The racing was much better this time around.  Last year it would be close racing after the restarts and then they would get strung out, until the very end when Keslowski and Kyle Busch battled for the win.

 This year Trever Baynes set racing history, and only at 19 years old.  He captured his third straight pole in the division.  The last was some guy named Jeff Gordon back in 92.  He joins Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin, and Sam Arp.  Ryan “the Rocket” Newman better watch out as the next pole position driver is upon his. 

Bayne showed that he had a car to race up front as well as him and Kyle Busch raced many, many laps side by side.  By the end of the racing, Bayne finished in 5th place.  Kyle Busch easily was the best car last night and despite the challenges from Bayne and later Kevin Harvick, held them all of and won the race that Keslowski got from him last year.

The race was halted twice.  First when Reed Sorenson’s tire went down and he slammed the outside wall and later when a multiple and scary looking crash when Colin Braun was sitting sideways on the track when Brian Keslowski nearly hit him in the driver’s side door and also took out Brendan Gaughn.

Michael Annett made all Iowa fans proud by coming home in 7th place.

Is Michael Waltrip the next owner to find the great young talent out there?  Right now he has Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex under his umbrella as developmental drivers.

The Nationwide series will make their 2nd appearance at the Iowaspeedway tonight.  Last year it was run during the day and was a packed house.

Just Allgaier was the best driver early on until it became the Kyle Busch v Brad Keslowski show.  The racing wasn’t that great, but it was fun watching those two battle it out after restarts.  Keslowski essentially got the win when late in the race he didn’t pit and Busch did and then held off Busch.

There was a battle going on between those two drivers as I questioned Keslowski after the race why he choose the inside line late in the race on the double file restarts when everyone else had been choosing the outside.  He responded by laughing and saying that there were things going on with him and Busch that people didn’t know about and that he made that call on his own.  In other words, I didn’t want Kyle to come up into me or get into me when I had the high line.

It was a popular win.

Last year we only saw Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, NASCAR regulars at the race as Sprint Cup was at Pocono.  This year they are again at Pocono but we get to see Edwards, Harvick, Paul Menard, Reed Sorenson, Clint Bowyer, and Brad Keslowski.

For this race, and any Nationwide race, you have to pick one of the NASCAR regulars to win it and then we have to pick one of the Nationwide drivers to be the highest finishing driver.

For the NASCAR regulars, I am picking Kyle Busch to win it.  He has raced on the Iowa Speedway more than any of the other NASCAR regulars.

For the regulars, I see Justin Algaier again pacing everyone.  Im sure people will want Steven Wallace, being Rusty’s son, and local Iowa driver Michael Annett.

Watching the Brickyard 400, with the huge number of seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the lack of fans attending the races was really obvious.  It has been this way for a few years, but seems to be getting worse.

Some people claim its just boring to watch the cars everywhere and I really don’t agree with that at all.  We have had some very interesting races this year.  Bottom line its the preception of the economy.

The tracks really need to pull a Burton Smith out of their hat and offer killer deals to fans, so they come to the track.

Looking at the specials Burton Smith has right now for the October race in Charlotte-

1.  Kevin Harvick-He came from the back to finish 9th at Atlanta and stays at #1 with Johnson having problems.  LW-Same

2.  Matt Kenseth-Four races and four top 8 finishes.  Comes after a 2nd place finish at Atlanta.  LW-6

3.  Jimmie Johnson-A bad week at Atlanta (For him) where he finished 12th drops him from 2nd to 3rd.  LW-2

4.  Greg Biffle-All finishes have been inside the top 10.  He is the quiet one that no one talks about.  LW-7

5.  Tony Stewart-After a bad Daytona 500, Smoke is building momentum.  LW-8

6.  Clint Bowyer-His first bad race of the season drops him down here.  Lets see if he can get back to the top 10 finishes. LW-3

7.  Mark Martin-A 33rd place finish at Atlanta drops him down to here.    LW-4

8.  Joey Logano-A 35th place finish at Atlanta drops hims down to here, all because of the Keslowski v Edwards battle.  LW-5

9.  Jeff Burton-  He stays here as he only finished in the 20th place spot.  Is this a sign that the first three races were not what we would see all year?  LW-9

10.  Jeff Gordon-The same as Burton as Gordon came home with an 18th place finish.  LW-12

11.  Kurt Busch-After dropping out of the standings, he is back after winning at Atlanta.  LW-NR

12.  Kasey Kahne-Two straight top 10 finishes moves Kahne into the top 12 standings-  LW-NR

Dropped out-Carl Edwards and David Reutimann

1-10-Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch

 This guy knows how to win at Bristol and usually finishes well.  Two wins in a row for the Miller Lite Dodge.

11-20-Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

We’ll keep it with the Busch brothers here as Kyle is due to have a good race.  He has only been okay this year with no finishes in the top 13.  That changes today, but it will be tough starting way back in 38th place.

21-30-Marcos Ambrose

Marcos Ambrose

This is the perfect track for Ambrose, outside of the road courses.  He came home 3rd and 10th last year and starts 9th this year.  You won’t see him here again until Watkins Glen and Sonoma.

31-+- Brad Keslowski

Brad Keslowski

Keslowski was in the top 10 last week when Carl Edwards turned him upside down.  He starts way back in 36th, but this is a track where he can be agressive and get away with it.

The picks for HotLanta.

