When the Cat's Away

June 18, 2008 5:00am CDT

Once again, the Nationwide Regulars get a chance to show off their talents without being upstaged by the more experienced Cup drivers when they fire up their engines at the Milwaukee Mile, a short, flat speedway. Many of the Claim Jumpers will be miles away in California preparing for the road course of Infineon Raceway when the Nationwide race gets underway. That leaves things open for one of the Regulars to get yet another win.

The extra mileage might be hard on the Sprint Cup Series drivers pulling double duty in both series, but it has been great for the Regulars. In all three "opportunity races," someone without a full-time Sprint Cup ride has taken the checkered flag—Scott Wimmer and Brad Keselowski did that in the two races at Nashville SuperSpeedway and only last week Joey Logano earned his first win at Kentucky Speedway.

Claim Jumpers

Clint Bowyer may not always finish where he should at Milwaukee, but he that is not from lack of effort. In three tries, he has two 10ths and an 18th, which are not bad numbers and gives him average finish of 14th; however, he has managed to stay within the top-five for most of those races only to slip at the end. He also has a six-race streak of top-10s and the drivers' points' lead heading into the weekend, so it is safe to assume that his momentum will help carry him to another quality finish.

Carl Edwards has gotten the hang of the short, flat tracks. He was eighth in last year's AT&T 250 at Milwaukee and he was second at the sister track of Phoenix International Raceway in April. Overall, his numbers are much better in Arizona than Wisconsin; he has a win, five top-fives and seven top-10s in Phoenix since 2005 compared with just one top-10 in three tries in Milwaukee. These tracks, while not identical, are similar enough that he will be able to pull out a top-10. That is something he very much needs considering that has just one such finish in the last five races.

The Claim Jumpers have been suffering in recent weeks as they are forced to have relatively inexperienced substitutes practice their cars, and in this week's Fantasy Power Rankings article, all of those inside the top 10, slipped one or two positions. David Ragan has less to give up than his competition, since he has not yet cracked the top 10 in two Milwaukee starts. In 2005, he finished 36th there and last year he could muster only a 12th.

Kyle Busch has cried "uncle" and will not make the long commutes in what appears to be a vain effort to win the point championship. He is currently listed as the driver of the No. 10 Braun Racing Toyota, but according to the team, he is not going to be in that car.

Nationwide Regulars

Penny-pinchers must love Joey Logano. Not only is the rookie phenomenon winning after just three starts, but he comes with a bargain basement price of $360,000. He has never started a Nationwide race in Wisconsin, but that has not hampered him so far. Coming off his first career win at Kentucky and after getting the news that he will likely get some Sprint Cup starts this year, he will be extremely confident heading into the Camping World RV Rental 250. If he is already on your roster—leave him there—and he's not, it's not too late to jump on the bandwagon.

According to NASCAR Statistical Services, Jason Leffler has the highest driver rating over the last three races in Milwaukee. During that span, he averages a 3.5-place finish and a 3.28 running position. What he needs this week is a top-10 finish. He is 10th in the drivers' point standings, but he has not had a finish of better than 16th in more than a month. Milwaukee is the place for him to get over that hurdle as he has never finished lower than 15th there and he has consecutive top-fives in the last two Wisconsin races.

David Stremme's 12th at Kentucky snapped a two-race top-five streak, but he has still been excellent in recent weeks. He has earned six top-10s in the past eight races, with two results of 12th being his worst. When the series was at the sister flat track in Phoenix, he was a nice 10th, so he can handle the low-banked speedways. To make him a little more appealing, he has managed three top-fives in his last four tries in Milwaukee. He skipped this race last year, but don't look for him to appear rusty when the green flag waves.

Fantasy owners looking for a true dark horse this week, will want to take a long glance at Jason Keller. While he is not the first driver to pop into owners' minds, he should be at Milwaukee. He has more experience than any other driver on this track, starting every race but one since the series returned there in 1993. He's also made the most of those starts; in seven races since 2000, Keller won once, finished in the top five six times and has a worst result of only 13th. That gives him and average finish of 4.9 during that span—and a spot on your roster.

Power Rankings for this track
(known, expected entrants)