Countdown To The Chase: Indianapolis

Indianapolis Motor Speedway: The Sprint Cup Series has raced at this historic track since 1994. 

After an off week for the Cup guys, it is back to the grind at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for arguably the most prestigious race on the Sprint Cup Schedule.

The Sprint Cup Season is approaching two-thirds of the way through, and chase contending teams are attempting to kick-start their push to September - if they haven't done so already. Besides, everyone knows winning this race is a huge deal, particularly to those who are in the Chase. 

Why? 

Because in 8 of the 17 races held here for the Sprint Cup Series, the driver who won this event goes on the win the Championship. So in retrospect, winning here tends to keep a driver's momentum going throughout the rest of the season.

Favorites

Jimmie Johnson 

Johnson winning the last of his three Brickyard 400 wins in 2009.

I almost leaned towards picking him as the driver who will win tomorrow's race, but I had second thoughts. The 48 improved drastically from practice one to practice three. Many believe he is in a slump that we aren't accustomed to seeing. Look for Jimmie to be a threat to kiss the bricks for the fourth time in his career.

Greg Biffle

The Biff hasn't had the best of seasons. In fact, he is on verge of the not making the Chase for first time since 2007. With the way the points system is, the 16 needs a victory to throw himself in the wildcard hunt. He was the fastest in the second and third sessions. In an interview during qualifying, he sounded to be very confident of his car in race trim. Maybe Biffle can generate a push to not just make the Chase, but to be a threat for the Sprint Cup as well.

Carl Edwards

Cousin Carl is my pick to win the 18th running of the Brickyard 400. To my surprise, he has an average finish of 10.5. But that's not why i'm picking him. You see, Carl hasn't won since Las Vegas in March. He has had fast race cars. Carl just hasn't been able to drive them to Victory Circle. He has another fast hot rod this week, as demonstrated in practice like his teammate Biffle. He is the point leader, so he's sure to win another race before the Chase, right?

Sleepers

Tony Stewart

He is coming off a second place run at Loudon, and Smoke looks to continue that trend at a track he loves so dearly. He hasn't given much indication that he'll be fast for the race, but Smoke has the best average finish in the field with an 8.2; he'll figure out how the get to front one way or another.

Jeff Gordon

                                                         Jeff celebrating his win in the inaugural event in 1994.

Gordon has won more times than any in the field at this track. He is a four-time winner of the Brickyard 400, and looking for his fifth. I'm concerned with how Jeff's car is operating considering he has been far down in practice sessions. During an interview, he said his car was "good" in race trim. Whether his car is good or bad, he has the track position, which is key at Indy. He starts 8th.  


Jamie McMurray

Jamie Mac is the defending race winner of this event capping off the sweep of winning the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season. He has not lived up to last year's performance as he is 29th in Sprint Cup Points. He has looked fast all weekend and because he won this event last year, I give him a shot to salvage what has been a disappointing 2011 season.

Risk Takers


Juan Pablo Montoya

It's quite unusual to put a driver who has had the dominating car in the last two Brickyard 400 races in this list. The problem is, he has put himself in a hole in both races. He was caught speeding in 2009 -which some will argue of whether he sped or not - ending his chances of winning that year. Last year really wasn't his doing considering his pit crew lost him the lead. Afterwards, while Montoya drove to get back to the front, he wrecked his car. While he may be up front, don't exactly count him out of having a mishap.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Dale Jr. has gone from a feel good story to now worrying about making the Chase...again. His best finish in the last five races was 15th two weeks ago at Loudon. While Junior had an impressive run at Indy in '07 before blowing another engine, I don't see a reason to pick him. His average finish is a 22.2. Expect Junebug to continue his struggles.

Denny Hamlin

Honestly, I would put him on my fantasy team because he is starting 43rd, but NASCAR.com will still consider him starting at what he qualified: 14th. Indy and Pocono mere each other and knowing how great Hamlin has been at Pocono, his finishes there sure don't translate to Indy. His average finish is a 16.8. Not bad but not anywhere near his stats at Pocono - which is a 9.2 average finish with four wins. He says he has a fast car, so maybe there's is some hope for the #11 Toyota.


