By JIMMY D / Truex takes Daytona 500 pole | Jimmy's archive

Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson are the last three winners at Daytona, but a new face on a new racing team will take the pole Sunday when the Great American Race rolls on.

Martin Truex, driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, has never finished higher than 16th here before. He is joined on the front row by former teammate Mark Martin, a new Hendrick Motorsports driver widely considered the best driver to never win a Cup championship.

With the re-birth of NASCAR for 2009 comes the re-birth of NASCAR fantasy and a Daytona 500 contest. Jimmy will be joining plenty of NASCAR fans who are much smarter than himself at FanJack.com, a fantasy site where you can turn your fantasy knowledge into cash. Answer 20 questions about the race, pocket cash.

Back from the fantasy dead

True Jason comes back from the dead again Friday in the latest version of Friday the 13th and several fantasy hockey names are expected back from the dead in the near future too (although none wear those silly 70s-style goalie masks preferred by psychopath Jason).

Sergei Gonchar
Has been penciled in for a return to the Pittsburgh blueline within three weeks. If he is available in your league, scoop him up before too much buzz is created. The Pens continue to struggle (shut out at home by Detroit Sunday and face San Jose Wednesday) but Gonchar’s puck skills should open up the attack.

Marian Gaborik
The skilled but brittle (does that make him skittle?) Wild man is ahead of schedule in his rehab from hip surgery, but he might still not test it until the March 5 NHL trade deadline. That puts poor Minnesota – which has failed to re-sign him and expected to get a harvest of trade goodies for him – in a very bad spot.

is trade value is diluted and they know he won’t re-sign with them as a UFA.
He’s better than a point-per-game since the lockout, but has missed chunks of three of those four seasons. Wacky as it might sound, Jimmy sees Pittsburgh as a possible suitor here.

Andy McDonald
Not the caliber of Gonchar and not the potential fantasy impact but the slick center always produces when he’s healthy. He broke his leg in November, the latest in a string of serious wounds, but an improving Blues team might even have a snowball’s chance at a playoff spot in the West.

Joe Sakic
Slick vet had back surgery in early December and then suffered finger and tendon damage when he was attacked by a snowblower. The three-month rehab guesstimate at the time would put him back on ice in early March, but the truth is, his career is likely the only thing on ice. Watch for news out of Denver in the coming weeks.

Sean Avery
While technically not injured – unless Pervasive I’m An Idiot Disorder is a diagnosed condition – Avery could be back chipping in points and penalty minutes on your fantasy roster within weeks. The mouthy pest was suspended by Dallas and entered into treatment but rumours have the Rangers willing to take on his salary – and his act.

In lieu of a guard, Heat trades for Lue

When St. Joe’s alum Jameer Nelson went out with a torn labrum (see Jimmy D’s online archive for the bad news associated with this injury), it foisted journeyman Anthony Johnson into the point guard role with the powerhouse Magic.

And in lieu of other available guards, Orlando traded for Tyronn Lue from Milwaukee. Jimmy mentions this because he sees the hard-working Lue working his way into the rotation here – and into some decent fantasy hoops production – in the coming weeks.

Jimmy D

jpoole@herald.ca