FANTASY: Thinking Outside the Oval

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Race Preview

Jeff Gordon has five wins at Sonoma but
hasn't won there since 2006. (Getty)

This weekend's event at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California is a stark variation to much of the NASCAR season.  It's obvious on the TV that the road course is nothing like the standard ovals on which the Sprint Cup Series spends much of its season.  What's not immediately obvious is the difference in culture.

Having lived in the Bay Area for nearly a year, I feel comfortable saying that Nor Cal doesn't adhere to the typical NASCAR fan stereotypes.  It's hard to imagine that in the middle of America's most prominent wine country that there are a lot of people roaming around chugging light beer over pinot grigio.  It's also hard to imagine that in one of the most predominantly liberal areas in the country, there will be many that spend a lot of time disapproving of President Obama's job performance.

This race is a true testament to NASCAR fans that they come from all walks of life with varying cultures, clothing fashions and political beliefs.  Indeed, as the Sonoma Raceway says, fans are capable to "think outside the oval."  Here's who you should be thinking of starting in Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing this weekend:

Seven (Wild) Card Studs

Contenders or pretenders?  Who is most likely to make the Chase?

While he might have fallen out of the top-10,
Kasey Kahne's win at Bristol still makes
him a favorite for the Chase. (Getty)

It's on, now!

As the weather has heated up, so too has the NASCAR Race for the Chase.  In the past three weeks, two 2012 Chasers have broken out of slumps to win races and declare their candidacy for the Sprint Cup Trophy.

Both Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart have picked up wins in June, and both have now propelled themselves into the top-10 in the standings.  I'm not positive with the way both have struggled for much of the season that they'll stay up there after they cool off from their hot streaks, but for now, let's lock in the top-10 and take a look at five drivers that are currently vying for one of the final two Wild Card spots.

For reference, Tony Stewart sits in 10th with 417 points.  That is the cutoff to make the Chase with an automatic bid, and the final two spots will go the drivers with most wins ranked 11-20.  The tiebreaker is points.

Paul Menard (415 points, 11th place) - I've had a hard time believing he'll go to the Chase, but he's only two points out of an automatic bid.  However, he doesn't have a single top-five this season through 15 races and doesn't seem to be a true championship contender.  He's more likely to go down than up by the end of the regular season.
Chase Odds: 15%

Kasey Kahne (407 points, 12th place) - He's been the opposite of Menard, having scored five top-fives, including a win and three second place finishes, but seemingly spins most every other weekend.  I continue to stick by my pick for the 2013 championship.  He has a win in his pocket and another one should clinch it for him.  Plus, if he can eliminate the bad luck, he's raced well enough to finish in the top-10.
Chase Odds: 90%

HE'S NEXT: Ryan Preece Caps Busy Week With Both NASCAR Next And Nationwide Announcements

BERLIN, Conn. – New England race fans will get two chances to see Ryan Preece compete at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next month.

Tommy Baldwin Racing announced this week that Preece, of Berlin, Conn., a regular on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, will make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at New Hampshire in the New England 200 on Saturday, July 13.

Preece will compete in the Town Fair Tire 100 for the Whelen Modified Tour on the same afternoon.

“To be given an chance like this is surreal, and I plan to make the most of it,” Preece said. “Hopefully we can have a solid day and good things will come from this. Thanks to all my sponsors, teams, and fans for all their support at the NASCAR short tracks who have carried me thus far. Without all of the support from my family and everyone behind me, I would not be who I am today.”

The start of the Whelen Modified Tour season has been a difficult one – and not for Preece, specifically. Rain has postponed the season's third race on two different occasions already, leaving a full 12 races still left to run in 2013. The final nine races of the schedule – including two races at New Hampshire – will take place over a furious three-month stretch.

FANTASY: Catching Up with Ford

Quicken Loans 400 Fantasy Preview

Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a four-year winless streak
by taking the win at Michigan last June. (Getty)

I was operating the @NHMS Twitter account during a race last month and as has become common place this season, a slew of Toyotas were running up front.  One of our fans commented how they'd been fast all season and added that the Chevys had been fast too.

Being as there are only three car manufacturers in the the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I had to pose the question whether she was implying if Ford had been running slowly.  To which she responded, "Basically, yes."  To date, only two of the 14 races have been won by Ford.

If there's a week for Ford to turn around its slow start with the Generation-Six car that debuted in February, it will be this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.  Since Ford's second track win with Bill Elliott in 1984 (its first came in 1969 with David Pearson), the manufacturer has won more than half of the races (31 of 58) on the two-mile oval.

Here are the drivers Ford or otherwise that might make your Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing team this weekend.

The Track

Due to its size, Michigan International Speedway will be one of the fastest in the series.  The two-mile track is the biggest (along with Auto Club Speedway), non-restrictor plate oval in NASCAR.  Pocono and the road courses are all longer, but their layout restricts the pedal-to-the-metal speed.  This race is very much about the fastest car, which means there's less emphasis on driver ability.

Five Drivers That Could Beat Five-Time

Jimmie Johnson's dominant season continues at Pocono

His daughter Genevieve might have figured out how to get
the better of him this season, but most of the Sprint Cup Series
field is still struggling to get in front of Jimmie Johnson. (Getty)

Another week, another dominating performance by Jimmie Johnson.

Mother Nature might have placed him on the pole at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, after rain washed out qualifying, but by leading 128 of 160 laps, he proved that his position was deserved.  After all, Johnson earned that position because of his season long dominance that sees him with a 51-point lead on second-place Carl Edwards after the Party in the Poconos 400.

To put it simply, Johnson could go stir a piña colada on the beach next Sunday, while the rest of the drivers go at it in Michigan, and return with his points lead still intact.  Honestly, that's not a bad proposition for the rest of the field, which has seen Johnson win three of the first 14 races and take control of another (Dover a week ago) before a late black flag for an illegal restart took him out of contention.

Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10 and was just edged by Brad Keselowski in his bid for a six-pack last fall.  He doesn't always come into form this early in a season and it's a daunting proposition to try to beat him down the stretch in the Chase format that he's owned for much of its existence.

That said, there are a lot of good drivers in NASCAR.  Here are five with a good opportunity to keep Johnson counting his Sprint Cup trophies on one hand: