Great commentary, Wayne! I made my bed, and I'm going to lay in it... I'm hoping Carl Edwards learned something from that BK incident last year and lets it go with Kyle Busch...

Looks like a lot of you guys are going wtih the Chevy's... I'm going with the Fords.... so I'm etiher going to gain a lot of ground or lose a lot of ground....

We're still waiting for picks from our points leader, BocaReject, and JuniorCar!!

 

I don't know what's up with Junior here. He normally does well on faster tracks and Vegas is fast. He gotta get his sh*t together!

But Danica has been consistent this year. Her worst finish was 17th at Phoenix and she only ended up that far back because of an unlucky pit cycle (caution dropped right after her green flag stop). She is only 13 pts out of 1st. She's doing far better then her team mate Aric Almirola. But some people will never be happy with her results until she is winning every race. There hasn't been a Nationwide series regular to do that yet this year - its all been Sprint Cup guys.

Martin is and always has been the model of consistency. I don't have confidence in his team - they have something to prove. All those Fords have been fast in practice and qualifying. We said the same about Phoenix, but that one came down to a Toyota and a Chev. You can always expect the most out of the Busch boys here, but I can't bring myself to pick Pyle Buschit - yet. I gotta give credit were credit is due - he is maturing a lot with his comments and perspective. He is admitting mistakes, acccepting blame and making apologies. That goes a million miles to me. Some veteran drivers never did learn that (cough, tonystewart, cough). When I can get past the fact that they fix races for Pyle I will become a fan of his (its almost like this isn't his fault). I am not unwaivering in my opinion.

1. Mark Martin
2. Carl Edwards
3. Kurt Busch (when I don't like him I change the "r" to an "n")

last: Mike Skinner
1st caution caused by: Robbie "He-had-it-coming-to-him" Gordon
# of cautions: 5

The Conway story is interesting. Personally, I think Nascar should throw him out. His sponsor has failed to pay multiple teams. As I understand it, Robbie Gordon got a hold of some of the rookie-of-the-year money, but won't pay Conway the $27,000 he owes him because Extenze won't pay Gordon the $700,000 they owe him. Then pluggy Conway tries shaking Gordon down. I'd kick his a$s too! I was looking over the contract details and somehow Conway made about a million bucks last year for his pathetic efforts! Front Row Motorsports is also owed a lot of money and Conway tore up a lot of their equipment.
Remember back in the good ol' days when garage "altercations" didn't involve police? Were the police required to settle the '79 Daytona 500 between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison? That was racing!

 

Good to see the points rolling in. I haven't paid much attnetion to Danica this year. You could be right, maybe shes turning the corner. Her efforts last season were pathetic though, and everyone talked about her. This year, she's apparently running decent and she's not all the hype.

Apparently some women complained about Danica being a woman and getting all the attention. Jennifer Jo Cobb has a video diary she keeps on NASCAR.com now. I think Danica needs to make a decision in the next year or so as to what career she will pursue... stick it out with open wheels, or stock cars. If she's 4th in points after 3 races, thats great... but there are the short tracks coming up, like Bristol, Richmond, and do they still go to Nashville? There are the road courses, which, with her being an open wheel star, I'd expect her to have a leg up on everyone else.. maybe she could even challenge for a win there. It would be neat to see her mount a charge for a championship.

We now eagerly await BocaRject and his picks!!! I hope there isn't some points leader curse... Nocturnx won Daytona and hasn't returned to claim his prize, I hope BocaReject makes it in to make some picks!! He has several hours yet...

And I'm thinking about making up a certificate like Taz makes for MotM to send out to the eventual points champion, should they be anyone but me.

And Robby Gordon... well, he shoudl just stick to running hte Baja 1000 as far as I'm concerned. He's always been a knucklehead... glad Childress got rid of him years ago.

 

I was considering changing my picks and getting rid of Jimmy Johnson since so many of us have picked him. But, I will let it ride. Usually cant go bad with him. No one has matched my pics, so I am comfortable I guess. Why isn't there a Danica hype this year? She did really well and would have settled for a 8-10th place finish had it not been for the gas mileage. But hey thats how it is in racing. She got and took what she got. I was impressed woth her at times. Tony was giving her good advice. I too am glad RCR got rid of Gordon. Lets hope Menard can carry the banner. Good Luck today.

 

Menard is Nascar most successful plug - and for all the wrong reasons. I completely expect him to drag RCR down, just like he has every other team he's been a part of. And all indications are that he is dragging the team down. That team isn't exactly picking up were they left off last year, have they? Too many resources are being wasted on Menard, no doubt. The only difference between Menard and Conway is that Menard's sponsor (daddy) actually does pay his bills. Menard has been doing this for years. He should be homeless...

 

I love how NASCAR.com editors think this could be the break out year for Paul Menard finally having a solid team and equipment behind him. Historically speaking, this is not hte case, as Junior Car said. To further illiterate, he was with DEI when they went dwon, he was with Petty last year when he almost went under, and now he is with RCR.

RCR had a 4th team a few years ago and down to 3 cars I think just for 2010, although it may have been 3 cars in '09 as well. The results: Harvick, Burton, and Bowyer flurished!! they all made the chase, and Harvick was the regular season champ and was in the hunt for the title until Homestead!! Why Childress thought he could pull off a 4th team successfully this time, I do not know.

 

Daddy Menard must pay some pretty fat coin! I know we're only 2 races in, but right now Menard is the only RCR in the top 12. Not that he'll stay there (he started off great last year too), but its further proof the other RCR guys are getting screwed by his presense...

 

Personally I prefer Menards over Lowes. Better prices. What would be funny is if Childress still had Lowes sponsorhip. He have the home improvement monopoly. Makes you wonder if one team would be able to pull 2 competing sponsors in. Off topic I know. How many members are we missing today. Is the deadline later since race is? Hopefully they will get their picks in.

 

I say an hour before the race... but really, I just want them before the race starts. I don't want picks drifting in halfway through the race.