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NASCAR Fantasy Racing Experts Picks: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
Josh Lobdell	FFToolbox	Jimmie Johnson	31	10.44
Jerry Lagger	One and Done Game Winner	Tony Stewart	16	9.0
Dennis Michelsen	RaceTalkRadio.com	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	14.11
Tall Glass of Milk	Answerthis.com	Jeff Gordon	22	13.78
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	17.44
Eric McGuire	free agent	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	12.22
Dan Beaver	Fantasy Racing Games	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	9.33
Matt Mercer	On Pit Row	Carl Edwards	11	17.11
Adam Ansell	Roto Experts	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	12.78
Chris Leone	On Pit Row	Joey Logano	36	15.33
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving	Jimmie Johnson	31	12.78
CharlieTurner	On Pit Row	Jimmie Johnson	31	18.56
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	15.11
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	17.44
Jay Busby	Yahoo! Sports	No Pick	44	15.56
James Jones	On Pit Row	Kurt Busch	8	12.56
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Kurt Busch	8	10.33
Darren Fauth	Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	14.78
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Greg Biffle	17	12.78
Charles Rantz	ifantasyrace.com	Dale Earnhardt Jr	13	17.22

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Expert Darkhorse Picks: Aaron’s 400 from Talladega

The On Pit Row fantasy racing experts opinions of the best Sprint Cup driver currently outside the top 12 in Sprint Cup Series points, for this weekends race.

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
Matt Mercer	On Pit Row	Juan Pablo Montoya	3	17.00
James Jones	On Pit Row	Tony Stewart	16	8.89
Josh Lobdell	FFToolbox	Jamie McMurray	2	16.33
Dennis Mickelson	RaceTalkRadio.com	Carl Edwards	11	9.67
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Carl Edwards	11	11.56
Jerry Lagger Eric McGuire	One and Done Game Winner Free agent	Brad Kezelowski Tony Stewart	34 16	12.1 9.33
Charlie Turner	On Pit Row	Tony Stewart	16	8.44
Tall Glass of Milk	Answerthis.com	Tony Stewart	16	8.11
Adam Ansell	Roto Experts	Tony Stewart	16	8.89
Charles Rantz	ifantasyrace.com	Kasey Kahne	21	11.00
Darren Fauth	Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet	Brian Vickers	29	10.56
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	David Ragan	6	9.89
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Ryan Newman	35	16.44
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Ryan Newman	35	19.22
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Juan Pablo Montoya	3	10.22
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving	Tony Stewart	16	14.78
Chris Leone	On Pit Row	Michael Waltrip	39	24.33
Dan Beaver	Fantasy Racing Games	Jamie McMurray	2	9.44

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: Aaron’s 499 from Talladega

After the big wreck in Texas, the vehicular carnage will likely spill into Talladega Superspeedway with the return of restrictor plate racing. Join us Thursday at 7PM ET for the Fantasy NASCAR Live Chat.

Chasing the pole at Talladega Superspeedway

1. Juan Pablo Montoya… Won the pole last year at Talladega.
2. Sam Hornish, Jr…. Started fourth last year at Talladega— has started third and second for the last two races.
3. Greg Biffle… Started second last year at Talladega— started third last week at Texas Motor Speedway.

Here’s an explanation of the highlighted text in the rankings.

• Y! A/B/C - The top options in the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game by driver list.
• Value play - Sneaky plays at this week’s track. Drivers to consider as low-rent salary cap options or alternatives in allocation formats.

