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.

IRL: The Granddaddy of Them all

Event Day Games Preview: When NASCAR was just a gleam in Big Bill France's eye, America already had one of the biggest sports events in the World—the Indy 500.

Memorial Day is one of the best days in auto racing. Get up early to watch the Monaco Grand Prix, grab a second cup of coffee, and then fire up your cell phones to play Event Day Games' first-ever IRL contest. We just couldn't help becoming part of the 93rd running of this great American race.

The Indy 500 is so big that the Indy Racing League takes the entire month of May to prepare for it and the drama has already started. Helio Castroneves drew first blood by winning the pole over his Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe. The front row is crowded with Chip Ganassi's Dario Franchitti lined up to the outside of this amazing three-abreast configuration and watching them barrel down into turn one is hair raising.

Further back in the field, equal rights are alive and well as Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno locked up more than 25 percent of the field for women drivers. Fisher starts 21st and has the most experience of the group as she competes in her eighth Indy 500, but Patrick has better odds since she rolls off the grid 10th.

Join us at http://www.eventdaygames.com/ this week to play along with our unique fantasy game.

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.

N'Wide: Townley crashes

John Wes Townley became the latest casualty of Nationwide practice. He crashed near the end of practice two.

Our View: Have you noticed how much more exciting Nationwide practice is? That's why these guys need track time.

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.

F1: Ferrari loses round one in budget spat

According to PlanetF1.com Ferrari has lost the first round of the budget gap spat after a French court ruled against their injunction, saying there is no "imminent danger" preceding the May 29th deadline to declare intentions to run 2010.

Our View: Max Mosley needs to become familiar with the term, "win the battle; lose the war," however.

F1: Alonso doesn’t want to race "small teams"

In an article at AutoRacingDaily.com, Fernando Alonso said "If the big teams and the big manufacturers leave Formula One then I don’t want to race with small teams, because it is not any more F1 and there are many other categories.”

Our View: This tempest in the teapot is threatening to become a hurricane due to the heavy handed handling by Max Mosley.

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.

Wallace 9th, Schrader 12th in USMTS

On Wednesday night, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader traveled to Marshalltown, Iowa to challenge the USMTS dirt track racers. Wallace finished ninth after starting 20th. Schrader finished 12th after starting ninth.

Our View: There's nothing like a little dirt in the teeth to help identify the real racers.

N'Wide: Bliss changes engine

Mike Bliss missed a shift in the first practice session for the Carquest Auto Parts 300 and will be forced to change an engine. He will join Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski at the back of the pack to start on Saturday.

Our View: Bliss was expected to be one of the top Nationwide Regulars, and this certainly doesn't improve his odds. Look for a solid but unspectacular run now.

N'Wide: Keselowski crashes again

Déjà vu. Brad Keselowski destroyed a second car in the first practice after apparently cutting a right front tire for a second time on Thursday.

Our View: Luckily, the shop is just around the corner, so they can get a third car to the track before Saturday, but that Chevy will start the race with no practice time at all.

N'Wide: Knupp crashes hard

Brandon Knupp has crashed Bob Schacht's unsponsored No. 75 in Nationwide practice. Hopefully, they have a backup car, because that one isn't going anywhere.

Our View: A graduate of the ARCA Truck series, Knupp has made nine Camping World Truck Series starts, but he hopes this will be his first Nationwide race.

Truck: Fitzpatrick joins Harvick

Canadian driver J R Fitzpatrick will join Kevin Harvick, Inc. for eight Camping World Truck Series races beginning at Dover, according to PaddockTalk.com. Ironically, the announcement came the same week as one sending American Cale Gale to Canada in a joint KHI effort.

Our View: Fitzpatrick started the season with a ride in The Racers Group truck until funding dried up. Harvick will be able to provide greater resources.

F1: Rosberg tops P2

On Thursday, Nico Rosberg posted the fastest time in the second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, according to PlanetF1.com.

Our View: Rosberg led Lewis Hamilton, Rubens Barichello, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa as the top five drivers. This is a good indication of who will finish up front in the race.

