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July 11, 2007

Chicago Style Pizza and Racing
Fantasy Insight-Chicagoland Speedway
By Dennis Michelsen
Chicago is known for its unique pizza. So far Chicagoland is not known for great racing! When you build a mile and a half track to the specifications of the IRL how can you expect to get a great stock car track? Last year featured the first exciting race at Chicagoland Speedway. We actually saw some side by side racing although a solid second groove is no guarantee at this finicky track. Will we see better racing in the final event here with the spoiler car? Only time will tell but the one thing that we do know is that the strange nature of the track's handling characteristics has made handling more important than starting position. No driver that has started in the top five positions has won a race here yet! If you are heading to Chicago from out of town for this event enjoy some Lou Malnatis, Rosatis, or Taylor Street Pizza. Chicago is known for its pizza even if Chicagoland is not known for stock car racing yet! Good luck with your fantasy picks!

Fast Facts of the Week

Six different pole winners in six Cup events

No winner has ever started inside the top five

Same number (2) of winners from top ten and outside the top twenty

Kevin Harvick has the most wins (2)

Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon have all posted four top fives in six starts at Chicagoland Speedway

Rowdy Fantasy
Need more help with your Fantasy games? Check out Rowdy Fantasy at www.rowdy.com for our exclusive weekly feature. Looking for the ultimate source for stock car racing news, even during the off-season? Rowdy has it all--the best news, garage gossip, and insight from drivers, crew chiefs, reporters, and even you fans--all right on your cell phone each and every day! We do more in 5 minutes than most racing sources do in a day!

If you've only got time for one racing show, Rowdy is the real deal. So yes, Rowdy is the only racing show you'll ever need - and it's on your cell every day!

If you want to enjoy the Rowdy show on the phone for free, you can do it any time. Just dial 434-92-ROWDY! Answer 2 easy questions about your phone and you are in.

Fan1st Fantasy Racing
Fan1st is giving race fans a chance to win the greatest prize in Fantasy Racing history. Can you imagine being picked up for the race at your hometown airport in a private jet and flown to Daytona International Speedway? You can invite three people along for the experience of a lifetime learning what it is like to be an owner in the Busch series! Fan1st.com is the sponsor on the No. 32 car driven by driver Dave Blaney in the Busch series for owner Todd Braun. This year their Fantasy Racing game is included in their Diamond Membership package or you can purchase entry to the race game separately. Fan1st puts the fan in charge voting on important team matters! Their Fantasy Racing game has the best prize every offered and is a bargain to enter for $75 for the whole season! You build your team selecting a driver, crew chief, manufacturer, and owner in a salary cap format.

http://www.fan1st.com/index.html

Prize Note: Tom from Connecticut wins a Diamond Membership playing Fantasy Insight's FLIP FLOPS. Listen this week on www.racetalkradio.com Wednesday night at 10pm ET to see how you can play and win this week's prize!

Fantasy Racing by the Numbers
My unique Power Ratings are back and better than ever for 2007! Combining the three most important factors the numbers never lie. Separate the pretenders from the contenders each week with track type, horses for courses, and consistency factored into one easy to use Power Rating. The key numbers to remember are 80 and 250. A rating of 80 is an acceptable risk for any of the individual ratings and 250 is the cut off for the complete Power Rating. Drivers topping these minimums have a much higher percentage of top ten finishes over the past three seasons! (Only drivers meeting the minimum will be shown in the individual ratings with the top 25 for Power Ratings shown)

Picking a Winner
Each week I will attempt to handicap the winners showing the three drivers I think are most likely to come home a winner! Also the TOP ROOKIE and BEST OUTSIDE TOP 20 will be forecast so you get a complete handicapping picture for the upcoming race.

Winner-Kyle Busch
Last Week 38th
Could lead Hendrick sweep of top positions

Place-Jeff Gordon
Last Week 7th
Last year's winner could repeat

Show-Jimmie Johnson
Last Week 5th
Four of out of six top fives and a Busch win here

Top Rookie-David Ragan
Last Week 12th (Top Rookie)
Type of track where Ragan should be strong

Outside Top 20 in Points- Brian Vickers
Last Week DNQ (Had Pole Taken Away by Rain)
Needs to get in one time but if he makes the race he loves this place

Wednesday on Race Talk Radio
7pm Eastern- Cargo Light Review with Lori Munro
Every week let RaceTalkRadio's Lori Munro take you for a ride…literally! Strap in tight because this will be an adventurous tour of all things truck racing from the inside of her Chevy Silverado. Join Lori every week for the most unique thirty minutes in radio, she might even buy you a cup of coffee at the drive through. It's racing news, fun, and great music every week on the "Cargo Light Review."

7:30pm Eastern-Getting Dirty with CJ Swank
Join OntheBullRing.com's CJ Swank and get down and dirty inside the world of dirt track racing! From the World of Outlaws to the Modifieds and Late Models to those all important support divisions, CJ covers it all. You have read her reports on dirt track racing from the Northeastern quarter of the USA at OntheBullRing.com now tune in every week to hear CJ get down and dirty!

8pm Eastern-Fantasy Insight-Need help with your Fantasy Racing lineup? Each week we go beyond the stats to pick winners! Join Dennis Michelsen and Mike Harper every week as they play head to head in Flip Flops. You can win great prizes by picking the winning fantasy handicapper each week.

8:30pm Eastern-Racing Rock Star with Gannon Hollywood-Gannon is the jackman on the No. 47 NASCAR Busch team, and yes that is his real name! His videos will be featured on SPEED CHANNEL and his exclusive radio show will be heard on www.racetalkradio.com every week!

9pm Eastern-Special Rewind of Quick Change- Dennis Michelsen, Mike Harper and Lori Munro bring you cutting edge commentary and their own personal unique spins on the world of all things racing. Our weekly guests will try to keep up! Tune in and just try to hang on every Wednesday night. Join Dennis and Lori for this xtrey special show looking back at some of the best moments in Quick Change history.