1. Jimmie Johnson… Won 5/06 race at Talladega, has led at least one lap in 14 of 16 career starts. Four Top 10s in the last six starts at Talladega. Y!-A1
2. Jeff Gordon… Six-time winner (’07 sweep, 5/05, 4/04, 4/00, 7/96) at Talladega. No Top 10s since ‘07, has led at least one lap in 27 of 34 career starts. Y!-A2
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Five-time winner (10/04, 4/03, ‘02 sweep, 11/01) at Talladega. Had led at least two laps in 18 of 20 career starts at Talladega. Finished second and 11th last year. Runner-up at Daytona. Y!-B1
4. Greg Biffle… Last year at Talladega: seventh, fourth– first two Top 10s in 14 career starts. Finished third at Daytona. Y!-A3
5. Kyle Busch… Won 4/08 race at Talladega. Average running position of 13th or better in three straight starts at Talladega. Y!-A4
6. Kurt Busch… Twelve Top 10 finishes in 18 career starts at Talladega, only one since ‘08.
7. Matt Kenseth… No Top 10s at Talladega since ‘06, two Top 20s since. Average running position of 13th or better in three straight starts at Talladega. Y!-B2
8. Kevin Harvick… Only one Top 20 at Talladega since ‘08. Average Running Position of 10th in 11/09 race. Finished seventh at Daytona. Y!-B3
9. Carl Edwards… DNF due to crash to two of the last three starts at Talladega, finished 14th in 11/09 race.
10. Clint Bowyer… Has finished 12th or better in four of the last five starts at Talladega. Finished fourth at Daytona. Y!-B4
11. Juan Pablo Montoya… Has led at least one lap in four straight starts at Talladega, only one Top 10.
12. Ryan Newman… Last three April races at Talladega: third, eighth, ninth. Y!-B5
13. Tony Stewart… Won 10/08 race at Talladega. Last year at Talladega: 23rd, 35th.
14. Jeff Burton… ‘08 at Talladega: 12th, fourth. Last year: 10th, fifth. Has led at least one lap in six of the last seven starts at Talladega. Y!-B6
15. Joey Logano… Last year at Talladega: ninth, third. Y!-B7
16. Denny Hamlin… Last year at Talladega: 22nd, DNF (engine)
17. Mark Martin… Two-time winner (5/97, 4/95) at Talladega. DNF due to crash in both ‘09 races at Talladega– first starts there since ‘06.
18. Jamie McMurray… Strong value play. Won 11/09 race at Talladega, won this year’s Daytona 500. Y!-B8
19. Brad Keselowski… Strong value play. Won 4/09 race at Talladega, finished eighth in November.
20. Kasey Kahne… Finished second in 11/09 race at Talladega, second Top 15 since ‘07.
21. Paul Menard… Strong value play. ‘08 at Talladega: 14th, second. Last year: 13th, DNF (crash) Y!-C1
22. Scott Speed… Last year at Talladega: fifth, DNF (crash). Finished 19th at Daytona. Y!-C2
23. Elliott Sadler… Weak value play. Had led at least one lap in 14 straight starts at Talladega, two Top 10s in the last three starts.
24. David Ragan… Weak value play. ‘08 finishes at Talladega: fourth, third. Last year: 12th, 17th.
25. Brian Vickers… Won 10/06 race at Talladega. Finished eighth and 13th last year. Led at least two laps in seven of the last eight starts at Talladega.
26. Marcos Ambrose… Last year at Talladega: fourth, 34th– average running position of 18th, 16th.
27. Martin Truex Jr…. DNF due to crash in four straight starts at Talladega.
28. David Reutimann… Finished 26th in both ‘09 races at Talladega.
29. A.J. Allmendinger… Average finish of 32.7 in three career starts at Talladega. Y!-C3
30. Regan Smith… Long shot value play. Average finish of 23.4 in five career starts at Talladega. Y!-C4
31. Travis Kvapil… Long shot value play. Average finish of 17.2 in five career starts at Talladega, no starts in ‘09.
32. Sam Hornish Jr…. Average finish of 36.3 in three career start at Talladega. Finished 37th at Daytona.
33. Robby Gordon… ‘08 at Talladega: 11th, eighth. Last year: two DNFs due to crash
34. Bobby Labonte… Won 4/98 race at Talladega. DNF (crash), 10th-place finish last year.
35. Joe Nemechek… Last three starts at Talladega: 11th, 14th, DNF (crash)
36. Michael Waltrip… Won 9/03 race at Talladega. Finished seventh in 11/09 race at Talladega, first Top 15 since ‘07.
37. Max Papis… Last year at Talladega: 18th, 29th.
38. Robert Robertson Jr…. Started 41st, finished 18th in 11/09 race at Talladega, first career Cup start.
39. Kevin Conway… No career Cup starts at Talladega.
40. Aric Almirola… Finished a career-best 13th at Talladega in 10/08 race, no Cup starts in ‘09.
41. Johnny Sauter… No Cup starts at Talladega since ‘07. Three DNQs this season.
42. David Stremme… DNQs in two straight races.
43. Jeff Fuller… No career Cup starts at Talladega– no career Cup starts since ‘05.
44. Dave Blaney… Likely start and park.
45. Mike Bliss… Likely start and park. No Cup starts at Talladega since ‘06.
46. Terry Cook… No career Cup start at Talladega. Six DNQs this season.

