Fantasy Racing

NASCAR's 10 Hottest Drivers - Week 19

richardginn — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:59:00 GMT

1) Jeff Gordon (Previous position: 2nd) - Squeezes into first place with his better finish than Carl Edwards at New Hampshire. He is showcasing that he rally wants to be in the chase.

2) Carl Edwards (Previous position: 1st) - Moves down one spot with his 17^th place finish at New Hmapshire. Never really had it going at all during the race.

3) Jeff Burton (Previous position: 5th) - Moves up a couple with his twelfth place finish at New Hampshire. He closes the gap the to the leader in the points as well. This guy never stinks this season.

4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Previous position: 3rd) - Moves down one spot with his 24th place finish at New Hampshire. He was really fast early on in the race and led a bunch of laps.

5) Jimmie Johnson (Previous position: 6th) Moves up one spot with his ninth place finish at New Hampshire. He has really improved as of late.

6) Kyle Busch (Previous position: 4th) - Finishing 25^th at New Hampshire moves him down two spots. Also getting involved with Juan Pablo Montoya late in the race is not good for your ranking.

7) Martin Truex Jr. (Previous position:8^th) - Moves up to seventh with a top ten finish at New Hampshire. He also made a huge jump to get real close to the 12^th place spot in the points.

8) Greg Biffle (Previous position: 7th) - Moves down one spot with his okay finish at New Hampshire. He also drops one spot in the Sprint Cup standings as well.

9) Matt Kenseth(Previous position: 10th) With David Ragan stinking up the join he moves up- one spot. His 18^th place finish at New Hampshire is not super, but he fell to 13^th place in the points.

10) Tony Stewart (Previous position: Off List) - He gets onto the list now with three top 15 place finishes in a row. He also moves up a couple spots in the Sprint Cup standings as well.

Biggest gainer: Jeff Burton - 2

Biggest loser: Kyle Busch - 2

Off List: David Ragan

New to list: Tony Stewart

NASCAR Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola Expert Picks

richardginn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:05:00 GMT

Well, I had picks last week that we not so hot, but most everyone else scored less this week with so many junk drivers in the top ten. A Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip and J.J. Yeley top 3 was not really on anyone's wish list.

Yates drivers were a complete bust, but I thought they could do way better then the data showed.

A list active driver:

Tony Stewart - This is the third time on this list for Stewart. I like him since he does have two wins at this track in the past six races and that those wins are at the July race. I feel he is a solid A list driver pick.

B list active drivers:

David Ragan - This is Ragan's third appearance on this list. He is a bit of a gamble, but he does have one top five in three starts at this track. His last finish was 42^nd, but will rebound big time from that finish.

Bobby Labonte - This is the second time on this list for Labonte. He's also a gamble since he is not great at all at this track. Only two top 21 place finishes in the past six races. I think he avoids the big one and gets a solid finish.

C list active driver:

Boris Said - Said makes his second appearance on this list. He has two top fifteen finishes in three starts at this place over the past six races. He is going to have to get qualified on time though. All C level drivers are a gamble; none of them are super at this track.

Sleeper picks:

Jimmy Johnson - He has three top ten place finishes at this track over the past six races, but also has a couple of junky finishes. I think he will be up to top form at this track and get a top ten.

Casey Mears - He has two top tens in the past six races at this track, but his 2008 season has not been so great. I think he will get his second top 20 finish in a row.

David Reutimann - With every C level driver being a bit cold at this track you may want to go with this driver. He has improved his finishes every single time at this track which looks good data wise.

NASCAR Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola Racer/Track Trends

