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NASCAR Fantasy Tool 2009 Average Finish at Atlanta, Texas and Charlotte [24 degree, 1.5 mile quad-ovals]

This table show the average finish of 35 drivers in the eight races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (Formerly Lowe’s Motor Speedway) during the 2009 season. All of these tracks are 1.5 mile long and feature 24 degree corner backing.

	ATL 1	TX 1	CHA 1	ATL 2	CHA 2	TX 2	AVERAGE
Jeff Gordon	2	1	14	8	4	13	7.0
Matt Kenseth	12	5	10	12	2	3	7.3
Tony Stewart	8	4	19	11	13	6	10.2
Kasey Kahne	7	19	7	1	3	33	11.7
Ryan Newman	22	15	2	9	11	12	11.8
Kyle Busch	18	18	6	13	8	11	12.3
David Reutimann	32	11	1	4	15	16	13.2
Mark Martin	31	6	17	5	17	4	13.3
Denny Hamlin	13	12	11	6	42	2	14.3
Greg Biffle	34	3	20	10	16	8	15.2
Kurt Busch	1	8	34	38	10	1	15.3
Brian Vickers	5	16	5	7	34	26	15.5
Kevin Harvick	4	27	41	2	18	5	16.2
Jimmie Johnson	9	2	13	36	1	38	16.5
Jeff Burton	14	9	25	34	14	9	17.5
Clint Bowyer	6	22	36	29	6	7	17.7
Martin Truex Jr.	10	25	23	26	9	14	17.8
Joey Logano	30	30	9	22	5	19	19.2
Juan Pablo Montoya	27	7	8	3	35	37	19.5
Casey Mears	16	21	33	25	7	21	20.5
Carl Edwards	3	10	4	37	39	39	22.0
AJ Allmendinger	17	34	32	20	23	10	22.7
Brad Keselowski		23			12	35	23.3
Paul Menard	28	13	29	15	27	29	23.5
Robby Gordon	26	39	3	16	30	27	23.5
Scott Speed	35		18	24	28	18	24.6
David Ragan	19	37	24	33	20	17	25.0
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	11	20	40	17	38	25	25.2
Elliot Sadler	20	32	31	21	26	22	25.3
Jamie McMurray	15	38	21	28	33	20	25.8
Bill Elliott	36	28	15	19	29	34	26.8
Marcos Ambrose	38	41	26	23	22	15	27.5
Bobby Labonte	40	40	12	18	31	31	28.7
Sam Hornish Jr.	37	17	16	35	40	40	30.8
Regan Smith		31				32	31.5

NASCAR Fantasy Tool: 2009 Average Finish at Similar Tracks - Atlanta, Texas and Lowe’s UPDATED

This table is a companion for my NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Below are 32 drivers of fantasy interest and their average finish at three similar tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Texas.

Also see my 2009 Average Finish at Chase Tracks Table which is very useful for planning your lineup for the rest of the season.

	Atlanta 1	Texas	Lowe’s	Atlanta 2	Lowe’s 2	AVERAGE
Jeff Gordon	2	1	14	8	4	5.8
Kasey Kahne	7	19	7	1	3	7.4
Matt Kenseth	12	5	10	12	2	8.2
Tony Stewart	8	4	19	11	13	11.0
Ryan Newman	22	15	2	9	11	11.8
Jimmie Johnson	9	2	13	36	1	12.2
David Reutimann	32	11	1	4	15	12.6
Kyle Busch	18	18	6	13	8	12.6
Brian Vickers	5	16	5	7	34	13.4
Mark Martin	31	6	17	5	17	15.2
Juan Pablo Montoya	27	7	8	3	35	16.0
Greg Biffle	34	3	20	10	16	16.6
Denny Hamlin	13	12	11	6	42	16.8
Brad Keselowski		23			12	17.5
Kurt Busch	1	8	34	38	10	18.2
David Stremme	23	14	22	14	19	18.4
Kevin Harvick	4	27	41	2	18	18.4
Carl Edwards	3	10	4	37	39	18.6
Martin Truex Jr.	10	25	23	26	9	18.6
Jeff Burton	14	9	25	34	14	19.2
Joey Logano	30	30	9	22	5	19.2
Clint Bowyer	6	22	36	29	6	19.8
Casey Mears	16	21	33	25	7	20.4
Paul Menard	28	13	29	15	27	22.4
Robby Gordon	26	39	3	16	30	22.8
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	11	20	40	17	38	25.2
AJ Allmendinger	17	34	32	20	23	25.2
Bill Elliott*	36	28	15	19	29	25.4
Jamie McMurray	15	38	21	28	33	27.0
Bobby Labonte	40	40	12	18	31	28.2
Sam Hornish Jr.	37	17	16	35	40	29.0
Marcos Ambrose	38	41	26	23	22	30.0

