Fantasy NASCAR rankings: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

By Brian Polking

For fantasy owners, the starting lineup for Sunday's Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway can be considered a gift from the racing gods. The entire top 10 is loaded with drivers that have had plenty of success at the 1.0-mile oval, giving fantasy owners plenty of strong options to choose from. The only hard part will be deciding which drivers to start and which ones to leave off their rosters, but that isn't a terrible problem to have.

Kyle Busch got things started by grabbing his first pole of the year, and Kasey Kahne joined him on the front row. Busch is a former winner at Loudon, and he has finished 11th or better in five of his last six starts at the track. Kahne has finished in the top 15 in his last three starts at NHMS, including a sixth-place run last July. Kahne will also be making his first start at New Hampshire for a Hendrick Motorsports organization that has always run well at the track.

The options just get better from there. Former NHMS winner Denny Hamlin qualified third and has finished third or better in three of his last five starts at the track. Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five, and while Truex has five top-10s in his last 10 New Hampshire starts, Bowyer is a two-time winner at the track. Bowyer was also leading on the final lap last fall before running out of fuel and handing the win to Tony Stewart.

Speaking of the defending champ, Stewart is one of the strong options starting in the back half of the top 10. "Smoke" is a three-time winner at New Hampshire, and he finished second and first in the two races at the track last season. Stewart's teammate and defending race winner Ryan Newman will start sixth Sunday, and like his boss, Newman is a three-time winner, as well. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. made sure all four HMS drivers will be starting up front. Gordon and Johnson have the two-best average finishes at New Hampshire in the past 10 races, while Junior has the seventh-best average finish during the same stretch.

While owners should be thankful for all the talent starting up front, let's not forget about a sleeper option. After qualifying in the top 15, Brian Vickers looks like the best pick this weekend. He will be making his fourth start of the year for Michael Waltrip Racing in Sunday's race, and he has finished in the top five in two of his three previous starts. Vickers also finished fifth in the fall race at the track last year.

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

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