Contender Or Pretender: Talladega

Kurt Busch (Contender) - Talladega is the most unpredictable track on the schedule. In order to deal with unpredictability you should turn to predictability. Kurt Busch has for the most part been very predictable at Talladega. In two-thirds of his career starts at Talladega Kurt Busch has finished in the top ten. His luck hasn’t been the best here lately but at one point in his career he finished in the top 8 for seven consecutive races.

Mark Martin (Pretender) - Mark Martin hates this track. During his part-time retirement stint he dodged this track for that very reason. The reason why he hates it is because Mark Martin and Luck aren’t compatible. In the last twelve Talladega races Martin has competed in his average finish is 27th.  Over those twelve races he only finished in the top 10 twice. Martin’s driver rating at Talladega is an impressively low 61.3.

Brad Keselowski (Contender) - His win from last year can easily be dismissed as a fluke. However he did manage to score the most points in the series here last year. One key thing that is important about Brad Keselowski is that he causes the accidents, he’s not in them.

Greg Biffle (Pretender) - Last year he finished in the top ten in both races but the truth to the story about Greg Biffle at Talladega is that those are his only two here in his entire career. In 14 starts at Talladega Biffle also has 5 DNF’s.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Contender) - Even through his struggles last year Earnhardt Jr. still had what it took to be good at Talladega. His Talladega glory days (2001-2004) are long gone but he still has what it takes to get to victory lane at NASCAR’s biggest track. In twenty career starts at Talladega Earnhardt has won a quarter of them. His Talladega average finish is also the second highest in the series right behind Kurt Busch (only counting drivers who have competed in at least 3 races).

David Reutimann (Pretender) - Talladega will not be the place to turn around David Reutimann’s unlucky fortunes this season. I can’t think of any driver who’s been more unlucky than Reutimann in 2010. In six races at Talladega Reutimann has never finished better than 20th. Four of his career finishes are 26th or worse.

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: DirecTV Head2Head Knockout

FOX Sports.com is hosting the DirecTV Head2Head Knockout, a bracket that pits 28 of the best NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers against each other. Registration ends April 18th, 3:00PM ET. I’ve put together a preview of all the first round matchups, my Fastest Four selections, my championship pick and a peak at my entire bracket.

• Round 1 - Texas Motor Speedway
• Round 2 - Talladega Superspeedway
• Round 3 - Richmond International Raceway
• Fastest Four - Darlington Raceway

Turn 1

• Kurt Busch (1) vs. Elliot Sadler (8) – Busch finished eighth, first last year at Texas.
• Kyle Busch (4) vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (5) – Neither one had a Top 10 last year at Texas, but Busch was much better on intermediate tracks.
• Carl Edwards (3) vs. Paul Menard (6) - *Possible upset* Menard finished fifth at Atlanta (a similar 1.5 mile, 24 degree-banked track) earlier this year. 4/09 race at Texas: Edwards 10th, Menard 13th.
• Denny Hamlin (2) vs. Brad Keselowski (7) - *Possible upset* Hamlin’s knee is still an uncertain. Keselowski was running in the Top Six before getting wrecked by Edwards at Atlanta.

