Fantasy NASCAR Racing

Fantasy NASCAR practice recap: Tums Fast Relief 500

October 29, 2011 @ 20:02:34

Mother Nature did her best to prevent the Cup Series drivers from practicing for Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, but in the end, NASCAR managed to give teams one Saturday afternoon session to dial in their cars. While having just one practice means less data for fantasy owners to work with, one practice is a lot better than going into a race without any kind of data. For once, NASCAR officials deserve a pat on the back for rearranging the schedule of events to allow the drivers some track time. After all, a championship is hanging in the balance.

The surprising leader of the lone practice of the weekend was Michael McDowell. However, owners need to keep a few things in mind before adding him as a sleeper pick. Most importantly, McDowell is likely going to start and park Sunday and won’t even finish the race. As a result, he and a majority of the drivers outside the top 35 in points simply stayed in qualifying trim for the practice while the drivers guaranteed a starting spot were in race trim, accounting for McDowell’s seemingly fast lap.

As for the serious contenders, Clint Bowyer led the way with the second-fastest lap of the session. He has been solid but not spectacular in his Martinsville career, but coming off a win last weekend, he could be a nice momentum play. He was followed by Martinsville ace Jimmie Johnson, and the six-time winner should be considered the top fantasy option for Sunday’s race. After all, he averages a top-five finish at the track.

Jamie McMurray ranked fourth in the session, while Scott Speed rounded out the top five. While Speed can be lumped in with McDowell in terms of fantasy value, McMurray could be a real sleeper. He has finished 11th or better in four of his last five Martinsville starts, including a seventh-place run earlier this year. Despite his overall struggles, he remained a top-10 option at the track in the spring race and could help owners again this weekend.

In terms of 10-lap average speeds, Johnson and McMurray paced the field. For Johnson, the fast average speeds only cement his status as an elite option this weekend. As for McMurray, the impressive 10-lap average should help ease any doubts fantasy owners may be having about his chances Sunday.

Johnson’s teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ranked third and fourth in the session, while Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top five. Like their Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Gordon and Junior have been impressive at Martinsville. Gordon is a seven-time winner at the track and has 12 top-five finishes in his last 13 starts. Meanwhile, Junior has six top-15 efforts in his last seven starts, including a second-place run in the spring. Owners may want to load up on the HMS stable this weekend.

Ambrose actually has some value as well. He has led more laps at Martinsville than any other oval track and has a pair of top-15 finishes in five starts. Granted, he is a long shot option for sure, but Ambrose does have some potential.

The big story of the session was the performance of title frontrunners Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart. All three ranked well outside the top 20 in terms of both fastest lap and 10-lap average speed. While it is possible that all three have simply missed the setup because of the lack of practice time, there is a good chance that all three worked on long run setups. After all, qualifying was rained out earlier in the day, setting the field by owner points. As a result, all three drivers already knew they were starting in the top five. Edwards and Kenseth aren’t the best fantasy options at Martinsville to begin with, but the chances of all three being as slow as their times indicate are slim.

Happy Hour Speeds (Sorted by Average Speed)

