Yahoo! Lowe's Preview

From the toughest race on the circuit to the longest; it's time to stock up on the snacks and settle in for 600 miles at Lowe's. Read this week's Yahoo! Preview (.pdf) for a list of who's hot.

N'Wide: Last five Lowe's races

Brian Vickers doesn't make every Nationwide race, but he made the most of his efforts last year by sweeping the top five. Those are his only two starts in the last five races, which gives him an average finish of 4.0.

On the surface, that seems impressive, until you look one position further down the grid and notice that Kyle Busch won both events last year. He also finished second in fall 2007, eighth in spring of that year and 12th in fall 2006—giving him a slightly worse average result of 4.8 in his last five starts, but after finishing second in the Camping World Truck Series race last Friday night, fantasy owners know that "Shrub" cannot be discounted in any series on any track.

Especially at this level, Lowe's is all about consistency and Clint Bowyer is another driver who not only swept the top-10 last year, but has also finished that well in each of his last five starts. His five-race average finish is a more than respectable 5.6.

The next active driver on the grid appears to be much further back with an average finish of 10.0 during his last five races, but that number is skewed by a 35th in fall 2006. Burton's last four attempts have all been in the top 10 and he was perfect one year later by winning the fall 2007 event.

Average Finish
Last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008.2	2008.1	2007.2	2007.1	2006.2
Michael Waltrip	2.00					2
Stacy Compton	3.00					3
Dale Earnhardt Jr	3.50		4	3
Brian Vickers	4.00	3	5
Kyle Busch	4.80	1	1	2	8	12
Clint Bowyer	5.60	4	6	8	3	7
Jeff Burton	10.00	2	8	1	4	35
Mike Skinner	10.00					10
Aric Almirola	11.00			4	14	15
Ashton Lewis	11.00					11
Kevin Harvick	11.20	6	19	10	12	9
Denny Hamlin	12.25		2	5	34	8
Scott Lagasse Jr	13.00	13
Paul Menard	13.00					13
Joey Logano	14.00	14
Casey Mears	14.00				2	26
Stephen Leicht	14.00			18	10	14
Matt Kenseth	14.00			31	7	4
Scott Wimmer	14.33			13	9	21
Tony Stewart	16.00					16
Dave Blaney	16.25	17		36	11	1
Kelly Bires	16.33	7	33	9
Todd Kluever	16.50				15	18
Kasey Kahne	17.60	11	16	17	1	43
David Ragan	17.60	12	9	6	25	36
Jon Wood	18.00				13	23
Brad Keselowski	18.60	8	3	11	37	34
Carl Edwards	19.00	5	13	33	17	27
Ward Burton	19.00				19
Kenny Wallace	19.33	16	23			19
Bobby Labonte	19.33			14	22	22
Casey Atwood	19.50			22		17
Robby Gordon	19.50			7	32
David Stremme	19.67	31	12		16
Mike Wallace	19.80	10	22	15	23	29
Andrew Ranger	20.00	20
Brandon Whitt	21.00	21
Brad Coleman	21.00		21
Regan Smith	21.00				5	37
David Reutimann	22.00	24	11	12	43	20
Marcos Ambrose	22.25	15	14	40	20
Danny O'Quinn Jr	22.50	40				5
Jeremy Clements	23.00			23
Jamie McMurray	24.00	9		38	18	31
Ted Musgrave Sr	24.00					24
Jimmie Johnson	24.60	33	10	32	6	42
Greg Biffle	24.75		7	30	21	41
John Andretti	25.00					25
Mike Bliss	25.50	19	15	29	39
Jason Leffler	25.60	18	32	19	31	28
Tony Raines	26.00	26
Bobby Hamilton Jr	26.00	37	18	16	33
A J Allmendinger	26.00			26
Jason Keller	26.67	29	17	34
John Wes Townley	27.00	27
Bryan Clauson	27.00	30	31	20
Richard Johns	27.00			27
David Gilliland	27.00				27
Steve Wallace	27.33	32	20		30
Brad Teague	28.00		28
David Green	28.00				28
Brad Baker	28.33		27	28		30
Stanton Barrett	29.00	28	35	24	29
Kyle Krisiloff	29.50			21	38
Cale Gale	30.00		30
Johnny Sauter	30.33	49			36	6
Shane Huffman	31.50				24	39
J J Yeley	31.67			37	26	32
J J Yeley	31.67			37	26	32
Danny Efland	33.00	23	43
Auggie Vidovich	33.00					33
Justin Allgaier	34.00	34
D J Kennington	35.00	25		45
Jeff Green	35.00	35
Brent Sherman	35.00				35
Reed Sorenson	35.00			25	42	38
Blake Bjorkland	35.00			35
Chase Miller	36.00	36	36
Kevin Lepage	36.67	39	26		45
Josh Wise	37.00	50	24
Eric McClure	37.20	22	29	44	44	47
Sam Hornish Jr	39.00		39
Bobby Santos III	39.00			39
Kertus Davis	39.25	45	25	42		45
Jay Sauter	40.00					40
Juan Montoya	40.00				40
Burney Lamar	41.00	38	44
Kurt Busch	41.00				41
Carl Long	41.50		42	41
Derrike Cope	41.67	43	34			48
Terry Cook	42.00	42
Morgan Shepherd	42.67	48	37	43
Johnny Chapman	43.50	41	46
Kenny Hendrick	43.50	46	41
Andy Ponstein	43.50	47	40
Mark Green	44.00	44
Tim Sauter	44.00					44
Robert Richardson	45.33	52	38			46
Brett Rowe	46.00		46
Bill Elliott	46.00				46
Travis Kittleson	46.00			46
Blake Feese	47.00				47
Larry Gunselman	50.00	50
Justin Marks	52.00	52