*David Gilliland drove the No. 21 Wood Brothers in the second race at Atlanta. Bill Elliott cracked three ribs during a dirt bike accident and was unable to race. Elliott finished 19th two weeks ago at Kansas Motor Speedway in his first race back.

NASCAR Power Rankings: Chase Edition Week 6

Charlotte

Who's Up	Who's Down
Biggest Gain This Week: Kasey Kahne: 10th to 7th	Biggest Drop This Week: Carl Edwards: 9th to 11th
No new drivers this week.	No drivers dropped out this week.

Rank: 1st Jimmie Johnson #48 Last Week: 1 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- 6 Wins, 20 Top Tens All of Jimmie Johnson's biggest competitors fell wayside at Lowes and the 48 team capitalized on the situation with a win. The only team that can beat the 48 team right now is themselves.

Rank: 2nd Jeff Gordon #24 Last Week: 4 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 22 Top Tens Performance/ Schedule wise I believe that my pre-Chase championship pick is the only team that has anything for the 48 right now. He'll need a little bit of help to catch up, but when it he does the 48 will be in trouble.

Rank: 3rd Mark Martin #5 Last Week: 2 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- 5 Wins, 18 Top Tens If your a Mark Martin fan then you knew the bubble would burst somehow. I'm not saying that he's out of it yet, but the remaining races in my opinion give the others drivers an edge over the 5 team.

Rank: 4th Juan Pablo Montoya #42 Last Week: 3 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Juan Pablo Montoya- 6 Top Fives, 16 Top Tens Juan Pablo Montoya arguably had the fastest car at Lowes until his COT tank didn't hold up very well to the damage. Montoya now sits 6th in the points 195 points out of the lead.

Rank: 5th Kurt Busch #2 Last Week: 5 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 18 Top Tens Lowes was a tough track on the Chase drivers and only 4 of them finished in the top ten. Kurt luckily was one of them, but don't expect Martinsville to be an easy task for this team.

Rank: 6th Tony Stewart #14 Last Week: 6 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- 4 Wins, 21 Top Tens Martinsville and Talledega are "do or die" races for this team. If Stewart doesn't finish in the top 5 in both of these races and gain ground on Johnson then his Chase chances are effectively zero.

Rank: 7th Kasey Kahne #9 Last Week: 10 Change: +3 Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- 2 Wins, 13 Top Tens If Kasey Kahne didn't have problems on the race restarts then the 9 might very well have been the car in victory lane. I expect Kahne to move up to about 7th in the points this season before his points progression stops.

Rank: 8th Denny Hamlin #11 Last Week: 7 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- 2 Wins, 16 Top Tens Hamlin had another good run but now he's back to 11th in the point standings. If you take away Hamlin's rookie Chase appearance then I believe Hamlin almost has to fall into people's conversations of who's the biggest choke in the Chase.

Rank: 9th Greg Biffle #16 Last Week: 8 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- 9 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens Somehow Greg Biffle has managed to score the 8th most points in the series over the last 6 races. At Martinsville I expect this team to have a rough day. Roush cars usually always struggle at this track.

Rank: 10th Ryan Newman #39 Last Week: 11 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- 5 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens If Newman's going to win a race this year then I believe it will have to happen either here at Martinsivlle or Talledega. These are both "skill tracks" which Newman has excelled at this year.

Rank: 11th Carl Edwards #99 Last Week: 9 Change: -2 Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- 7 Top Fives, 13 Top Tens It's shocking how uncompetitive Carl's been in the Chase. Last year Edwards was a challenger all the way until the end and this year they're not even close to being competitive.