richardginn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:57:00 GMT

Track: Dayton International Speedway

Dimensions: 2.5 Mile tri-oval Super Speedway

2/19/1995 - Sterling Marlin - Chevrolet
7/1/1995 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
2/18/1996 - Dale Jarrett - Ford
7/6/1996 - Sterling Marlin - Chevrolet
2/16/1997 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/5/1997 - John Andretti - Ford
2/15/1998 - Dale Earnhardt - Chevrolet
10/17/1998 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
2/14/1999 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/3/1999 - Dale Jarrett - Ford
2/20/2000 - Dale Jarrett - Ford
7/1/2000 - Jeff Burton - Ford
2/18/2001 - Michael Waltrip - Chevrolet
7/7/2001 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Chevrolet
2/17/2002 - Ward Burton - Dodge
7/6/2002 - Michael Waltrip - Chevrolet
2/16/2003 - Michael Waltrip - Chevrolet
7/5/2003 - Greg Biffle - Ford
2/15/2004 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Chevrolet
7/3/2004 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
2/20/2005 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/2/2005 - Tony Stewart - Chevrolet
2/19/2006 - Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet
7/1/2006 - Tony Stewart - Chevrolet
2/18/2007 - Kevin Harvick- Chevrolet
7/7/2007 - Jamie McMurray - Ford
2/17/2008 - Ryan Newman - Dodge

Multiple Wins List

Jeff Gordon - 6
Dale Jarrett - 3
Michael Waltrip - 3
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 2
Sterling Marlin - 2
Tony Stewart - 2

	Daytona Top Tens By Team Or Owner
Team Or Owner	Date Of Race
	July 2 2005	Feb19 2006	July 1 2006	Feb 18 2007	July 7 2007	Feb. 17 2008	Total
Rick Hendrick	2	2	1	1	3	1	10
Jack Roush	1	0	2	1	4	1	9
Rodger Penske	1	1	1	0	1	2	6
Richard Childress	0	1	2	2	1	0	6
GEM & James Rocco	0	0	0	2	1	2	5
Joe Gibbs	1	1	1	0	0	2	5
Yates Racing	1	2	1	1	0	0	5
Chip Gnassi	1	1	1	0	0	1	4
DEI	1	1	0	0	0	0	2
Ginn Racing	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
Larry McClure	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
BAM Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Wood Brothers	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Mark Simo	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
James Finch	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Robby Gordon	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
John Carter	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Daytona Finishes By Driver Over Past Six Races
Driver	Race Date and Finish
	July 2 2005	Feb19 2006	July 1 2006	Feb 18 2007	July 7 2007	Feb. 17 2008	Avg.
Kasey Kahne	16	11	25	7	9	7	12.50
Elliott Sadler	21	4	6	6	33	6	12.67
Clint Boyer		6	10	18	7	24	13.00
Ryan Newman	14	3	11	38	14	1	13.50
Kyle Busch	31	23	2	24	2	4	14.33
Sam Hornish Jr.						15	15.00
Jeff Burton	11	32	15	3	16	13	15.00
Tony Stewart	1	5	1	43	38	3	15.17
Robby Gordon	26	13	14	15	15	8	15.17
Boris Said	28		4	14			15.33
David Gilliland				8	11	28	15.67
Kevin Harvick	24	14	9	1	34	14	16.00
Ken Schrader	10	9	12	35			16.50
Matt Kenseth	9	15	5	27	8	36	16.67
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	3	8	13	32	36	9	16.83
Johnny Sauter	17			16	18		17.00
Terry Labonte		17					17.00
Jamie McMurray	2	37	8	31	1	26	17.50
Brian Vickers	29	7	18		29	12	19.00
Jimmie Johnson	6	1	32	39	10	27	19.17
David Ragan				5	12	42	19.67
Kurt Busch	37	38	3	41	3	2	20.67
Casey Mears	43	2	7	20	19	35	21.00
Jeff Gordon	7	26	40	10	5	39	21.17
Martin Truex, Jr.		16	29	29	13	20	21.40
Paul Menard					21	22	21.50
Mark Martin	39	12	33	2	17	31	22.33
Greg Biffle	36	31	31	25	6	10	23.17
Reed Sorenson		29	34	13	42	5	24.60
Carl Edwards	33	43	39	23	4	19	26.83
Denny Hamlin		30	17	28	43	17	27.00
J.J. Yeley		41	37	12	20	25	27.00
Sterling Marlin	22	34	24	17	40		27.40
Travis Kvapil	23	27	30			30	27.50
Juan Pablo Montoya				19	32	32	27.67
David Reutimann				40	26	18	28.00
Dave Blaney	27	22	27	34	23	38	28.50
Bobby Labonte	35	35	42	21	35	11	29.83
Michael Waltrip	40	18	38	30		29	31.00
Scott Riggs	41		20	37	41	21	32.00
Dario Franchitti						33	33.00
Regan Smith						37	37.00
Daytona Average Starts By Driver Over Past Six Races
Driver	Race Date and Finish
	July 2 2005	Feb19 2006	July 1 2006	Feb 18 2007	July 7 2007	Feb. 17 2008	Avg.
Tony Stewart	1	15	2	3	6	6	5.50
Denny Hamlin		17	6	9	2	4	7.60
Jimmie Johnson	3	9	9	21	4	1	7.83
Boris Said	4		1	23			9.33
Jeff Gordon	15	2	4	42	1	8	12.00
Martin Truex, Jr.		19	8	13	10	25	15.00
Kyle Busch	32	4	14	8	11	24	15.50
Michael Waltrip	17	30	19	15		2	16.60
NOTES: Blank spaces showcase driver was not in race This table looks at only the last six races at this track, drivers that have a start, is also sorted by average finish, and I also throw in the best average starters .

