N'Wide: Lowe's entry list

The entry list for the Carquest Auto Parts 300 has been posted and it features a large field of 52 cars for 43 spots.

Our View: In addition to making it more difficult for the start and park operations, fantasy owners will hopefully get a chance to see Patrick Carpentier, Marc Davis and Peyton Sellers race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will run his own No. 5 and get the chance to extend his top-five streak at this track to three. For a complete list of drivers' finishes, check back on Tuesday.

Lowe's Cup entry list

The entry list for the Coca-Cola 600 has been posted and it features 46 cars for 43 slots.

Our View: In addition to the regulars, Bill Elliott will drive the No. 21, J.J. Yeley will drive the No. 41 Shana Mayfield entry, Mike Bliss will drive the No. 09 and David Starr will be in Trevor Boys' No. 06.

IRL: Tag team

"Tag," you're it. Alex Tagliani will replace Bruno Junquiera in the No. 36 Conquest Racing car, according to AutoRacingDaily.com. Tagliani was the final driver bumped from the field on Sunday by Ryan-Hunter Reay and he did not have an opportunity to attempt to re-qualify.

Our View: "It’s a shame that Alex got bumped out of the field at the end,” Junquiera said. “I knew coming into this that Alex is Conquest’s primary driver and that if something happened to the first car that I would likely give him my place and I completely understand it.”

That's a lot of understanding.

IRL: First female over the wall

Milka Duno won't be the only woman on her side of the wall when she comes in to pit. Jackman (make that jackwoman) Anna Chatten will be lifting the No. 23 Dreyer Reinbold entry for service, according to AutoRacingDaily.com.

Our View: It is believed she will be the first female, "over-the-wall" crew member. More power to her.

Stewart's better piece for the 600

Will Tony Stewart bring back his All-Star winning car for this week's Coke 600? According to crew chief Darian Grubb, there's a better car back at the shop.

Our View: "I think we have a better piece back at the shop," Grubb said after the conclusion of the All-Star race. "It's in the paint booth right now. They're finishing up the decals. We might bring this as a back up. But I think what we've got back at the shop is even better.

Lowe's results, last five races

Success predicts success. That's true in business and it's even more accurate in auto racing, so this week's top choices for your fantasy roster need to come from those drivers and teams who finish with the leaders on a consistent basis.

The biggest issue with that is, however, that the new body style has elevated parity to an extreme level and has made it difficult for drivers to string together long runs of top-10s together. It's true that last year, five drivers swept the top 10 in both Lowe's races—including the spring winner Kasey Kahne and fall's Jeff Burton—but no one has managed to run four or more solid results.

Four drivers have managed to earn three consecutive solid finishes, however, and they should become your starting spot for the Coca-Cola 600.

Kyle Busch leads the league with three straight top-fives. Add in a pair of victories and a second-place finish in the Nationwide Series during that same span, and he is certainly the hottest driver at Lowe's for the moment.

Kasey Kahne backed up last year's Coke 600 victory with a second last fall and he preceded it with an eighth in fall 2007. That gives him nearly as much momentum as Busch. In fact, when one factors in his victory in fall 2006, he has the best average finish during the last five Lowe's races.

Jeff Burton (with a worst finish of sixth in the last three races) and Jeff Gordon (with a worst of eighth) round out this list and gives you a variety of marquee and mid-cap drivers from which to choose.

Last Five Races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008.2	2008.1	2007.2	2007.1	2006.2
Kasey Kahne	7.00	2	1	8	23	1
Jeff Burton	7.60	1	6	4	24	3
Kyle Busch	9.20	4	3	3	30	6
Tony Stewart	11.00	11	18	7	6	13
Bobby Labonte	11.60	17	11	12	13	5
David Stremme	13.67			9	17	15
Carl Edwards	14.00	33	9	5	15	8
Jimmie Johnson	14.20	6	39	14	10	2
Dale Earnhardt Jr	14.40	36	5	19	8	4
Jeff Gordon	15.60	8	4	1	41	24
Mark Martin	16.20	9	15	16	11	30
Clint Bowyer	18.20	12	25	2	29	23
Casey Mears	18.40	29	29	21	1	12
Dave Blaney	18.80	27	17	6	18	26
Todd Bodine	19.00					19
Denny Hamlin	19.40	16	24	20	9	28
Kevin Harvick	19.80	13	14	33	21	18
Jamie McMurray	21.00	5	23	24	19	34
Regan Smith	21.00	23	19
Reed Sorenson	21.40	15	22	30	4	36
Matt Kenseth	21.60	41	7	34	12	14
Kurt Busch	21.80	3	16	26	32	32
Martin Truex Jr	22.40	14	34	17	16	31
Greg Biffle	23.20	7	2	27	43	37
Scott Riggs	24.00	19	28	36	20	17
Brian Vickers	24.20	18	42	46	5	10
David Ragan	24.75	10	12	40	37
Sterling Marlin	25.00		31		33	11
Ryan Newman	27.20	21	21	28	39	27
A J Allmendinger	27.25	43	20	15	31
Sam Hornish Jr	27.33	22	13	47
Elliott Sadler	28.00	20	8	41	36	35
Tony Raines	28.00	40	48	31	14	7
Michael Waltrip	28.80	24	27	10	45	38
David Reutimann	30.00	32	10	29	49
David Gilliland	31.60	25	40	25	35	33
Robby Gordon	31.60	30	43	38	22	25
Jeremy Mayfield	32.00			39	25
Juan Montoya	32.25	34	30	37	28
Joe Nemechek	32.80	37	47	45	26	9
Paul Menard	33.25	26	41	22	44

Last Five Years
Avg. Fin

Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
Jimmie Johnson	7.70	6.50	10
Jeff Burton	11.10	21.50	10
Bobby Labonte	12.50	16.30	10
Kasey Kahne	12.80	10.90	10
Carl Edwards	13.67	18.78	9
Denny Hamlin	16.29	16.29	7
Tony Stewart	16.50	17.80	10
Mark Martin	16.70	12.10	10
Dale Earnhardt Jr	16.70	17.00	10
Jamie McMurray	17.70	21.60	10
Casey Mears	18.20	15.20	10
Clint Bowyer	18.33	22.17	6
Greg Biffle	18.60	19.30	10
Jeremy Mayfield	18.86	23.57	7
Matt Kenseth	19.00	14.40	10
Reed Sorenson	19.50	23.17	6
Martin Truex Jr	20.00	26.86	7
Kurt Busch	20.90	19.40	10
Regan Smith	21.00	33.00	2
Kyle Busch	21.40	17.20	10
Jeff Gordon	21.40	15.40	10
David Stremme	21.60	21.80	5
Dave Blaney	22.20	23.78	10
Elliott Sadler	22.20	10.00	10
Joe Nemechek	22.30	24.38	10
Ryan Newman	23.20	9.50	10
Kevin Harvick	23.40	19.10	10
David Ragan	24.75	15.50	4
Scott Riggs	24.80	15.20	10
Brian Vickers	25.60	16.56	10
Robby Gordon	27.10	27.90	10
A J Allmendinger	27.25	30.75	4
Sam Hornish Jr	27.33	28.00	3
David Reutimann	28.40	25.00	5
Sterling Marlin	29.13	27.88	8
Paul Menard	29.40	26.25	5
Michael Waltrip	29.73	24.22	11
David Gilliland	31.60	27.00	5
Todd Bodine	32.00	14.00	2
Juan Montoya	32.25	30.50	4
Tony Raines	34.13	38.33	8