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NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: LifeLock 400

June 10, 2009

Greetings On Pit Row readers,
For this week’s NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview I’ve added value plays; drivers aimed for salary cap owners looking for cash-saving options. Strong value plays are drivers with a good recent history at this week’s track and/or over the past several weeks. Weak value plays are less dependable drivers that have a good track record but have not performed as well in recent weeks.

The rankings will continue to be spilt by using the A, B and C drivers from the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game. Enjoy the rankings and feel free to add your comments below!

A List

  1. Carl Edwards… Best average finish among active drivers, 6.6. Nine career starts: two wins, five top-fives, finished outside of the top-10 only once, led laps in six.
  2. Matt Kenseth… Top-fives in four of the last five, led laps in three. Top-10s in 13 of the last 17.
  3. Jimmie Johnson… Is he due? No wins but led at least a dozen laps in four straight, has qualified in the top-four five times.
  4. Kyle Busch… Won the pole last year, finished 13th. Top-13 finishes in four straight, has led laps in five of eight career starts.
  5. Jeff Gordon… Best starting position (4.8) over the last five years (10 starts): started first or second five times but finished 15th or worse six times.
  6. Greg Biffle… Over the last nine starts: two wins, four top-fives, six top-10s, led laps in six.
  7. Jeff Burton… Unspectacular but consistent: top-15 finishes in 10 of the last 13.
  8. Mark Martin… Four career wins but none since ‘98. Twenty-fifth or worse in three of the last four.
  9. Kevin Harvick… Top-15 finishes in six straight.
  10. Clint Bowyer… Six career starts: never finished better than 16th, outside of the top-20 three times.

B List

  1. Tony Stewart… Last 13: five top-threes, seven top-fives, 11 top-12 finishes.
  2. Brian Vickers… Most recent pole winner. Top-eight finishes in three straight, led laps in each.
  3. Kasey Kahne… Top-five or bust in 10 career starts: five top-fives, 18th or worse in the other five.
  4. Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Led laps in seven straight: one win, four top-six finishes.
  5. Denny Hamlin… Had never finished worse than 14th prior to an engine problem last year.
  6. Kurt Busch… Blue Deuce is wild: only one top-20 over the last four but it was a victory.
  7. David Reutimann… Career-best 14th-place finish in last year’s August race. Also had his best qualifying run, seventh.
  8. Ryan Newman… No top-10s since ‘04 but it was a victory, has qualified inside the top-five four times since.
  9. Martin Truex Jr…. Strong value play. ‘08- 16th and 17th-place finishes, ‘07- two second-place finishes.
  10. Jamie McMurray… Strong value play. ‘08- two 10th-place finishes, ‘07- eighth and 30th-place finishes.
  11. Casey Mears… ‘07- fourth, 11th; ‘08- 18th and 30th
  12. Joey Logano… Seventh-place finish in one career Nationwide start.
  13. Michael Waltrip… ‘07- 10th, 40th; ‘08- 19th, 23rd. Led one lap in each June race.
  14. David Ragan… Weak value play. ‘07- 18th, 21st; ‘08- third, eighth. Led laps in each race last year.
  15. Elliott Sadler… Weak value play. ‘07- 32nd, 35th; ‘08- two ninth-place finishes. Has qualified inside the top-10 in five straight August races.
  16. Juan Pablo Montoya… ‘07- 26th, 43rd; ‘08- 25th, 38th.
  17. Paul Menard… ‘07, ‘08: 11th and 12th-place finishes in June, 24th and 39th in August.
  18. David Gilliland… ‘07- 17th, 27th; ‘08- 26th, 27th.
  19. David Stremme… ‘06- 19th, 28th; ‘07- 21st and 40th.

C List

  1. Sam Hornish Jr…. Strong value play. Finished 22nd in both races last year.
  2. Marcos Ambrose… Finished 43rd (engine) in last year’s August. Average finish of 15.5 in two career Nationwide races.
  3. AJ Allmendinger… June ‘08: started 39th, finished 19th. August ‘08: started 33rd, finished 28th.
  4. Bobby Labonte… One top-10 since ‘04. Won both poles in ‘03. Swept in ‘95.
  5. Reed Sorenson… Beginner’s luck: finished fifth and eighth as a rookie in ‘06- 23rd or worse in four straight since.
  6. Scott Speed… No career starts at Michigan.
  7. Bill Elliott… Seven career wins. Last top-10 in ‘01. Finished 36th last year.
  8. Robby Gordon… Finished 24th or worse in the last three races.
  9. Joe Nemechek… Finished 26th or worse in six straight.
  10. John Andretti… One top-20 over the last eight races.
  11. Max Papis… No career starts at Michigan.
  12. Mike Skinner… Finished 35th in last year’s August race. Six career Truck series starts: two poles, three top-fives, four top-10s, average finish of 7.7.
  13. Sterling Marlin… Finished 20th in ‘07.
  14. Tony Raines… Finished 31st or worse in nine of 10 career starts.
  15. Dave Blaney… ‘07- sixth, 18th. ‘08- 39th, 41st

Written by Eric McClung · Filed Under Fantasy NASCAR, Fantasy Racing, Fantasy racing leagues, Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR | 1 Comment