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NASCAR Power Rankings: Pocono

Charlotte

Who's Up	Who's Down
Biggest Gain This Week: Mark Martin: 3rd to 1st	Biggest Drop This Week: Jeff Gordon: 1st to 5th
New This Week: Carl Edwards Kasey Kahne	Dropped Out This Week:

Rank: 1st Mark Martin #5 Last Week: 3 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- New #1 in Power Rankings Mark Martin might not make history for being the oldest driver to win a race, but he is the oldest driver to ever be in first place in my Power Rankings. At Pocono Martin finishes in the top ten 70% of the time.

Rank: 2nd Tony Stewart #14 Last Week: 4 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- New #1 in the Point Standings Tony Stewart had about a 10th place car at Dover and through pit strategy he wheeled the 14 to a 2nd place finish. The 14 hasn't been the fastest this year, but they have been consistent and Stewart collected his series high 9th top ten at Dover.

Rank: 3rd Jimmie Johnson #48 Last Week: 5 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- Had a 150 Driver rating at Dover Johnson had the field covered at Dover and lead 298 laps out of 400. When this team is hot there is no stopping them. Expect a good run out of this team at Pocono where Johnson has a career average finish of 9.2.

Rank: 4th Kyle Busch #18 Last Week: 2 Change: -2 Driver Page | Articles

Kyle Busch- Should of never mentioned 200 wins Dover was a perfect example of what I said about Kyle last week. Kyle doomed himself by saying he wanted to win 200 races. Will he ever win again (not with his recent luck)? Last year at Pocono Kyle finished 36th & 43rd.

Rank: 5th Jeff Gordon #24 Last Week: 1 Change: -4 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- Did he even try to race at Dover? Gordon started in the back and finished there at Dover. Gordon was caught on pit row during caution and never recovered. If his back pains are still a problem then I would suggest maybe the 24 team should get a Kenseth winning robot to sub.

Rank: 6th Ryan Newman #39 Last Week: 6 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- Hello Newman Being a Ryan Newman fan (like his name) I really hope he isn't fooling us with his recent strong performances this year. He does however have 4 top 5's and 5 top 10's over the last 6 races.

Rank: 7th Kurt Busch #2 Last Week: 7 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 2 career wins at Pocono Kurt Busch will be a top contender at Pocono this weekend. He's had the ability to stink up this race in the past and on Sunday it might just happen again.

Rank: 8th Greg Biffle #16 Last Week: 8 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- Getting momentum Over the last 6 races only Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart have accumulated more points then Biffle. From a fantasy racing perspective I would steer clear of him this weekend because he only has 1 top ten over the last 6 races at Pocono.

Rank: 9th Matt Kenseth #17 Last Week: 9 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Matt Kenseth- Pocono Sleeper Matt Kenseth might not be the first person who comes to your mind at Pocono but over the last 6 races he does have an average finish of 10th. More importantly he collects a top ten finish every other race at Pocono and he's due for another top ten.

Rank: 10th Carl Edwards #99 Last Week: NR Change: N/A Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- Last Pocono winner Carl Edwards had a good run at Dover but as I've mentioned in previous Power Rankings (not at onpitrow.com) the magic just isn't there for the 99 team in 2009. His performance however was good enough for him to make a Power Rankings appearance.

Rank: 11th Kasey Kahne #9 Last Week: NR Change: N/A Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- New R6 engine might be the answer Pocono is a track that is all about horsepower and accelerating off the turns. The new R6 motor is geared for acceleration. This week Kahne is testing at Indy so he might just learn something for Pocono there.

Rank: 12th Denny Hamlin #11 Last Week: 10 Change: -2 Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- Pocono medicine on the way Denny Hamlin might not be the best driver on the Intermediate tracks but he's a master on the short and flat ones. His numbers at Pocono are almost unrivaled. In the first 5 races of his career (6 total) his average finish was 2.8.

NASCAR Fans–Do You Believe in Miracles

Bobby Labonte holds the only win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a Chevrolet, while Matt Kenseth is the defending race winner.

The only Dodge win in the short history of the south Florida track come from the unlikely source of Bill Elliott. Elliott only won four races for Evernham Racing after resurrecting the brand in NASCAR.  Tony Stewart picked off the first two wins ever at HMS in Pontiacs.