Lately, this race has been boring due to tire issues and drivers having to pit every 10-15 laps. Unfortunately, I expect the trend to continue. Of course, I'll still watch to keep eye on my favorite driver: Jeff Gordon. It's just the race won't really seem like a race, if that makes any sense.

Needless to say, it's just one man's opinion.



Note: I do NOT take credit for any of these photos.

Chase For The Cup #2: Loudon

This 1.058 mile Oval was built in 1990. NASCAR's Premiere Series has raced here since 1993. 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season comes back to Loudon, but things are different.

It's the Chase race this time, as well as, being the second race in the Chase as opposed to the first in years past.

Of Course, certain Chase drivers showed muscle in the first Loudon race such as Newman, Stewart, Gordon, and Johnson. So does that mean they shall be Fantasy favorites as well? Let's get to my choices. 

The Favorites

Tony Stewart

Smoke is coming off a breakthrough win at Chicagoland last week. He instantly moved from 11th to 2nd in points heading into Loudon. At this rate, he might take the points lead after tomorrow's race. He finished 2nd in July while leading 48 laps. Smoke's long run times were said to be the ones teams should "compare" with according to Andy Petree. Expect Tony to right the wrong after last year, where he ran out of fuel as the leader. 

Jeff Gordon

Gordon has 3 wins in 33 career starts here with an average finish of 11th. Along with Stewart, Gordon had the car to contend for the race win. He led 19 laps, but battled battery issues most of the race. He was said to have passed the most cars back and forth that race. If not for that, maybe Jeff threatens Newman and Stewart for the win. Gordon believes he's got something for them tomorrow, so watch out for Car #24.

Ryan Newman

Newman in Victory Lane after leading 119 of 301 laps.

Quietly, "Rocketman" has three wins at Loudon, including winning this year's July race by leading 119 of 301 laps. Newman is primed to continue where he left off. Newman has the pole and has been hanging in the top ten in all three practice sessions. A sweep is very possible.

  

The Dark Horses

Jimmie Johnson

Ol' Five-Time stumbled to a 10th place finish after running out of fuel last week. Then again, fuel mileage was never his strong suit, so to get a top ten was still solid. But he's 8th in points; that's the problem. In his last ten at Loudon, Johnson only has two finishes outside the top ten: 39th (9/06) and 25th (9/10). He'll undoubtedly be in the top ten, but don't be surprised if "The Dominator" pulls out another Chase win to add to his resume.

Clint Bowyer

Bowyer (top) celebrates last year's race win by outlasting Stewart in fuel.

Bowyer is the defending race winner of this event as he outlasted Stewart in fuel strategy to get another Loudon win. Can he do it again? Quite possibly. After all, he's not in the Chase, so he has nothing to lose. You can bet he and the #33 team will gamble away. 

Risk Takers

Kyle Busch

Kyle finished 36th in the July event, and his car looked like a 15th place car at best. He has an average finish of 16.3. He's really hit or miss here, and judging by his Chase struggles, I foresee another miss.

I'm interested to see the drivers who'll bounce back such as Denny Hamiln, Matt Kenseth, and Jeff Gordon, after disappointing Chicago finishes. Also, can Smoke continue his new found momentum? Can Newman seal a victory and put the remaining Chase Contenders on notice? I think Newman will get the Loudon sweep ,considering he wants to be taken serious for this Championship; that'll be the best way to do so. But that's just one man's opinion.

Note: I do NOT take credit for any of these photos.

MLB First Half Awards

I know; it is just the first half. There are surely people out there that believe the awards race shouldn't be up for discussion till the end of the season.

Well hey, we have to start somewhere to determine who should be MVP; and that goes for any other sport too.

There are some well deserving candidates - particularly in the Race for MVP and Cy Young Awards. 

