[uncle vinny]

with no race this weekend, thought id review the first 8 races to s6th all day iee what we learned. So far the new car has offered high speeds and a huge learning curve for both the teams and more importantly those who bet. while i think for the most part we have had a good year putting ourselfs in position to win races, the wins have been hard to come by.

i got off to a great start with hambo in the sprint, harvick at phoenix and brad at vegas. however, since i have near misses with gordon at fontana, bowyer at martinville and gordon at texas. missed badly at bristol and darlington with hamlin running 6th all race long in both. i've had harvick almost weekly till darlington when finally nothing went wrong.

going forward, i expect harvicks odds to be way to low to bet and the fact that now he can really commit to winning will make him a force that we will all have to dodge on a weekly basis.

penske teams have been very impressive, as most of you predicted for brad, but joey has been a pleasant surprise as well for me since he is on my futures list at 25-1. Gibbs on the other hand, have been a disappointment. yes kly has the win, but he ran 5th all day in that and used tires to get the win. hamlin is a huge disappoint if you ask me. and i would say to him "yes we have a few questions for you" i still think he and matt get wins this year and i still think hamlin is a contender for the cup based on his consistency and the tracks in the chase. will hold out hope for him till new hampshire. if he goes back to form there then he is still a player and i have him at 18/1 for the cup. matt is having the year i expected after last years run. seems like that happens every year.

the hendrick camp is intresting for the fact that 3 cars are right there every week, and kahn has just flat out sucked. gets to 8th or so in a race and just cant go any further. johnson has drifted to 7/2 for the cup which i think is getting to be a fair number and again if he gets thru the 2nd leg and dega...could be the champ easy (well in the sense he is in final) not a big fan of one race to win, but it is the way it is.

the most intriging part of the season to me, is the testing strategy that the race winners will enjoy. harvick for one can use all four at the final 10, while bowyer and others will have to use them to get into the chase. however with all the alliances could see some one win teams testing for the rest of the company for races leading up to the chase...kurt for hendrick and so on.

so with that, lets get the next segment going. have some night races and the all star coming up quick and of course the coke 600.

i would say this about prior years results, meaning less and less going forward and not to be afraid to bet a guy that hasnt run good at a track, but shows life on race weekends. (similiar to harvick at darlington) lets pick the winners and worry about what they pay later. didnt do me a bit of good having hamling at 12 and 14 at darlington and him sucking all night long.

good luck for the segment fella's

[shaunovery]

My own views are

#48 team a little behind on things due to there chase win last yr expect them to come on nxt few weeks

#4 been strong every week except for a few hiccups could of won at least 1 more he will be fine for the chase

#24 my surprise for the season been running well each week just doesn't win enough

#20 not just up to speed at the minute seems a little down from last yr

#2 and #22 seems to have this new qualifying down to a fine art as well as good speed every week gotta think they will both make the chase

Think overall this yr seems as open as ever with at least 6 cars each week able to win