Daytona was a rough start for most

 


I kept shaking my head after Harvick was taken out at lap 33.And Kyle Busch blew his engine with 50 to go. Bad start for my fantasy team. This weeks top finisher was Skull and Bones, even though he also lost Harvick. But unlike myself, he had Biffle and Little E In the B-slots. We both rolled the dice with Danica who was my top finisher. The wild texans and DirtPrincess finished 2nd and 3rd duly to picking Jimmy Johnson in the A-slot.Nice call!
  You can always get away with one of your starters finishing in the basement (30-43). But when two go down it usually is a bad day at the Fantasy Track.And many of us had 2 or more finish in the basement. Next week we bottom feeders will have another crack at breaking the top ten in 4 wide. Good Luck in Phoenix everyone and congrats Skull and Bones on your win.


TOP TEN SEGMENT1

1 SKULL and BONES 262

2 wild texans 252

3 DirtPrincess00 242

4 Speed Racer 242

5 Jesus Motorsports 208

6 Alabama Titans 206

7 john66 192

8 Da Gangsters 190

9 LeeRacer 188

10 Rat Rods 184

TIME TO START THEM ROSTERS

  I will not give anyone advice before the races this year. Mainly I want to win this league and want to keep my Fantasy Strategy close to the vest. I will be commenting after the race on how well some of you do. As I've said before, most of us are tried and true fantasy racing enthusiasts. So this should be a very competative 1st season in the 4 wide league.Good Luck tomorrow, and it will take some.  I predict a big crash or two or three.See ya after the race.

THEM BOYS ARE ALREADY WRECKIN

  It didn't take very long! Practice #1 got off to a paint scraping metal bashing start. Expect more of the same in the 125's and 500. With a new lighter car the boys and girl are feeling mighty racey. And at this track it takes a little mistake to send several cars to the garage. Think about tailoring your picks with guys who can keep there noses clean.Just sayin!

The New Twin 125's Qualifying Rules

Makes me miss my old Charger

O.K Kiddos It's one week from the 125's. By now we are starting to formulate our strategy for the first race. The new qualifying rules in this years Daytona 500 really isn't going to hurt us much in Yahoo Fantasy Racing. Because we can select our drivers right up until just before the green flag waves.But still, this info will help you understand how the starting lineup is formed. Below is a explination of how the the drivers will qualify for this years Daytona 500.

This year, things have changed -- dramatically. The Duels will now determine not only the starting positions of the first 32 cars but also who actually makes the race. Finish in the top 15 in your Duel, and you're in the Daytona 500 -- simple as that.

Positions 33-36 are filled by the four fastest cars from time trials that 1) aren't on the front row and 2) don't transfer from the Duels. Positions 37-42 go to the top six cars in owner points not otherwise qualified. The final spot goes to a past champion or a seventh provisional starter, as with the general procedure for all races.

If the new format multiplies the suspense of the Duels from a fan's standpoint, it also will lead to some white knuckles inside the race cars. A major wreck in one of the Duels, one that involves a number of top drivers, could create havoc with the starting field.

Below is a list of this years entry list.

Entry Veh. # Driver Sponsor Manufacturer


1 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet

2 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford Fusion

3 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS

4 7 Dave Blaney Florida Lottery Chevrolet SS

5 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford Fusion

6 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet SS

7 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota Camry

8 13 Casey Mears GEICO Ford Fusion

9 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1Racing Chevrolet SS

10 15 Clint Bowyer 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry

11 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford Fusion

12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Best Buy Ford Fusion

13 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota Camry

14 19 Mike Bliss G-Oil/Plinker Tactical Chevrolet SS

15 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota Camry

16 21 Trevor Bayne Motocraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Fusion

