Power Rankings: The battle is for third as Earnhardt Jr. and Keselowski separate themselves from the pack

Guess what's back, back, back again? Power rankings are back, tell a friend. Our weekly From the Marbles staple is back for 2014 and once again, it's far from a scientific formula as it's the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. Direct all your complaints to us at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com.

And no, we're not expanding Power Rankings to 16 drivers.

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 1): We touched on it in the Chrome Horn Debrief, but it's worth mentioning again that crediting the new Chase format for Junior's decision to gamble on fuel is unfair to NASCAR history, even if Junior says the decision was motivated by the format. This is not the first time in NASCAR that someone has gambled on fuel mileage to attempt to win a race, nor is it the last. And besides, it's not like the No. 88 was three laps short and threw a Hail Mary.

2. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2): When you've got two guys separated by a single point in the standings and they each have a win this early in the season, we're going to the lowest finish tiebreaker. Keselowski's is third, while Junior's is second. Sorry Brad, you stay in second. But we promise that you're even a closer second than you were last week. Have a Girl Scout cookie.

3. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 5): Speaking of Girl Scout cookies, what's with the reaction to this ad? Check out some of the tweets that Johnson responded to. Good grief. On the track Sunday, Johnson finished sixth, his third straight top-six finish to start the year. Yes, it's even possible that Johnson and the No. 48 crew is having an "underrated" start to the season. Part of it is the exceptional performances of the two drivers ahead of him and part of it is the fact that Johnson still thinks his team is a tick off. Scary.

4. Jeff Gordon (LW: 4): Three races and three top 10s for Gordon. If yo're tiering the points standings, he's right with Johnson in the second tier. And hey, the early returns are promising over these first three races about the disappearance of the Gordon restart, in which Gordon loses multiple positions immediately after the green flag waves. But don't ask us if that has anything to do with the new points system, because we don't want to see how deep the abyss is.

5. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Once again, Harvick was the strongest Stewart-Haas car, but this time he didn't get the highest finish. After a broken left-front hub, Harvick was relegated to a 40th place finish and was actually last amongst his SHR comrades. Yes, he finished below Tony Stewart, though it's not impossible to think that Stewart wasn't racing the final half of Sunday's race. That car just disappeared.

6. Joey Logano (LW: 6): After finishing fourth, having Logano sixth doesn't seem fair. We'll totally admit it. But at the same time, can you really vault him above Harvick? He's ahead of Gordon by one point in the standings, so there's a slight argument there. And he's of course ahead of Harvick too. But if we're going to take the strength of Harvick's races (outside of the hub) and stack them against Logano's, Cupcake gets the edge. And besides, we need some variety.

7. Carl Edwards (LW: 9): We also mentioned this too on the Chrome Horn Debrief, but don't be too quick to jump on Edwards' Vegas performance as an endorsement of Roush. He was far and away better than Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all weekend. As an endorsement that Jimmy Fennig and Edwards are the best team at the shop? Sure. But nothing more than that at the moment.

8. Matt Kenseth (LW: 8): This was not the most compelling of race-title defenses by Flatline. He wasn't bad by any means -- he did a good job working his way up from a starting position that was settled in the first round of qualifying -- but it wasn't what we became accustomed to last year from this team either. Oh, and we'll also point out here that Kenseth didn't take tires and made a track position gamble for the win with 41 laps to go last year at Vegas. On Sunday, the final restart was with 42 to go.

9. Ryan Newman (LW: 12): It's two straight seventh-place finishes for Newman. We asked in last week's power rankings if he'd quasi-assume the role of Kevin Harvick in being far ahead of his two teammates. Well, after Sunday's race, there's been a different Richard Childress Racing car toting the bucket. If there's parity at RCR and it's not because one team came down to the level of the other two, it's great news for the organization.

