NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: Ford 400 from Homestead Miami Speedway

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

9 Responses to “NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: Ford 400 from Homestead Miami Speedway”

1. Ray Miller on November 20th, 2009 4:53 pm

   Since no one picked Johnson or Stewart, I do…lol ray

2. James Jones on November 23rd, 2009 9:37 pm

   Wow, that was close Ryan!
   Charlie, would you be able to post both Ryan’s and my picks for the entire year?
   I’d love to see how they compare. How many wins, how many top 5s, how many top 10s, etc..

3. Ryan Rantz on November 24th, 2009 11:14 am

   Your right James it was close. According to my calculations the difference was just over one finish position all year long. I made myself this little cheat sheet right before Homestead to help me guess who you would pick http://twitpic.com/q6132 . On my cheat sheet you can compare our picks over the course of the Chase. I was pretty sure you were going to pick Mark Martin and I know that would’ve saved me the Mark Martin Homestead drama. He sure picked an inconvenient time to struggle. It was fun doing these picks all year long.

4. James Jones on November 27th, 2009 7:38 pm

   Why you sneaky little ….. chump! Yeah, I can use “chump” since Darren isn’t using the game anymore!

   That’s funny that you were trying to predict my picks some of the time based on previous picks. I know there was a stretch there where it sure seemed odd that you and I were picking the same. I know I said something to Charlie about it too. LOL For future reference…. I don’t keep track of who I picked the last time the teams hit _____ track.

   I an see where you took Stewart at Talladega. Most likely because I used Stewart at Talladega AND Pocono earlier in the year. LOL That was the week I should have picked darn near ANYONE other than Kurt Busch (finished 30th while Tony finished 35th). Grrrr…. I mean…. Sadler, Waltrip, Sorenson, Stremme, Andretti, or even Robert Richardson Jr. would have scored me more points….. and a solid lead at the end of the season. Yeah…. Talladega… that is the race that ruined it for me to stand alone! LOL

   Charlie and I asked Darren if he had the picks from back at OneBadWheel.com.
   We can’t both be tied just based on average finish of 8th (which is pretty good for 36 races, IMO!).

   I’d really like to see how many wins, top 5s, top 10s, and of course…. how many BAD finishes we both had.

   Looking forward to next year!

5. Ryan Rantz on November 27th, 2009 9:40 pm

   Knowing your opponents is one of my keys to fantasy racing success so I have to practice what I preach ; ) The write up that I scanned was just a quick little thing I made last minute. To me Martin seemed liked the most logical pick for me to make because for the most part it looked like at every other intermediate track you were picking either the 5 or the 24 (That should explain my highlighting).

   Your Denny Hamlin pick really surprised me. I really wanted to see Martin there. Things always get a little dicey at the end of these things. This reminds me of something I seen before http://twitpic.com/alelb LOL. There are a lot of parallels here.

   I would say that for the most part the only time that I wanted to see the same pick between me and you was after Lowes. Picking the same driver essentially shortens the season.

   I picked Stewart at Talladega because of the wild card nature of the race and because up until then you picked him for every restrictor plate race this year. My restrictor plate picks all year were bad. My picking average for the year when you discount those races was 5.7. My restrictor plate picks (124 R.P cumulative points) skewed my overall picking average (297 total points).

   I may be incorrect in saying this but I think the number might actually be out of 35 because there was the onebadwheel.com to onpitrow.com Phoenix transition race. I remember that race (good memory) because you picked Gordon and I picked Johnson for it. Gordon had problems that day (20′s) and Johnson finished 4th. It was my first major opportunity to gain on you but only about 50% of people submitted picks that week so it was a throw away week.

   Just like you I’m excited for next year.

6. Charlie Turner on November 27th, 2009 10:35 pm

   I really wish that some of the other experts had jumped in on this conversation. You all seem to put max effort into the expert picks. It is fascinating to watch.

   I am in awe of your ability to do this. And very much proud that you two (Ryan and James) hang the “On Pit Row” shingle out. Fantastic stuff guys. Thank you.