Practice Two Speeds

Rank	Driver	Best Time	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	1:15.243	45
2	Lewis Hamilton	1:15.445	35
3	Rubens Barrichello	1:15.590	41
4	Jenson Button	1:15.774	36
5	Felipe Massa	1:15.832	42
6	Sebastian Vettel	1:15.847	33
7	Heikki Kovalainen	1:15.984	45
8	Kimi Räikkönen	1:15.985	43
9	Kazuki Nakajima	1:16.260	43
10	Nelson Piquet Jr.	1:16.286	43
11	Fernando Alonso	1:16.552	39
12	Mark Webber	1:16.579	27
13	Adrian Sutil	1:16.675	38
14	Jarno Trulli	1:16.915	43
15	Sebastian Buemi	1:16.983	48
16	Sebastian Bourdais	1:17.052	48
17	Nick Heidfeld	1:17.109	40
18	Timo Glock	1:17.207	45
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:17.504	45
20	Robert Kubica	No time	2

Practice One Speeds

N'Wide: Ky Busch has milky oil

Kyle Busch is reporting that his oil is turning "milky," which is an indication that water is getting into it. The team will probably change engines (pending NASCAR's approval) and start at the back of the pack in the Carquest Auto Parts 300.

Our View: It doesn't matter where this kid starts; he'll contend for victory before the night is over.

N'Wide: Keselowski crashes in first practice

Brad Keselowski cut a tire and destroyed his Nationwide Series car only five minutes into Thursday's 90 minute session. A bolt on the suspension was the culprit.

Our View: This happened early enough that the team should be able to recover, but don't commit to the No. 88 until they get on track with their backup car and so you can see how fast it is.

F1: Kovalainen downplays speed

Heikki Kovalainen is downplaying his and teammate Lewis Hamilton's speed in the first practice session that placed them third and fourth on that grid, according to PlanetF1.com.

Our View: He says that while this is a step in the right direction, their speed was nearly a half second slower than leader Rubens Barrichello.

Practice One Speeds

F1: Barrichello draws first blood

Rubens Barrichello drew first blood in practice for the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix according to PlanetF1.com, posting a time of one minute, 17.189 seconds and narrowly beating Felipe Massa.

Our View: Third-best Lewis Hamilton is still hoping to turn his season around, while Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five.

Practice One Speeds

Rank	Driver	Best Time	Laps
1	Rubens Barrichello	1:17.189	25
2	Felipe Massa	1:17.499	30
3	Lewis Hamilton	1:17.578	25
4	Heikki Kovalainen	1:17.686	29
5	Kimi Räikkönen	1:17.839	29
6	Kazuki Nakajima	1:18.000	29
7	Nico Rosberg	1:18.024	27
8	Jenson Button	1:18.080	27
9	Fernando Alonso	1:18.283	30
10	Mark Webber	1:18.348	22
11	Sebastian Buemi	1:18.695	36
12	Nelson Piquet Jr.	1:19.204	36
13	Sebastian Vettel	1:19.233	16
14	Sebastian Bourdais	1:19.255	31
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:19.534	28
16	Robert Kubica	1:19.555	31
17	Nick Heidfeld	1:19.579	23
18	Adrian Sutil	1:19.600	24
19	Timo Glock	1:19.698	24
20	Jarno Trulli	1:19.831	28

F1: BMW undecided about 2010

With a May 29th deadline looming to secure a place on next year's Formula 1 grid, BMW has yet to decide whether they will participate in Max Mosley's proposed two-tier salary cap scheme, according to team principal Mario Thiessen.

Our View: Mosley has threatened that unless people honor the May 29th deadline, there may not be a spot open later. His bigger concern should be whether he is able to fill that grid at all with Ferrari and Sauber threatening to pull out and several other teams in BMW's shoes.

N'Wide: Davis gets sponsor

Marc Davis has signed a sponsor for the Nationwide Carquest Auto Parts 300, according to SceneDaily.com. That sponsor is The Word Network.

Our View: Davis is attempting to become the first fulltime Black driver in a major NASCAR division since Wendell Scott and he's doing it the same way—as an owner/driver. Fans of dark horses have to think of him as a sentimental favorite.

Schrader 13th at Oskaloosa

On Tuesday night, Ken Schrader did not fare very well in his first of three nights competing against the USMTS dirt track stars at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. After starting 15th in the 30-lap A main, he was able to climb to only 13th at the end of the race.