Turn 2

• Mark Martin (1) vs. David Ragan (8) – Martin finished sixth, fourth last year at Texas.
• Joey Logano (4) vs. Jamie McMurray (5) – 2009 finishes at Texas… Logano: 30th, 19th. McMurray: 38th, 20th.
• Jeff Burton (3) vs. Martin Truex, Jr. (6) – Burton finished ninth in both races last year at Texas.
• Tony Stewart (2) vs. A.J. Allmendinger (7) – *Possible upset* Stewart finished fourth, sixth last year at Texas. Allmendinger finished sixth at Atlanta earlier this season.

Turn 3

• Jimmie Johnson (1) vs. Regan Smith (8)
• Brian Vickers (4) vs. Juan Pablo Montoya (5) – Montoya finished third at Atlanta, Vickers finished seventh.
• Kevin Harvick (3) vs. Marcos Ambrose (6) - Harvick finished ninth at Atlanta, Ambrose finished 11th.
• Greg Biffle (2) vs. Sam Hornish, Jr. (7) – Biffle finished third, eighth last year at Texas.

Turn 4

• Jeff Gordon (1) vs. Bobby Labonte (8)
• Kasey Kahne (4) vs. Ryan Newman (5) - 2009 finishes at Texas… Kahne: 19th, 33rd. Newman: 15th, 12th.
• Clint Bowyer (3) vs. David Reutimann (6) - *Possible upset* 2009 finishes at Texas… Bowyer: 23rd, 22nd. Reutimann: 11th, 16th.
• Matt Kenseth (2) vs. Scott Speed (7) – Kenseth finished second at Atlanta, two Top Fives last year at Texas. Speed finished 10th at Atlanta.

Fastest Four picks

• Turn 1 – Kyle Busch: It has been a rough season for Rowdy, but if he advances past Talladega I don’t see anyone in this bracket outdoing him at Richmond.
• Turn 2 – Tony Stewart: Smoke is great at Talladega and Richmond. I have Mark Martin, the number one seed, going down in round two since he crashed in both races at Talladega last year.
• Turn 3 – Jimmie Johnson: If Montoya was a better plate racer I would be tempted to have Johnson fall in round two. Don’t count me among the surprised if it does indeed happen.
• Turn 4 – Jeff Gordon: Consistency at Richmond is what makes Gordon the favorite in this bracket. All of the other top seeds have shaky recent history at Talladega, which could blow up this entire part of the bracket.

Champion – Jeff Gordon: The final matchup at Darlington pits all of the Fastest Four against each other. Gordon and Johnson have ridiculously good numbers there. After reviewing loop data numbers, I’m going with Gordon for a couple of reasons. Since loop data was introduced in 2005, Gordon has met or exceeded Johnson in percentage of laps in the Top 15 at Darlington in all five races. In that span, Gordon’s average driver rating (114.4) is better than Johnson (112.1). Finally, Gordon has topped 111.0 driver rating in all five races at Darlington; Johnson has been below 100.0 in each of the last two races there.

• View my entire bracket here.

Printable NASCAR TV Schedule for April 2010

April NASCAR TV Schedule in PDF Format

We hope that you can use our complete, printable, NASCAR broadcast television schedule for April 2010. This one includes the NASCAR TV schedule for the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR programming on ESPN, ESPN2, Speed and Fox for the entire month of April.

Click here for a printable NASCAR TV schedule for April 2010

The April  2010 NASCAR schedule includes races at Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Talladega Super Speeedway. If you like our printable features, sign up for the On Pit Row NASCAR Newsletter below.

