Fantasy NASCAR rankings: Federated Auto Parts 400

by Brian Polking on September 7, 2012 @ 18:54:35 PDT

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It will be an all Hendrick Motorsports front row when the field takes the green flag in the regular season finale at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night. Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped his teammate Jeff Gordon from the top spot, winning his first pole since the 2011 Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson joined the two in the top five, as well, and after the strong showing in qualifying, history says a good night could be on tap for the HMS bunch.

Since the start of the 2003 season, 17 of the 19 races at Richmond have been won by a driver starting inside the top 15. More importantly, 12 of the races during the stretch have been won by drivers starting inside the top five. In fact, Junior, Gordon and Johnson know all about winning at the track after qualifying near the front. The three have combined for eight wins at Richmond, and they have started 13th or better in all eight victories and have won six times from a top-five starting spot.

The HMS drivers aren't the only teammates starting up front. All three Michael Waltrip Racing cars will start inside the top 10, and all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars will start inside the top 15. The JGR bunch is particularly intriguing considering Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have the two best average finishes at Richmond and have combined to win six of the last seven races at the track. While the MWR guys don't boast the past success, they have already dominated a short track event in 2012. All three MWR drivers finished in the top five at Bristol earlier this year, and fantasy owners shouldn't be surprised to see Truex, Bowyer and Martin challenge for top-10s this weekend.

Fantasy owners looking for a sleeper pick may want to consider Sam Hornish Jr. He qualified 11th, and in six previous starts at Richmond, he has finished eighth or better twice. More importantly, those finishes came at a time when he was struggling to make it in the Cup Series. Hornish has no doubt been a much improved driver since returning to the Cup level midway through the year, and if he could crack the top 10 at Richmond at the lowest point of his career, he could certainly do the same now that he is running consistently in the top 15 on a weekly basis.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Plinker	Team	Starting Pos
1	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	7
2	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	15
3	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	5
4	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Subway	Roush Fenway Racing	16
5	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	2
6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	1
7	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	Hendrick Motorsports	21
8	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota	5 Hour Energy	Michael Waltrip Racing	4
9	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	13
10	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	10
11	Mark Martin	55	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Michael Waltrip Racing	6
12	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	28
13	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	14
14	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Best Buy	Roush Fenway Racing	17
15	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	23
16	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	Michael Waltrip Racing	9
17	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	8
18	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	22
19	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Clorox	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	24
20	Sam Hornish Jr.	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	11
21	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	20
22	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	26
23	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	3
24	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	25
25	Aric Almirola	43	Ford	Medallion Financial	Richard Petty Motorsports	18
26	Kurt Busch	51	Chevrolet	Tag Heuer	Phoenix Racing	30
27	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Kingsford	JTG Daugherty Racing	29
28	Landon Cassill	83	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	12
29	Casey Mears	13	Ford	GEICO	Germain Racing	42
30	Dave Blaney	36	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	33
31	David Ragan	34	Ford	8-Hour Alert	Front Row Motorsports	27
32	David Gilliland	38	Ford	MHP	Front Row Motorsports	35
33	David Reutimann	10	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	37
34	Reed Sorenson	91	Toyota	Plinker Tactical	Humphrey Smith Racing	43
35	Travis Kvapil	93	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	32
36	Ken Schrader	32	Ford	C&J Energy	FAS Lane Racing	39
37	David Stremme	30	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	Inception Motorsports	31
38	Mike Bliss	19	Toyota	Plinker Tactical	Humphrey Smith Racing	40
39	Stephen Leicht	33	Chevrolet	LittleJoesAutos.com	Richard Childress Racing	36
40	Michael McDowell	98	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	Phil Parsons Racing	19
41	Scott Riggs	23	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	R3 Motorsports	38
42	Josh Wise	26	Ford	MDS Transport	Front Row Motorsports	41
43	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	AM FM Energy	NEMCO Motorsports	34

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.

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