Thursday, February 18, 2010

Gas and Go--Fontana

This week's Gas and Go has a Southern California flavor. More laid back than the usual G & Gs. I will offer some short insights and takes leading into this race.

  1. Roush, Roush, Roush. Roush drivers have seemingly dominated this race almost from the get-go. Matt Kenseth is the defending race champion. Kenseth has won three times at Fontana. Carl Edwards has won once, the spring race in 2008. Even Kurt Busch and Mark Martin have won while driving under the Roush banner.
  2. Not to be outdone, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won a total of eight times. One of Jimmie Johnson's very first Cup wins came at Fontana, on April 28, 2002. Johnson has won four times, Jeff Gordon has won three times, and Kyle Busch became the youngest winner in NASCAR history at the time by four days (since broken by Joey Logano, 18 at the time) when he got his first Cup win on Labor Day weekend of 2006.
  3. Speaking of Roush, I look for the Roush drivers to show their strength, particularly Carl Edwards. He is itching to get back in Victory Lane. He'll have several drivers to contend with.
  4. Jeff Gordon was the inaugural winner at Fontana, on June 22, 1997.
  5. Thinking of you: Dan Gurney.
  6. Look for some wide-open racing, especially since there are no restrictor plates and multiple grooves.
  7. While RCR hasn't had very much success in the past, I look for them to be strong. Having three teams seems to agree with everyone at RCR, from Richard Childress on down.

Predicted Race Winner: Greg Biffle. He started the season strong at Daytona and I look for him to continue the trend. I look for him to start within the first three rows and quickly move to the front and stay at or near the front. Biffle has won at Fontana once, in February 2005.

Information courtesy of www.nascar.com.

5 comments:

Brent said...

Good Gas and Go. Gotta agree with Greg Biffle as the race winner. He won't get it easy though as he will have to compete with strong drivers like Kenseth, Edwards, and Gordon...

Also nice to see RCR back at three drivers. I think the extra one last season was overkill and part of the reason their organization went winless...

klvalus said...

Thinking of you...G&G!

The Biff always does something stupid and cant finish races...I am going with RCR and Bowyer as my dark horse...I just dont want it to be a runaway by anyone out front!

guanquat said...

JON,

GOTTA GO WITH EITHER JR. OR SMOKE, IF NOTHING ELSE I AM LOYAL.

I DO THINK KRIS MIGHT HAVE SOMETING WITH THE BOWYER THING AND LIKE SHE SAID,"JUST DON'T BE A RUNN AWAY"

GUNAQUAT

Gene Haddock said...

Nice one, Jon.

I was gonna pick Biff also, but I went with Carl just to jinx him...lol.

I also have Burton and Bowyer on my fantasy team this week.

jon_464 said...

Gonger, thanks. I went with Biffle based on how strong he was at Daytona, but I was also considering Carl Edwards. RCR back at three drivers is perfect for the organization. They bit off more than they could chew when they went to a four car team.

Kristen, what is it in the Roush water that both Biffle and Edwards go bonehead and end up costing them races? Bowyer is a good dark horse--he seems to run the best of the RCR drivers at Fontana. If someone not named Dale Earnhardt Jr is running away with the race, look for a phantom late caution to bunch up the field.

Gunaquat, both Smoke and Jr are good picks. I wouldn't rule either of them out.

Gene, thanks. I went with Biff *partly to jinx him* because he's running well so far this season. You might have a winning team this week--RCR's running well so far this week.