Rank 'em: Las Vegas

A quick look at the top ten drivers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series

1) Jeff Gordon (+1) Gordo makes his first #1 appearance in the history of rank 'em this week. 3 Top-10s to start the year is stellar, and also its the first time he's done it since 1997.
2) Mark Martin (-1) Sure, he's started strong, but he's insisting that he won't run a full schedule. And I'm starting to believe him. Shouldn't you be committed to being #1?
3) Jimmie Johnson (+2) Got his 3rd win in a row at Vegas, and that meant he got to have his eyebrow done for the 3rd time at a posh Vegas salon.
4) Jeff Burton (-3) If he wouldn't have had the mechanical issue late, he would have scored another top 5.
5) Matt Kenseth (-1) A typical Kenseth robot day, stayed really quiet and wound up with a top 5. No circuit board malfunctions this week.
6) Tony Stewart (+1) Tony, your harsh words for LVMS don't mean as much if you get a top 10.
7) Kevin Harvick (-5) Did someone forget to change his tire at California? Did he ever make it to Vegas?
8) Denny Hamlin (+1) The sophomore slump hasn't happened yet. That is, until he finishes 2nd at Pocono. That's when it's time to worry about his performance.
9) Kyle Busch (-1) He wrecked twice this weekend, and both times he managed a Top 10. You don't hear that often.
10) Dale Earnhardt Jr. We welcome this newb to rank 'em mainly because his commercials get better ever year. Except the Chevy Impala one. That's just stupid.

uaw daimler-chrysler 400 race rewind

Ridin' the "razor blade" of handling at Vegas, here's a rundown of Sunday's happenings.

The Story.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson
How it was done: Johnson passed Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton on lap 240 and held in for his 24th career victory.
Top 5: Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamiln, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin
Yellow Flags: 9 cautions for 40 laps, just 1 caution shy of track record
Points Situation: 1. Mark Martin, 2. Jeff Gordon (-6), 3. Jeff Burton (-42)

News/Notes/Ramblings.
It was all yellow. With 3 cautions early in the race, it looked like this one was going to be as bad as Kevin Harvick ("This race is gonna suck.") and Tony Stewart said it would be. And for all intents and purposes, the race did lack any real excitement. Cars couldn't run side by side easily because the tire was simply too hard. For the third race in 2 years, the drivers have complained and complained about a new pavement job at a speedway, and nothing has been done to fix the problem. It's true, in this day and age, the drivers should be able to race, not skate around for 400 miles.
Stupid Move. Robby Gordon might have shown Sunday just why he didn't have a sponsor on the race car this weekend. Early in the race, he decided that making a late dive into turn one under not 1, but 2 cars was a great idea. Racing side-by-side into the corner were Ward Burton and Casey Mears, and Robby made it three-wide, bottomed out on the apron on corner entrance and went up and slammed into Ward Burton, who made contact with Casey Mears. The only car to make it through the wreck? Robby Gordon. Just when you think that Robby Gordon might have decided to become a smart driver, he makes a move like this. Geez.
What happened?After Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton both overtook Jeff Gordon, it looked as if that would be the way they would finish. Instead, Burton started to fall off big time before the last caution. He ended up pitting under caution and wound up 15th, despite leading 4 laps sunday. Was it a tire issue?

Rank 'em will come later tonight

pick 'em round 3 champ: geoffrey miller

the standings.

after round 3 of 36 (UAW Daimler Chrysler 400, Las Vegas)

1. 25 points - trevor sager (1 pick 'em win)
2. 20 points - geoffrey miller (2 - Top 5s)
2. 10 points - drew owen (1 - Top 5, 1 - Top 10)

Well, your rough clarity host took his first overall victory in the NASCAR pick 'em contest with Jeff Gordon's 2nd place finish Sunday at Las Vegas. I took the 24 car for the second straight week, and the bet paid off, as Gordon had his 3rd top-ten finish of the year, placing him 2nd in points, 6 behind Mark Martin. As for the rest of the pick 'em contenders, Trevor had a a good day at the beginning, but Kurt Busch really faltered late and wound up 26th. Drew would have taken the 5 points from Trev, but Kasey Kahne wrecked his second race car of the weekend with less than 30 laps to go, leaving Drew with second goose egg.

