Infineon Raceway. That's a bold comment for a driver with an average finish of 29th in the last eight events, but road courses are run by their own rules. Montoya won the first stock car road race he ever entered at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City in the Busch series and before taking the trophy, he first spun out his teammate Scott Pruett. That showed desire on one hand, but a certain lack of patience on the other, and he needs to remember that the NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers have much more experience using their fenders as weapons than his former F1 buddies.
If you want to expand your horizons by taking a road ringer, Boris Said is your man in Tier One. Typically, these sports car specialists struggle because they are campaigning lightly-funded entries that are outside the top 35 in owner points. Said is outside the top 35 as well, but he is in his own car and the chemistry is going to be great. Last year he finished ninth in this race and with a third at the Glen in 2005, he has a history of success. While he has not yet won in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series, he does have a Craftsman Truck Series and an Elite Southwest trophy to his credit at Infineon, so he knows where victory lane is located.
There really aren't any bad choices in Tier One, but with several drivers head and shoulders above the rest, there isn't any reason to look any further, so the remainder can be avoided.
Tier Two
Tier Two is where it starts to get a little more interesting, because there are no clear cut favorites. Kevin Harvick has the best Fantasy Power Ranking average during the past three years on road courses, and he proved to be capable of winning last August at Watkins Glen International, but he was merely 24th at Infineon in last year's running of this race. Still, that is one of only two finishes outside the top 15 in his career on the twisty tracks, and he swept the top five in 2003, so he is the best alternative you have at this level.
By the numbers, Carl Edwards is the next driver in line. He was a slow starter on the road courses with a 38th- and 19th-place finish during his rookie season. Last year, however, he got the hang of turning in both directions and finished sixth at Infineon and fifth at the Glen. Coming off a morale-boosting victory at Michigan International Speedway last week, he is prepared to keep his momentum going.
Mark Martin is an easy pick to avoid this week. You can't win if you don't start the race, and he is taking the weekend off to turn his Chevy over to Regan Smith. He was on standby to run the No. 24 if Gordon had to scurry back to Charlotte for the birth of his first daughter, but since Ella Sofia Gordon came to earth on Wednesday morning, Martin's services are not needed.
Tier Three
Experience counts on the road courses, and in Tier Three there is not a driver with more laps on the twisty tracks than Ricky Rudd. He has six road course victories spread evenly across Infineon, Watkins Glen and Riverside International Raceway. Notably, his wins have been earned for five different car owners, which suggest that it has been his innate talent that has provided the extra something needed to win. He might be a little rusty, but you don't want to assume that. His last trip to Infineon in 2005 resulted in a second-place finish.
This could be the week that Elliott Sadler gives Ray Evernham something to smile about. Skill trumps power on the road courses, and while it certainly appears that Ray's engines are seriously lacking in horsepower, Sadler enters the weekend with a seven-race top-15 streak on this type of track. Last year, he swept the top 10 with an eighth at Infineon and a seventh at the Glen. In his 16-race road course career he's never cracked the top five, and it is unlikely he will do so this week either, but a solid top-15 is about as good as you'll get from Tier Three this week.
J.J. Yeley really needed a good showing last week, because he is going to stink like a dead fish at Infineon. The one good thing that can be said about his road course record last year was that he was consistent. Unfortunately, he was consistently bad with finishes of 33rd on both courses. That's about what you can expect from him again this year, and with the Joe Gibbs Racing executives telling him to pick up the pace or look for another ride, the pressure is going to be immense. That can be a motivator on another course, but on the road courses, there are 11 turns to mess up, and one misplaced wheel can spell disaster.
Tier Four
Three of the drivers we would have expected to run strong on the road course failed to make the show outright. Paul Menard, A.J. Allmendinger and his teammate Brian Vickers struggled in time trials and have already started the long trip home.
That has left you with some very limited options.
Bill Elliott is determined to avoid using his past champion's provisional to get into the show, and he proved how strong he can be by qualifying in the top 10. After his lap on the track, he said that his lack of recent experience on the road courses might actually have worked in his favor because he didn't have to unlearn any habits from the old-style car. If he returns to basics, that will be good news for fantasy owners. Elliott won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race back in 1983 at Riverside International Raceway and the last time he was here at Infineon in 2003, he finished fourth.
Jeff Green has always liked the road courses and he earned a top-five at Infineon in 2002 in his second attempt on this type of track after starting deep in the field in 33rd. He hasn't finished that well since, but he also hasn't fallen off the lead lap. He may not earn maximum points this week, but in nine previous road course races, he's finished in the top 20 five times.
www.fanball.com
Toyota/Save Mart 350 PostQ
Still searching for his first win of the season Tony Stewart is the favorite to win at Infineon Speedway, especially after the troubles of Hendrick Motorsports. Stewart’s main road racing competition – Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson – have each been relegated to the back of the field for the start of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after each was found to have infractions during the inspection process. Stewart, always a strong contender to win on the road courses, has shown that he will be the car to beat this Sunday after he qualified in the fifth position while ranking as the top driver on the Speed chart. Stewart should be able to end his victory drought this weekend.
Ryan Newman has been surging in the point standings but his road to the top hit a speed bump last weekend at Michigan. He is still within striking distance of the top 12 and the guaranteed position in the Chase for the Championship with plenty of time to get there. He could make another move up in the standings as he ranks just behind Stewart on the PostQ forecast. It shouldn’t surprise anyone either that he ranks high at Infineon as he is a solid road course driver. In five career starts he averages an 8th place average finish with four top 10s. His poorest finish has been 14th place. Not too shabby for a driver better known for his superspeedway skills. Newman placed 2nd in this race last and has a good shot for a top 5 finish again.
Those looking for the ‘road race specialists’ that are in the lineup Boris Said ranks the highest in the 12th position on the PostQ forecast. Ron Fellows ranks just inside the top 20 as well sitting in the 19th position. It would not be much of a surprise if each finished in the top 10. Said qualified in the top 5 but had some problems in the final practice sessions on Saturday slipping to 18th on the Speed charts. Still, Said has just as much experience in the Cup cars on road courses as anyone. Expect him to be competitive all day. The same can be said for Fellows – another driver that has plenty of experience in the Cup series on the road courses. Fellows has been a fixture during the road course races since 1998 posting four top 10s. He will be driving for a solid team in the Hall of Fame Racing #96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet. Grab him for the race at Infineon.
Casey Mears has been climbing up the point standings in recent weeks as well. He was ranked in the 5th position on the PreQ forecast but Mears has been less than stellar at Infineon so far this weekend. Mears drops all the way to the 25th position on the PostQ forecast due to a 38th starting position. He was just a tick better in the practice sessions than his qualifying time but could only manage to climb to the 35th position on the Speed chart. Mears has run well on road courses in his career but with the troubles Hendrick Motorsports has had this weekend it would be a prudent move to avoid the #25 National Guard Chevrolet.
Heading into the race at Infineon many are predicting that Juan Pablo Montoya will be a contender for his first career win. It could very well happen but if the PostQ forecast is correct Montoya will be in for a long day. He had a disappointing qualifying run posting the 32nd quickest time before moving up in the practice sessions to rank 14th on the Speed chart. He was the fastest car in the morning session but it was still not enough to propel him into the top 30 on the PostQ. He should be able to get into the top 20 but Montoya may not be the contender that many expected this weekend. It would be a better move to look at some of the ‘road course specialists’.
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