Rank: 12th Brian Vickers #83 Last Week: 12 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Brian Vickers- 1 Win, 13 Top Tens Jimmie Johnson isn't the only driver who's on the verge of making history this year. Vickers is on pace to easily surpass Hamlin's 2007 Chase record of finishing 580 points behind the champion. Vickers currently is 485 points behind.

NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: NASCAR Banking 500 from Lowes

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson	1	7.53
James Jones	On Pit Row	Mark Martin	17	7.93
Gerritt Ritt	FOX Sports	Jimmie Johnson	1	9.93
Mike Harmon	FOX Sports	Jimmie Johnson	1	10.10
Dennis Michelsen	RaceTalkRadio.com	Mark Martin	17	10.30
Roger Rotter	FOX Sports	Ryan Newman	11	10.40
Yahoo Users	Yahoo! Sports	Jimmie Johnson	1	10.50
Cheryl Lauer	Speed Couch	Kasey Kahne	3	10.87
Eric Brewer		Jimmie Johnson	1	11.63
Darren Fauth	Fantasy NASCAR Names	Kyle Busch	8	11.97
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Jeff Gordon	4	12.13
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	Marl Martin	17	12.38
Charlie Turner	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson	1	12.40
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Jeff Gordon	4	12.77
Eric McGuire	FFToolbox	Jeff Gordon	4	13.47
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving	Jimmie Johnson	1	16.23
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Carl Edwards	39	19.00

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: Bank of America 500 from Lowes

With two points-paying races per year, the Showdown and the All-Star Race, there is no shortage of data to analyze for Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Plus its 1.5-mile quad-oval configuration is similar to that of Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. I have put together a table with the average finishes from the two Atlanta races plus the events held at Texas and Lowe’s earlier in the year. Check my NASCAR Fantasy Tool: 2009 Average Finish at Similar Tracks - Atlanta, Texas and Lowe’s here.

Four drivers averaged a finish better than 10.0 in those four races: Jeff Gordon (6.3), Brian Vickers (8.3), Kasey Kahne (8.5) and Matt Kenseth (9.8). Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart both averaged 10.5.
Keep in mind the May race at Lowe’s was called early due to rain. David Reutimann, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon finished in the top-three but had a combined average running position of 17.0. The race had only six caution laps, ending a streak nine races with at least 10 cautions.

Because the track is prone to mishaps, fantasy owners in allocation formats should consider saving their remaining starts of elite drivers for next week’s race at Martinsville Speedway, where the cream rises to the top. Talladega Superspeedway and Texas will follow; Dega is another race to save starts. The results of his week’s race will be important for setting the lineup for Texas.

Here’s an explanation of the highlighted text in the rankings. Download a printer-friendly version here.

• Y! A/B/C - The top options in the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game by driver list.
• Strong qualifier - History of winning poles or qualifying inside the top-five.
• Good qualifier - History of qualifying inside the top-10.
• Value play - Good recent history at this week’s track. Drivers to consider as low-rent salary cap options or alternative options in allocation formats.
• Risky play - Good overall history at this week’s track but poor recent finishes.