Next week: The NNS visits Atlanta for a 500 mile event. Eat a peach.

welcome to the wreckfest.

just a quick race update with 237 to go.

1) Robby Gordon is a moron.
what was he thinking? three-wide into turn one early in the race? mor-on.

2) We've had 3 cautions in the first 20 laps. 3.
yep, the tire issue isn't gonna matter today. we have a caution before the tires ever get hot.

and now, we just our fourth caution. aric almirola spun it on the frontstretch.

this race could be over by 10pm est. if we're lucky.

UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400 pick 'em

After a week off for a visit south of the border by the Busch Series, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series roars back to life this weekend in what can best be described as a crapshoot -- and no pun intended. Sure, the race is at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but luck will definitely play into determining who makes the trip to Victory Lane. The track has been completely reconfigured with more banking, the pit road entry has drastically changed, and the tires -- in the mind of the drivers -- are horrendous. So what's that mean for this week's pick 'em? We'll be extremely lucky to come up with a driver that doesn't end up in the wall.

trevor sager (20 points) - kurt busch.
pick 'em leader sager goes with the hometown boy this weekend at Vegas, as he expects the #2 Miller Lite Dodge to be near the front. Busch starts 10th on Sunday.

drew owen (10 points) - kasey kahne.
drew hopes to get back in the points this weekend by picking Kasey Kahne, Sunday's polesitter for the 400. it would be a fitting pick, have a daimler-chrysler company vehicle take home the trophy.

geoffrey miller (10 points) - jeff gordon.
"Cliche or not, I'm gonna stick with my driver for the second-straight week. Last year, this would have been a different story due to the 24's struggles on the 1.5 milers, but I see a new consistency in this team during the first two races. It's going to pay off again on Sunday -- with quite a bit of luck, obviously."

the standings.

after round 2 of 36

1. 20 points - trevor sager (1 pick 'em win)
2. 10 points - drew owen* (1 - Top 5, 1 - Top 10)
3. 10 points - geoffrey miller* (1 - Top 5)

* = standings were decided by tiebreaker rule.

btt: iu v. illinois halftime

As they headed to the locker room for the break, the Hoosiers lead the Illini by 3, 24-21. Leading scorers are Shaun Pruitt with 8 for Illinois and DJ White and Armon Bassett of the Hoosiers with 7 apiece.

The crowd? Mostly orange. However, the IU contingent is definitely heard. The Hoosiers could play much, much better still. And AJ Ratliff may have injured his hand. It seems OK for now, but we'll hear about that after the game.

Erin Andrews report: She has left the building. Tear.

on to the 2nd half on espn+!

15:55 left

Just to recap, our Big Ten winners so far today include Ohio State and Purdue. Right now, 2-seed Wisconsin leads 36-28 over Michigan State, who has started a small comeback. We'll see what happens there. Go Michigan State, i think.

As for, of course, the important game today, the Hoosiers are expected to start Armon Bassett, Earl Calloway, Roderick Wilmont, Mike White and DJ White. It seems Kelvin wants to come out with a very strong inside presence to get the 3-point shot open for Wilmont and AJ Ratliff. The Hoosiers need a strong, smart effort from the two players down low becaue foul trouble has been a huge hinderence for IU this year.

Right now, Wisconsin has the overwhelming fan support here, although a few Michigan State fans are coming out of the woodwork as the Spartans stage their modest comeback here. Unfortunetly, a large number of Illinois shirts are starting to appear...

See you at halftime, hopefully. Wisconsin leads 38-33 with 13:41 to go.

welcome to the big show (well, kinda)

I come to you now live from the United Center in Chicago courtside for the 207 Big Ten Tournament. Yeah, i'm excited.

Right now, Ohio State and Michigan ar battling it out early in the 2nd half, and I am yet to see how Ohio State can ever be ranked number one in the country. They lead by 8 over a terrible Michigan team. Well, maybe not terrible but they are pretty damn bad.

On to more important things. The apartment here is splendiferous and the Erin Andrews is 12 times that. Maybe 13.

We had Rock Bottom for dinner last night, because, well, it was right next to the apartment.

Ending this post, OSU is up 46-39 with 12:47 to play. Go wolverines.

more updates whenver.