10. Denny Hamlin (LW: 6): After the second-place finish at Daytona, Hamlin's finished outside the top 10 the last two weeks. But is it really that big of a concern? He's got two good tracks coming up in the next three weeks as well as one that he was a few football fields from winning at last year. On that note, how many times are we going to relive the Logano-Hamlin Bristol/California dustup over the next two weeks. 100?

11. Kyle Busch (LW: 11): Busch's car was super-fast over the first 100 laps of Sunday's race. From then on, yeah, not so much. After one restart late in the race, Busch's aggression made him some quick gains and you wondered if the car was back to where it was at the beginning of the race. But as soon as Busch made those passes, he started sliding backwards.

12. Paul Menard (LW: NR): PFM's first top-three finish since 2012 is worthy of an appearance in Power Rankings. Menard was an early-2013 Power Rankings staple before sliding out as the summer hit. Will he be able to repeat the effort in 2014? All it'll take is a few more top 10 finishes

�

The Lucky Dog: Martin Truex Jr. finished 14th after a not-so-stellar first two weeks of the season.

The DNF: He finished the race, but Stewart gets it this week.

Dropped Out: Greg Biffle

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/power-rankings--the-battle-is-for-third-as-earnhardt-jr--and-keselowski-separate-themselves-from-the-pack-152742258.html

Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza

INDYCAR Announces Leader Circle Entires & Payouts

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2014/02/indycar-announces-leader-circle-entires.html

Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood Bob Christie

Andrew Gosling Shoots The Phillip Island Tire Test, Day 1

To test tires, you must have tires to test

Deeply unhappy at Sepang, on top at Phillip Island. Funny things, tires

Ducati competing in the Open class hasn't stopped Cal Crutchlow from getting some serious lean

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/7AnijCHzSbQ/andrew_gosling_shoots_the_phillip_island.html

Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier

Photos: IMS Firestone Tire Test

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2013/09/photos-ims-firestone-tire-test.html

Pedro Diniz Duke Dinsmore Frank Dochnal Jose Dolhem

2014 Season Preview: No. 9 Brad Keselowski

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2014 season previews. Here's how we think the Chase will shake out in this first year of 16 drivers and eliminations. Will we be right? Unlikely, but it's fun to think about our soothsaying possibilities until the green flag waves for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 23.

Driver: Brad Keselowski

2013 Finish: 14th

2013 Highlight: The win at Charlotte. Without a win before the Chase, Keselowski was on the outside looking in when it started. But you could tell that there was something more important about Keselowski's win than simply getting into victory lane. Maybe it was the fact that his Penske Ford was good on an intermediate track. Maybe it's because it keyed some swagger back. Maybe because it was the week after your headgames with Kyle Busch. Maybe it's none of those things.

Anyway, we're pretty sure it wasn't just another win.

2013 Lowlight: To put missing the Chase into context, the lowlight has to be the "what-if?" of Watkins Glen. The question was bound to linger had Keselowski done the opposite of what he ended up doing and did put the bumper to Busch. Instead, it lingered sourly because Keselowski didn't get another chance for a pre-Chase win.

However, it's also possible to overstate the significance of Watkins Glen. Yes, things would have likely played out differently had Keselowski won, but even with a win, he wouldn't have made the Chase.

Why is Keselowski here? Because we think 2013 was an aberration and Keselowski will get a win early in the season and make worrying about Chase qualification irrelevant. We'll say it happens at Bristol.

How could Keselowski not be here? Another winless streak pops up and is combined with a summer swoon like last year. Like many drivers in the top 10, it's hard to envision a scenario where Keselowski won't make the Chase, but after last year, we know never to say never.

Best Winter Olympic event: We'd pay to see a Keselowski vs. Newman curling match. Is there a sabermetric equivalent in curling? Keselowski would probably be totally on board with it.

Worst Winter Olympic event: Let's go with a sprint event in cross country skiing. After seeing Keselowski's Kansas run, we're not too worried about his endurance. Top speed could be an issue, however.