1. Jimmie Johnson… Strong qualifier at Lowe’s, three poles including last year. Five-time winner (’03, ‘04 sweep, ‘05 sweep). Runner-up in both ‘06 races. 12.0 average finish in ‘07 races. DNF (engine) and sixth-place finish in 08. Started fifth in May race, finished 13th but an average running position of fifth. Has led laps in 15 of 16 career starts at Lowe’s. Y!-A1
2. Jeff Gordon… Five-time winner at Lowe’s (’94, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘07) Seven poles (none since ‘00) Average finish of 6.0 in ‘08. Started third, finished 14th in May. Started fourth, finished eighth in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-A2
3. Mark Martin… Four-time winner at Lowe’s (’92, ‘95, ‘98, ‘02) Two poles (’91). Since ‘07: 9.6 average start, 13.6 average finish. Finished fifth in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-A3
4. Juan Pablo Montoya… Started ninth, finished eighth at May Lowe’s race, career bests. Finished third in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B1
5. Tony Stewart… Won at Lowe’s in ‘03. Average finish of 6.5 in ‘07. 14.5 last year, led an average of 32.5 laps. Started 28th, finished 19th in May. Finished 11th in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B2
6. Kasey Kahne… Three-time winner at Lowe’s (’06 sweep, ‘08) Winner, runner-up in ‘08 races. Started sixth, finished ninth at May race. Started second, won the Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B3
7. Carl Edwards… Average finish of 10.0 in nine career starts at Lowe’s- only one finish worse than 15th, 33rd at last year’s Chase race. Y!-A4
8. Greg Biffle… Average start 3.5, average finish 4.5 in ‘08 races at Lowe’s. Started 16th, finished 20th in May. Finished 10th in Sep Atlanta race.
9. Denny Hamlin… Average finish of 20.0 in ‘08 Lowe’s races. Finished 11th in May race at Lowe’s. Finished sixth in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B4
10. Kurt Busch… Finished 34th at Lowe’s in May but an average running position of 13th. Average finish of 9.5 in ‘08. No finish better than 26th from ‘06-’07. Y!-B5
11. Ryan Newman… Strong qualifier, eight poles at Lowe’s including the May race. Won both poles in ‘07 (DNFs in both). Average start of 27.0 last year, finished 21st in both. Runner-up in May race but had an average running position of 16th. Finished third in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B6
12. Brian Vickers… Led an average of 58.5 laps over the last four Lowe’s starts. Finished fifth in only ‘07 start at Lowe’s. DNF (crash) and 18th place finish in ‘08. Started eighth, finished fifth at May Lowe’s race. Finished seventh in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B7
13. David Reutimann… Won the May race at Lowe’s but had an average running position of 12th. Finished 10th in last year’s May race, finished 32nd in last race’s Oct race but had an average running position of 19th. Finished fourth in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-B8
14. Kyle Busch… Led at least one lap in eight of the last nine Lowe’s races. Average finish of 4.0 over the last four races at Lowe’s. Started second, finished six and led 173 of 227 laps at May Lowe’s race- average running position of second. Finished 13th in Sep Atlanta race.
15. Matt Kenseth… Won at Lowe’s in ‘00. Started 30th, finished 10th in May race. ‘07-’08: two DNFs, seventh and 12th-place finishes. Finished 12th in Sep Atlanta race.
16. Clint Bowyer… Runner-up in 10/07 race at Lowe’s but average finish of 24.3 in the three races since. Finished 36th in May.
17. Kevin Harvick… Only three top-10 finishes in 17 career starts at Lowe’s, two came as a rookie ‘01. Average finish of 13.5 in ‘08 races. Started 22nd, finished 41st in May race. Runner-up in Sep Atlanta race.
18. Bobby Labonte… Strong value play. Two-time winner at Lowe’s (’95, ‘00) Has not finished worse than 18th since ‘98. Average finish of 13.0 since ‘07. Finished 12th in May race, 18th in Sep Atlanta race. Y!-C1
19. Joey Logano… Started 14th, finished ninth in May race- first career Cup start at Lowe’s. Finished fifth in May Nationwide race at Lowe’s. Finished fifth in the Showdown, eighth in the All-Star Race.
20. Sam Hornish Jr…. Strong value play. Average finish of 17.0 at Lowe’s since ‘08. Finished 35th in Sep Atlanta race. Won the Showdown. Y!-C2
21. Jeff Burton… Three-time winner at Lowe’s (’99, ‘01, ‘08) Started 40th, finished 25th in May race. Five finishes of sixth or better in the seven races since ‘06.
22. Marcos Ambrose… Started 23rd, finished 26th in May race- first career Cup start at Lowe’s. Average finish of 14.5 in ‘08 Nationwide races. Y!-C3
23. Casey Mears… Won at Lowe’s in ‘07 but an average finish of 28.0 in the four races since.
24. Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Finished fifth and led 76 laps in last year’s May race at Lowe’s, 36th in the Oct race. Finished 40th in May race.
25. David Stremme… Weak value play. Average finish of 13.0 in ‘07 races at Lowe’s. Started 35th, finished 22nd in May race. Finished 14th in Sep Atlanta race. Finished third in the Showdown.
26. Martin Truex Jr…. Average finish of 23.6 at Lowe’s since ‘08. Won the pole, finished 26th in Sep Atlanta race.
27. Bill Elliott… Long shot value play. Two-time winner at Lowe’s (’84, ‘87) Started 10th, finished 15th at the May race. Y!-C4
28. AJ Allmendinger… Finished 20th, DNF (crash) in last year’s races at Lowe’s- 32nd in May race.
29. Brad Keselowski… No career Cup stars at Lowe’s. Average finish of 6.3 in ‘08-’09 Nationwide races at Lowe’s.
30. Jamie McMurray… Won as a rookie in ‘02 at Lowe’s. Finished fifth in last year’s Oct race, 21st in May race.
31. Robby Gordon… DNF, 30th in last year’s races at Lowe’s. Finished third in the May race but had an average running position of 16th in May race. Finished 16th in Sep Atlanta race.
32. David Ragan… Average finish of 11.0 in last year’s races at Lowe’s. Started 34th, finished 24th in May race.
33. Scott Speed… Started and finished 18th in May race, first career Cup start at Lowe’s. Started 14th, finished 11th in May Nationwide race at Lowe’s.
34. Elliott Sadler… Average finish of 19.6 at Lowe’s since ‘08. Finished 21st in Sep Atlanta race.
35. Michael Waltrip… Average finish of 27.0 at Lowe’s since ‘08. Finished 32nd in Sep Atlanta race.
36. Reed Sorenson… Average finish of 18.5 in last year’s races at Lowe’s. Started 42nd, finished 35th in May race.
37. Paul Menard… DNF (overheating) and 26th in last year’s races at Lowe’s. Finished 29th in the May race, 15th in Sep Atlanta race.
38. Travis Kvapil… Finished 26th, DNF (crash) in ‘08. Only four Cup starts this season. Average finish of 10.8 in four Truck series starts (’03-’08) at Lowe’s.
39. John Andretti… No Cup starts at Lowe’s since ‘07.
40. David Gilliland… Average finish of 30.6 at Lowe’s since ‘08.
41. Dave Blaney… Average finish of 24.0 at Lowe’s since ‘08.
42. Max Papis… Started 32nd, finished 42nd at the May race, first career Cup start at Lowe’s.
43. Terry Labonte… No Cup starts at Lowe’s since ‘06.
44. Joe Nemechek… Finished 37th in May race at Lowe’s and last year’s Oct race.
45. Mike Bliss… Started seventh in the May race at Lowe’s, start and parked- first Cup start at Lowe’s since ‘06.
46. Sterling Marlin… Likely start and park. Won in ‘01. Only six Cup starts this season. Started 26th, finished 31st in last year’s May race.
47. Michael McDowell… No career Cup stars at Lowe’s. Started sixth, finished 20th in May Nationwide race at Lowe’s.
48. Mike Wallace… Likely start and park. Started 40th, finished 31st in last year’s Oct race at Lowe’s. DNQ for seven of nine Cup races this season.

