Fantasy NASCAR rankings: Crown Royal presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400

April 29, 2011 @ 20:54:09

By Brian Polking

After qualifying for Saturday's Cup race at Richmond, fantasy owners will have some decisions to make. Several big names, who were also fast in practice while in race trim, qualified deep in the field. Meanwhile, some drivers that traditionally struggle at the track are starting in the top 10.

Regan Smith, Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne are three drivers with suspect career averages at Richmond that will roll off inside the top 10, while Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart will all start 20th or worse. The latter group has combined for eight wins at RIR compared to just a single win for the guys starting up front. If I'm an owner, I'm taking the proven options with the strong practice times.

Track position is always important at a short track, but starting up front is by no means a guarantee that a driver will finish there. Fantasy owners need to remember that the cream almost always rises to the top over the course of 400 laps. The drivers starting up front may run there for the first half of the race, but if they don't have a decent car, they will eventually work their way toward the back. It's not where you start that's important, but where you finish.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Sponsor	Team	Starting Pos
1	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	20
2	Clint Bowyer	33	Chevrolet	Cheerios	Richard Childress Racing	3
3	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	12
4	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	11
5	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Aflac	Roush Fenway Racing	8
6	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	30
7	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	6
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	24
9	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	13
10	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Target	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	1
11	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	31
12	Mark Martin	5	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	Hendrick Motorsports	5
13	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	25
14	Kurt Busch	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	36
15	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Crown Royal	Roush Fenway Racing	33
16	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	9
17	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	35
18	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	23
19	Kasey Kahne	4	Toyota	Red Bull	Red Bull Racing	4
20	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	7
21	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA	Michael Waltrip Racing	21
22	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	10
23	A.J. Allmendinger	43	Ford	Best Buy	Richard Petty Motorsports	18
24	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	17
25	David Reutimann	00	Toyota	Aaron's	Michael Waltrip Racing	19
26	David Ragan	6	Ford	UPS	Roush Fenway Racing	27
27	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	2
28	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Bush's Baked Beans	JTG Daugherty Racing	14
29	Brian Vickers	83	Toyota	Red Bull	Red Bull Racing	37
30	Casey Mears	13	Toyota	GEICO	Germain Racing	15
31	Robby Gordon	7	Dodge	SPEED Energy	Robby Gordon Motorsports	42
32	Travis Kvapil	38	Chevrolet	Long John Silver's	Front Row Motorsports	28
33	David Gilliland	34	Ford	Taco Bell	Front Row Motorsports	39
34	Ken Schrader	32	Ford	C&J Energy	FAS Lane Racing	38
35	Landon Cassill	09	Chevrolet	Security Benefit	Phoenix Racing	34
36	Mike Skinner	60	Toyota	Big Red	Germain Racing	32
37	Andy Lally	71	Chevrolet	Eco-Fuel Saver	TRG Motorsports	41
38	David Stremme	30	Dodge	TBA	Inception Motorsports	16
39	Tony Raines	37	Ford	TBA	Front Row Motorsports	43
40	J.J. Yeley	46	Chevrolet	Red Line Oil	Whitney Motorsports	40
41	Michael McDowell	66	Toyota	RaceHP.com	HP Racing	22
42	Dave Blaney	36	Chevrolet	Golden Corral	Tommy Baldwin Racing	29
43	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	AM FM Energy	NEMCO Motorsports	26

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Brian Polking

Racing has been part of Brian's life ever since he can remember, and he spent his childhood at dirt tracks throughout Ohio and Kentucky watching his father race. NASCAR naturally became his favorite sport, and he has been following the Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series for most of his life. Brian majored in journalism and economics at Ohio State University and becoming a sports writer has always been his dream. Although he has covered everything from minor league baseball to the NCAA tournament, his passion has always been NASCAR. Brian has served as a NASCAR writer for a variety of sites, eventually becoming head editor of the NASCAR section for Fanball.com. His knowledge of NASCAR comes from his life-long love of racing, and he tries to add a personal touch to every article he writes. Brian is always up for talking NASCAR with anyone that wants to. Brian joined KFFL's team in 2011.

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