Fantasy NASCAR rankings: AAA 400

By Brian Polking

Last weekend at New Hampshire, Denny Hamlin overcame a horrible qualifying effort, powering his way to Victory Lane after starting 32nd. That being said, the chances of a driver repeating the feat this weekend at Dover are slim. Three of the last four winners at the "Monster Mile" have started on the front row, and eight of the last nine winners have started eighth or better. Since the start of the 2001 season, only two races at the track have been won by a driver starting outside the top 20, and only one driver in the Dover's 37-year history has ever won after qualifying outside the top 30.

Of course, Hamlin won't have to worry about charging to the front if he wants to win at Dover because he claimed the pole for Sunday's race. Coming into the Chase, the Monster Mile figured to be the biggest hurdle between Hamlin and a potential championship. After all, he has a 20.5 average finish at the track and has finished outside the top 15 in his last three starts. However, his pole-winning lap followed an excellent pair of practices, and it appears that Hamlin has a strong car. Considering he has won three of the last five races overall, it is tough to justify benching him despite his poor history at Dover.

Other big names starting in the top five include Hamlin's teammate Kyle Busch, along with Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. With four finishes of sixth or better in his last five starts at Dover and two career wins at the track, Busch has an excellent chance of becoming the first non-Chaser to win during this year's playoffs. Meanwhile, Bowyer and Truex both finished in the top 10 at Dover in June, and considering they have been near the top of the speed charts all weekend, a repeat performance could be on tap for both drivers.

Fantasy owners won't want to forget seven-time Dover winner and pre-race favorite Jimmie Johnson, who will be lurking in 11th when the green flag waves. However, those looking for sleepers should consider Sam Hornish Jr. or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hornish qualified fourth and will be driving for the same No. 22 team that won this race last season with Kurt Busch behind the wheel. Stenhouse, on the other hand, could make some noise in just his second Cup start of the season. He is the defending Nationwide Series champ, and he will be driving for a Roush Fenway Racing organization that has enjoyed a ton of success at Dover. After qualifying 17th, Stenhouse could be a sneaky source for a top-15 finish Sunday.

Rk	Driver	Car No.	Make	Sponsor	Team	Starting Pos
1	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	Lowe's Home Improvement	Hendrick Motorsports	11
2	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs Racing	5
3	Clint Bowyer	15	Toyota	5 Hour Energy	Michael Waltrip Racing	2
4	Kasey Kahne	5	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	Hendrick Motorsports	9
5	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	FedEx	Joe Gibbs Racing	1
6	Brad Keselowski	2	Dodge	Miller Lite	Penske Championship Racing	10
7	Martin Truex Jr.	56	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	Michael Waltrip Racing	3
8	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Richard Childress Racing	14
9	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	Best Buy	Roush Fenway Racing	12
10	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	Hendrick Motorsports	7
11	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	3M	Roush Fenway Racing	6
12	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	Subway	Roush Fenway Racing	15
13	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew AMP Energy	Hendrick Motorsports	25
14	Joey Logano	20	Toyota	Home Depot	Joe Gibbs Racing	13
15	Mark Martin	55	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Michael Waltrip Racing	26
16	Ryan Newman	39	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Stewart-Haas Racing	8
17	Marcos Ambrose	9	Ford	Stanley Black & Decker	Richard Petty Motorsports	27
18	Tony Stewart	14	Chevrolet	Office Depot	Stewart-Haas Racing	24
19	Sam Hornish Jr.	22	Dodge	Shell/Pennzoil	Penske Championship Racing	4
20	Aric Almirola	43	Ford	Medallion Financial	Richard Petty Motorsports	21
21	Paul Menard	27	Chevrolet	Menard's	Richard Childress Racing	19
22	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	6	Ford	Cargill/Safeway	Roush Fenway Racing	17
23	Jamie McMurray	1	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	20
24	Kurt Busch	51	Chevrolet	Tag Heuer	Phoenix Racing	28
25	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress Racing	39
26	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Chevrolet	Clorox	Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing	35
27	Regan Smith	78	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	Furniture Row Racing	18
28	David Ragan	34	Ford	8-Hour Alert	Front Row Motorsports	42
29	Bobby Labonte	47	Toyota	Kingsford	JTG Daugherty Racing	16
30	Travis Kvapil	93	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	33
31	Danica Patrick	10	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	38
32	Casey Mears	13	Ford	GEICO	Germain Racing	30
33	Landon Cassill	83	Toyota	Burger King	BK Racing	22
34	David Gilliland	38	Ford	MHP	Front Row Motorsports	43
35	J.J. Yeley	36	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin Racing	40
36	Scott Riggs	23	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	R3 Motorsports	36
37	David Stremme	30	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	Inception Motorsports	31
38	T.J. Bell	32	Ford	C&J Energy	FAS Lane Racing	41
39	Reed Sorenson	91	Toyota	Plinker Tactical	Humphrey Smith Racing	29
40	Michael McDowell	98	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	Phil Parsons Racing	32
41	Scott Speed	95	Ford	Jordan Truck Sales	Leavine Family Racing	34
42	Josh Wise	26	Ford	MDS Transport	Front Row Motorsports	23
43	Joe Nemechek	87	Toyota	AM FM Energy	NEMCO Motorsports	37

 

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