Our View: For Schrader, this is as much about having fun doing what he loves. He would certainly have wanted a better result, but the track time was important nonetheless.

Jason Hughes won the feature.

Kahne gets new engine

Kasey Kahne will run the new Dodge engine in the Coca-Cola 600 according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: This adds another unknown to the equation. If the engine holds together, Kahne could be a favorite to win this weekend, but fantasy owners have to be willing to roll the dice in case he blows up.

N'Wide: McDowell gets three more races

Michael McDowell and JTG Daugherty Racing has received funding for three more races in the No. 47 car, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: McDowell has posted two Nationwide top-10s and several top-20s, so if you caught him on the right week, he's produced for you. Unfortunately, he's been hard to handicap.

Mears wants to return to Lowe's victory lane

Two years after Casey Mears earned a surprising win at Lowe's in the 2007 Coke 600, he would like to contend for another victory, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Hope springs eternal, but that victory is his only top-10 in the last three years at Lowe's and during that span his average finish is only slightly better than 20th.

Petty wants more consistency

Richard Petty wants more consistency from all four of his drivers, according to SceneDaily.com. “They really were a two-car team, and we brought two cars in and kind of got us behind, I think, on some of the stuff,” Petty said. “Hopefully, we’re going to get it together. If it don’t, we'll keep working until we do."

Our View: We all want that Richard… we all do.

IRL: Tracy gets two more races

It's official. According to IndyCar.com, Paul Tracy will run a KV Technology car in the two Canadian IRL races at Toronto and Edmonton.

Our View: In these one-off rides, Tracy could be one of the best values in the game. Put a note in your calendar.

Mayfield retains counsel

According to ESPN.com, Jeremy Mayfield has retained legal counsel to represent him and help clear his name after being suspended by NASCAR for violating their substance abuse policy.

Our View: His lawyer Bill Diehl represented Elliott Sadler earlier this year while he was fighting Richard Petty Motorsports for wrongful termination. This could be a long, drawn out process.

IRL: Fastest rookie Matos gains confidence

Raphael Matos has gained confidence with his qualification run that places him 12th on the grid for his first career Indy 500, according to IndyCar.com.

"It was a big accomplishment for team and for myself," said Matos about setting the fastest time among rookies. "Being the fastest rookie means a lot to me and being the quickest of the second day means a lot to me as well. It gave me a lot of confidence, which allowed me to work on race setup. The car ran flawless all month and we're proud to be here today.

Our View: The Indy 500 starts 33 cars, which is the IRL's biggest field of the year, but that is still relatively small and allows for some great dark horses. Matos could be one of these.

Long Day's Journey into Night

Event Day Games Preview: The Coca-Cola 600 is a long day's journey into night.

By a quirk of the schedule, NASCAR runs two of their toughest races back-to-back. Two weeks ago, points were on the line at the "Track Too Tough to Tame." This week, NASCAR adds 100 miles to a typical race and runs the longest event of the year—the Coca-Cola 600. Those extra trips around the track are no small factor as engines are already stretched to their breaking point during a 500-miler.

Two weeks ago at Darlington, some surprising faces graced the top 10 and that could happen again at Lowe's. Rookies are not supposed to fare well on that tough old track, but Brad Keselowski backed up his victory at Talladega with another top-10. Joey Logano likewise posted his second top-10 of the season on that unforgiving course, and this is a race that could fit his driving style to a "T." So far in 2009, he's shown a tendency to improve as the race progresses and 100 extra miles give him and crew chief Greg Zipadelli plenty of opportunities to adjust.

The usual suspects will dominate the front of the grid, however. Lowe's is the house that Jimmie Johnson built and he once earned five victories and eight top-three finishes in eight consecutive races. "Rowdy" Kyle Busch swept the top-five in his last three starts, but his record in Nationwide is what truly recommends him this week. In the second series, he swept victory lane last year and finished second in fall 2007.

One way or another, the 600 will be one of the most competitive races of the year for fantasy owners, because those extra miles equal 100 Jokers in an already stacked deck.
Join us at http://www.eventdaygames.com/ this week to play along with our unique fantasy game.

