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 took a while, 76 races to be exact, before Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally made it to Victory Lane again, but he finally did on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. It was a two-year winless streak, the longest of his career.
Junior played the fuel mileage strategy and it just worked right as he ran out of gas shortly after crossing the finish line. His pit crew had to run up pit lane and help roll his car to Victory Lane for the celebrations. The win was only the second of the season for Hendrick Motorsports.
Now the series heads to the West Coast again to sunny California for the first of the two road course events on the Sprint Cup schedule. It is at the 1.99-mile Infineon Raceway road course at Sonoma. The race is 110 laps and 219 miles long. Watkins Glen in upstate New York is the second road course race on August 12.
Juan Pablo Montoya is the defending champion. He also used the fuel mileage strategy to take his first checkered flag in Cup series. He was the first foreign-born racer to win a Cup race since Earl Ross of Canada did at Martinsville in 1974.
Road courses can be a struggle for many of the regulars on the circuit, which makes owners at times hire road course specialists like Boris Said, Ron Fellows, P.J. Jones and Scott Pruett.
But two of the regulars who also are extremely good on road courses are Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Gordon has notched nine career wins on road courses. Stewart has six road course wins, having won more recently than Gordon at Watkins Glen last summer.
Besides Stewart, J. Gordon and Montoya, who is good on road courses from his days in Formula One, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick also have skills to perform well on the left-and-right turn tracks.
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
Jeff Gordon, $237,666: He averages an 8.7 finish in the last 10 races at Infineon, which includes five wins, but also struggled twice finishing 37th (2002) and 33rd (2005). Gordon placed seventh last season. It's hard not to consider Jeff for your lineups this week.
Tony Stewart, $220,666: Always among the favorites at road courses. Stewart finished sixth here last year, just ahead of Gordon. But he does have two wins in the last seven years at Sonoma, the last in 2005. Stewart averages a finish of 10th at this course in nine starts.
Juan Pablo Montoya, $173,000: He should be up to try and defend his first career Cup win. Montoya is the winner coming from furthest back at Infineon after he started 32nd. He led the final seven laps.
Robby Gordon, $122,333: Led a race-high 48 laps at this event last year, but only finished 16th after the late pit strategies did not pan out. Robby swept the road courses in 2003 when he competed for Richard Childress Racing.
Greg Biffle, $239,000: His first race at Sonoma was a rough one finishing 37th, but he's turned it up since. Biffle has results of 13th, 14th, fourth and a fifth from last year. That gives him an average finish of 14.6 and he should be able to record another quality result this season.
Boris Said, $22,500: He is usually good for a top 10 finish on road courses and how can you not consider him at this extremely cheap price this week? Said finished ninth at Sonoma the last two years. He also was sixth in successive seasons in 2003-04.
Overpriced value
Kyle Busch, $293,833: While lineups can be juggled a bit easier to stay under the $1 million parameters this week, Kyle remains on the high end pricing due to his points lead status. He averages a 19.7 finish, but has improved in is three starts here from 40th to 11th to eighth last year.
Carl Edwards, $276,166: Only a 20.7 average in three races at Sonoma, fluctuating from results of 38th to sixth to 18th last year. He is too expensive for this week, in addition to the fact he is not a big fan of road course racing.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., $279,833: Despite snapping his winless streak, this is not a race where Junior does particularly well. He has not finished in the top 10 in eight races, with 11th as his best showing on two occassions. Junior was 13th last season.
Matt Kenseth, $216,666: Another driver who has not been able to finish in the top 10 at Sonoma in eight starts. Kenseth's best result, just like Junior's, was 11th in 2005. Kenseth averages a 23.5 finish in his career at this course.
David Ragan, $217,333: Even though his only start was 29th last season, the money to spend on Ragan this week appears to be too much. No need to risk this amount when there are some safer options available.
Casey Mears, $150,166: If one needs an average score of 20th this week, then Mears is your guy. He has finished 20th twice, 26th and 27th. Mears did have a seventh finish in 2004.
| 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 Sonoma finish | Salary |
| Tony Stewart (No. 20, Toyota) | 6th | $220,666 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42, Dodge) | 1st | $173,000 |
| Jeff Gordon (No. 24, Chevrolet) | 7th | $237,666 |
| Greg Biffle (No. 16, Ford) | 5th | $239,000 |
| Boris Said (No. 60, Ford) | 9th | $ 22,500 |
| Total salaries | $892,832 |
Next race: Lennox Industrial Tools 301 -- New Hampshire -- June 29