NASCAR Fantasy Tool: 2009 Average Finish at Restrictor Plate Races

This table shows the average finish of 37 drivers at the four races restrictor plate races held at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway during the 2009 season.

	Daytona 1	Talladega 1	Daytona 2	Talladega 2	AVERAGE
Elliot Sadler	5	19	10	9	10.8
Brad Keswlowski		1	24	8	11.0
David Ragan	6	12	13	17	12.0
Greg Biffle	20	7	18	4	12.3
Matt Kenseth	1	17	8	24	12.5
Kurt Busch	10	6	5	30	12.8
Jeff Burton	28	10	16	5	14.8
Carl Edwards	18	24	4	14	15.0
Marcos Ambrose	17	4	6	34	15.3
Juan Pablo Montoya	14	20	9	19	15.5
Tony Stewart	8	23	1	35	16.8
Brian Vickers	39	8	7	13	16.8
Reed Sorenson	9	11	33	16	17.3
Jimmie Johnson	31	30	2	6	17.3
Michael Waltrip	7	21	37	7	18.0
Joey Logano	43	9	19	3	18.5
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	27	2	39	11	19.8
Bobby Labonte	22	28	21	10	20.3
Kasey Kahne	29	36	15	2	20.5
Clint Bowyer	4	39	29	12	21.0
Regan Smith	21	15	12	39	21.8
Kevin Harvick	2	38	26	21	21.8
A.J. Allmendinger	3	35	17	33	22.0
Denny Hamlin	26	22	3	38	22.3
Casey Mears	15	16	34	25	22.5
Jamie McMurray	37	42	11	1	22.8
Ryan Newman	36	3	20	36	23.8
Kyle Busch	41	25	14	15	23.8
John Andretti	19	27	27	23	24.0
Scott Speed	35	5	31	27	24.5
Jeff Gordon	13	37	28	20	24.5
Martin Truex Jr.	11	33	25	31	25.0
David Reutimann	12	26	36	26	25.0
Paul Menard	38	13	23	42	29.0
Robby Gordon	34	29	22	32	29.3
Mark Martin	16	43	38	28	31.3
Sam Hornish Jr.	32	34	32	40	34.5

NASCAR Power Rankings: Chase Edition Week 8

Talladega

Who's Up	Who's Down
Biggest Gain This Week: Kasey Kahne: 9th to 7th	Biggest Drop This Week: Ryan Newman: 8th to 10th
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, 22 Top Tens Jimmie Johnson has absolutely dominated the 2009 Chase. At Talladega he most likely sealed the deal with many of his main Chase competitors getting collected up in the "Big One".

Rank: 2nd Jeff Gordon #24 Last Week: 2 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Jeff Gordon- 1 Win, 23 Top Tens Jeff Gordon may not win the championship this year but he does have the most top fives and top tens in the series. In the end of the day people will only remember who won the championship.

Rank: 3rd Mark Martin #5 Last Week: 4 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Mark Martin - 5 Wins, 19 Top Tens Mark Martin was confident that he wouldn't wreck at Talladega but unfortunately his wishful thinking didn't do the trick. Martin sometimes uses reverse psychology in interviews, I remember his bad 2006 Lowes wreck and he said he was having fun.

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

Juan Pablo Montoya - 7 Top Fives, 17 Top Tens Juan Pablo Montoya is 2009's version of Clint Bowyer's Cindrella Chase season. He is the little guy who no one ever gave a chance. Let's hope that his Chase momentum continues into next season.

Rank: 5th Kurt Busch #2 Last Week: 6 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Kurt Busch - 1 Win, 18 Top Tens Kurt Busch had a rough day at Talladega. He had a flat tire early and went down two laps. The new NASCAR wave around rule is what really saved his day. Now the big question surrounding him is when will he get a new crew chief? Will it be this year?

