Back to Work

October 7, 2008 1:13pm CDT

It is good to be back to work, especially if you are Clint Bowyer or Carl Edwards. Not surprisingly, the Nationwide Series championship is boiling down to these two Claim Jumpers, as was predicted in the pre-season banter last winter. Fantasy owners will want to put them on their rosters once again, but realize that there are several good picks this week, particularly among the Nationwide Regulars.

Everyone wants to win a race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It is a classic track in the hub of NASCAR country, where most of the teams and drivers make their homes. Even if a driver was born in California, this is still the home track for them, since nearly all of them live in Charlotte's suburbs, so expect everyone to put in a little extra effort this weekend.

Claim Jumpers

Kyle Busch may have run out of luck in the Sprint Cup Series, but that has not been the case in the Nationwide ranks. He has won four of his last eight starts in the junior circuit, which includes two of the last four races. Expect another win this weekend at Lowe’s, where he has been tough to beat. Since 2004, he has three wins there, the latest of which came in May. That gives him three straight top-10s there, including a second in last year’s Dollar General 300.

Clint Bowyer is padding his championship lead, and Lowe’s will help him continue to do just that. While he has never won in Charlotte, he has four consecutive top-10s there heading into the weekend’s festivities. Earlier this year, he was a nice sixth there. He has been running well on the “cookie-cutters” this season. In the series’ last stop, he was second at Kansas Speedway. Before that, he was seventh at Chicagoland Speedway in July and ninth at Kentucky Speedway in June.

Brian Vickers will put on a great show this week. He has not started many Nationwide races at Lowe’s, but he has made them count. His last three starts there—which were in 2003, 2005 and 2008—resulted in two top-fives and three top-20s. He started from the pole in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 earlier this year and went home fifth. To make him a more enticing pick, he will be behind the wheel of the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota, which Busch drove to victory at Lowe’s in May.

Nationwide Regulars

Fantasy owners should leave Brad Keselowski on their rosters each week. During the past five races, he has a win at Bristol Motor Speedway and top-10s in the last two Nationwide races. What helps prepare him for the “cookie-cutter” of Lowe’s is that he was sixth at Kansas two weeks ago. That gives him four consecutive top-10s on the 1.5-mile unrestricted, intermediate speedways. Better still, three of those results were top-fives, including a third at Lowe’s earlier this season.

Kelly Bires may fly under the radar this week, but don’t let him get away. In the last Nationwide event, he was 10th at Kansas. Not that a good run on a “cookie-cutter” is a real surprise. In July, he was a respectable 12th at Chicagoland, and he has a seventh and 19th in two career starts at Kentucky. His 33rd at Lowe’s in May will scare away some fantasy owners, but remember that he was ninth in the 2007 Dollar General 300.

David Stremme is in the midst of a solid run. Heading into Lowe’s, he has 10 top-20s in his last 11 races. In just the last race, he was 17th at Kansas and was 10th at the two-mile unrestricted, intermediate Auto Club Speedway. His numbers aren’t spectacular on the “cookie-cutters” this season—he was fifth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with no other top-10s on the 1.5-milers—but he has finished 23rd or better in the last four such races. Specifically at Lowe’s, only once has ever finished lower than 23rd there, and that was four years ago.

Power Rankings for Lowe's Motor Speedway (drivers with starts on this track)