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2014-season-preview-no-9-brad-keselowski-211137323--nascar.html

Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber Paolo Barilla

Your handy cheat sheet for the 2014 Budweiser Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500

The Budweiser Duel qualifying races at Daytona are unique, as it is the only occasion that NASCAR runs races to decide the starting grid for a race. But the ways drivers can make Sunday's Daytona 500 in the Duel can get a tad complicated.

So we're here to help. Or at least make it so that you may want to leave this post open for reference when the two Duel races are being run Thursday evening.

After Dave Blaney withdrew Wednesday evening following the vicious practice crash on the frontstretch, 48 cars are vying for 43 spots, so five cars will go home.

13 of those 48 cars are guaranteed not to miss the race. They are:

Austin Dillon (starting first in Daytona 500)
Martin Truex Jr. (starting second)
Greg Biffle (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Carl Edwards (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Ryan Newman (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Brad Keselowski (via Sunday's qualifying speed)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Jeff Gordon (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Jimmie Johnson (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Matt Kenseth (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Clint Bowyer (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Kyle Busch (guaranteed provisional via 2013 owner's points)
Tony Stewart (guaranteed provisional via winning 2011 championship)

The top 15 cars in each Duel are guaranteed to start the Daytona 500. (the first Duel fills out odd-numbered positions 3-31, while the second fills out even-numbered positions 4-32.) With the final seven positions (37-43) reserved for provisionals, spots 33, 34, 35 and 36 go to the fastest cars. Hence why Biffle, Edwards, Newman and Brad Keselowski are already guaranteed spots.

Got all that? Because provisionals are based off of the 2013 owner's points standings, Kasey Kahne isn't in the same position as, say, Michael McDowell. To miss the race, Kahne would need to finish outside the top 15 in his duel, have four drivers ahead of him during Sunday's front row qualifying session also miss out on the top 15 in their respective duels and have six -- or seven, if the Past Champion's Provisional isn't used -- drivers in the 2013 owner's standings also not finish in the top 15 and require a provisional.

We told you it was complicated. Here are who we think are the drivers in the most danger of missing the 500 and that five of the names below will fail to qualify for the race.

Duel 1:
Reed Sorenson
Parker Kligerman
Cole Whitt
Michael McDowell
Josh Wise
Joe Nemechek
Alex Bowman

Duel 2:
Landon Cassill
Eric McClure
Terry Labonte (could get Past Champion's Provisional)
Bobby Labonte (could get Past Champion's Provisional)
Ryan Truex
Morgan Shepherd

Or will it be someone who isn't on the list? You can find the starting lineup for the first Duel HERE and the second Duel HERE.

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/handy-cheat-sheet-2014-budweiser-duel-qualifying-races-214546072--nascar.html

Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy

All Prices on the SEAT Leon TGI

Although in Spain vehicles fueled by natural gas does not have a particularly high demand, SEAT have not wanted to miss the chance to offer a variant on the body of your Lion with five doors. With a view similar to the new Golf mechanical , Lion TGI block uses a 1.4-liter 110 hp and […]

Source: http://www.autocarblog.co.uk/634-all-prices-on-the-seat-leon-tgi.html

Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem Jean Behra Derek Bell

Track Position Could Be Key At Daytona

While you are taking a breather from the non-stop Danica coverage, consider this: this year’s Sprint Unlimited had 17 less lead changes than last year’s Bud Shootout. Granted the 2012 Shootout was seven laps longer, but it also wasn’t broken up into segments which kept the field together. Combine the number of lead changes with [...]

TheNASCARInsiders.com

Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/vNSd49O-ar4/

Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant

Start the music and let?s do the 2014 owner?s points shuffle

Dance like you've never danced before. The annual owner's points shuffle music is cued up.

In recent seasons, swaps and deals to ensure that teams have a guaranteed starting spot, or a better provisional draw provision have been just as common as the annual Sprint Unlimited before the Daytona 500.