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

Tony Stewart - 4 Wins, 22 Top Tens If NASCAR was still under the old points system I read that Jimmie Johnson would now be ahead of Tony Stewart by just 7 points. That sounds more exciting then Johnson's full race advantage he now has over his competitors.

Rank: 7th Kasey Kahne #9 Last Week: 9 Change: +2 Driver Page | Articles

Kasey Kahne - 2 Wins, 14 Top Tens Kasey Kahne's main goal this season is now to stay in the top 10 in points to ensure that he'll get an invitation to the awards banquet this year. In order for Kahne to accomplish that goal a good run at Texas is a must for the 9 team.

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

Denny Hamlin - 3 Wins, 17 Top Tens Hamlin had a good run like he usually does at Talladega but this team never finishes races there. Hamlin was probably lucky to have blown up other wise he most likely would've been a victim of Brad Kesolowski again.

Rank: 9th Greg Biffle #16 Last Week: 10 Change: +1 Driver Page | Articles

Greg Biffle - 9 Top Fives, 15 Top Tens Out of all the drivers who survived the "Big One" Greg Biffle is the last driver who I thought would be spared from the carnage at Talladega. Many of the historically unlucky Talladega drivers had good days.

Rank: 10th Ryan Newman #39 Last Week: 8 Change: -2 Driver Page | Articles

Ryan Newman - 5 Top Fives, 15 Top Tens If your a NASCAR driver who can't win the race and you want airtime then I would recommend you do what Newman did. He's now one up on Carl Edwards in the flipping column for the year.

Rank: 11th Carl Edwards #99 Last Week: 11 Change: 0 Driver Page | Articles

Carl Edwards - 7 Top Fives, 13 Top Tens I really think the Chase somehow needs a mechanism to eliminate drivers. Edwards doesn't even have a top 5 and Vickers doesn't have a top 10. I personally think it would've been more beneficial for this team to miss the Chase.

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

Brian Vickers - 1 Win, 13 Top Tens I wonder if this team will be able to bounce back in 2010. Before the Chase started Vickers was one of the hottest drivers in the series, now he's lucky to be locked in the top 12.

NASCAR Fantasy Experts Picks: Amp Energy 500 at Talladega

Expert	Website	Pick to Win	Finish	Experts Avg
Ryan Rantz	On Pit Row	Tony Stewart	35	8.22
James Jones	On Pit Row	Kurt Busch	30	8.53
Dennis Michelsen	RaceTalkRadio.com	Greg Biffle	4	9.84
Gerritt Ritt	FOX Sports	Brian Vickers	13	10.25
Yahoo Users	Yahoo! Sports	Jeff Gordon	20	10.53
Mike Harmon	FOX Sports	Tony Stewart	35	10.63
Roger Rotter	FOX Sports	Kurt Busch	30	10.75
Cheryl Lauer	Speed Couch	Jeff Gordon	20	10.97
Eric Brewer		David Ragan	17	11.59
Darren Fauth	Fantasy NASCAR Names	Jeff Gordon	20	11.91
Lou Lauer	USAR Fans	Jeff Gordon	20	12.06
Charlie Turner	On Pit Row	Carl Edwards	14	12.13
Eric McClung	On Pit Row	Kurt Busch	30	12.44
P J Walsh	FantasyNASCARPreview.com	Kyle Busch	15	12.59
Eric McGuire	FFToolbox	Kyle Busch	15	13.16
Bob Ellis	NASCAR Ranting and Raving	Tony Stewart	35	16.38
Jon Rodgers	Gillette Young Guns Challenge Winner	Dale Earnhardt Jr	11	18.28

NASCAR Fantasy Racing Preview: Amp Energy 500 at Talladega

The racing at Talladega Superspeedway is often times unpredictable and your fantasy lineup should reflect that this week. I’ve assembled another Similar Track Tool showing the best average finishers at the three restrictor plate races held earlier this season, Daytona’s February and July events and the April race at Talladega in between. Click here to use the Talladega/Daytona similar track tool.