American League MVP

1B Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox

The best free agent pick-up of the season is having out-of-this-world MVP numbers. He is batting an incredible .354 Avg with 17HR and 77RBI. The Boston Red Sox were seemingly going to be out of the picture in an always competitive AL East. They had gotten off to a 2-10 start. Since then they are 53-25 and have moved into a one game lead over the New York Yankees. Last time I checked, numbers + winning record= MVP. AGon clearly has both in his favor.

AL Cy Young

SP Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Now for the AL Cy Young; this was about as tough of a choice I had to make for who deserves it right now. I wanted it to be a tie but that would be a cop out method that I refuse to use. So in a rather close, and I mean CLOSE, decision, I chose Jered Weaver over Justin Verlander. He is 11-4 with a minuscule 1.86 ERA. Why close? Well, Verlander is 12-4 with a 2.15 ERA and a no-hitter. He has four complete games and two shutouts like Weaver. Opponents hit .194 off Weaver and .188 off Verlander; both very impressive. Verlander has 147 K's to Weaver's 120K's. So then, I looked at team record because I couldn't decide. That didn't help considering the Angels are 50-42 and Detroit is 49-43. When all else failed, I looked at the team's offensive stats. Detroit is 8th in runs scored as a team and 5th in batting average among all of baseball. The Angels are 15th in team average and 20th in runs scored. Detroit averages 4.5 runs a game with the Angels at 3.8. Verlander gets more support than Weaver, thus making my decision.

AL Rookie of the Year

SP Michael Pineda, Seattle Mariners

He is 8-6 3.03 ERA in 18 starts. He holds opponents to a .198 batting average. Considering this guy is doing what he is doing for a team that struggles offensively like Seattle does, he has to be the choice. It sure helped on why King Felix won the Cy Young last year.

NL MVP

1B Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers

The Brew Crew are tied for first in the NL Central and Prince is The Number One Suspect to why they are. Prince is hitting .297 with 22HR and 72RBI. He is back on track in his contract year after a disappointing .261 with 32HR and 83RBI last season. Prince should be rewarded with a lucrative deal and his first NL MVP award.

NL Cy Young

SP Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves

He leads the NL in wins with 12 and is second in all of baseball with a 1.87 ERA, following Jered Weaver very closely. He only has 65 strikeouts, so he isn't overpowering. He just gets outs; plain and simple. 

NL Rookie of The Year

CP Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves

I wanted to say First Baseman Gaby Sanchez of the Florida Marlins, but what Kimbrel has done up to this point is more impressive. He leads the league in Saves with 28 and broke the rookie record in saves by the All-Star break with 27. He's got great stuff with 70 K's in 46 innings. He has done enough to currently get the nod for this award.

I know some people may agree or disagree with my choices but, at the end of the day, it's just one man's opinion.

Note: I do NOT take credit for any of these photos.

Countdown To The Chase: Kentucky

Joey Logano, of the #20 Gamestop car, wins one of his three straight Nationwide Kentucky races.

We now have 9 races to go before The Chase for the Sprint Cup begins and the next stop is at Kentucky Motor Speedway.

This isn't just an ordinary race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule; It is the inaugural event for NASCAR's top series. So in actuality, there should be no favorites right? Not so fast! (No pun intended)

This may the be the inaugural event for the Cup Series, but it's not the same case for the other series like the Nationwide and Truck Series. Both series have raced there since 2001 (Nationwide) and 2000 (Camping World Truck) respectively. 

The point of this information you ask? Well, Cup regulars have a tendency to participate in Nationwide and Truck Races before Sunday's usual Cup race to prepare what to expect on race day. Therefore, there are a handful of cup drivers that have an advantage starting with...

The Favorites

Joey Logano

In four starts at Kentucky for the Nationwide Series, Logano has won three of them - all from the pole. Not to mention, he won three in row (2008-2010). Not sure how exactly he'll fare in the Cup car considering he has been shaky up to the point in his career, but his Kentucky results are astounding and one can't help not to overlook his success here.

