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October 17, 2007

Old School New Car
Fantasy Insight-Martinsville Fall
By Dennis Michelsen
There is no better track on the NASCAR circuit than Martinsville! Walking into the track you can hear the whispers of historic drivers telling you about their exploits here. There is no "Fan Walk" or other such amenities for the fans or competitors, just old school NASCAR at its very best. If we ever lose tracks such as Martinsville from the NASCAR schedule we all will have lost our link to the past. Places such as Hickory and North Wilkesboro outlived their usefulness in the eyes of NASCAR. But Martinsville is the last link to NASCAR's short track roots. The Car of Tomorrow looks at home at the road courses. It seemed almost normal to see it at Talladega. But the new school car on the old school track looks lost in time. The Craftsman Truck series looks like it belongs here and it is such a natural combo with the Nextel Cup cars. So grab a Martinsville hotdog, kick back and enjoy some great racing as NASCAR's future car meets NASCAR's historic short track. Good luck this week with your fantasy picks!

Fast Facts of the Week Presented by www.nascapper.com
Hendrick dominance in 2007 is impressive…14 wins in 31 races

Aric Almirola gets the drive in the No. 01 this week, Bill Elliott in the No. 21

Sam Hornish Jr tries and fails to qualify again in the No. 06

Hendrick has won five of the last six races at Martinsville

Qualifying day is important with 72% of the winners starting in the top 10

Only 5 of 117 races have been won from outside the top twenty starting spots

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!

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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-Denny Hamlin
Last Week 5th
Picking against Hendrick Motorsports here is being daring

Place-Jeff Gordon
Last Week 27th
Leaving this guy out of the top three would be insane

Show-Ryan Newman
Last Week 14th
One of these weeks he has to win

Top Rookie-David Ragan
Last Week 37th
Aggressive short track racing attitude helps

Outside Top 20 in Points-Dave Blaney
Last Week DNQ
Just how good is Blaney? This is the only Toyota locked into the top 35!