7. Ryan Rantz on November 28th, 2009 9:34 am

   Here’s my stats for the year, 7 wins, 20 top fives, and 26 top tens. My worst finish other then the R.P races was 17th with Martin in the rain shortened Coke 600. That was my only sub 15 finish for the year. Basically all my bad days were between 11th and 15th. I needed every single good finish I could get because I don’t think you (James) had a single DNF all season (Maybe Talladega but that was still a net 5 day for you). It’s hard to play catchup when your not given help.

   The Ryan missing picks are
   Daytona- Kyle Busch (41st)
   California- Johnson (9th)
   Las Vegas- Kyle Busch (1st)
   Atlanta- Gordon (2nd)
   Bristol- Hamlin (2nd)
   Martinsville- Johnson (1st)
   Texas- Johnson (2nd)
   Phoenix- Johnson( 4th)
   (99% certainty these were my picks)

8. James Jones on November 30th, 2009 1:43 am

   Now Ryan, I can’t apologize for helping my wife (“Bread Girl”) with her picks. As I recall, you were gradually creeping up to the top in that game too. You just ran out of races.

   Charlie, I’m glad Ryan and I were able to keep OPR at the top of the leader board all season long. Hopefully you and Steve felt a little bit like Rick Hendrick in the end…. not know which would win, but that it sure looked like your guys were gonna finish 1-2. LOL

   I went through my e-mails to Darren and Charlie and I think I got all the 36 race picks down. However, we must have factored in additional races (the All-Star event?) because my average finish (8.167) comes up better than what Charlie shows (8.29). My average points per race over the 36 races was 149.278.

   Anyway, looks like I had:
   4 wins (and 4 bridesmaids)
   15 top fives
   28 top tens

   My two worst finishes were 23rd and 30th– both at Talladega (Stewart in April, Kurt B in November). Like you, apart from those two races my worst finish was 17th. However, I had three 17th place finishes.

   For the Texas race in November I had Jeff Gordon, but in my e-mail to Charlie I told him my gut said to go with Hamlin. Jeff finished 13th, Hamlin 2nd. Could’a, Should’a, Would’a!

   Charlie, I don’t know for sure, but I would say Ryan actually puts way more methodical effort into his picks than I do. Sure, I look at stats and take into consideration recent performance (and probably put too much weight on momentum), but I certainly didn’t keep notes of Ryan’s picks. LOL

   I’m gonna try to post my season below…. we’ll see how the format comes out. If no good, I’ll just delete the post.

9. James Jones on November 30th, 2009 1:47 am

   My picks…. if the format pastes OK.

   Car Finish Points Race
   14 8 147 Feb. 15 Daytona International Speedway
   48 9 143 Feb. 22 Auto Club Speedway
   24 6 155 March 1 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
   48 9 143 March 8 Atlanta Motor Speedway
   24 4 160 March 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
   24 4 165 March 29 Martinsville Speedway
   14 4 165 April 5 Texas Motor Speedway
   48 4 165 April 18 Phoenix International Raceway
   14 23 94 April 26 Talladega Superspeedway
   14 2 170 May 2 Richmond International Raceway
   24 5 160 May 9 Darlington Raceway
   48 13 129 May 24 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
   5 10 139 May 31 Dover International Speedway
   14 1 190 June 7 Pocono Raceway
   14 7 146 June 14 Michigan International Speedway
   14 2 175 June 21 Infineon Raceway
   48 9 148 June 28 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
   14 1 195 July 4 Daytona International Speedway
   48 8 147 July 11 Chicagoland Speedway
   24 9 138 July 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
   14 10 134 Aug. 2 Pocono Raceway
   42 6 150 Aug. 9 Watkins Glen International
   14 17 117 Aug. 16 Michigan International Speedway
   18 1 190 Aug. 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
   24 8 147 Sept. 6 Atlanta Motor Speedway
   14 17 112 Sept. 12 Richmond International Raceway
   24 15 118 Sept. 20 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
   5 2 170 Sept. 27 Dover International Speedway
   48 9 143 Oct. 4 Kansas Speedway
   24 2 175 Oct. 11 Auto Club Speedway
   5 17 117 Oct. 17 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
   24 5 160 Oct. 25 Martinsville Speedway
   2 30 78 Nov. 1 Talladega Superspeedway
   24 13 129 Nov. 8 Texas Motor Speedway
   11 3 165 Nov. 15 Phoenix International Raceway
   11 1 195 Nov. 22 Homestead-Miami Speedway
   8.167 149.278

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