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Loud Racing in Loudon!!!

What:New Hampshire Duralube 300 (Race 26 of 34)
Where:New Hampshire Speedway
When:Sunday, Sept. 19, 12:30 pm; TNN

(Don't want to read my insightful and witty comments? Click here to go straight to making your picks.)

With less than ten races to go in the season, NASCAR travels to New Hampshire for the final race in the loathed northeast. Nobody likes it up there, except Jeff Gordon, who has a tendency to win races like crazy in Loudon. It's a pretty short track at just over a mile, and it's really flat. Add in the fact that the corners are nearly 90 degrees, and you've got the makings for a slow race. But it's only slow in the corners -- expect to see all kinds of passing in the long straightaways.

Getting into and out of these weird, flat corners is the whole trick, so you want to look at the guys who do best at maneuvering. Yep, we're talking Gordon, Mayfield, Andretti, Martin, all those dudes. Don't expect to see Mike Skinner in the top five. He might be a good DNF pick, though.

Seems like nothing makes a driver drive better than getting fired. Tide announces they're going to drop Rudd, he grabs the pole at the second Daytona event the next day. BellSouth gives Nemechek the ax, he comes in sixth in the next race. Kenny Irwin got cut by his team a little while back, and last Saturday he turned in a top five finish -- his first of the year. So get in mind some of these guys, and some of those other guys who will lose their rides at the end of the year. By the way, Ricky Rudd will be taking Irwin's spot in the 28 Robert Yates car, so Rudd may have a great comeback next year. Will the news boost his performance this week? That's for you to decide.

I was foolishly hoping that Dale Jarrett was fading. Boy was I wrong. He's back, and he's pointier than ever. I think the time has come for him to drive conservatively, so even if he doesn't win anymore races, you can count on him hanging around the top ten. It's just like at Daytona: when you're way out ahead, you want all the other guys to be fighting for second. That allows you to just go and go. What I'm saying is DJ's always a good pick, but don't be surprised if he doesn't appear in too many more top fives.

Jeff Gordon will be recording plenty of top fives, and so will that other Jeff. If they can keep their cars running, that is. Texas Thunder is in the same boat. Martin had a bad week, and he's only barely in second place. Don't forget his back problems. Will he give up? It's not his style, but if it comes down to sparing his injured back or playing risky with little chance of victory, he may back off (no pun intended). I don't know if I'd pick him this week, anyway.

So make your picks. If you've been paying attention, you've noticed that there's been a bunch more surprise top fivers of late. I think you'll see that trend continue the rest of the way, so get crazy with your picks. Don't hold back! Once more unto the breach!

Instructions

First of all, choose your name from the pull-down list. Then pick the names of the drivers that you think will finish in the top five. After that, you get to make your surprise pick, where you'll name a guy who isn't high in the points, but you think has a shot to get into this week's top five. It doesn't have to be one of the names you've already put in your top five. Now that the season is in full swing, let's use the current Winston Cup Points standings. Click here to check out the nicely done standings page at nascar.com. Remember, your surprise pick can't be any of the names listed in the TOP TEN of the points standings.

And hey, don't forget to pick a DNF. That's the guy you think will get a big fat Did Not Finish.

Click on the upside-down triangle at the right margin of each blank to see a list of drivers, then select a name. No typing necessary. Don't forget to tell me your name!

What's your name?

Name of First Place Driver:

Name of Second Place Driver:

Name of Third Place Driver:

Name of Fourth Place Driver:

Name of Fifth Place Driver:

Name of your surprise pick:

Choose your "DNF of the Week"

Controversial Topic of the Week

Let's say you have several billion dollars in the bank, and you want to sponsor a Winston Cup car in your own name. I mean you wouldn't use some company name to sponsor it. If your name was Bill, you could call it the Bill car, or Big Crazy Bill's car. Whatever you want. Who would you want to drive it? What make of car would it be? What would your logo be? What strategy would you want your driver to employ? Would you want to win the points race, lots of individual races, or just wreck a whole lot?