Yahoo! Charlotte Preview

Only 12 weeks into the season and NASCAR is coming off yet another off-week. Refreshed, the drivers are ready to tackle 600 miles at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so check out our best picks in this week's Yahoo! Fantasy Racing preview (.pdf).

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More Cup newsbreakers

Newman fastest in Kansas Practice 1

Ryan Newman posted the fastest single lap in the first practice session for the Price Chopper 400 by Kraft Foods with a speed of 173.745 mph.

Our View If he wants to reclaim the title "Rocketman," Newman is going to have to start winning poles again. So far in 2009, his only top start came at Lowe's for the Coke 341—er… that is, the Coke 600.

More Cup newsbreakers

Charlotte was final straw for Hendrick/Jr.

According Brian Whitesell, Charlotte's disappointing result was the final straw for Rick Hendrick in his decision to replace Tony Eury Jr. In a press conference this week, he said: “The race at Charlotte [was the final straw], we did not get the result there that we were looking for. The decision was made by Mr. Hendrick that it was time for a change and that’s the reason it happened this week."

Our View: His 40th-place finish was bad enough, but worse still, the No. 88 was never in contention.

Reutimann wins Coke 600

David Reutimann had the right strategy by staying out during the last (of many) rain delay and he won the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: He was nowhere close to the strongest driver, but NASCAR pays points based on winning no matter what the circumstances.

Competition caution coming

According to Dustin Long, NASCAR is expected to throw a competition caution around lap 40 in the Coke 600.

Our View: Since drivers have not been able to touch there cars and the race has switched from a night race to a day race, this is going to be critical to a team's success.

Rain suspends HH practice

Moments after Robby Gordon slapped the wall in Happy Hour, rain started to fall, which suspended practice. This will probably be it for the night.

Our View: Drivers knew this was coming and spent most of the first session testing things they would have tested in Happy Hour, so the net effect will not be very great.

R Gordon hits wall in HH

Robby Gordon slapped the wall at the five minute mark of Happy Hour and dropped debris on the track. He porbably won't need a backup car.

Our View: The urgency of practice is picking up with rain just outside the track.

Rain does not affect Kahne

In response to a question of whether Kasey Kahne approached the first practice session differently because of potential rain canceling Happy Hour, he replied “not really. We just tried to get as many laps in as we could. Hopefully we can get the last session in because the conditions will be very similar to what we should have for tomorrow night’s race. We have a pretty good Budweiser Dodge Charger and we need to keep wrenching on some things to make it as good as we can.”

Our View: Kahne has been able to run strong at Lowe's even when he's struggled elsewhere, which makes him a very interesting sleeper.

Hamlin posts fastest lap in Sat a.m. practice

Denny Hamlin posted the single fastest lap in Friday morning's practice with a speed of 184.338 mph.

Our View: That's all well and good, but his average speed of 179.385 mph during 27 laps was only seventh best on that grid.

Newman wins Sat a.m. practice

Ryan Newman posted the quickest average speeds in practice one, with a speed of 180.180 mph during 17 laps.

Our View: With regards to the talking heads at Fox – one fast lap does not win either practice or a race.

Sorenson slaps wall, McMurray eats donut

Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray got together at the seven minute mark in the first practice session, which put a donut on the No. 26 and slammed the No. 43 into the wall.

Our View: McMurray was faster, but discretion dictates a little give and take. That is the same kind of impatience that has made him a risky proposition on a weekly basis during the race.

Practice begins amidst sprinkles

The first race-trim practice session for the Coca-Cola 600 is underway with rain sprinkling the track.

Our View: Actually, this may replicate Sunday night's conditions fairly well. The track is cooler than it otherwise would be and the heavy air mimics dew,

Elliott to make 800th start

Bill Elliott will make his 800th Cup start this weekend when he rolls off the grid in the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Experience counts in this race and no one in the field has more than the Georgia native.

Persistent back pain could shorten Gordon's career

If last week's procedure to alleviate his back pain is not successful, Jeff Gordon may retire from NASCAR sooner than he hoped, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Gordon has talked about retirement off and on for several years now, so it would seem that any further problem could push him over the edge.

Dominating the front of the pack

A driver's finishing position on a track is certainly important—and in the long run, that is the only way most fantasy games pay points—but it is not always the best indicator of who has been strongest. When handicapping a race, we often find it helpful to look at the number of laps drivers have spent in the top 10.