A look at the wins data:

Chevrolet cars perform best at this track the most.

Tough to get one driver to win more than one race in a row at this track. Michael Waltrip was the last to do it in a good car.

Jeff Gordon is the best at this track, but has not won a race in a while.

A look at top tens data:

Rick Hendrick is the only team that has at least one driver in the top ten in the past six races.

No clear dominate team though. Jack Roush is right behind Rick Hendrick in top tens.

A whole ton of love for the low end teams at this track.

A look at the average finish data:

Kasey Kahne has the best average, but it is a whopping 12.5. That 100% says no real super consistency at this track.

Elliott Sadler and Tony Stewart are the only drivers on the list with 4 top ten place finishes. They both have three top ten finishes in a row and then one really bad finish.

If you look at the data given only Tony Stewart can claim a good finish after winning a race, but he also showed a dead last finish after a win as well. Just outside of the given data is a February 2005 win by Jeff Gordon with a July 2005 finish of seventh place.

Kurt Busch has a 20.67 average with three top three finishes and three finish no better than 37^th.

Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Juan Pablo Montoya also stink up the joint with an average finish over 20 in the past six races.

A look at Average start data:

To me qualifying up front means squat. I am showing you the best qualifiers, but the data is not important at all.

NASCAR's 10 Hottest Drivers - Week 18

richardginn — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:54:00 GMT

1) Carl Edwards (Previous position: 1^st) - Edwards stays in the first place spot with his top ten finish at Sonoma. He was solid all day long and was easily carving his way up the field all race long.

2) Jeff Gordon (Previous position: 4^th) - Gordon moves up a couple of spots with his third place finish at Sonoma. He also moved up three spots in the Sprint Cup standings as well, but still has no win this season.

3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Previous position: 3^rd) - DEJ stays in third place with his 12^th place finish at Sonoma. He also stays third place in the Sprint Cup standings as well.

4) Kyle Busch (Previous position: 6^th) - A win at Sonoma moves this driver up two spots in the standings. He also was able to extend his lead in the points as the well.

5) Jeff Burton (Previous position: 2^nd) - Burton squeezes right behind Kyle this week for the fifth spot with his thirteenth place finish at Sonoma. Just another solid finish for this driver.

6) Jimmie Johnson (Previous position: 6^th) - Stays in sixth place in the rankings here with his fifteenth place finish at Sonoma. Was the leader of the race early; also stayed fifth place in the Sprint Cup points.

7) Greg Biffle (Previous position: 10^th) - Biffle moves up three spots with his 11^th place spot finish at Sonoma and some help from Kasey Kahne. He also was able to move up one spot in the Sprint Cup standings.

8) Martin Truex Jr. (Previous position: 9^th) - Truex Jr. moves up a spot with Kasey Kahne stinking up the joint. He finished sixteenth which is a solid finish. He really needs to move it or will miss the chase.

9) David Ragan (Previous Position: 7^th) - Ragan moves down two spots in my rankings with his 23^rd place finish at Sonoma. He is still close to making the chase, but lost a spot in the standings and fell a bit further away from twelfth.

10) Matt Kenseth (Previous position: N/A) - Kenseth moves into this list with another top ten finish. He is really hot right now and has moved back into the chase after being briefly in it after the fifth race of the season.

