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February 14, 2007

Greatest of Great American Races
Fantasy Insight-Daytona 500
By Dennis Michelsen

The new season is here and the Power Ratings have been tweaked over the off-season to bring you even more information! While the basic formula stays the same, slight improvements have been made. The early part of the season will add some tough handicapping assignments to your trusty Fantasy prognosticator. How will the Toyota teams come up to speed? Will the rookies behave like rookies and struggle or will one emerge from the pack? Later this season we will be thrown into the wild world of the Car of Tomorrow. But first we get to start off with the Greatest of Great American Races, the Daytona 500! Good luck with your Fantasy Race Games this season.

Interesting Stats of the Week
Starting up front IS important at Daytona-81% of all winners have started in the top ten

Last time Daytona 500 was won from pole was 2000 when Dale Jarrett was the winner

Four of the last five pole sitters have finished 15th or worse

Chevy has won six straight races at Daytona and 5 of the last 6 Daytona 500s

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!

Chris' Corner Racing Game
Last year I was invited to join in a unique race game run by Chris Townley. This bunch of online racing buddies get together every year to play a uniquely formatted game run by Chris. All of the entry fees get paid back out in prizes to the players in the game! There are a few spots left for the first segment of the game, which starts with the Daytona 500. Contact me at dennis@stockcarpitpass.com if you want to get in the game! See if you can beat me head to head in Fantasy Racing and take home the cash.

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-Kevin Harvick
Car had issues after the break in the Shootout but RCR knows plate racing

Place-Tony Stewart
Five times the Shootout winner has won the 500…Smoke could make that six

Show-Dale Earnhardt Jr
DEI is not as dominant here as in the past but can't pick against last name

Top Rookie-Juan Pablo Montoya
ARCA debut at Talladega was impressive last season

Outside Top 20 in Points-Elliott Sadler
Could be start of big year for Elliott and Evernham Motorsports