The Pit Stop is the essential guide to setting your Fantasy Racing lineup for the upcoming week. We provide you with pertinent news and roster management advice during every race week. It seems Kyle Busch can do no wrong this season, at least to this point of the year. Kyle came from a lap down, escaped an-almost accident with Jamie McMurray and eventually took the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway last Sunday. He took the checkered flag under caution when a 12-car wreck on the final lap brought out the yellow flag.
Kyle has two wins now in the Sprint Cup series and also has seven wins combined in NASCAR's top three series. He has wins on a road course, an intermediate track, short track and also a superspeedway.
Juan Pablo Montoya finished second for his best Cup result to date on a superspeedway. Denny Hamlin, David Ragan and Brian Vickers managed to avoid the wreck and completed the top five.
Tony Stewart led a race-high 61 laps, but he got caught in the middle of that final lap accident and ended up way back in 38th place. Tough luck for Stewart there at the end as he had a good car all day.
Now it's off to Richmond, Virginia for the Royal Crown 400 where Jimmie Johnson is the defending champion. By the way, Kyle Busch finished second in this race last May, so it looks like Kyle may come up with another positive race again come Saturday night.
This is the second night race of the year and one of five consecutive upcoming events scheduled to be run under the lights. Kyle also turns 23 on May 2, a day before the race.
This also is the track where Dale Earnhardt Jr. last won a race on the Sprint Cup circuit in 2006. It's been a long time waiting. There's no doubt Junior is hungry for a victory, but the count is up to 71 races without a win. Remains to be seen if he can figure out a way to end this lengthy drought.
Driver Stockwatch
Here's a list of drivers expected to produce better or worse than their salaries indicate on the coming track. Prices are derived from the
CBS Sports.com Fantasy Racing Challenge: Best value
Kyle Busch, $293,055: Even though he is pretty expensive, Kyle has to be given consideration just about every week and at every track. He is on a roll right now, and until he starts cooling off, give him a look for your Fantasy lineups. He was runner-up twice at Richmond and also finished fourth two times and fifth once.
J.J. Yeley, $97,187: Here's a driver that might give a surprisingly good result at this track. Yeley has posted results of 10th, 13th, 14th and 22nd in four starts at Richmond. That's an average of 14.8 and surely a driver to possibly include in lineups for a good price this week.
Jeff Gordon, $207,777: He placed fourth in both races at Richmond last year. That says a lot right there about his performances at the track. Gordon also has two career Richmond wins and has led the most laps among active drivers with 1,059.
Tony Stewart, $240,833: Look for 'Smoke' to rebound at one of his favorite tracks after the bad luck at Talladega. Stewart has three wins at Richmond in the earlier part of his NACSAR career, but he also has not finished lower than 19th in the last eight races at the track. Clearly the type of driver that performs well here and should be given some consideration for Fantasy lineups this week.
Kurt Busch, $175,833: His price is not all that bad for a track where he finished fifth and ninth last season. Kurt also has a win at Richmond back in the 2005 fall race.
Clint Bowyer, $253,333: Definitely worth a look this week at Richmond where he has not placed lower than 12th in his four starts at the track. He was ninth last May and 12th in the second stop in September. In 2006, he also was 12th in Sept. and 10th in May. Those are pretty consistent results by anyone's standards.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,$277,222: This is the track he last visited Victory Lane in 2006. Can it also be the track he ends a 71-race winless drought? Junior did not have the most impressive results here in 2007 (13th, 30th), but he does have three wins at Richmond and nine top 10s in 17 races.
Overpriced value
Jeff Burton, $299,166: As the most expensive driver on the list, Burton might be one to leave off lineups this particular week. While he does have a win at Richmond (in 1998), he was last in this event last year and 18th in Sept. Burton averages about a 15th place finish in his career at this track.
Jamie McMurray, $158,055: This is not the track where one wants to invest this amount in a driver who averages only a 26th-place finish. McMurray does have two top 10s in his 10 career races at Richmond, just not lately. He has finished 25th or lower in four of the five races, with showings of 41st and 38th in the two stops last season.
Brian Vickers, $201,111: This is way too expensive for Vickers at Richmond. After a respectable eighth finish in 2004 in his first start at the track, his results have declined steadily since, finishing 24th (twice), 32nd and 37th (three times). This amount is definitely better spent on another driver this week.
Martin Truex Jr., $188,611: He has been having some tough breaks this season and Richmond is not the type of track where one can afford tough breaks. With finishes of 41st, 40th, 28th and 15th, Truex averages a 31st place finish at Richmond.
Juan Pablo Montoya, $210,833: His confidence should be sky high after the second-place finish at Talladega. But that was a large track, and Richmond is a lot shorter. The Colombian driver did not fare all that well in his first two stops at Richmond last season, finishing 26th in May and 41st in Sept. That's a lot of money to take a chance on results like that.
Carl Edwards, $253,888: Although Edwards is a fine driver, this is one race you might want to look for another car in this price range. Edwards has been somewhat inconsistent at Richmond where he has only two top 10s in seven career starts. His other five finishes have been 12th, 21st (twice), 35th and 42nd.
David Gilliland, $186,111: For this week, Gilliland should not be considered too much for Fantasy lineups. At least, not at this price. In three Richmond races, Gilliland has not finished better than 22nd. His other two results are 42nd, in this race last spring, and 36th.
| T H E P I T S T O P S T A R T I N G F I V E |
| Beat the Expert! Staying within the $1,000,000 parameters set in the 2008 CBS Sports.com Fantasy Racing Challenge, here are the picks for this week's best lineup for the money: |
| Driver | 2007 Richmond finish | Salary |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88, Chevrolet) | 13th | $277,222 |
| Kurt Busch (No. 2, Dodge) | 5th | $175,833 |
| Jeff Gordon (No. 24, Chevrolet) | 3rd | $207,777 |
| Tony Stewart (No. 20, Toyota) | 8th | $240,833 |
| J.J. Yeley (No. 96, Toyota) | 14th | $ 97,187 |
| Total salaries | $998,852 |
Next race: Dodge Challenger 500 -- Darlington Raceway -- May 10
