Fantasy NASCAR Racing

Fantasy NASCAR practice recap: STP 400

June 3, 2011 @ 17:07:49

Entering Friday's practice sessions at Kansas Speedway, the top priority for every team was to figure out whether the track is going to handle like it has in fall races. With track temperatures expected to be a bit warmer than in past fall events, there is a good chance drivers are going to have to take a different approach than they are used to. Ultimately, the teams that were able to get the most out of the practices and make the appropriate adjustments are going to have a leg up when the race goes green Sunday.

Different track conditions or not, last year’s fall winner Greg Biffle didn’t seem to mind. He topped the charts in the opening session and was the only driver to top 169 mph. Fantasy owners should go ahead and pencil him in as a top option this weekend. He is a two-time winner at the track, and he has finished third or better six times in his last seven starts at the track.

Biffle’s teammate Carl Edwards ranked second in the session, continuing a trend of dominance for Roush Fenway Racing at 1.5-mile tracks this season. Kasey Kahne, another 1.5-mile track stud, ranked third. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five, and both drivers are two-time winners at Kansas. Owners should be excited about the names that showed up in the top five. All five drivers should be strong options this weekend, and their practice times seem to back that up.

Only seven drivers opted to run 10 consecutive laps during the first practice, and the red hot David Ragan led the way. After his second-place run last weekend, fantasy owners should bump him to the top of the list of sleepers. Stewart posted the second best 10-lap average speed, and with five finishes of fourth or better at Kansas in his career, "Smoke" looks like a top-five option this weekend.

The speeds picked up in Happy Hour, and Joey Logano powered his way to the top of the charts with a lap of 170.175 mph. He was followed by Gordon and Brian Vickers. Mark Martin and Paul Menard rounded out the top five. In terms of fantasy value, Gordon is the guy to target. Not only is he a two-time winner at Kansas, but he has finished in the top five in four straight starts at the track. Menard is the potential sleeper of the bunch. He is coming off an eighth-place finish in his last start at Kansas.

Despite the fast times, Logano and Vickers are both risky plays this weekend. They both have questionable records at Kansas, and both have been cursed with bad luck and bad cars in 2011. They simply haven’t been reliable enough this year to trust at this point, even with top-five speeds.

Biffle secured his status as one of the top options by posting the top 10-lap average speed in Happy Hour. Gordon did the same by recording the second best average speed. Matt Kenseth ranked third in the category, polishing off a strong showing from the Roush Fenway Racing drivers during practice. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.

Two big names missing from the leaderboard were Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and owners may want to stay away from the Joe Gibbs Racing duo this weekend. Busch has never had a top-five finish at Kansas, and Hamlin has just one top-five run.

Heading into Sunday’s race, it appears that Roush Fenway Racing cars are once again the front-runners as they have been at every 1.5-mile track this year. Stewart and Gordon have strong track records at Kansas, and they appear to have fast cars as well.

Happy Hour Speeds (sorted by Avg. Speed)

Rk indicates Best Lap standing

Rk	Car	Driver	Team	Best Lap	Best Time	Avg. Speed	Laps
8	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac Ford	169.205	31.914	168.764	5
9	30	David Stremme	Inception Motorsports Chevy	168.713	32.007	167.783	5
19	17	Matt Kenseth	Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford	167.754	32.190	167.072	37
25	81	Scott Riggs	WhitneysCollision.com Chevy	167.546	32.230	167.069	6
24	87	Joe Nemechek	Nemco Motorsports Toyota	167.561	32.227	166.848	7
10	6	David Ragan	UPS Ford	168.503	32.047	166.633	9
33	46	J.J. Yeley	Red Line Chevy	166.966	32.342	166.185	9
37	66	Michael McDowell	Victory Junction Toyota	166.564	32.420	166.001	9
2	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevy	170.122	31.742	165.941	18
29	60	Mike Skinner	Big Red Toyota	167.100	32.316	165.828	9
31	71	Andy Lally	TRG Motorsports Ford	167.053	32.325	164.987	12
15	16	Greg Biffle	3M/Walgreens Ford	168.156	32.113	164.676	58
27	37	Tony Raines	Black Cat Fireworks Ford	167.214	32.294	164.512	10
36	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevy	166.749	32.384	164.192	30
42	50	T.J. Bell	Green Smoke Toyota	165.198	32.688	164.076	12
20	38	Travis Kvapil	Long John Silver's Ford	167.754	32.190	164.003	9
35	22	Kurt Busch	AAA Dodge	166.842	32.366	163.953	34
30	14	Tony Stewart	The Glades/Office Depot Chevy	167.064	32.323	163.934	34
1	20	Joey Logano	Home Depot Toyota	170.175	31.732	163.921	43
23	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota	167.665	32.207	163.886	56
28	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevy	167.157	32.305	163.803	44
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevy	167.691	32.202	163.628	49
12	33	Clint Bowyer	American Ethanol Chevy	168.450	32.057	163.573	32
5	27	Paul Menard	Zecol/Menards Chevy	169.502	31.858	163.548	40
16	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford	167.926	32.157	163.541	26
4	5	Mark Martin	Farmers Insurance/GoDaddy.com	169.614	31.837	163.484	53
32	4	Kasey Kahne	Red Bull Toyota	167.043	32.327	163.407	51
38	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy/National Guard Chevy	166.538	32.425	163.390	53
17	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevy	167.822	32.177	163.144	57
13	00	David Reutimann	TUMS Toyota	168.424	32.062	163.126	54
40	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Chevy	165.335	32.661	163.126	62
21	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Toyota	167.749	32.191	163.035	29
34	39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevy	166.960	32.343	163.011	38
18	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge	167.775	32.186	162.971	80
3	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	170.084	31.749	162.959	59
11	43	A.J. Allmendinger	STP Ford	168.466	32.054	162.953	36
41	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevy	165.244	32.679	162.882	29
39	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	166.323	32.467	162.851	60
6	51	Landon Cassill	Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Chevy	169.321	31.892	162.591	35
7	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	169.252	31.905	162.536	35
26	36	Dave Blaney	Accell Chevy	167.463	32.246	162.307	24
43	47	Bobby Labonte	Clorox/Kleenex Toyota	165.097	32.708	162.231	61
14	34	David Gilliland	Taco Bell Ford	168.303	32.085	162.128	25
44	32	Patrick Carpentier	U.S. Chrome Ford	162.148	33.303	159.652	45
45	7	Johnny Sauter	SPEED Energy Dodge	160.275	33.692	159.091	23