The majority of wins have come from the Blue Oval Boys.  Fords of Jack Roush have won five of the nine races.  Kurt Busch started the winning in 2002.  Greg Biffle “owns” Homestead with three consecutive wins in ‘04 through ‘06; while Matt Kenseth is the defending race winner.  While Roush drivers have been celebrating race wins over the last three years at the finale; they have had to watch Jimmy Johnson revel in his championships.

Jack Roush would like nothing better than to be able to celebrate a championship and a race win for Carl Edwards. It’s the long shot of all long shots to believe that JJ can’t pull off a 36th place finish.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Roush Fenway Fords Enjoy November Sun in Homestead

While only winning the championship in 2004, the Roush Fenway Fords are dominant at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Greg Biffle won this race three years running and Matt Kenseth capped off the season one year ago with a win. To add to the fun for the Cat in the Hat, Carl Edwards has a very good record here and David Ragan has a top 10 in his first start here last year. For Roush, those are good odds.

The championship is obviously the big story at Homestead, but every year the margin of victory is getting larger. From the incredible drama of Kurt Busch’s 2004 season to Tony Stewart’s and Jimmie Johnson’s solid if unspectacular runs in the years following, the championship chase is still must-watch television and the redesigned Homestead track deserves a lot of the credit. This year almost certainly promises to see Johnson do what only Cale Yarborough has done in NASCAR’s top series unless something freakish happens to the normally unflappable #48 team.

Paging David Gilliland, remember where your engines come from… anyway, lets get a look at the numbers.

The winners:
2007 – Matt Kenseth
2006 – Greg Biffle
2005 – Greg Biffle
2004 – Greg Biffle

Champs finish:
2007 – Jimmie Johnson – 7th
2006 – Jimmie Johnson – 9th
2005 – Tony Stewart – 15th
2004 – Kurt Busch – 5th

Let’s see, let me find a Roush Fenway driver that has had the best season this and won on similar 1.5 mile tracks… oh yeah, if you’re not anticipating Carl Edwards leading nearly every lap and winning this thing Sunday night, I’ll take whatever odds there are for the race. Aside from Edwards, Biffle does have a track record of winning here and could easily do it again.

The two sleepers I’ve pegged for this race are Ragan and Jamie McMurray. Both drivers have performed admirably in the final stretch of the year. The season finale always produces surprises, it should be interesting to see what happens this year. Among the one-off entrants are Brad Keselowski and Mark Martin, and the end of A.J. Allmendinger’s run in the #10.

Finally, it’s been a pleasure to write this weekly column for On Pit Row. I want to thank Steve and Charlie for all of their hard work and I look forward to continuing my contributions to the Bench Racing blog. Journey provides the season finale with the classic karaoke song Don’t Stop Believin’. YouTube is your friend. This won’t be like the Sopranos finale when the music just stops before the

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Do What It Takes To Get By In Phoenix

First of all, my apologies for stretching the deadline here longer than Carl Edwards did at Texas. With 2 races left we may have a title race on our hands again, but it will be no picnic – Jimmie Johnson has won here and usually runs better than Edwards at this track. Then again, Johnson was the defending winner at Atlanta and Texas, so there you go. Jimmie won here in the spring as well, but had far from the best car, instead playing the fuel mileage game as the dominant car of Mark Martin played it safe. Last year at this race Jimmie solidified his advantage over teammate Jeff Gordon and in the process winning an incredible 4-race win streak.

The Chevys have been the car to beat at Phoenix in this race as each of the four winners since the inception of the Chase has piloted a Chevy to victory lane. Thus far in the Chase, some of the “rules” have been broken but some have remained the same. When the checkered falls Sunday evening, we’ll see if this one holds.

The winners:
2007 – Jimmie Johnson
2006 – Kevin Harvick
2005 – Kyle Busch
2004 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Champs finish:
2007 – Jimmie Johnson – 1st
2006 – Jimmie Johnson – 2nd
2005 – Tony Stewart – 4th
2004 – Kurt Busch – 10th

Admittedly, this is not one of my favorite tracks to watch a race. For fantasy purposes, here is a list of 5 drivers to choose from. I’m taking Carl for the championship hunt, but feel free to choose one of the others – the winner will likely come from this list.

