HOME > INSIDE NASCAR

March 7, 2007

Nightmare Handicapping Scenario
Fantasy Insight-Las Vegas Motor Speedway
By Dennis Michelsen

Handicapping the unknowns is the toughest part in picking winners in racing! The Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been rebuilt and none of the past notes for this place matter at all. Changing from the flatter corners to the higher speed yet narrow turns figures to have crew chiefs scratching their setups. The only race run here since the rebuild was with the Craftsman Trucks so not much could be learned. Test sessions at the track caused concerns with tires, which led to NASCAR adopting a smaller fuel cell for this race only. Perhaps the best bet is to play the horsepower game. Quite often when a track is new the Crew Chiefs have a hard time finding the perfect setup. This gives the edge to the best pure drivers and the teams with a little more giddy up under the hood! Consistency will still be king so avoid teams with a history of inconsistency at faster tracks this week.

Interesting Stats of the Week
Greg Biffle had 3 wins in the first 4 races after the Miami-Homestead rebuild

Speeds caused tire issues in practice so NASCAR switched to smaller fuel cell for race

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

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-Greg Biffle
Got all his bad luck out of the way during testing sessions

Place-Casey Mears
Strong at Texas and this place might race the same now

Show-Tony Stewart
Best driver in NASCAR makes him tough to pass here

Top Rookie-David Ragan
Best prepared of the rookies for this test

Outside Top 20 in Points- Elliott Sadler
All three Evernham teams tested great