Here's a column that I have been following at Jayski's. Any comments?
California
By Jim Fitzgerald
April 27, 2001
Greetings, Racefans! Welcome to Fast Forward. This week the circuit heads out west to California for the race in Fontana. This track is basically a Michigan twin, but it's a little flatter. I look for a lot of high speed passing and overall, a pretty decent race. What about last week at Talladega? Well, like I said last week, the only thing that's for certain at Talladega, is the fact that nothing is for certain at Talladega. I though Tony Stewart was going to be able to get win number one for the season, but it wasn't to be as Bobby Hamilton walked away with the trophy. Okay, let's take a look at how I did for last week.
My Picks To Win Talladega
29-Kevin Harvick -Finished 12th after moving close to the front early on.
8-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -Junior finished eighth after leading for a good while, and showed a lot of signs that we saw in Daytona.
24-Jeff Gordon-27th? Good grief, I hate plate racing.
31-Mike Skinner-29th -See Jeff Gordon. Of course, it didn't help matters any that Skinner can't follow directions. He tried to move below the yellow line, and NASCAR hit him with a penalty.
39 other drivers -Hey, look! I got this one right!
Wow!! I had a heck of a week. Plate racing. It's a paradox. One of those oxymoron things. It's not really racing, if you ask me. NASCAR is making changes all over the place, but they won't make one here. Here's a clue. USE SMALLER ENGINES! The cars will go slower, it will get rid of the plates, and we can go back to the best car winning on it's day!
Anyway, I digress.
Now, Westward, Ho!
California. A two-mile D-Shaped oval. The front stretch is 3100 feet, while the backstretch is 2500 feet. There is fourteen-degree banking in the turns, eleven degrees on the front stretch and three degrees on the backstretch. The turns are wide and sweeping, making for plenty of racing room, as long as everyone stays in their own lane.
My Picks To Win California:
2-Rusty Wallace -This might be a bad choice. Rusty could lead all day, get behind on a pit stop and try to wreck the field to get back to the front. However, writer's intuition says that this could be a Wallace day.
12-Jeremy Mayfield -Not to play the teammate game or anything, but, in addition to already having a win here, Mayfield is a teammate to Rusty Wallace.
17-Matt Kenseth -The Roush cars are usually pretty stout here, and Kenseth, I believe, has won here in the Busch series.
24-Jeff Gordon -A past winner here (1997), Gordon looks to be regaining the form of old, not counting that non-racing debacle of Talladega.
28-Ricky Rudd-While this is NOT Michigan, the Yates cars usually run well there, and the tracks are quite similar.
Shot-In-The-Dark-Pick:
10-Johnny Benson -Someday, Johnny Benson is going to thank me for all of this faith I have in him!
Others To Watch:
4-Kevin Lepage -I don't know why, just a feeling.
88-Dale Jarrett -Should I choose anyone else these days?
6-Mark Martin -Past winner here.
40-Sterling Marlin -All Sterling did last week after the race was cry. Reminded me of Dale Jarrett the first four weeks of the season. Frustration has to be setting in for Marlin who has been at the head of the field for every race this season. Perhaps a good run will bring Marlin back.
1-Steve Park -Park can't catch a break at the plate tracks, and after a heartbreak last week, he'll be looking to pick up where he left off in previous races.
Well, gang, that will about do it for me this week. I hope all of your favorites do well, but not as well as mine!
As for an official top five, I'll go with this:
-1. 28-Ricky Rudd
-2. 17-Matt Kenseth
-3. 24-Jeff Gordon
-4. 88-Dale Jarrett
-5. 2-Rusty Wallace
Until next time, my friends....
You can send feedback to Jim at: Insider Racing
Source URL.. Hope I am not violating any copywrite laws pasting this!
http://pages.prodigy.net/ronfelix/info8.html
