Nationwide Power: Week 25

August 19, 2008 5:27pm CDT

One question has been answered: NASCAR's attempt to drain horsepower from the Toyotas did not make them any less competitive last week at Michigan International Speedway with the second- and third-place finishers racing Camrys. In total, Toyotas earned four of the top 10 spots, compared to Ford and Chevrolet at three apiece, which is precisely the parity for which the sanctioning body was searching.

Afraid they might continue to penalize them for their horsepower, however, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teams of Tony Stewart (who finished third) and Joey Logano (seventh) attempted to manipulate the numbers by attaching a magnet to the back of the accelerator, which effectively kept the throttle from becoming fully engaged. There was no competitive advantage during the race, but NASCAR will not be pleased.

1. Tony Stewart Fantasy Power Average: 5.86
Last week’s rank: 2

Stewart improved his Fantasy Power Rankings average by nearly two full points after running with the leaders all day in the Carfax 250. At the end, his car was no match for the Roush-Fenway Ford of Carl Edwards or the step-sister Toyota of Brian Vickers, but it was more than enough to bound over his teenage teammate. Stewart went out in style since there are no immediate plans for him to be back in a Nationwide car in the near future, but fantasy owners will want to keep their ears tuned for any new developments.

2. Joey Logano Fantasy Power Average: 7.48
Last week’s rank: 1

Before the Carfax 250, Logano told reporters it was time for him to win again, but he actually had a bigger task ahead. In order to get approval to run on the superspeedways in 2009 in a bid for NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year honors, he had to show the committee that he could handle his car. That question seems to have been answered to the positive and an ARCA effort at Talladega SuperSpeedway should clear the way for him to run fulltime in the No. 20 Cup car next year.

3. Kyle Busch Fantasy Power Average: 7.66
Last week’s rank: 3

It was odd not to see Busch in someone's car last week, but the Gibbs' guy unselfishly stepped out of the No. 18 that he was scheduled to race in order to give Logano some seat time. The Cup point leader has nothing to prove to his competitors, so there was nothing to loose and when he climbs back into Nationwide car this week, he's going to continue to be one of the best values in the game. Last year, Busch swept the top-five in this series and he won a Nationwide race at Bristol in 2006.

4. Carl Edwards Fantasy Power Average: 9.81
Last week’s rank: 7

Two weeks ago Edwards slipped from sixth to seventh because of a generally anemic run at Watkins Glen International that resulted in a 25th-place finish. He made that ground up and more with a dominant run on a track that is known as the House of Roush. It takes a perfect combination of driver and car to win a NASCAR race in either of the top two series and Edwards proved his strength with a weekend sweep. Bristol could be a little more difficult; after winning there in 2007, he finished 11th and 14th in his last two starts.

5. Brad Keselowski Fantasy Power Average: 9.85
Last week’s rank: 4

After earning nine consecutive top-10 finishes, Keselowski seems to be losing some of his momentum. He struggled at O'Reilly Raceway Park and went to the road courses in Montreal and Watkins Glen with simply surviving on his mind. Last week, he should have been stronger than 11th at Michigan, which is causing his fantasy owners to question what is happening to the No. 88. This will be a good week to tell if he can reverse his fortunes since his last two Bristol races ended in top-10 finishes and if he cannot run up front there, he is in serious trouble.

6. Clint Bowyer Fantasy Power Average: 9.92
Last week’s rank: 6

Bowyer hasn't had a top-five finish in six weeks and he's watched helplessly as Edwards has slowly chipped away at his point lead. That should stop this week, because Bowyer not only won the most recent Nationwide Series race at Bristol, he's finished eighth or better there since the start of 2007. That gives him an average finish of 4.7 compared to Edwards' 8.7 in the same span. Both drivers deserve to be on this week's roster, but Bowyer should be able to increase his advantage.

7. Greg Biffle Fantasy Power Average: 10.04
Last week’s rank: 10

Biffle was the second Roushketeer to finish in the top-five last week with a fifth-place finish at Michigan, and like Edwards, he backed that up with an equally strong Cup run. The comparisons continue: at Bristol, Biffle has also swept the top 15 with two of his results nonetheless being outside the top 10, but overall his results have been weaker and he has an average finish of 11.3. If he's strong in practice, however, look for Biffle to keep his momentum alive in the Food City 250.

8. Mark Martin Fantasy Power Average: 10.20
Last week’s rank: 18

Martin makes so few appearances in the Nationwide Series that his Fantasy Power Rankings is extremely volatile. Last week, he was ranked 18th on the strength of single 23rd-place finish at Darlington Raceway this spring, but he proved that the No. 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide team was capable of carrying him to the front. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before he climbs back behind the wheel of one of these cars.

9. Scott Wimmer Fantasy Power Average: 12.26
Last week’s rank: 8

After taking a more than two-year hiatus from Bristol in the Nationwide Series, Wimmer returned in fall 2006 to finish 17th. He's improved since, but has only been one of the eight best drivers on this track once in the last four races. The team is solid and the driver is capable of earning a fifth like he did in this race last year, but if he does not lay down some fast times in practice, he is probably best left off the roster.

10. Brian Vickers Fantasy Power Average: 12.80
Last week’s rank: 24

Like Mark Martin, Vickers does not compete in the Nationwide Series often enough to get an accurate statistical read on him and his Fantasy Power Rankings average last week was negatively skewed by a 37th in the Daytona International Speedway lottery. When he's stayed out of trouble, however, he's been stout and his other three results during the past 18 weeks have all been top-fives. Unfortunately, Bristol is a place where trouble is easy to find and he finished 36th in this race last year.

Positions 11 and higher