Kyle Busch

My pick to win this race. "Wild Thing" won in his 1st start for Nationwide there in 2004. He has an average finish of 9.8 in five Nationwide races. He has been atop the leaderboards throughout all three practice sessions. It also helps that he won the Truck event here on Thursday too.

Brad Keselowski 

Like Logano, it is weird for me to put him in among the "Favorites".  I just cannot deny his Kentucky resume either. He has the best average finish of anyone in the field who has raced here previously with a 2.8 in four starts. He won last night's race with a mixture of a fast car and fuel mileage. Pretty ironic considering he won Kansas early this year on fuel mileage and this track has been closely compared to Kansas. Look for Brad K. to make another push towards being in the Chase.

Darkhorses

Jeff Gordon

Since this track is compared to Kansas, I'm taking a look at past Kansas results for the darkhorses. Jeff Gordon has the best average finish of anyone at Kansas with an 8.1 in 11 starts while winning the first two races ever there. He has won three inaugural events (Indy, Kansas, and California). Look for ol' 4-time to be a factor. 

Jimmie Johnson

Ol' 5-time has an average finish of 9.1 in 10 starts at Kansas with a win in 2008. Johnson is having an off-year with just 1 win (Talladega). Look for "The Dominator" to try and, well, dominate.

Greg Biffle

He has an average finish of 8.3 with two wins in 10 starts. He has the most laps led at Kansas with 323. Look for success at Kansas to carry over to Kentucky.

As for risk takers........None. For the most part, everyone has a clean slate. 

Needless to say, just one man's opinion.

Note: I do NOT take credit for any of this photo.

Time For A Change Selig

As die-hard baseball fans, and even casual fans may know, the 82nd annual MLB All-Star game will be played Tuesday, July 12, at 8/7c. 

With any all-star game, there are your typical suspects and first timers. But, you also have players who most likely are being snubbed of making the trip of joining the league's best.

Here's my list of snubs for each league:

AL

4. RP Kyle Farnsworth 3-1 2.08 ERA 17/19 Saves TB

                                                         

The 35-year-old is having his best season ever as a major leaguer. He is 37-56 with 4.30 ERA in his career. I never thought I'd be making a case for him.

3. 1B Mark Teixeira .241 25HR 65RBI NYY

  

His average may be a tad off but "Tex" is still the top run producer for the Bronx Bombers. I say that is impressive considering the fact that they have other players who are more than capable of doing what he has been doing. He is tied for 2nd in the AL in HR's and he is 3rd in RBI's.

2. 1B Paul Konerko .316 22HR 64RBI CWS

Considering I'm a White Sox fan, you would think i'm being bias: WRONG! Let's be honest now, he is having an MVP type season. He's in the Top 5 in Avg, HR's, and RBI's for the AL. Basically, he is a Triple Crown contender. I know he was selected by Final Vote but it never should have came to that.

1. SP C.C. Sabathia 12-4 2.90 ERA NYY

He is Number One for the AL since Konerko was eventually selected. I know that fans will say "There are too many Yankees players on the team anyway; oh well". Well, this year all the Yankees players deserved to be selected (Jeter is debatable) including this guy. He has not only the most wins in the AL, but he is tied with SP Jair Jurrjens of the Atlanta Braves for most wins in baseball. Not to mention, he has a shabby 2.90 ERA. Ron Washington, You Fail!

NL

3. SS Mike Morse .303 15HR 48RBI Wash

I remember him being on the Mitchell Report. Sorry, had to say it. Anyway, he is already posting career highs across the board. Simply put: A breakout season.

2. CP Craig Kimbrel 2-2 2.40 ERA 27/32 Saves ATL

He has the rookie record for Saves at the break with 27. Enough Said.

1. SP Tommy Hanson 10-4 2.52 ERA ATL

He is 31-19 with a 3.02 ERA in his first three seasons. This is the year he should've been an All-Star. He is in the Top 5 in the NL of Wins and ERA.