Biggest gainer: Greg Biffle - 3

Biggest loser: Jeff Burton - 3

Off List: Kasey Kahne

New to list again: Matt Kenseth

NASCAR LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Expert Picks

richardginn — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:47:00 GMT

Okay, so I submitted my picks to the editor on a Tuesday and somehow the Yahoo Fantasy Experts for the Sonoma race had picks very, very similar to mine. Odd ...

Well, I wound up for the weekend with four picks in the top ten, but every single one of the road course ringers did very poorly and certainly were used big time and I guess in well over half of all fantasy drafts during the weekend.

A list active driver:

Matt Kenseth - This is the second time on this list for Kenseth. This driver has the second best finishing average at this track. He has also made a massive move in the points over the past few weeks in order to get him back into the chase.

B list active drivers:

David Gilliland - This is the first time on this list for Gilliland. He has the worst average finish out of the whole group of qualifying drivers with a start in the past six races, but his 2008 season has been great and he had a surprising second place finish at Sonoma. I think his Sonoma momentum will carry over to New Hampshire.

Kyle Busch - Busch makes his third appearance on this list. This driver is dangerous at every single track this year for a win and is the leader in Sprint Cup points. He has one win at this track along with two other top five finishes at this track in the past six races.

C list active driver:

Travis Kvapil - This is the fourth time on this list for Kvapil. I am going with both Yates drivers this week. Just like David he has a crappy finishing average, but both Yates drivers have been spectacular this year.

Sleeper picks:

Denny Hamlin - Hamlin is great at doing both qualifying and getting a great finish at this track. He has not been super solid in the Sprint Cup as of late, but I think he can pull in a top finish this weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - I like this driver at this track. He has five finishes that were no worse than sixteenth. Hendrick power is going to give this hot driver another super solid finish this season.

Brian Vickers - Although the C list drivers get very little love, Vickers has the best finishing average at this track. His 2008 season has been great so far and should easily continue his success at this track.

NASCAR LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Racer/Track Trends

richardginn — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:40:00 GMT

Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Dimension: 1.058 Intermediate oval

Wins list

7/11/1993 - Rusty Wallace - Pontiac
7/10/1994 - Ricky Rudd - Ford
7/9/1995 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/14/1996 - Ernie Irvan - Ford
7/13/1997 - Jeff Burton - Ford
9/14/1997 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/12/1998 - Jeff Burton - Ford
8/30/1998 - Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet
7/11/1999 - Jeff Burton - Ford
9/19/1999 - Joe Nemechek - Chevrolet
7/9/2000 - Tony Stewart - Pontiac
9/17/2000 - Jeff Burton - Ford
7/22/2001 - Dale Jarrett - Ford
11/23/2001 - Robby Gordon - Chevrolet
7/21/2002 - Ward Burton - Dodge
9/15/2002 - Ryan Newman - Ford
7/20/2003 - Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet
9/14/2003 - Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet
7/25/2004 - Kurt Busch - Ford
9/19/2004 - Kurt Busch - Ford
7/17/2005 - Tony Stewart - Chevrolet
9/18/2005 - Ryan Newman - Dodge
7/16/2006 - Kyle Busch - Chevrolet
9/17/2006 - Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet
7/1/2007 - Denny Hamlin - Chevrolet
9/16/2007 - Clint Bowyer - Chevrolet

Multiple wins list

Jeff Burton - 4
Jeff Gordon - 3
Jimmy Johnson - 2
Kurt Busch - 2
Ryan Newman - 2
Tony Stewart - 2