Top 10-Mark Martin

Mark Martin

Martin is looking strong at Atlanta and qualified 4th.  Look for him to break the 2 race wining streak that Jimmie Johnson has going for him.

11-20-Dale Earnhardt, Jr

Dale Earnhardt, Jr

Junior is doing much better than last year, although not great-just good.  He is on the pole here and the dominance of Hendrick so far, means you need to give him a chance here.

21-30-Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya

Montoya has had terrible luck this year from enigines blowing up to his teammate getting into him.  Give him a chance here.

31+-Ryan Newamn

1.  Kevin Harvick-He still leads the points and made it up to 2nd place at Las Vegas after starting deep in the pack.  LW-1

2.  Jimmie Johnson-Another week and another win, moves Johnson up to 2nd place.  LW-3

3.  Clint Bowyer-Three races and three top 8 finishes.  LW-2

4.  Mark Martin-Two straight 4th place finishes and looking strong at Atlanta. LW-4

5.  Joey Logano-The greatest thing since….Tony Stewart.  A 5th and 6th place finish the last two races.  LW-7

6.  Matt Kenseth-He is looking to keep the #1 driver tag at Roush with three top 8th place finishes.  LW-9

7. Greg Biffle-Two 10th place finishes in a row is great, but not enough to keep him from falling in the rankings.  LW-5

8.  Tony Stewart-Two straight top 10 finishes for smoke, moves him on up.  LW-11

9.  Jeff Burton-He came home in 11th place, the same as his finish at Daytona.  Good but not great.  LW-8

10.  Carl Edwards-He has finished better than 13th, all three races.  LW-12

11.  David Reuitmann-Reutimann hits the rankings for the first time as he leads Michael Waltrip Racing.  LW-NR

12.  Jeff Gordon-After two bad races, he had the 2nd best car at Las Vegas and lead the most laps.  LW-NR

Dropped Out-Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch.

I am also going to start listing a ranking of drivers for the top 12.

1.  Kevin Harvick-I really thought he would struggle this year as he is in the last year of his contract, and generally teams fall apart at that point.  The rumblings is that Harvick will leave the RCR team.  However, a top finish in the final standings may keep him there.

2.  Clint Bowyer-RCR part two.  Bowyer is looking like a stud this year with the resurgence.  An 8th place finish at Las Vegas showed that he is here to stay.

3.  Jimmie Johnson-A bad Daytona and then a win at Fontana, shows that Johnson is still someone that you have to contend with.  He isn’t going away anytime soon.

4.  Mark Martin-Two very solid finishes this year.  12th at Daytona and 4th and Fontana. 

5.  Greg Biffle-The driver who gets no respect but is clearly the #1 driver, results wise, for Jack Roush. 

6.  Jamie McMurray-Of course he won the Daytona 500 with a very strong car.  He was solid at Fontana as well and was charging towards the front at the end of the race before slipping to 17th.

7.  Joey Logano-This is the year that the #20 gets back to the top of the standings.  Logano is my pick to win at Las Vegas this week.

8.  Jeff Burton-There is no way that all three RCR teams can be at the top, so I am putting Burton down here.  Prove me wrong Jeff!

9.  Matt Kenseth-I like what I see with Parrott taking over the crew chief duties here.  Usually when Kenseth qualifies good, its a bad sign-this week he starts 11th.  He may be dropping of this list next week.

10.  Kurt Busch- A rough Daytona 500 and then a strong Fontana race by coming home 6th puts him here.

11.  Tony Stewart-He has only been okay this year, but he did finish 9th last week.

12.  Carl Edwards-The baby is here, the back flip is back and he is in the top 10.  However, he isn’t running up front yet.

When looking at the drivers this week, you should only consider the past results from 2007 on when they repaved the speedway.  It went from another boring flat track race (Fontana, Chicago, Michigan) and became a much racier track.

Top 10-Joey Logano

Joey Logano

Joey Logan in the top 10?  You betcha!  After finishing very strong at the end of 2009, we find him sitting in 9th place and he will be starting up front by qualifying in 6th place.  He came home in 13th place in his only other Cup start at Las Vegas.  Surprise your racing league by going out on a limb and taking him.

11-20th-Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon

Ryan Newman

What a terrible start Newman has had in 2010.  Getting caught up in a wreck in Daytona and then a blown engine at Fontana.  Newman has to get out of his funk and it starts here with a 3rd place qualifying run.  Las Vegas has never been kind to him, so it is a risk.  If you are not comfortable with him, choose Kasey Kahne who is also in the same position.

Drivers to consider for your Fantasy Racing Lineups this week.

1-10 

Juan Montoya

Juan Montoya-The Earnhardt Genassi team looks to be very strong this year.  With McMurray winning the Daytona 500 and then McMurray and Montoya qualify 1-2

11-20

Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards-A Roush driver has won 6 of the last 7 races here.  So far the Roush drivers haven’t lit it up this year, so I am not confident in them but you have to give them a chance.

21-30

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart-A good thing with Daytona, you have some studs to pick from.  Stewart wsa good last week at Daytona (not great) before getting caught up in an incident.  Stewart is starting midpack but should make his way forward.

31+

Jimmie Johnson-See above, you have to take the defending champion here, but was last week a sign of things to come?  Has the bad luck that he always avoids finally catching up to him?  We can only hope.

The Guru