Nationwide Power: Week 19

July 8, 2008 5:00pm CDT

Last week, the Nationwide Regulars refused to be cowed by the Claim Jumpers at Daytona International Speedway and they captured four spots in the Winn-Dixie 250. Those same drivers—Brad Keselowski in fifth, Scott Wimmer in seventh and Mike Bliss in sixth—held onto top-10 positions in the Fantasy Power Rankings as well.

David Stremme also had a strong showing at Daytona and finished eighth, but that was his first top-10 since he finished second in the standalone Nashville Superspeedway race. Now, he has one more bullet to dodge this week at Chicagoland Speedway since the Claim Jumpers will be back in full force. The two series are together for only one more race before the Cup drivers take a week off and the Nationwide series runs alone at Gateway International Raceway.

1. Brad Keselowski
Fantasy Power Average: 6.76
Last week's rank: 3

A Cup Regular may sit atop the point standings, but Keselowski is staying in touch with the leader. Since finishing third at Lowe's Motor Speedway seven weeks ago, he's swept the top 10 and posted an average finish of 5.4. In that same span of races, Clint Bowyer has also swept the top 10, but his average result of 6.3 slightly trails the Young Gun. It doesn't matter to fantasy owners which driver comes out on top as long as both are on their roster and each have earned maximum points in the last two months.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Fantasy Power Average: 7.33
Last week's rank: 2

With a solid third-place finish in the Winn-Dixie 250 that was preceded by the best average running position during the race and NASCAR's second best Driver Rating, Earnhardt actually improved his Fantasy Power Average by more than a point. However, he was surpassed by his teammate Keselowski because that driver has been a more consistently strong addition to his fantasy owners' rosters. Junior doesn't run the second series very often, but rest assured that each time he does he is going to be a great value.

3. Scott Wimmer
Fantasy Power Average: 8.59
Last week's rank: 1

Wimmer keeps one record intact even while sliding down the grid. In 12 attempts this year, the only time he's finished worse than 12th was back in the season opening race at Daytona and his average finish of 7.7 during the last 11 races has been good enough to keep him on a majority of rosters. Unfortunately, it doesn't give him the star power to retain his ride in this week's companion race at Chicagoland as he will turn the wheel of the No. 29 Chevy over to Jeff Burton who hasn't raced in the Nationwide series for six weeks. Don't worry about the team, however: Burton has earned five third-place finishes in five start there.

4. Matt Kenseth
Fantasy Power Average: 9.10
Last week's rank: Not Ranked

Kenseth hasn't been in a Nationwide car in seven weeks since Darlington Raceway and in that event he finished only 28th, which begs the question of why he is so high on this week's grid. There are actually three answers to that: First, he ran better on the "Track Too Tough to Tame" than his finish suggests and garnered the second best Driver Rating from NASCAR Statistical Services. Secondly, he won on another "cookie-cutter" race in Atlanta this spring, and perhaps most importantly, he has two second-place finishes at Chicagoland in this series. In fact, last year he was the runner-up in both NASCAR events, which suggests he knows where to find the groove on this track.

5. Clint Bowyer
Fantasy Power Average: 9.36
Last week's rank: 4

Statistically, Bowyer is still feeling the effects of a mediocre run at Kentucky Speedway four weeks ago when he finished ninth after posting the 11th-best Driver Rating and the 11th-best average running position. The battle at the top of the Fantasy Power Rankings is so intense, that even that slight bobble has him down the grid somewhat, but he would have at least maintained his spot if not for the addition of Kenseth this week. That shouldn't discourage fantasy owners from starting him at Chicagoland, however. Bowyer failed to finish his first Chicago race in 2004, but in three efforts since, he's finished sixth, seventh and fourth, which makes him one of your maximum point producers.

6. Carl Edwards
Fantasy Power Average: 9.89
Last week's rank: 12

Edwards finished only 11th last week, but that does not tell the entire story. He got shuffled back at the end of the race, but not before he spent all 105 laps of competition in the top-15, earned the second-best average running position of 3.9 and combined all of his stats to garner NASCAR's fourth-best Driver Rating. He was another racer hurt by the long commutes to the three standalone events prior to New Hampshire, but now that he can concentrate his efforts, he's been stellar once more.

7. Mike Bliss
Fantasy Power Average: 10.42
Last week's rank: 6

Bliss hasn't earned a top-five since week five at Bristol Motor Speedway, but solid top-10s in the last four races have earned fantasy owners a lot of points. When he misses that mark, it's not by much and in his last 18 races—roughly a rolling half season—Bliss has failed to finish in the top 20 only twice and earned an average finish of 11.5. That's not bad for a driver and team without all the resources of a Cup empire. This week could be a challenge though. Bliss hasn't raced at Chicagoland since 2004 and that season he earned only a 33rd-place finish.

8. Denny Hamlin
Fantasy Power Average: 10.69
Last week's rank: 7

Anyone who still questions whether Toyota has more horsepower than the remainder of the field simply didn't watch the Winn-Dixie 250. Hamlin was shuffled well back in the pack for a time and even with very little drafting help stormed back to the lead virtually unaided. A win is a win, however, and so long as NASCAR doesn't change the rules to allow the other manufacturers to close the gap, they are making fantasy owners' jobs extremely easy. The No. 20 Gibbs' Toyota has finished first, second or third in 10 of the last 12 races. Unfortunately for his fans, Hamlin is driving for Todd Braun this week and hands the wheel of the 20 over to Tony Stewart.

9. Kyle Busch
Fantasy Power Average: 10.76
Last week's rank: 8

Now that the pressure of running for the point championship is off his shoulders, Busch is determined to whip the field in both of NASCAR's top series. When he's hitting on all eight cylinders, he's been stellar. Four victories, three runner-up finishes and two more thirds in Nationwide competition makes him an impossible driver to overlook each week, but his other nine efforts at this level have all ended outside the top 15, so he certainly comes with a disclaimer.

10. Kasey Kahne
Fantasy Power Average: 11.61
Last week's rank: Not ranked

Kahne still has his restrictor-plate mojo after finishing sixth in the Nationwide race and earning a seventh in the Cup series, but he too will give up his ride to a teammate at Chicagoland as Elliott Sadler looks to overcome 30-something finishes on that track in 2005 and 2006. Still, file Kahne away in the back of your mind for the next time he shows up in the second series. In eight starts this season, he now has three top-10s and five top-16s to his credit, which makes him a driver to watch.

Positions 11 and higher