	New Hampshire Top Tens By Team Or Owner
Team Or Owner	Date Of Race
	July 17 2005	Sept.18 2005	July 16 2006	Sept.17 2006	July 1 2007	Sept. 16 2007	Total
Rick Hendrick	1	1	2	2	2	4	12
Jack Roush	3	3	3	0	1	1	11
Joe Gibbs	2	1	1	3	1	2	10
Richard Childress	0	2	2	2	2	0	8
Rodger Penske	2	2	0	0	1	2	7
DEI	1	1	0	0	2	1	5
GEM & James Rocco	1	0	2	1	0	0	4
Bill Davis	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Gene Haas	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
New Hampshire Finishes By Driver Over Past Six Races
Driver	Race Date and Finish
	July 17 2005	Sept.18 2005	July 16 2006	Sept.17 2006	July 1 2007	Sept. 16 2007	Avg.
Denny Hamlin			6	4	1	15	6.50
Matt Kenseth	10	3	14	10	9	7	8.83
Tony Stewart	1	2	37	2	12	3	9.50
Jeff Gordon	25	14	15	3	2	2	10.17
Jeff Burton	14	9	7	7	7	18	10.33
Kevin Harvick	22	10	5	1	8	17	10.50
Greg Biffle	5	4	3	14	31	13	11.67
Martin Truex Jr.			18	22	3	5	12.00
Carl Edwards	12	19	2	18	13	12	12.67
Ryan Newman	7	1	39	12	10	9	13.00
Jimmie Johnson	13	8	9	39	5	6	13.33
Kyle Busch	4	27	1	38	11	4	14.17
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	9	5	43	13	4	16	15.00
David Ragan					15	19	17.00
J.J. Yeley		34	12	8	22	10	17.20
Brian Vickers	11	13	17	5		43	17.80
Kasey Kahne	6	38	8	16	25	20	18.83
Reed Sorenson			24	17	26	14	20.25
Juan Pablo Montoya					19	23	21.00
Johnny Sauter					14	28	21.00
Casey Mears	33	23	21	21	23	8	21.50
Bobby Labonte	3	24	23	40	18	22	21.67
Clint Boyer			27	24	37	1	22.25
Tony Raines			22	26	20	21	22.25
Michael Waltrip	17	15	36	23			22.75
Dave Blaney	20	33	13	9	29	35	23.17
Kurt Busch	2	35	38	19	21	25	23.33
Jamie McMurray	40	12	33	29	16	11	23.50
Robby Gordon	30	37	19	15	17	31	24.83
Scott Riggs	32	28	10	35		32	27.40
Elliott Sadler	39	30	25	6	33	38	28.50
Joe Nemechek	18	25	41	32	41	29	31.00
Paul Menard					39	24	31.50
David Reutimann					38	26	32.00
Travis Kvapil	27	41	35	27			32.50
A.J. Allmendinger						33	33.00
Regan Smith					32	36	34.00
David Gilliland				36	28	39	34.33
New Hampshire Average Starts By Driver Over Past Six Races
Driver	Race Date and Finish
	July 17 2005	Sept.18 2005	July 16 2006	Sept.17 2006	July 1 2007	Sept. 16 2007	Avg.
Kurt Busch	5	12	10	3	2	3	5.83
Ryan Newman	4	13	1	4	12	5	6.50
Martin Truex Jr.			8	11	9	2	7.50
Kevin Harvick	8	9	14	1	7	8	7.83
Jimmie Johnson	12	10	6	7	10	4	8.17
Jeff Gordon	21	2	7	2	8	18	9.67
Denny Hamlin			12	5	11	14	10.50
Elliott Sadler	3	6	18	14	23	7	11.83
NOTES: Blank spaces showcase driver was not in race This table looks at only the last six races at this track, drivers that have a start, is also sorted by average finish, and I also throw in the best average starters .

Normal 0

A look at the wins data:

Recently, we have seen a lot of love at this track to different winners.

Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson have not won at this track in a while.

Only in the years of 2003 and 2004 did we have a winner win twice in a row at this track.

A look at the top tens data:

Joes Gibbs and Rick Hendrick are the only teams that can showcase at least one top ten driver in the past six races.

This track shows very little love to the low-end teams.

A look at average finish data:

Denny Hamlin with only 4 starts just owns this track. He has one win and three top ten finishes.

Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin are also super solid at this track.

Tony Stewart would have the best average finish over the past six races if we were to drop his one junky finish. Dropping his one junky finish moves his average down to 4.0.

Dale Earnhardt. Jr. would have an average finish under 10.0 if it was not for his last place finish on July 16, 2006.

Jeff Gordon has a solid finish average, but in his last three races he has pulled in nothing but top three finishes.

Martin Truex Jr. does have two top ten finishes in a row at this track and a solid finishing average.