NASCAR Fantasy Tool: 2009 Average Finish at Similar Tracks - Atlanta, Texas and Lowe’s

This table is a companion for my NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview of the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Below are 31 drivers of fantasy interest and their average finish at three similar tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Lowe’s. The table will be updated with this week’s results to be used for the upcoming Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8th.

Also see my 2009 Average Finish at Chase Tracks Table which is very useful for planning your lineup for the rest of the season.

	Atlanta 1	Texas	Lowe’s	Atlanta 2	AVERAGE
Jeff Gordon	2	1	14	8	6.3
Brian Vickers	5	16	5	7	8.3
Kasey Kahne	7	19	7	1	8.5
Matt Kenseth	12	5	10	12	9.8
Denny Hamlin	13	12	11	6	10.5
Tony Stewart	8	4	19	11	10.5
Juan Pablo Montoya	27	7	8	3	11.3
David Reutimann	32	11	1	4	12.0
Ryan Newman	22	15	2	9	12.0
Carl Edwards	3	10	4	37	13.5
Kyle Busch	18	18	6	13	13.8
Mark Martin	31	6	17	5	14.8
Jimmie Johnson	9	2	13	36	15.0
Greg Biffle	34	3	20	10	16.8
David Stremme	23	14	22	14	18.3
Kevin Harvick	4	27	41	2	18.5
Kurt Busch	1	8	34	38	20.3
Jeff Burton	14	9	25	34	20.5
Martin Truex Jr.	10	25	23	26	21.0
Robby Gordon	26	39	3	16	21.0
Paul Menard	28	13	29	15	21.3
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	11	20	40	17	22.0
Joey Logano	30	30	9	22	22.8
Clint Bowyer	6	22	36	29	23.3
Casey Mears	16	21	33	25	23.8
Bill Elliott*	36	28	15	19	24.5
Jamie McMurray	15	38	21	28	25.5
AJ Allmendinger	17	34	32	20	25.8
Sam Hornish Jr.	37	17	16	35	26.3
Bobby Labonte	40	40	12	18	27.5
Marcos Ambrose	38	41	26	23	32.0