Long suspended for 12 weeks

NASCAR handed down one of their toughest penalties ever to a driver few have heard of. Carl Long has been docked 200 points, fined $200,000 and placed suspended for 12 weeks for a rule's violation at Charlotte during the All-Star weekend, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: The infraction was for an oversized engine and NASCAR seems to be sending a very clear message. Luckily for them (not so much for Long), this did not happen to one of the marquee drivers.

For the record, this gives car owner Danielle Long -153 points.

Week 22 Unified Power Rankings

With all the major series taking last week off from points' paying races, this week's Unified Power Rankings were reorganized by two factors. First, the Camping World Truck Series raced under the lights at Lowe's, which allowed their top contenders to make up a little ground in the standings, and the All-Star race was run the following night.

Secondly, since the Unified Power Rankings looks at only the last three months, the Daytona Speedweek races are aging off this list. Drivers who peaked in the first race of the season are falling by the wayside.

Tony Stewart earned his first victory as an owner/driver and that allowed him to make up some ground on the Formula 1 giants at the top of the standings. However, their advantage is too great, so Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello continue to dominate the first two spots. Each of these drivers should be anchoring your fantasy roster in their respective games.

Kurt Busch's solid third-place—combined with Jeff Gordon's accident in the All-Star race—caused those two drivers to swap positions four and five. Since Busch is a lesser value in most fantasy games, however, his worth on fantasy owners' rosters takes an even greater leap.

Truck driver James Buescher earned his fifth consecutive top-15 in that series to make him a solid mid-range pick while he climbs onto this list for the first time in 2009. Meanwhile, Cup regular Martin Truex Jr. failed to advance from the Sprint Showdown and now hovers on the cusp of falling outside the top 50.

Unified Power Rankings

Rank	Driver	Points	Last week	+/-
1	Jenson Button	107.80	1	0
2	Rubens Barrichello	96.00	2	0
3	Tony Stewart	91.50	3	0
4	Kurt Busch	88.73	5	1
5	Jeff Gordon	87.82	4	-1
6	Jason Leffler	87.44	7	1
7	Denny Hamlin	84.50	6	-1
8	Jimmie Johnson	83.36	8	0
9	Ryan Newman	82.93	10	1
10	Ron Hornaday Jr	82.60	11	1
11	Timo Glock	81.60	9	-2
12	Kyle Busch	80.04	13	1
13	Jeff Burton	78.82	12	-1
14	Mark Webber	78.40	14	0
15	Carl Edwards	77.55	15	0
16	Sebastian Vettel	77.20	17	1
17	Brad Keselowski	76.79	23	6
18	Greg Biffle	74.86	16	-2
19	Matt Kenseth	74.75	18	-1
20	Matt Crafton	74.00	27	7
21	Fernando Alonso	73.80	21	0
22	Mark Martin	73.75	20	-2
23	Joey Logano	72.79	31	8
24	Dale Earnhardt Jr	71.71	26	2
25	Kasey Kahne	71.00	29	4
26	Juan Montoya	69.73	19	-7
27	Scott Lagasse Jr	69.22	42	15
28	Steve Wallace	68.89	43	15
29	Kevin Harvick	68.83	25	-4
30	Mike Skinner	68.80	32	2
31	Brian Vickers	68.67	24	-7
32	Clint Bowyer	68.38	22	-10
33	Jason Keller	68.00	30	-3
34	David Reutimann	67.86	28	-6
35	Johnny Benson Jr	67.60	34	-1
36	Justin Allgaier	67.33	45	9
37	Lewis Hamilton	65.20	36	-1
38	Nico Rosberg	65.20	37	-1
39	Jamie McMurray	65.09	46	7
40	Jarno Trulli	64.00	39	-1
41	Chad McCumbee	62.60	47	6
42	Rick Crawford	62.60	56	14
43	David Ragan	62.56	33	-10
44	Marcos Ambrose	62.45	35	-9
45	James Buescher	61.80	62	17
46	Stacy Compton	61.60	53	7
47	Nick Heidfeld	60.80	50	3
48	Martin Truex Jr	60.55	38	-10
49	David Stremme	59.82	54	5
50	Brendan Gaughan	59.78	48	-2

The Unified Power Rankings are based on "percentage points." Starting with a 100 score for the winner of a Nationwide race, each subsequent position is decremented by a percentage that relates to the number of drivers in the field. In a 50-car field of potential qualifiers, the second-place driver receives 98 points, third-place gets 96 points, the 43rd-place driver gets 16 points (because he beat eight other driver to even get into the field) and so on until the last non-qualifier in 50th-place gets two points.

