Fantasy NASCAR rankings: FedEx 400

by Brian Polking on June 2, 2012 @ 13:35:50 PDT

Follow @kffl_racing

At many tracks, a strong qualifying is crucial because of the track position that comes along with it. At Dover, a strong qualifying effort is important because of the track's treacherous pit road. With concrete walls on both sides of pit lane, drivers have no room to avoid the hazards that arise in the pits, and cars can be torn up during pit stops just as easily as on the track. Teams get to select their pit stalls in the order in which they qualify, and on one of the shortest and narrowest pit roads in the series, there are only a handful of decent stalls.

Not surprisingly, seven of the last eight Dover winners have started inside the top eight, including six from inside the top five. The trend has been even more dramatic in recent years, as three of the last five winners have started on the front row. The stat is great news for pole-sitter Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson, who will start outside of his former teammate. With six wins at Dover, Johnson was already one of the favorites this weekend. Martin has forced his way into the conversation as well, and after finishing second at the "Monster Mile" last spring, the veteran is looking like a potential top-five pick this weekend.

Other big names starting in the top 10 include Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, along with Kyle Busch. Kenseth is the defending winner of this weekend's race, and he has finished in the top five in seven of his last eight starts at Dover. His teammate Biffle is a two-time winner at the track, and the point leader has just one finish outside the top 15 all year. Busch is also two-time winner at Dover, and he has four straight finishes of sixth or better at the track.

Fantasy owners looking for a sleeper pick this weekend should consider Aric Almirola. His 12th-place effort in qualifying continued a strong weekend for the Richard Petty Motorsports driver. Almirola has been solid the last month, notching three straight top-20 finishes, including a 16th-place run in last weekend's Coca-Cola 600. His RPM teammate Marcos Ambrose picked up a pair of top-10s at Dover last season, and Almirola could be headed for a similar run Sunday.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Sponsor	Team	Starting Pos
1	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	2
2	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	8
3	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Best Buy	Roush Fenway Racing	5
4	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	7
5	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	Hendrick Motorsports	13
6	Mark Martin	55	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Michael Waltrip Racing	1
7	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Subway	Roush Fenway Racing	19
8	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	6
9	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	Michael Waltrip Racing	18
10	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	3
11	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	17
12	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	14
13	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota	5 Hour Energy	Michael Waltrip Racing	4
14	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
15	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	21
16	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	16
17	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	29
18	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	15
19	Aric Almirola	43	Ford	Medallion Financial	Richard Petty Motorsports	12
20	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	11
21	Kurt Busch	51	Chevrolet	Tag Heuer	Phoenix Racing	9
22	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	20
23	A.J. Allmendinger	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	23
24	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	24
25	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Clorox	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	31
26	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	26
27	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Kingsford	JTG Daugherty Racing	22
28	David Ragan	34	Ford	8-Hour Alert	Front Row Motorsports	28
29	Landon Cassill	83	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	27
30	David Reutimann	10	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	39
31	Casey Mears	13	Ford	GEICO	Germain Racing	40
32	Stephen Leicht	33	Chevrolet	LittleJoesAutos.com	Richard Childress Racing	37
33	David Gilliland	38	Ford	MHP	Front Row Motorsports	30
34	Scott Speed	79	Ford	Team Kyle	Go Green Racing	25
35	Dave Blaney	36	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	41
36	Reed Sorenson	32	Ford	Unsponsored	FAS Lane Racing	38
37	Travis Kvapil	93	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	42
38	Mike Bliss	19	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	Humphrey Smith Racing	36
39	J.J. Yeley	49	Toyota	America Israel Racing	America Israel Racing	34
40	David Stremme	30	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	Inception Motorsports	32
41	Scott Riggs	23	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	R3 Motorsports	43
42	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	AM FM Energy Wood Stoves	NEMCO Motorsports	35
43	Michael McDowell	98	Ford	Curb Records	Phil Parsons Racing	33

About 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.

Follow @kffl_racing