*David Gilliland drove the No. 21 Wood Brothers in the second race at Atlanta. Bill Elliott cracked three ribs during a dirt bike accident and was unable to race. Elliott finished 19th two weeks ago at Kansas Motor Speedway in his first race back.

NASCAR Power Rankings: Chase Edition Week 5

California

Who's Up	Who's Down
Biggest Gain This Week: Jeff Gordon: 6th to 4th	Biggest Drop This Week: Mark Martin: 1st to 2nd
No new drivers this week.	No drivers dropped out this week.

Rank: 1st Jimmie Johnson #48 Last Week: 2 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- 5 Wins, 19 Top Tens I know Pat Riley has the term three-peat patented, but I'm not sure if anyone owns four-peat? If you go to four-peat.com then you'll find that the site is currently under development. So do you think Jimmie Johnson might be the owner of that?

Rank: 2nd Mark Martin #5 Last Week: 1 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- 5 Wins, 18 Top Tens Martin's put up a valiant effort so far but in order for him to win the championship he needs to start winning some of these races again or somehow find a way to deny Johnson.

Rank: 3rd Juan Pablo Montoya #42 Last Week: 3 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Juan Pablo Montoya- 6 Top Fives, 16 Top Tens Could you imagine the gripes that would happen in NASCAR nation if Montoya won the championship winless!! Montoya's running good enough for it to happen and history could be made.

Rank: 4th Jeff Gordon #24 Last Week: 6 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 21 Top Tens The 24 is getting back on track and there's still plenty of time for Gordon to make his move. Somehow he needs to overcome his 105 point deficit on his own because you can't count on the 48 having problems.

Rank: 5th Kurt Busch #2 Last Week: 4 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- 1 Win, 17 Top Tens Each week the 2 car has been losing ground on the leaders and they really haven't even had any real problems yet. In order for them to win the championship they must be competitively mistake free for the remainder of the Chase.

Rank: 6th Tony Stewart #14 Last Week: 5 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- 4 Wins, 21 Top Tens I have no clue how this team is only 84 points out of the lead. They certainly haven't really been on par with the other leaders consistently in the Chase.

Rank: 7th Denny Hamlin #11 Last Week: 7 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- 2 Wins, 16 Top Tens Hamlin did crash at California and finish very poorly but the important thing to note here is that he was leading at the time. His championship hopes are now smashed because he now sits -219 points out of the lead.

Rank: 8th Greg Biffle #16 Last Week: 8 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- 9 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens In terms of Chase competitiveness Biffle and below in my Power Rankings is the dividing line of the "Have's and the have not's". Biffle and the other drivers below him are not on par performance wise with the higher ranked drivers.

Rank: 9th Carl Edwards #99 Last Week: 10 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards- 7 Top Fives, 13 Top Tens Edwards was about a 20th place car until late in the race when the cautions started. The 99 team was able to take advantage of the situation and raced up to 6th place with their fresh tires.

Rank: 10th Kasey Kahne #9 Last Week: 9 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne- 2 Wins, 12 Top Tens Kasey Kahne might not be making a splash in the Chase this year but he is leading the phantom caution discussion which is an important topic.

Rank: 11th Ryan Newman #39 Last Week: 11 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- 5 Top Fives, 14 Top Tens Ryan Newman's biggest friend at California was attrition and caution flags. At Lowes Motor Speedway I'm going to put my money on Megatron because I know Optimus Prime won't be competitive.