After reviewing the table several things jump out: Kurt Busch is the only driver to finish in the top-10 at all three plate races this season. David Ragan finished 12th or better in all three. Marcos Ambrose has an average finish of 9.0; Elliot Sadler had an average finish 11.3. Reed Sorenson finished ninth and 11th in the first two plate races, Brian Vickers finished eighth and seventh in the last two.

Plate racing and high speeds lead to damaged race cars, a fantasy lineup can account for this with some changeups in driver selection. Owners in allocation formats, such as Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing, can conserve remaining starts of top drivers by going with deeper picks for what always turns out to be a crapshoot of a race. For example, addition to having solid finishes in plate races David Ragan and teammate Matt Kenseth, winner of the this year’s Daytona 500, will be using Ford’s new FR9 engine. Either one is a good gamble this week.

For those hunting bonus points for top qualifiers I’ve added my top-three qualifiers to the weekly preview.
Chasing the pole at Talladega:

1. Martin Truex Jr…. Won the pole at the first Daytona race this year. Started third at Talladega in April and 10th at last year’s AMP Energy 500. Also won the pole at Atlanta and has started inside the top-five in two of the last three races.
2. Jeff Gordon… Started second and third for the Daytona races; 14th at Talladega. Has qualified inside the top-10 for eight straight races.
3. Tony Stewart… Won the pole at the second Daytona race, fifth in the first one but 23rd at April race Talladega. Has started fifth in two of the last four races.

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.
• 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.