17 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion

18 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS

19 27 Paul Menard Menards/Peak Chevrolet SS

20 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet SS

21 26 Michael Waltrip Sandy Hook School Support Fund Toyota Camry

22 31 Jeff Burton CATERPILLAR Chevrolet SS

23 32 Terry Labonte C & J Energy Services Ford Fusion

24 33 Austin Dillon Honeynut Cheerios Chevrolet SS

25 34 David Ragan Detail Doctor Ford Fusion

26 35 Josh Wise MDS Transport Ford Fusion

27 36 J J Yeley Golden Corral Chevrolet SS

28 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford Fusion

29 39 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS

30 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet SS

31 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford Fusion

32 47 Bobby Labonte Kroger Toyota Camry

33 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet SS

34 51 Regan Smith Phoenix Construction Chevrolet SS

35 52 Brian Keselowski TruckerFan.com Toyota Camry

36 55 Mark Martin Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry

37 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry

38 78 Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet SS

39 83 David Reutimann Burger King Toyota Camry

40 87 Joe Nemechek Florida DOT - D.A.B. Constructors Toyota Camry

41 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet SS

42 93 Travis Kvapil Burger King Toyota Camry

43 95 Scott Speed TBD Ford Fusion

44 98 Michael McDowell K-LOVE/Curb Records Ford Fusion

45 99 Carl Edwards Fastenal Ford Fusion

NASCAR VALENTINES

Hello 4 Wide Racers. Otto Von Levenhiem here again. It's getting close to Valentines Day and I have found several while searching the Dumpsters behind the Daytona Garage area. For some reason these wonderful Valentines were toss out into the trash.

I Guess Landon Cassill and Burger King found this Valentine in Poor taste. I imagine several Burger King Customers couldn't tell the difference.

Looks like the Honeymoons over for these two lovebirds. Or is it a bad I Love Lucy rerun??

MARK MARTIN Isn't a Cy-Borg.....Hes a just a Borg!!

What was this Sponsor thinking? Just a little insensative, perhaps thats why this Valentine was canned.

Well 4 Wide Fans ,as you can see. Theres no telling what will turn up in the dumpsters. I'll keep digging and see if I can find some more. If you all come across a Valentine just send em my way and i'll put em up on the Blog. Happy Valentines Day!

AVOIDING THE WRECK and The JET DRIERS

  When I watched this video above, it reminded me what a crap shoot the Super Speedway races are.   Last year I remember picking a couple of Restrictor Plate studs and some up and comers(A-B). Then I took a gamble on some longer shots (C)

Below is my roster.

A-Matt Kenseth
A-Greg Biffle (Started)\
B-Dale Earnhardt Jr (Started)
B-Joey Logano
B-Clint Bowyer
B-Marcos Ambrose (Started)
C-A.J. Almendinger (Started)
C-Bobby Labonte

As you can see I started Biffle ,Earnardt,Ambrose,Almendinger.

Below are a few of  my notes from last years race.One of the longest and wierdest races I've seen.

  It didn't take long for the fun to start . On lap 2 Jimmy Johnson got spun out thru the tri-oval and took out my driver Almendinger. Not a good start for me or for those who had Jimmy.
Now with 40 laps to go Juan Pablo Montoya was sniffing a line off his dashboard during a caution and plowed into the back of the Jet-Drier. Columbians...what are ya gonna do? So now we had a 2 hour red flag while Nascar roasted weinies on the burning Jet-Drier.

  Finally we got back to racing at lap 35, and I was sitting pretty with Biffle(2nd) ,Ambrose (17th)and Earnhardt(3rd) .The Dinger came back out after repairs and was a distant 36th. I was crossing my fingers and hoping for a clean finish..
  Then with 22 laps to go Ricky Stenhouse-Patrick slid and Ambrose spun into the Grass "Son of a #^*&*". This put Ambrose way back in 29th but I still had Biffle in 2nd and Earnhardt in 3rd. I watched the laps tick off ..
17 to go....
14....
Oh noooo ...With 13 to go, another wreck.Those that had Kahne,Keselowski,Amirola,Smith and McMurray were rolling around in pain.......Luckily I was still ok.
   It's around midnight ,8 to go and back to green. I'm sitting pretty good at  2nd,3rd ,25th,34th. Oh Sh**; On lap 4 Tony Stewart goes around with 5 others. None of my guys..Whew.
Now it's a Green-White Checker and I'm getting sleepy. I'm  still doing well with a 2nd, 4th,19th,34th. Checkered Flag... My guys finsished 2nd-Earnardt, 3rd-Biffle, 13th-Ambrose,34th-Almendinger.
   What a wild Daytona 500 people. Many who had Johnson and Gordon had a rough start for the fantasy season. Just bad luck. But all in all my guys did well and it was one reason why I finished with a 98% overall last year.
   My point is: Luck Baby!!! You need some luck to get thru the Super Speedways. And if you find yourself with 3 of your picks still in the running coming down the stretch. Count yourself amongst the Lucky Few!