10-Lap Average Speeds (must run 10 consecutive laps)

Rk	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg. Speed
1	16	Greg Biffle	1	10	165.481
2	24	Jeff Gordon	1	10	165.316
3	17	Matt Kenseth	1	10	164.768
4	48	Jimmie Johnson	30	39	164.715
5	2	Brad Keselowski	59	68	164.564
6	22	Kurt Busch	7	16	164.513
7	20	Joey Logano	29	38	164.505
8	11	Denny Hamlin	46	55	164.500
9	5	Mark Martin	32	41	164.307
10	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	40	49	164.273
11	29	Kevin Harvick	27	36	164.268
12	27	Paul Menard	1	10	163.886
13	56	Martin Truex Jr.	26	35	163.873
14	00	David Reutimann	37	46	163.730
15	31	Jeff Burton	35	44	163.718
16	78	Regan Smith	53	62	163.598
17	39	Ryan Newman	1	10	163.436
18	83	Brian Vickers	47	56	163.132
19	51	Landon Cassill	1	10	162.971
20	47	Bobby Labonte	1	10	162.962
21	43	A.J. Allmendinger	25	34	162.918

First Practice Speeds (sorted by Avg. Speed)

Rk indicates Best Lap standing

Rk	Car	Driver	Team	Best Lap	Best Time	Avg. Speed	Laps
11	30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	167.323	32.273	167.093	5
20	66	Michael McDowell	Victory Junction Toyota	166.405	32.451	166.167	5
16	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	166.502	32.432	165.057	7
22	46	J.J. Yeley	Red Line Chevrolet	166.220	32.487	164.922	5
3	4	Kasey Kahne	Red Bull Toyota	168.361	32.074	164.468	21
27	37	Tony Raines	Black Cat Fireworks Ford	166.011	32.528	164.408	9
21	81	Scott Riggs	WhitneysCollision.com Chevrolet	166.318	32.468	164.379	8
6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet	167.785	32.184	164.277	23
1	16	Greg Biffle	3M/Walgreens Ford	169.189	31.917	163.830	21
15	22	Kurt Busch	AAA Dodge	166.723	32.389	163.514	38
8	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	167.561	32.227	163.486	26
2	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac Ford	168.692	32.011	163.391	33
7	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota	166.154	32.500	163.325	33
32	39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevrolet	165.158	32.696	163.164	17
24	5	Mark Martin	Farmers Insurance/GoDaddy.com	166.185	32.494	163.152	45
12	17	Matt Kenseth	Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford	166.837	32.367	163.136	35
7	47	Bobby Labonte	Clorox/Kleenex Toyota	167.645	32.211	163.124	17
4	14	Tony Stewart	The Glades/Office Depot Chevrolet	167.989	32.145	163.042	45
23	00	David Reutimann	TUMS Toyota	166.200	32.491	162.857	29
34	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet	164.941	32.739	162.822	24
10	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Chevrolet	167.416	32.255	162.795	26
17	6	David Ragan	UPS Ford	166.502	32.432	162.755	54
19	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	166.456	32.441	162.641	49
5	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet	167.874	32.167	162.602	45
38	50	T.J. Bell	Green Smoke Toyota	163.855	32.956	162.481	8
31	33	Clint Bowyer	American Ethanol Chevrolet	165.330	32.662	162.298	39
33	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	165.148	32.698	162.186	25
13	20	Joey Logano	Home Depot Toyota	166.764	32.381	162.184	38
28	27	Paul Menard	Zecol/Menards Chevrolet	165.955	32.539	162.181	27
35	51	Landon Cassill	Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Chevrolet	164.790	32.769	162.103	31
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet	166.754	32.383	162.089	37
26	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet	166.108	32.509	161.925	39
18	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford	166.461	32.440	161.888	38
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge	167.489	32.241	161.816	39
41	60	Mike Skinner	Big Red Toyota	163.019	33.125	161.680	15
30	38	Travis Kvapil	Long John Silver's Ford	165.441	32.640	161.372	35
29	43	A.J. Allmendinger	STP Ford	165.843	32.561	161.336	33
36	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	164.489	32.829	161.315	43
39	36	Dave Blaney	Accell Chevrolet	163.686	32.990	161.212	28
37	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Toyota	164.484	32.830	160.950	29
40	34	David Gilliland	Taco Bell Ford	163.132	33.102	160.868	17
44	7	Johnny Sauter	SPEED Energy Dodge	161.662	33.403	160.855	4
42	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevrolet	162.440	33.243	160.706	16
43	71	Andy Lally	TRG Motorsports Ford	162.416	33.248	159.294	39
45	32	Patrick Carpentier	U.S. Chrome Ford	161.011	33.538	159.277	27