Kurt Busch, Clint Boyer, Jamie McMuarry, and Juan Pablo Montoya are not too happy at this track. Clint Boyer has a win when they came to the track the last time though. Kurt Busch has two wins, but are just outside the average finish data I show.

A look at the average starts data:

At this track qualifying good has some impact on how well you do at this track. Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart are good at doing both.

NASCAR's 10 Hottest Drivers - Week 17

richardginn — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:59:00 GMT

1) Carl Edwards (Previous position: 2^nd) - With a better finish this weekend, Carl Edwards winds up with the top spot. He is solidly in the chase with his fourth place standing in the Sprint Cup points.

2) Jeff Burton (Previous position: 1^st) - Burton squeezes right behind Carl for the second spot with his fifteenth place finish at Michigan. He's still a hot driver even with his worst finish of the season.

3) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Previous position: 4^th) - DEJ moves up another spot with his win at Michigan. He is moving closer to the points leader while staying third place in the points.

4) Jeff Gordon (Previous position: 3^rd) - Gordon moves down one spot with this 18^th place finish at Michigan. He also moves down one spot in the Sprint Cup standings. His hotness level is starting to slow down a bit.

5) Jimmie Johnson (Previous position: 6^th) - Jimmie moves up one spot with another sixth place finish at Michigan -- he is starting to get really hot again. Fifth-seventh place in my rankings are very tightly bunched, in my opinion.

6) Kyle Busch (Previous position: 5^th) - Busch rebounded nicely from his last place finish at Pocono with a thirteenth place finish at Michigan. He's still first place in the points, which is great.

7) David Ragan (Previous Position: 7^th) - An eighth place finish at Michigan keeps this driver seventh place in my power rankings. He is still thirteenth place in the points, just 10 points out of twelfth.

8) Kasey Kahne (Previous position: 10^th) - Kahne moves up two spots with his second place finish at Michigan. He is really hot right now and also moved up to seventh place in the Sprint Cup standings.

9) Martin Truex Jr. (Previous position: 9^th) - Truex Jr. stays in his ninth place spot with his seventeenth place finish at Michigan. He also moved up spot in the Sprint Cup standings to fifteenth.

10) Greg Biffle (Previous position: 8^th) - Having a slightly worse finish than Martin Truex Jr. moves him down two spots. He also moved down one spot in the Sprint Cup standings.

Biggest gainers: Kasey Kahne - 2

Biggest loser: Greg Biffle - 2

Off List: N/A

New to list again: N/A

NASCAR Toyota Save Mart 350 Expert Picks

richardginn — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:26:00 GMT

Well, I picked another race winner this past weekend and both of the highest scoring drivers this as well. Also, I correctly selected the third place B list driver as well. The C list active pick was good, but not as good as other drivers on that list.

All fantasy drivers listed for the weekend finished no worse 22^nd spot, which is very solid.

A list active driver:

Tony Stewart - This is the second time on this list for Stewart. Tony is one of the best road course races in NASCAR. In his last six races at this track he has one win and a total of five top fifteen finishes. In his last three Sprint Cup races he only has one top ten race.

B list active drivers:

Juan Pablo Montoya - This is the third time on this list for Montoya. In his last four Sprint Cup starts he has been Just Plain Miserable with only one good finish. Road course racing is his specialty though and he did win here last year.

Robby Gordon - This is Gordon's first appearance on this list. In the last six races at this track he does have one win, but then he also has a couple junky finishes. Road course racing is his specialty and certainly showcases it more at Watkins Glen.

C list active driver:

Boris Said - Said makes his first appearance on this list. Sure, he has to qualify on time, but he has one of the best qualifying averages at this track. In his last two starts at this track he finished ninth. This is a safe and solid pick, in my opinion.

Sleeper picks:

Jeff Gordon - Gordon has the most top five finishes at this track in the last six years, but also has two junky finishes. In his last five Sprint Cup races he has been solid. He is one of the best road course racers in NASCAR.

Ryan Newman - Newman has the best average finish data with six starts at Infineon. Over his fast six sprint cup races he has not been hot at all though. I would not call him much of a gamble here.

Scott Pruett - Pruett is driving in place of Reed Sorenson for the weekend, but has a guaranteed spot in the race. In the last six years at this track he has one top five, but three finishes that are no better than 30^th.