Rank: 12th Brian Vickers #83 Last Week: 12 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Brian Vickers- 1 Win, 13 Top Tens Vickers is lucky that he's locked in the top 12 otherwise he would be racing for about 20th about now. In the four Chase races this year Vickers average finish is 23.75.

NASCAR Fantasy Tool: 2009 Average Finish at Chase Tracks Table

This table designed primarily to help fantasy NASCAR owners with deciding on how to spend their remaining driver starts as we progress through the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The table ranks the 26 most relevant drivers by their average finish at the eight Chase tracks that held their first Cup event earlier in the season.

	Loudon	Dover	Fontana	Lowe’s	Martinsville	Talladega	Texas	Phoenix	AVG
Tony Stewart	5	2	8	19	3	23	4	2	8.25
Jimmie Johnson	9	1	9	13	1	30	2	4	8.63
Kurt Busch	3	5	5	34	18	6	8	3	10.25
Greg Biffle	18	3	4	20	28	7	3	5	11.00
David Reutimann	4	18	14	1	20	26	11	8	12.75
Ryan Newman	29	8	28	2	6	3	15	16	13.38
Carl Edwards	19	7	7	4	26	24	10	10	13.38
Matt Kenseth	22	4	1	10	23	17	5	27	13.63
Denny Hamlin	15	36	6	11	2	22	12	6	13.75
Jeff Gordon	2	26	2	14	4	37	1	25	13.88
Kasey Kahne	10	6	12	7	19	36	19	13	15.25
Kyle Busch	7	23	3	6	24	25	18	17	15.38
Juan Montoya	12	30	11	8	12	20	7	24	15.50
Mark Martin	14	10	40	17	7	43	6	1	17.25
Joey Logano	1	15	26	9	32	9	30	21	17.88
Brian Vickers	35	25	10	5	33	8	16	19	18.88
Jeff Burton	31	16	32	25	15	10	9	15	19.13
Sam Hornish Jr.	8	13	23	16	34	34	17	9	19.25
Casey Mears	11	9	24	33	21	16	21	20	19.38
Marcos Ambrose	23	20	22	26	14	4	41	14	20.50
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	13	12	39	40	8	2	20	31	20.63
Clint Bowyer	20	11	19	36	5	39	22	26	22.25
Jamie McMurray	33	14	16	21	10	42	38	11	23.13
Martin Truex Jr.	37	21	27	23	29	33	25	7	25.25
AJ Allmendinger	32	29	29	32	9	35	34	35	29.38
Kevin Harvick	34	17	38	41	11	38	27	30	29.50

NASCAR Power Rankings: Dover

Dover

Who's Up	Who's Down
Biggest Gain This Week: Kyle Busch: 4th to 2nd	Biggest Drop This Week: Jeff Burton: 8th to 11th
New This Week: David Reutimann	Dropped Out This Week:

Rank: 1st Jeff Gordon #24 Last Week: 1 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- Had an up and down day at Lowes The 24 started at the front of the pack but they fell back very quickly at Lowes because of their ill handling racecar. Pit strategy is what saved their day. Expect a rebound for Gordon at Dover where he has a COT average finish of 8th.

Rank: 2nd Kyle Busch #18 Last Week: 4 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Kyle Busch- All bad luck since 200 win talk began Ever since Kyle started talking about 200 career NASCAR wins look at what's happened to him at Darlington and Lowes in both the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series. The runs have been good but not the deserved results.

Rank: 3rd Mark Martin #5 Last Week: 2 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin- Pit penalty in short race = problem The series veteran had an early pit road mistake but the shortened race just didn't allow enough time for him to overcome the problem. If the race went the scheduled distance I think he would have.

Rank: 4th Tony Stewart #14 Last Week: 3 Change: -1 Driver Page | Articles

Tony Stewart- Looking forward to Dover Tony was a 10th place car at best at Lowes and he never really challenged for anything. If the 14 truly wants to contend for the championship they need to be much better in the fall race.

Rank: 5th Jimmie Johnson #48 Last Week: 5 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Jimmie Johnson- Not the quite Power of Pride Car If Lowes was still bumpy (blame Humpy) then it would still be Jimmie Johnson's house. Dover is also a good track for Johnson where he started his career there 2-0 in his rookie year.

