Fantasy NASCAR rankings: Wonderful Pistachios 400

September 10, 2011 @ 20:01:54

By Brian Polking

There have been plenty of drivers that have disappointed in 2011, but David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray have to be at or near the top of the bust list. Both drivers sit well outside the top 20 in points and are winless after combining to win four races a year ago. Despite all the struggles, both drivers took a step in the right direction at Richmond Friday when Reutimann won the pole and McMurray joined him on the outside of the front row.

Whether or not the two drivers go on to deliver solid results in the race remains to be seen, but with the Chase about to begin, it does bring to mind an interesting trend. Every year one or two drivers that miss the Chase are able to build momentum during the playoffs and help out fantasy teams. Tony Stewart's memorable 2006 Chase when he led all drivers in victories is just one example.

The important thing for fantasy owners to remember is that while the 12 drivers that make the Chase have led the way for the first 26 races, there is no guarantee they will continue to do so in the final 10 events. Whether they are in the playoffs or not, owners need to identify and utilize the drivers that get hot in the coming weeks.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Sponsor	Team	Starting Pos
1	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	13
2	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	3
3	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	17
4	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Aflac	Roush Fenway Racing	8
5	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	28
6	Clint Bowyer	33	Chevrolet	Cheerios	Richard Childress Racing	5
7	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	19
8	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	7
9	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	22
10	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	18
11	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	16
12	A.J. Allmendinger	43	Ford	Best Buy	Richard Petty Motorsports	9
13	Kurt Busch	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	11
14	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	33
15	Kasey Kahne	4	Toyota	Red Bull	Red Bull Racing	12
16	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Crown Royal	Roush Fenway Racing	25
17	Mark Martin	5	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	Hendrick Motorsports	4
18	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	6
19	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	27
20	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	2
21	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	14
22	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Target	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	10
23	David Reutimann	00	Toyota	Aaron's	Michael Waltrip Racing	1
24	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA	Michael Waltrip Racing	29
25	David Ragan	6	Ford	UPS	Roush Fenway Racing	20
26	Brian Vickers	83	Toyota	Red Bull	Red Bull Racing	24
27	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	15
28	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Bush's Baked Beans	JTG Daugherty Racing	32
29	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	23
30	Dave Blaney	36	Chevrolet	Golden Corral	Tommy Baldwin Racing	34
31	Travis Kvapil	38	Ford	Long John Silver's	Front Row Motorsports	35
32	David Gilliland	34	Ford	Taco Bell	Front Row Motorsports	36
33	Casey Mears	13	Toyota	GEICO	Germain Racing	30
34	Mike Bliss	32	Ford	U.S. Chrome	FAS Lane Racing	42
35	Robby Gordon	7	Dodge	SPEED Energy	Robby Gordon Motorsports	37
36	Scott Speed	46	Ford	RetakeOurGov.com	Whitney Motorsports	41
37	Landon Cassill	51	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction	Phoenix Racing	21
38	Andy Lally	71	Ford	TRG Motorsports	TRG Motorsports	38
39	Stephen Leicht	35	Chevrolet	Pepsi Max	Tommy Baldwin Racing	40
40	David Stremme	30	Chevrolet	Inception Motorsports	Inception Motorsports	26
41	J.J. Yeley	55	Ford	TBA	Front Row Motorsports	43
42	Michael McDowell	66	Toyota	RaceHP.com	HP Racing	31
43	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	NEMCO Motorsports	NEMCO Motorsports	39

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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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