10-Lap Average Speeds (must run 10 consecutive laps)

Rk	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg. Speed
1	6	David Ragan	38	47	163.960
2	14	Tony Stewart	25	34	163.950
3	29	Kevin Harvick	17	26	163.387
4	33	Clint Bowyer	10	19	162.239
5	2	Brad Keselowski	15	24	162.088
6	31	Jeff Burton	20	29	161.841
7	27	Paul Menard	9	18	161.440

Combined Average Speeds (weighted by # of laps run in each session)

Car	Driver	Team	Average Speed	Total Laps
30	David Stremme	Chevrolet	167.438	10
66	Michael McDowell	Victory Junction Toyota	166.060	14
87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	165.953	14
46	J.J. Yeley	Red Line Chevrolet	165.734	14
81	Scott Riggs	WhitneysCollision.com Chevrolet	165.532	14
17	Matt Kenseth	Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford	165.159	72
37	Tony Raines	Black Cat Fireworks Ford	164.463	19
16	Greg Biffle	3M/Walgreens Ford	164.451	79
99	Carl Edwards	Aflac Ford	164.098	38
22	Kurt Busch	AAA Dodge	163.721	72
4	Kasey Kahne	Red Bull Toyota	163.716	72
11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota	163.678	89
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet	163.658	76
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet	163.583	54
24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet	163.556	63
50	T.J. Bell	Green Smoke Toyota	163.438	20
14	Tony Stewart	The Glades/Office Depot Chevrolet	163.426	79
5	Mark Martin	Farmers Insurance/GoDaddy.com	163.332	98
6	David Ragan	UPS Ford	163.309	63
60	Mike Skinner	Big Red Toyota	163.236	24
20	Joey Logano	Home Depot Toyota	163.106	81
39	Ryan Newman	Haas Automation Chevrolet	163.058	55
56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	163.043	86
0	David Reutimann	TUMS Toyota	163.032	83
78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Chevrolet	163.028	88
27	Paul Menard	Zecol/Menards Chevrolet	162.997	67
48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet	162.966	86
29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet	162.921	83
33	Clint Bowyer	American Ethanol Chevrolet	162.873	71
83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	162.729	84
18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	162.597	84
2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge	162.592	119
9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford	162.560	64
47	Bobby Labonte	Clorox/Kleenex Toyota	162.426	78
51	Landon Cassill	Security Benefit/Thank A Teacher Chevrolet	162.362	66
31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	162.358	100
43	A.J. Allmendinger	STP Ford	162.180	69
1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevrolet	162.108	45
13	Casey Mears	GEICO Toyota	161.993	58
38	Travis Kvapil	Long John Silver's Ford	161.910	44
36	Dave Blaney	Accell Chevrolet	161.717	52
34	David Gilliland	Taco Bell Ford	161.618	42
71	Andy Lally	TRG Motorsports Ford	160.634	51
32	Patrick Carpentier	U.S. Chrome Ford	159.511	72
7	Johnny Sauter	SPEED Energy Dodge	159.352	27

Author Bio

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.