1. Jimmie Johnson… Won at Talladega in ‘06, runner-up in both ‘07 races. Average finish of 11.0 last year. DNF (crash) in April race, average running position of 10th. Runner-up at Daytona in July. Y!-A1
2. Jeff Gordon… Six-time winner at Talladega (’07 sweep, ‘05, ‘04, ‘00, ‘96). Won both ‘07 races, average finish of 31.3 in the three races since. Average finish 26.0 in plate races this season. Y!-A2
3. Kurt Busch… Twelve top-10 finishes at Talladega in 17 career starts, led at least one lap in 13. Streak of seven straight finishes of eighth or better from ‘04-’07. Finished sixth in April race. Y!-B1
4. Tony Stewart… Won last year’s AMP Energy 500, eighth-place 10/07. Finished 23rd in April race at Talladega. Won at Daytona in July. Y!-B2
5. Denny Hamlin… DNF (crash) in last year’s AMP Energy 500, finished 22nd in April race at Talladega– had an average running position of 10th. Finished third (4/08), fourth (10/07) and has led laps in all seven career starts at ‘Dega. Finished third at Daytona in July. Y!-B3
6. Juan Pablo Montoya… Won the pole in the April race at Talladega, finished 20th. Runner-up 4/08. Led at least one lap in three straight Talladega races. Y!-B4
7. Ryan Newman… Minus last year’s DNF at Talladega, average finish of 6.3 since ‘07. Finished third in April race, led 10 laps. Y!-B5
8. Mark Martin… Two-winner at Talladega (’97, ‘95). Started seventh, DNF (crash) in April race. Bad luck in the last two plate races: 43th and 38th. Y!-A3
9. Kyle Busch… Won in ‘08 at Talladega. Finished 15th in last year’s AMP Energy 500, led 20 laps. 25th in April race, led 42 laps. Y!-A4
10. Clint Bowyer… Started fifth, completed only eight laps in March race at Talladega, average finish of 8.3 in the three previous races at ‘Dega.
11. Kasey Kahne… Average finish of 14.0 in ‘07 races at Talladega, 31.6 in the three races since. Y!-B6
12. Brian Vickers… Won in ‘06 at Talladega, laps led in seven straight starts. Five finishes of eighth or better over the last seven races at ‘Dega. Y!-B7
13. Matt Kenseth… Average finish of 5.0 in ‘06 races at Talladega, 24.8 in the five races since.
14. Carl Edwards… DNF (crash) in two straight races at Talladega. Finished fourth at Daytona in July.
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr…. Five-winner at Talladega (’04, ‘03, ‘02 sweep, ‘01). Won four straight, 10/01 through 4/03. Only one top-fives since, runner-up in April race. Four top-15s, four DNFs in the nine races since, laps led in eight. Y!-B8
16. Greg Biffle… DNFs in five of the last seven races at Talladega. Started second, finished seventh in April race, both career bests.
17. David Ragan… Average finish of 3.5 in ‘08 races at Talladega. Started 10th, finished 12th in April race.
18. Joey Logano… Started 22nd, finished ninth and led four laps in April race, first career start at Talladega. Finished third in the April Nationwide race, second in last year’s ARCA race.
19. Marcos Ambrose… Started 34th, finished fourth in April race, first career start at Talladega. Y!-C1
20. Casey Mears… Average finish of 10.8 over the last four races at Talladega. Finished 16th in the April race.
21. Jeff Burton… Average finish of 8.6 over the last three races at Talladega, led laps in all three. Finished 10th in April race.
22. Elliott Sadler… Has led laps in 13 straight races at Talladega. Finished 10th in last year’s AMP Energy 500, 19th in April race.
23. Brad Keselowski… Won 4/09 race, first career start at Talladega. Started ninth, won the April race- only led on the final lap. Finished ninth in the April Nationwide race. Y!-C2
24. David Reutimann… Three DNFs in five career starts at Talladega, average finish of 23.0 in the two completed races.
25. Paul Menard… Finished 14th 4/08, runner-up in last year’s AMP Energy 500. Finished 13th in April race at Talladega, led laps in all three races.
26. Kevin Harvick… Has not finished better than 20th in the last four races at Talladega.
27. Regan Smith… Average finish of 19.5 in four career starts at Talladega. Has started fourth and sixth in his last two attempts. Finished 15th in April race. Y!-C3
28. Bobby Labonte… Won in ‘98. DNF (crash) in April race at Talladega. Finished sixth in last year’s AMP Energy 500. Y!-C4
29. Michael Waltrip… Won in ‘03. Has led at least one lap in three straight races at Talladega. Average finish of 22.3 over the last races at ‘Dega.
30. Martin Truex Jr…. Has crashed five times in nine career start at Talladega and in three straight.
31. AJ Allmendinger… DNF (crash) 4/08 race at Talladega. Started 38th, finished 35th in April race.
32. Jamie McMurray… DNFs (crash) in three of the last six races at Talladega.
33. Robby Gordon… Average finish of 9.5 in ‘08 races at Talladega. DNF (crash) in April race.
34. Reed Sorenson… Started 41st, finished 11th in April race at Talladega. DNF (engine) and 23rd-place finish last year.
35. Scott Speed… Started eighth, finished fifth and led a lap in April race, first career start at Talladega. Finished seventh and 23rd in two career ARCA races at ‘Dega.
36. Sam Hornish Jr…. Started fourth, led three laps in April race at Talladega, DNF (crash).
37. Max Papis… Stared 42rd, finished 18th in April race, first career start at Talladega.
38. John Andretti… Started 40th, finished 27th in April race, first start at Talladega since ‘07.
39. David Stremme… DNFs (crash) in three of his last five starts at Talladega.
40. Robert Richardson Jr…. No career Cup starts at Talladega. Average finish of 18.0 in three career Nationwide starts at ‘Dega.
41. Erik Darnell… No career Cup starts at Talladega. Started 24th, finished 13th in ‘05 ARCA race at ‘Dega.
42. Joe Nemechek… Likely start and park. Average start of 8.3, finish of 16.6 in last three starts at Talladega.
43. Dave Blaney… Likely start and park. DNF (engine) in last year’s AMP Energy 500.
44. Tony Raines… Likely start and park. DNF (crash) in last year’s AMP Energy 500.

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