Rk Indicates Fastest Lap Standing

Rk	Car	Driver	Team	Best Lap	Best Time	Avg. Speed	Laps
4	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald's Chevrolet	95.709	19.785	94.459	85
10	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Diet Mt. Dew Paint the 88/NationalGuard Chevrolet	95.554	19.817	94.046	101
12	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota	95.439	19.841	93.892	51
2	33	Clint Bowyer	American Ethanol / Cheerios Chevrolet	95.782	19.770	93.855	62
13	43	A.J. Allmendinger	AdvoCare Ford	95.410	19.847	93.814	89
17	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	95.323	19.865	93.749	57
11	22	Kurt Busch	Shell Pennzoil Dodge	95.516	19.825	93.748	68
8	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet	95.588	19.810	93.728	66
25	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet	95.094	19.913	93.727	65
21	47	Bobby Labonte	Grilling.com Toyota	95.242	19.882	93.720	73
23	39	Ryan Newman	HAAS Automation Chevrolet	95.156	19.900	93.694	86
19	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford	95.319	19.866	93.657	60
30	5	Mark Martin	CARQUEST / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet	94.856	19.963	93.576	63
18	6	David Ragan	UPS My Choice Ford	95.319	19.866	93.570	102
9	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet	95.574	19.813	93.549	81
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Mylowes Chevrolet	95.752	19.776	93.499	107
16	20	Joey Logano	Interstate Batteries Toyota	95.347	19.860	93.404	78
27	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet	95.056	19.921	93.378	76
32	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet	94.799	19.975	93.355	86
7	30	David Stremme	Inception Motorsports Chevrolet	95.593	19.809	93.351	22
6	27	Paul Menard	Richmond / Menards Chevrolet	95.598	19.808	93.338	90
31	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	94.822	19.970	93.302	99
14	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground Toyota	95.362	19.857	93.299	97
28	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge	94.979	19.937	93.093	71
36	55	J.J. Yeley	Front Row Motorsports Ford	94.453	20.048	93.092	14
35	7	Reed Sorenson	SPEED Energy Dodge	94.680	20.000	93.085	5
22	4	Kasey Kahne	Red Bull Toyota	95.194	19.892	93.078	73
33	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Toyota	94.732	19.989	93.078	58
20	16	Greg Biffle	3M Filtrete Ford	95.266	19.877	93.054	76
24	17	Matt Kenseth	Crown Royal Ford	95.103	19.911	93.047	72
15	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Halloween Toyota	95.357	19.858	93.013	107
26	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	95.089	19.914	92.838	66
29	99	Carl Edwards	Scotts Winterguard Ford	94.946	19.944	92.818	68
38	37	Mike Skinner	MaxQ Motorsports Ford	94.200	20.102	92.813	24
5	46	Scott Speed	Green Smoke Ford	95.670	19.793	92.751	23
42	87	Joe Nemechek	AMFMEnergyPellet&WoodStoves Toyota	93.590	20.233	92.614	6
34	51	Landon Cassill	PhoenixCnstrctn/ThankATchrToday Chevrolet	94.694	19.997	92.541	43
1	66	Michael McDowell	Victory Junction Toyota	95.893	19.747	92.350	40
37	36	Dave Blaney	Golden Corral Chevrolet	94.336	20.073	92.280	34
40	34	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports Ford	93.775	20.193	92.244	50
39	32	Ken Schrader	U.S. Chrome / Southern Pride Ford	94.120	20.119	91.710	47
41	38	Travis Kvapil	Long John Silver's Ford	93.761	20.196	91.369	42
43	71	Hermie Sadler	Home Smart Ford	92.883	20.387	90.666	42

10-Lap Average Speeds

Rk	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg. Speed
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	88	97	95.322
2	1	Jamie McMurray	52	61	95.234
3	24	Jeff Gordon	66	75	95.174
4	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	35	44	95.065
5	9	Marcos Ambrose	41	50	94.898
6	18	Kyle Busch	51	60	94.878
7	47	Bobby Labonte	39	48	94.841
8	27	Paul Menard	33	42	94.783
9	43	A.J. Allmendinger	67	76	94.782
10	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	34	43	94.780
11	22	Kurt Busch	57	66	94.738
12	00	David Reutimann	4	13	94.720
13	20	Joey Logano	64	73	94.654
14	6	David Ragan	82	91	94.646
15	29	Kevin Harvick	21	30	94.602
16	56	Martin Truex Jr.	31	40	94.573
17	39	Ryan Newman	54	63	94.507
18	11	Denny Hamlin	25	34	94.504
19	16	Greg Biffle	67	76	94.426
20	31	Jeff Burton	33	42	94.380
21	78	Regan Smith	61	70	94.361
22	13	Casey Mears	45	54	94.332
23	33	Clint Bowyer	29	38	94.326
24	5	Mark Martin	31	40	94.313
25	2	Brad Keselowski	45	54	94.248
26	14	Tony Stewart	34	43	94.101
27	83	Brian Vickers	24	33	94.077
28	4	Kasey Kahne	33	42	94.035
29	17	Matt Kenseth	40	49	93.953
30	99	Carl Edwards	29	38	93.851
31	66	Michael McDowell	6	15	93.471
32	51	Landon Cassill	4	13	93.241
33	30	David Stremme	13	22	92.849
34	32	Ken Schrader	38	47	92.360

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.