1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Kyle Busch

Jamie McMurray has been on a roll lately, and he should fare well at Phoenix too. I really like David Reutimann and A.J. Allmendinger this week. Reutimann ran great at Richmond, a track similar in many respects to Phoenix, and Allmendinger has been top 15 since he stepped into the #10 car.

The song this week comes from the Foo Fighters, their hit from one year ago “The Pretender.”

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Phoenix International Raceway: Kasey Kahne Kant

Most weeks, even though 2008 has not been a banner year for Kasey Kahne, his stats make him look like - at least - a dark-horse contender to win. With mile-and-a-half tracks comprising a majority of the Chase races, and Kahne being a relative stud on the intermediates (he swept the two Cup races at Lowes in May) Kasey has been a legit consideration most of the last eight weeks. But not this time.

PIR has not been good to Kahne. Eight races there with three top tens and three finishes of 31st or worse. Zero laps led, a 20th best Loop Driver Rating of 70.9 - compared to stat topper Jimmy Johnson at 118.0 - and an Ave Finish in the last seven races of 23.4. Kahne has run only 39.1 percent of his Laps in the Top 15.

There is no other driver whom I look upon as a consistent contender, that looks as unlikely to win this race, this week. The Dodge teams don’t strike fear into anyone. Budweiser, I would think, must question their selection of the Gillette-Everham/Kasey Kahne choice as the replacement - as if - for Dale Earnhardt Jr and DEI/Chevy. 

The results this weekend from the Desert probably won’t help.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - OnPitRow.com

E Sad and John Roberts Help Promote Safe Teen Driving in Texas

NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler  took time before the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway to visit students and their parents at Colleyville Heritage High School outside Dallas on Thursday, October 30, to talk about the importance of teen safe driving. Sadler was joined by SPEED TV personality John Roberts.

Sadler, who won at Texas Motor Speedway in 2004, came to the school as part of the Allstate Teen Safe Driving Pit Stop. This program is a national partnership between Allstate and Gillett Evernham Motorsports that highlights the importance of teen safe driving to high school students and their parents in key race markets across the country. Sadler spoke to the crowd of more than 300 about how his racing experiences on the track have made him a better driver off of it.

“I’m a much more cautious motorist,” said Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge. “Having 42 other drivers going around the track at nearly 200 miles per hour makes you very aware of your surroundings - one mistake can cause a major accident, just like on the street.”

According to the Allstate America’s Teen Driving Hotspots study released in May, more than 5,000 teens die each year in car crashes. The study also ranked the 50 largest metro areas by their teen driving fatality score. The Dallas / Ft. Worth metro area ranked 17th worst in the country with a Teen Fatal Crash Rate of almost 27 per 100,000 teens.

Sadler and Roberts encouraged students and their parents to improve their communication as it relates to teen driving. To help make this possible, Allstate has created a Parent-Teen Driving Contract, a catalyst of conversation between the parents and their teens. The contract, available at www.allstate.com/teen, allows both parties to set rules and consequences if those rules are broken as it relates to a teen’s driving.

Roberts, who has three children, including a teenage son, is glad that Allstate came out with this contract.

“Sitting down with my son Jordan to fill out the contract was a great opportunity for us to discuss the dangers of driving,” Roberts said. “Safe driving is one of those topics that can be difficult to talk to your children about. The contract is a great vehicle to start the conversation.”

Although Sadler never had a physical contract with his parents when he began driving, there was a strong verbal agreement.

“I was told by my parents the day I got my license that driving is a privilege and can be taken away just as fast as it is granted,” Sadler recalled. “They told me speed on the race track is fine, but when I was on the street, I had to obey every traffic law and prove that I was responsible enough to have a driver’s license.”

Those who attended the event had the opportunity to visit the Allstate Safety Zone, an interactive safe driving mobile display that features various safety devices that help keep NASCAR drivers safe on the track. They also had the chance to complete the Parent-Teen Driving Contract at computer kiosks. Sadler and Roberts even tested the crowd’s racing knowledge with trivia questions, with autographed No. 19 hats going to those who answered the questions correctly.

For more information on the Parent-Teen Driving contract and any of Allstate’s teen driving initiatives, please visit www.allstate.com/teen.

Photo credit: Khampha Bouaphanh

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