There are two reasons why this is important. The most obvious of these is that driving in the first quarter of the field means a racer and his car has raw power, but equally important is the fact the further forward a car is in the pack, the less likely the driver is to get into trouble. Top-10 drivers are far less likely to make silly mistakes that could cause your fantasy selection to end the day in the garage.

During the last five years, one driver stands head and shoulders above the competition, and he will come as no surprise to anyone who's played the game for more than a year. Jimmie Johnson remains the master of this track, with five victories and 14 top-15s in 16 starts and his time spent in the top-10 reflects this. Johnson has been that far up on the grid in 79 percent of the laps he's run, boasting 2,588 of a possible 3,275 circuits.

The next driver on the list might be a bigger surprise, however. Despite finishing 25th or worse in five of the last 10 races held at Lowe's, Kyle Busch has managed to log 1,850 laps with the leader, which equals 56.5 percent of the time. More important still, most of these laps came in the last three Lowe's races and he converted those strong runs into three consecutive top-fives.

Kasey Kahne is the only other driver to spend more than half of his time among the top-10 during the last five years. He's run with the leaders 50.8 percent of the time (1,665 laps) and has been even more productive than Busch or Johnson in recent events. In his last six starts on this track, Kahne has won three times and finished second on another occasion. With the new Dodge engine in his car this week, he should be considered a threat once more.

Top-10 Laps, last five years

Driver	Top-10 Laps	Possible Laps	%
Jimmie Johnson	2,588	3,275	79.0%
Kyle Busch	1,850	3,275	56.5%
Kasey Kahne	1,665	3,275	50.8%
Mark Martin	1,634	3,275	49.9%
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1,634	3,275	49.9%
Greg Biffle	1,625	3,275	49.6%
Jeff Burton	1,553	3,275	47.4%
David Ragan	593	1,471	40.3%
Ryan Newman	1,274	3,275	38.9%
Kurt Busch	1,227	3,275	37.5%
Jeff Gordon	1,172	3,275	35.8%
Clint Bowyer	726	2,205	32.9%
Denny Hamlin	835	2,541	32.9%
Matt Kenseth	1,060	3,275	32.4%
Tony Stewart	1,043	3,275	31.8%
Brian Vickers	914	2,938	31.1%
Elliott Sadler	866	3,275	26.4%
Carl Edwards	816	3,275	24.9%
Casey Mears	789	3,275	24.1%
Joe Nemechek	577	2,538	22.7%
Scott Riggs	726	3,275	22.2%
Jamie McMurray	682	3,275	20.8%
David Reutimann	283	1,407	20.1%
Bobby Labonte	620	3,275	18.9%
Michael Waltrip	510	2,875	17.7%
Kevin Harvick	459	3,275	14.0%
Dave Blaney	444	3,275	13.6%
Martin Truex Jr.	349	2,605	13.4%
Reed Sorenson	227	2,205	10.3%
David Gilliland	174	1,805	9.6%
Tony Raines	212	2,539	8.3%
Sam Hornish Jr.	56	734	7.6%
David Stremme	80	1,807	4.4%
Robby Gordon	141	3,275	4.3%
Bill Elliott	43	1,471	2.9%
Mike Bliss	31	1,070	2.9%
A.J. Allmendinger	8	1,471	0.5%
Juan Montoya	5	1,471	0.3%
Paul Menard	1	1,471	0.1%
Todd Bodine	0	334	0.0%

Yahoo! Qualification Story

Check out this five-page summary (.pdf) of who's hot at Lowe's after qualification for the Coca-Cola 600.

Newman wins 44th pole

Ryan Newman paced Lowe's with a speed of 188.475 mph to earn his 44th pole for the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Despite the length of this race, qualification is important and Newman is in great shape to earn his first top-10 at this track since 2005.

Qualification order

Jayski.com has posted the qualification order for the Coca-Cola 600.

Our View: Track position is important at Lowe's and the track should get fastest as the temperatures cool. Jimmie Johnson rolls off the grid 19th and most of the fastest cars in practice are earlier than that, which should create an interesting session.

Martin wins practice

Mark Martin continues to be the hottest driver on the NASCAR circuit and he topped the first practice session with a speed of 185.217 mph. This is a session in which drivers typically work on qualification setups.

Our View: That makes him the favorite to win Thursday night's pole and the way he's run in the last month, he has to be considered a front runner for the Coca-Cola 600 as well.

Gordon has Texas car

The No. 24 team has brought their Texas car to Lowe's for Jeff Gordon to drive this weekend.

Our View: That's the car in which Gordon snapped his long winless streak, so he's got to be watched closely in Coca-Cola 600 prelims.