This year, we've got some swaps, but no high profile ones. The biggest is an inter-team swap. Brian Vickers' No. 55 at Michael Waltrip Racing will be using the points from MWR's No. 56 last season.

Why does Vickers' car need points? The points from the No. 55 are being given to the No. 66, which is being operated as a timeshare agreement between Jay Robinson Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. The No. 66 will be driven by Waltrip at Daytona as an MWR car, but in the races that Waltrip or Jeff Burton don't participate in through MWR, it will be driven by Joe Nemechek. (It's a similar arrangement to the No. 33 last season. When Richard Childress Racing didn't run the No. 33 for Austin Dillon, it was fielded by Circle Sport.)

Nemechek's No. 87 last year under his own NEMCO Motorsports banner will now be run under the "Identity Ventures Racing" label. The No. 32 points from Frank Stoddard's FAS Lane Racing team last season will continue with the No. 32 and Go Green Racing this season. The two teams have entered a partnership for the 2014 season.

Last season, the owner's points from Tony Stewart's No. 14 were given to Danica Patrick and the No. 10 for the beginning of the season to ensure that Patrick would be in the Daytona 500. It didn't matter, as she won the pole for the race.

With the top 35 rule phased out before the 2013 season, owner's points matter only if a driver needs a provisional to make the race. If two drivers are vying for the final provisional, the car with the most owner's points gets the spot. The aforementioned points swaps for the 2014 season matter for the first three races. At the fourth race, 2014 points are used.

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/start-music-let-2014-owner-points-shuffle-132948052--nascar.html

Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso

Dodge Challenger R/T Shaker Sold Out in Just Four Days

The Tattletale Issue

Let me just say this first: I don’t care that somebody threw the Penske guys under the bus. There, I said it. (Cue the “you work for Hendrick” trolling in 3…2…1…) Last week, after both Penske cars were busted by NASCAR at Texas for some creative rear-end components, Jenna Fryer wrote that NASCAR may have [...]

TheNASCARInsiders.com

Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/TKI9I0UF9Q0/

Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen

50 Cent says he hasn?t watched the video of his encounter with Erin Andrews at the 2013 Daytona 500

50 Cent said he hasn't watched this video.

During last year's Daytona 500, the rapper tried to kiss Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews. As Andrews was walking down pit road during Fox's prerace show last year, she encountered 50 Cent, who immediately went in for a kiss and got stonewalled.

50 Cent is back at Daytona this year, thanks to a sponsorship agreement with Swan Racing. His company, SMS Audio, is an associate sponsor with the team. And when he was asked if he had watched the video of it, he said he hadn't.

"I wanted to kiss her, man," 50 Cent said. "You really want to know? She handled it amazingly too. It was one ... it was just an awkward moment."

"(Watching the video) That's probably what you do. You probably recap and go look at the video. See, I don't actually go back to see the awkward moment I had at the track."

Well, that's good to know. Maybe 50 went for the kiss because he likes the women at NASCAR races. Really, he said that when he was asked about what he's told others about his NASCAR experience.

"Honestly, I told them the women here are extremely hot," 50 Cent said. "And I don't know if you know this, but it's like, the coolest thing to do ? outside of going to church maybe, you can find good women in NASCAR."

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/50-cent-says-hasn-t-watched-video-encounter-165640540--nascar.html

Clemente Biondetti Pablo Birger Art Bisch Harry Blanchard

Saavedra Signs With KV AFS Racing

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2014/02/saavedra-signs-with-kv-afs-racing.html

Antonio Creus Larry Crockett Tony Crook Art Cross

Koenigsegg One:1

The Nationwide Series Is Going To Be Awesome In 2013

Thanks to a strong mix of young drivers and veterans trying to fight their way back to the top, with help from the NASCAR rule limiting drivers to one series for points, we are about to see the re-emergence of the Nationwide Series in 2013. I mean, have you seen the driver lineup? Instead of [...]

TheNASCARInsiders.com

Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/KUw4CLqEnOI/

Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell