Gambling on fuel doesn't always pay off. Just ask Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle, who both ran out of gas at the end of last week's LikeLock 400.
Johnson, who dominated last weekend's race in Michigan, overtook Biffle with six laps to go but ran out of fuel with two laps remaining and gave way to Biffle. Then Biffle ran out of gas and Mark Martin was able to cruise to an easy victory at Michigan International Speedway. It was Martin's third Cup win of the season and the 38th in his storied career.
Both Johnson and Biffle will get a chance at redemption at a very different track this weekend.
Some people think that the only thing NASCAR drivers can do is turn left. Those people have obviously never seen a Cup race at Sonoma.
The Sprint Cup series will see its first of two road courses this season as it heads to the Sonoma for this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. This isn't your typical NASCAR event.
IR is a two-mile road course in Sonoma, Calif. It consists of complex twists and turns as the drivers go up and down the hills. Fuel mileage is a major concern for the drivers as the laps take a very long time to complete because of all the maneuvering the drivers must do. Johnson and Biffle will need to do better with their fuel this week, that's for sure.
It is one of the more interesting races in the series and one of only two road courses on the Sprint cup circuit. The other is Watkins Glen. This race has some clear cut favorites coming into it. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have emerged as the top performers at IR through the years. However, there are plenty of road course specialists out there like Boris Said and Patrick Carpentier, who could end up in victory lane as well.
Tier 1 Start -- Jeff Gordon
There are pretty much two options for Tier 1 this week. You absolutely have to go with either Gordon or Stewart. I'm going with Gordon because he has five career wins at IR and has come in the top 10 in five of his last six starts in Sonoma. Stewart's pretty good too, however, with two wins and six top-10 finishes in 10 career races at Sonoma.
Others to consider: Kyle Busch; Tony Stewart
Tier 1 Sit -- Matt Kenseth
Kenseth had not finished in the top 10 at Infineon until 2008 when he maneuvered his way into eighth place. He has finished 20th or worse in four of his nine starts at Infineon and has by far the worst average finish (21.8) of any of the drivers in Tier 1.
Others to avoid: Jimmie Johnson; Kurt Busch
Tier 2 Start -- Juan Pablo Montoya
This is absolutely the week to get Montoya active in your lineup. He has a win and a sixth place finish in two races in Sonoma in his short Sprint Cup career and figures to be a contender once again this week. If you're not going to use Montoya this week, you might as well forget about using him the rest of Segment 2 because this is his best shot at a win.
Others to consider: Mark Martin; Clint Bowyer
Tier 2 Sit -- David Reutimann
Reutimann made his first career start at Sonoma last season and finished 40th after completing only 99 laps due to an accident. He doesn't have any open-wheel experience and there's no reason to think that he'll do much better this season.
Others to avoid: Kasey Kahne; Jeff Burton
Tier 3 Start -- Marcos Ambrose
Ambrose has the absolute worst finishing average of any driver in the field this week, with one 42nd place finish last season. However, he was in the top five before wrecking and started the race from the seventh pole position. He also had a third place finish at Watkins Glen in 2008. He is having a good 2009 campaign and this could be one of his best finishes of the year.
Others to consider: Casey Mears; Kevin Harvick
Tier 3 Sit -- Brian Vickers
Vickers has not finished in the top 10 at Sonoma in his first four career races there, finishing on average in 21st place. He'll likely come up with a respectable finish, but it's certainly not worth wasting a pick on him this week.
Others to avoid: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; Joey Logano
Tier 4 Start -- Sam Hornish, Jr.
Hornish finished 31st in his one Sprint Cup start at Sonoma. However, he is a three-time Indy Racing League champion and earned a victory on the IndyCar series at Sonoma back in 2003. In his other two starts in IndyCar races at Sonoma, he finished in fourth and fifth place.
Others to consider: Michael Waltrip; Elliott Sadler
Tier 4 Sit -- Reed Sorenson
Sorenson has finishes of 29th and 40th in two career races at Sonoma and did not participate in the event last season. He has only one top-10 finish all year and has little to no shot of picking up a second at IR this weekend.
Others to avoid: A.J. Allmendinger; David Stremme
Tier 5 Start -- John Andretti
The name Andretti is synonymous with open-wheel racing. John is making his first Sprint Cup start at Sonoma since 2002. He has two third place finishes there in his career and could surprise some people with a strong finish on Sunday.
Others to consider: Robby Gordon; David Gilliland
Tier 5 Sit -- Paul Menard
Menard is one of the better drivers in Tier 5 but he is not a good choice for this week's race. He finished 34th in his one career Cup start at Sonoma last season. He's had some poor finishes of late as well, with no top-10s to his credit this year.
Others to avoid: Brad Keselowski; Scott Speed
Ian's Starting Five
Tier 1 -- Jeff Gordon
Tier 2 -- Juan Pablo Montoya
Tier 3 -- Marcos Ambrose
Tier 4 -- Sam Hornish, Jr.
Tier 5 -- John Andretti
Do you have a Fantasy Racing question or a comment for Ian? Send him your feedback by clicking here and be sure to include your name and hometown!