Only races run in the last three months count in this formula.

The Cup, IRL and Formula 1 series start at 110 points for a victory (since its so difficult to win one of these races) and then decrements 1/50th of 110 points for each subsequent position. It’s an unscientific way to determine who is the best in their series, while simultaneously trying to compare apples to oranges.

Previous Unified Power Rankings:

Week 21
Week 20

Stewart aims for Lowe's sweep

"I like sweeps – it’s happened here a lot," Tony Stewart said following his All-Star win last Saturday night. "That’s a good sign hopefully. We’ll have a good car – we have a great engine and chassis package from Hendrick. I think we learned a lot tonight and we really didn’t get much practice. We got about 40 minutes – we had problems the first half of the practice session and then the next 40 minutes and then the rest of the 40 minutes we were basically undoing what we did after the first run when we found the mistakes. It was kind of like a shot in the dark tonight – we threw a lot of things at it and learned a lot too.”

Our View: Kasey Kahne pulled off the sweep last year and then went on to finish second in the fall, but Kevin Harvick was not as lucky in 2007. That year, he finished 21st in the 600 after winning the All-Star race and was 33rd that fall, so fantasy owners still want to watch Stewart closely in practice.

F1: Last five Monaco races

The Monaco Grand Prix could very well be the biggest test of the new found strength of Jenson Button and the Brawn Racing team, because he's been miserable at Monaco during the last three years, posting consecutive 11th-place results. Rubens Barrichello also needs to bring his "A" game to earn his first top-five since 2006. And these two drivers highlight how unpredictable the start of this season has been.

Conversely, we will see if Lewis Hamilton can reverse his fortunes after winning in 2008 and finishing second in his first attempt in 2007.

Monaco Grand Prix, last five years

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Lewis Hamilton	1.50	1	2
Robert Kubica	3.50	2	5
Juan Montoya	3.67			2	5	4
Sebastian Vettel	5.00	5
Fernando Alonso	5.60	10	1	1	4	12
Felipe Massa	5.80	3	3	9	9	5
Cristiano da Matta	6.00					6
Rubens Barrichello	6.20	6	10	4	8	3
Alexander Wurz	7.00		7
Kazuki Nakajima	7.00	7
Nick Heidfeld	7.20	14	6	7	2	7
Michael Schumacher	7.67			5	7	11
Mark Webber	7.67	4			3	16
Olivier Panis	8.00					8
Jenson Button	8.75	11	11	11		2
Zsolt Baumgartner	9.00					9
Ralf Schumacher	10.00		16	8	6	10
Kimi Raikkonen	10.20	9	8	20	1	13
Heikki Kovalainen	10.50	8	13
Scott Speed	11.00		9	13
Jarno Trulli	11.20	13	15	17	10	1
Giancarlo Fisichella	11.80	18	4	6	12	19
Timo Glock	12.00	12
Jacques Villeneuve	12.50			14	11
Jacques Villeneuve Jr	12.50			14	11
Tiago Monteiro	14.00			15	13
Gianmaria Bruni	14.00					14
David Coulthard	14.20	19	14	3	17	18
Christijan Albers	15.00		19	12	14
Giorgio Pantano	15.00					15
Vitantonio Liuzzi	15.67		22	10	15
Nico Rosberg	15.67	16	12	19
Franck Montagny	16.00			16
Patrick Friesacher	16.00				16
Nelson Piquet Jr	17.00	17
Adrian Sutil	17.50	15	20
Narain Karthikeyan	18.00				18
Anthony Davidson	18.00		18
Takuma Sato	18.67		17	22		17
Christian Klien	19.00			18		20
Sebastian Bourdais	20.00	20
Mark Weber	21.00		21	21

Gordon undergoes back surgery

Jeff Gordon has undergone minor back surgery, which should alleviate most of his pain, according to NASCAR.com.

Our View: If he has been strong enough eight top-10s so far this year, any improvement in his performance at all will make him a place-and-hold driver.

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

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