Rank: 6th Ryan Newman #39 Last Week: 6 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman- Is he really back????? Did you know Newman has scored the most points over the last 6 races? So is he back? I say let's wait until he has some strong runs on the typical Intermediates first (not Darlington or Dover).

Rank: 7th Kurt Busch #2 Last Week: 7 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch- Only front runner with problems Kurt had a tough day at Lowes and finished 34th. Last fall at Dover he also finished 34th. Dover hasn't been friendly to the elder Busch because in COT races his best finish is 20th and his average finish is 31.25!!!!

Rank: 8th Greg Biffle #16 Last Week: 9 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle- Most recent Dover winner Biffle wants to leave Lowes behind in his rearview mirror because Dover is perhaps his best track. The last race he finished outside the top 10 at Dover was back in 2005. His average finish in COT races at Dover is 3rd.

Rank: 9th Matt Kenseth #17 Last Week: 11 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Matt Kenseth- Good Dover pick Matt Kenseth now has his first consecutive back to back top ten finishes (10th both races) since his Daytona and California victories earlier this year. Did you know that Matt Kenseth made his Cup debut at Dover in 1998 and finished sixth.

Rank: 10th Denny Hamlin #11 Last Week: 10 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Denny Hamlin- Pocono is coming up Hamlin has the 4th best average running position (10.3) in 2009, but he still needs to improve on the Intermediate tracks. He has the short tracks and flat tracks mastered.

Rank: 11th Jeff Burton #31 Last Week: 8 Change: -3 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Burton- Best RCR car Burton may be the best RCR car right now but is that an honor? RCR appears to have fallen behind technologically to the competition because as a whole the RCR Intermediate track program is not on par with the competition.

Rank: 12th David Reutimann #00 Last Week: NR Change: N/A Driver Page | Articles

David Reutimann- First win in the rain David Reutimann won his first career race for MWR in the rain Monday at Lowes. My question now is why didn't anyone else ahead of him try the same strategy?

*** The Lowes Power Rankings is being skipped to keep all Onpitrow.com Fantasy Racing content in sync with one another.

From Dancing with the Stars to Dancing with the Cars

 

Gold-Medal Gymnast and “Dancing with the Stars” Champion Joins Festivities to Celebrate Historic 50^th Running of NASCAR^®’s Longest Race

CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 21, 2009 – As a world champion gymnast, celebrity dancer and honor roll student, Shawn Johnson is used to living life in the fast lane, but things will get much faster this weekend when she is introduced to the world of NASCAR^â. 

Johnson has been named an Honorary Race Official for one of NASCAR^®’s crown jewels, the Coca-Cola 600.  Johnson will be on hand to help celebrate the historic 50^th running of NASCAR’s longest race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 24
(5:00 p.m. EST on FOX).

The 17-year-old Johnson won four medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, then came home and won America’s heart as the youngest-ever winner of the popular ABC television show “Dancing with the Stars.” As an Honorary Race Official for the Coca-Cola 600, Johnson will take part in a number of activities, including interacting with fans, attending the driver’s meeting and greeting all of the drivers during pre-race introductions.

During weekend events, Johnson will get a true NASCAR^® experience when she climbs into an actual race car for a 160 mph ride-along with fan favorite and Coca-Cola Racing Family member Kyle Petty. She’ll also tour the garage at Lowe’s Motor Speedway where she’ll try her hand at typical pit crew jobs such as jacking a car, working an air wrench and changing tires.

Johnson has been featured on Olympic-themed packaging as one of the Coca-Cola “Six-Pack” of Olympic Athletes. She also serves as a Coca-Cola “Ambassador of Active Living” to help encourage and inspire people to lead active, balanced lives.

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest continuous race sponsorship in NASCAR^â. Coca-Cola is the Official Sparkling Beverage of NASCAR^â and has been involved with stock car racing for more than 40 years. A signature part of Coca-Cola’s innovative NASCAR^â program is the Coca-Cola Racing Family – a group of top drivers that includes Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Petty, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Aric Almirola and Joey Logano.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world’s most valuable brand, the Company’s portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, POWERADE, Minute Maid and Georgia Coffee. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company’s beverages at a rate of nearly 1.6 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our Web site at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.

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