Nationwide Power: Week 26

August 26, 2008 1:21pm CDT

For the first time all season, Joey Logano struggled at Bristol Motor Speedway after crashing in qualification and sustaining damage late in the Food City 250. Carl Edwards crashed on lap 86 after cutting a tire and both of these drivers stole a lot of points from their fantasy owners, but with the two-mile high-horsepower Auto Club Speedway on the horizon, they should bounce back nicely.

Roush-Fenway Racing has always been stout on this track type and so long as Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) remembers to remove the magnets from underneath their accelerators before the green flag waves, they also have the ponies to romp around at the front of the pack.

1. Kyle Busch Fantasy Power Average: 7.13
Last week’s rank: 3

Busch had a great week at Bristol. He won the Craftsman Truck Series race and absolutely dominated the Sharpie 500 Cup duel before getting bumped out of the lead with a handful of laps remaining and settling for second. Notably, his worst result was in the Nationwide Series when he finished seventh but ran with the leaders long enough to leapfrog Logano and the absent Tony Stewart into first.

Busch should be safely in first for at least another week. His last three efforts at Auto Club have ended in either third- or second-place finishes.

2. Joey Logano Fantasy Power Average: 8.93
Last week’s rank: 2

Bristol was by far Logano's worst effort in his brief 10-race career. He had at least three separate incidents—one of his own making, one of someone else's and one that could be called "just one of those racing things." Logano spun in qualification and had to start dead last in a backup car. He was able to climb into the top 10 before a couple of lapped cars spun in front of him and crinkled his left front fender late in the going. With repairs made, he went back on track and ran into the back of another car to bend the same fender down on his tire, which stalled another charge toward the top 10. Ultimately, he finished 16th, but may have learned more through adversity than in all of his dominant efforts.

This week, Logano will make his first appearance at Auto Club, but two weeks ago he earned a very respectable seventh on the sister track of Michigan International Speedway.

3. Clint Bowyer Fantasy Power Average: 9.06
Last week’s rank: 6

Bowyer had to stop the bleeding after slowly losing ground to Edwards and Brad Keselowski in recent weeks. Once Edwards had his problems, Bowyer could have chosen to play it safe, but he rewarded his owners with a solid second-place finish. That was his first top-five since Daytona International Speedway and his first such finish in a legitimate race (the restrictor-plate superspeedways are lotteries) since the Milwaukee Mile in the summer.

Bowyer hasn't been great on the two-mile tracks, but he hasn't been bad either with a ninth at Auto Club this spring and a 10th two weeks ago at Michigan.

4. Greg Biffle Fantasy Power Average: 9.39
Last week’s rank: 7

Biffle doesn't make that many appearances in Nationwide competition, but he's a good value when he shows up. At Chicagoland Speedway, he finished sixth this summer; he was eighth in the rain in Montreal, but his last two efforts have been stellar. A fifth at Michigan and a third at Bristol has made him a staple for your roster.

Unfortunately, Roush doesn't run the No. 16 every week and you will have to fire him for the Camping World 300 by RVs.com, but keep him in the back of your mind for his next appearance.

5. Jimmie Johnson Fantasy Power Average: 9.87
Last week’s rank: NA

Johnson has been great at Auto Club in the Cup series with a third-, first- and second-place finish in his last three efforts. He hasn't made very many starts there in Nationwide competition, but he's hoping that his momentum carries over, and he has a reason to be optimistic. His fourth-place finish in this race last year made him well worth the salary cap and he's likely to be a good value again.

Johnson is also trying to get the bad taste of his last Nationwide experience out of his mouth: he finished 29th at the Glen after running out of gas late in the going.

6. Brad Keselowski Fantasy Power Average: 10.44
Last week’s rank: 5

How can Keselowski win at Bristol and still slip down the standings? Because the Fantasy Power Rankings have a long memory and three of his four races prior to that were outside the top 10. For that matter, he didn't help his power ranking on the short track after starting deep in the field and spending a sizable portion of the event outside the top 15 where trouble could have claimed him at any moment.

He may well slip further down the grid this week, because the two-mile tracks have not been overly kind to him. In six previous starts, his best effort was the 11th he scored two weeks ago at Michigan, but four other races have ended outside the top 30.

7. Kevin Harvick Fantasy Power Average: 11.19
Last week’s rank: NA

Like Biffle, Harvick is another driver making rare appearances in the Nationwide Series, but his car was ably piloted by Cale Gale last week. After sitting on the pole at Bristol, many expected the youngster to slip back in the pack, but he held on to finish fourth. Not only was that a respectable run, it equaled the last outing of Harvick, who finished fourth at Watkins Glen International.

There is a reason why Harvick is back in the cockpit this week. He has been incredibly successful on the two-mile tracks and enters the weekend with a seven-race streak of finishes eighth or better, which means he's been earning maximum Fantasy Cup points for quite a while.

8. Carl Edwards Fantasy Power Average: 11.31
Last week’s rank: 4

After crashing on lap 86 and then spending 90 circuits behind the wall making repairs, Edwards plunged down the Fantasy Power Rankings grid because his average running position, laps spent in the top 15 and Driver Rating were all abysmal for that single event and owners may be getting a little frustrated with him. During the last 18 races—roughly a rolling half season—Edwards has finished outside the top 10 more often than he's earned a top-five. With three victories and three other top-fives in that span compared to 10 results of 11th or worse, he's been the ultimate high risk/high reward driver.

Edwards should be a great value at Auto Club after winning on the sister track of Michigan two weeks ago, but he is not a sure thing. In his last four races on this track, he's finished 12th, fourth, 26th and fifth.

9. Brian Vickers Fantasy Power Average: 11.41
Last week’s rank: 10

Vickers will start his third consecutive Nationwide Series race this week driving for Todd Braun and he has momentum on his side following a second-place finish at Michigan and his ninth at Bristol. With only nine starts, he is another driver that makes only rare appearances, but he's more than likely going to be a good value when he climbs behind the wheel—especially in recent weeks. At the start of the season, he earned two top-10s compared to two sub-20th-place results. Recently, he has four top-10s and one poor finish in his last five efforts.

Vickers skipped Auto Club this spring, but he deserves a spot on your roster because of his second at Michigan two weeks ago.

10. David Stremme Fantasy Power Average: 11.66
Last week’s rank: 11

It may have taken a week to knock the rust off after taking a two-week vacation from the car so that Max Papis could race the road courses, but Stremme was in top form at Bristol. His fourth-place finish there snapped an eight race streak during which he earned only two top-10s and no top-fives and that might put him on a lot of fantasy owners' radar screens.

For the moment, however, you may want to watch him from a distance because he has not earned a top-10 on this track type since 2005 and he has never cracked the top five at Auto Club or Michigan in either Cup or Nationwide competition in 18 combined starts.

Positions 11 and higher