What can fixed to avoid all these snubs? Rid the "Rep from every team" rule. What's ironic is, I like the rule, but at this rate if it keeps from having so many snubs, then so be it. Besides, it can be difficult to select a representative from certain teams. An example? Take a look at the Minnesota Twins and see who truly is deserving.

Needless to say, just one man's opinion.

Note: I do NOT take any credit for any of these photos.

Countdown To The Chase: Daytona

It's 10 races to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins and now the countdown officially begins with where the season started: Daytona International Speedway. 

Before I get into picks, I will inform you, the readers, what to expect in this race because this type of  racing is different from other races.

Races such as Daytona are labeled restrictor plate races. Restrictor plates limit top speeds in these stock cars. Instead of going what was in the past 200+ by yourself, cars can reach around 180-185 here. Driving at these speeds usually trigger pack racing, meaning cars racing in groups 3 or 4-wide with around 20 cars deep. Now racing at Daytona has resulted into the style of 2 car tandems, meaning cars drafting together with one car in front while the other is pushing. 

Daytona is one of two restrictor plates ( the other being Talladega) that is widely viewed as a wildcard race due to massive big wrecks happening because of close racing. So in retrospect, there really shouldn't be any favorites but like at any race track, there are certain drivers who have the track figured out.

Favorites:

Kurt Busch: He is riding with some momentum after a win in dominating fashion at road course Sonoma. He has 12 top 10's in 21 starts in Daytona which is pretty good considering disaster often strikes here. What's even more impressive is his 7.3 average finish in his last eight Daytona races. He led a lap in six of those races. He won the Shootout and his Qualifying race here early in February. Kurt has never won a points paying race at Daytona and at some point, he is due for one.

Clint Bowyer: I picked him to win this February's Daytona 500 and rightfully so. He had one of the best cars leading 31 of 208 laps and was wrecked with 7 laps to go. He has led in the last three daytona races. He is no stranger to being up front here.

Kevin Harvick: Yes, "Mr Where-Did-He-Come-From." This is actually the track where he was deemed such due to his last lap pass on Mark Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500. He finished 42nd in this year's 500 but, keep in mind, he is the defending race winner of this event (Coke Zero 400). You can bet Harvick will be threat if he clears trouble.

Dark Horses:

Carl Edwards: He's the Sprint Cup Series Point leader and, my pick to win the Coke Zero 400. His average finish at Daytona in past 6 races is a 6.8. He's been right there on the last lap at both Daytona and Talladega but ran out of time. Maybe the third time is the charm for Cousin Carl.

Jeff Gordon: It was tough for me to put him here considering he is my favorite driver but lets be honest, Daytona hasn't been his go-to track as of late. His average finish in the last six daytona races is 19.7. On a positive note he finished 3rd in last year's event. Despite his poor finishes here recently, he still has 6 Daytona wins (T-4th most in Sprint Cup History). Bottom line: He knows how to win here. 

Tony Stewart: He hasn't got off to a great start this year and is still searching for a win. At Daytona though, he has won three of  the last 5 Coke Zero 400's. He has owned this event and considering it is summer time, you can expect for Smoke to start heating up right about now. 

Risk Takers:

Kyle Busch: Kyle Busch won this event in 2008, but has an average finish of 23.4 with 2 DNF's since then. Not sure if he'll be around for the finish.

Jimmie Johnson: Ol' 5-time has been a tad worse. His average finish is 24.8 with 2 DNF's in his last six here. I'd take more of a chance on him considering he won Talladega early this year.

Denny Hamlin: He only has 1 Top 10 finish in 11 career starts here with an average finish of 22.9. Enough said. 

Don't count on honorable mentions but in this case, I have to: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

You can't go to a restrictor plate track without mentioning the "Pied Piper". You can't really place him in a category. He can be a favorite due to his past restrictor dominance. He can be a dark horse because he hasn't won here in past seven years here in the sprint cup series. He can be a risk taker considering his past 6 finishes average out at a 17.3 here with 2 DNF's. Unusual JR numbers.

At the end of the day, it's just one man's opinion.