First and foremost here’s my disclaimer, practice and practice speeds mean very little this weekend. I didn’t even post average speeds on the forum. But if i had to pick my top 10 it would be 24, 14, 2, 18, 11, 42, 48, 88, 39, 99. For sleepers i like Mears and Treux Jr. Got a feeling about Truex but don’t know if i have the guts. I’m calling Montoya or Treux Jr. for the pole, if they qualify. I intentionally backed myself into a hole on my C list by taking Regan. If it rains then i guess the chose will be easy. Obviously my C list sleeper is Regan Smith if he gets to qualify. Regan is running the full schedule next year and will probably be our best C list option with Scott Speed.

 Casey Mears has been happy all weekend with his car and decided to skip final practice. When they opened the first pratice  a lot of bump drafting was taking place. So much that a few cars had to go to the garage to repair damage. Bowyer and Hornish Jr. being the ones with the most damage. Vickers also got some damage his car coming onto the track and they spent most of first practice fixing that.

 Mark Martin was absent from my top 10 and he was complaining about the cars bouncing around on the track. He really doesn’t like this track at all but has to run well to stay in contention for the championship.

Juan Pablo Montoya also sat out final practice to save his car. Montoya and Truex did some drafting in the first practice and i’d expect Montoya to be stout yet again on Sunday. DEI power is good for the pole here.  RCR also run the DEI engine package so they could be a threat as well.

The Richard Petty Motorsports cars seem to be really slow in qualifying but really draft well in the race. As a collective group they ‘ve had some good finishes at plate tracks this year. Even Elliot Sadler has led laps this year on plate tracks. Another tidbit is that Kasey Kahne is running the R5 engine.

Well that’s all i got this week gang, picking the 24 to win, 1 and 07 to challenge for top 10’s and Regan Smith for a top 15 if we qualify. Good luck out there FNPers and be safe on this Halloween weekend.

Kyle Wiseman

My top 10 in order are; 48, 24, 11, 14, 39, 42, 5, 29, 88, 33. B list sleepers are 07, 00, and 1. You guys were absolutely spot on with Mears. C list suprise sleepers are Labonte and Speed.

 Jimmie Johnson worked on race runs yesterday and ran the most laps. He looks to have a car that doesn’t fall off much on the long runs. Jeff Gordon is very happy with his car also and has track position over Jimmie, i still like the 48 better.

Hamlin flat out knows how to get around this place and should contend for the win. He said yesterday that he needed to pick up a tenth to win. I’m assuming he was saying the Hendrick boys were a tad faster. Hamlin will be racing hard as this is his hometrack along with Richmond.

Montoya should also contend for a top 5 as long as he stays patient. Juan Pablo was very fast in practice and was just too loose in qualifying.

Newman is very happy with his car and should be good for a top 10 atleast. There’s not a better place to use Ryan if you have allocations left. Stewart never looks stout in practice and i fully expect him to challenge for a top 5.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was real happy with his car and i see his bad luck coming to an end here, which will give him momentum going into next week’s race the Amp Energy 500, how fitting.

Marcos Ambrose really didn’t run that many laps and that has me more concerned than his starting position. As long as his brakes last i see him challenging for a top 10. A top 15 is more likely where he’ll end up though.

A.J. Allmendinger was ok in practice and ran a few more laps than Ambrose. I know  a lot of you will select AJ over Ambrose because of his starting position but Ambrose was flat out faster in my opinion. I see AJ finishing top 20.  For those of you with Hornish i’d stay away from Sideways Sam this week.

To recap Jimmie for the win again. Mears and Reutimann for top 15’s, Labonte and Speed top 25’s. Ok, maybe Speed finishing in the top 25 is a stretch. But i really see him starting to get more comfortable in a stock car.

Let’s keep moving up in pts. FNPers!!!

Kyle Wiseman 

Top 10 cars are; 48, 5, 11, 9, 14, 42, 24, 18, 99, 29. Just missing the top 10 are the 2, 17, 39, 00, and 33.  47 and 25 should challenge for a top 15 too.  Robby Gordon could suprise for a top 20 finish this week.

 Greg Biffle had fuel pump problems in Happy Hour so i’d avoid him this week. Even if he they get the problem fixed he missed a big portion of practice and didn’t work on his car as much as he’d like.

Jimmie Johnson has been fast all week and should be considered the favorite along with Mark Martin. If i had to pick one i’d go Martin as he seems to be a tad better on the long run and this is a long run track.

Kasey Kahne has also been fast all week and is a lock to make my roster. This is his kind of track and with any luck i expect him to challenge for a top 5 finish.

Jeff Gordon struggled as usual early on but rallied to respectability late in Happy Hour. I wouldn’t bet against him for another top 10. Hard to justify picking him over Jimmie or Mark though.

Tony Stewart hasn’t had the best of luck at The Beast of the Southeast but is a solid top 10 car and could challenge Jimmie and Mark for the win at the end.

Juan Pablo Montoya has had an interesting weekend. First, running in the back of Jeff Burton in yesterday’s only practice. The 42 had to hire fabricators to fix the damage on the front of their machine before today’s practices. All their hard work seems to have paid off as they should also challenge for a top 5.  The question for me is do i use my last allocation of Montoya or save him for Martinsville.

Kurt Busch really struggled in the first practice today trying an assortment of things to fix his ill handling car. He was much better in Happy Hour and should atleast finish in the top 15 and they may be good enough to use him and save my last Montoya start for Martinsville.

Brian Vickers, in a disturbing trend was mediocre. I though he was better in the first practice. Martin stated that the track got slicker in the 2nd session and Vickers’ car didn’t seem to like the changing track conditions. In addition, Vickers starts towards the back and will not be making an appearance on my team.

 Brad Keselowski looked solid once again in Hendrick equipment and as long as he stays out of trouble he should get a top 20 finish. With some luck or strategy i could see him challenging for a top 10 or top 15 finish.

Sam Hornish practiced long runs but looked mediocre at best and i see him more of a top 25 car.

Marcos Ambrose was very fast and if i had him on my team i would have considered starting him over Keselowski. He would be the only C driver i would use over Kez. If i only had 1 start left with Ambrose i’d still save him for Martinsville or Phoenix.

 Ok, to recap i’m picking Mark Martin to win. Sleepers are 47, 25, and 20. Supersleeper is Robby Gordon.

Let’s go get some points FNPers!!!

Kyle Wiseman

Tough sleddin this week gents. Top 10 cars 11, 48, 5, 42, 2, 29, 24, 14, 88, 9. Yes, you saw correctly, i’m picking Dale Earnhardt Jr. for my top 10.  The Ford’s do not look good this week.  The good thing for them is that Edwards and Biffle both qualified well and have track position in their favor.

 Gordon and Stewart’s practice speeds are not pretty but they are very hard to read and that’s why they still make the top 10.  Newman looks to be better than Stewart but we’ve seen this before. He rolls off 37th and has had trouble in the past coming up through the field.  If Newman had any track position he’d make my top 10 list. Also Casey Mears just missed my top 10 picks.

 Johnson looks to be a top 5 car at worse on his home track. If i had Mark the kid Martin i’d heavily consider saving Jimmie but i don’t. Gordon’s practice times are just bad so i can’t justify starting him over the 48.

Montoya is fast again and as usual didn’t run that many laps. I’m guessing the team is playing it safe with their engine. In the short time he was out there he looked like a top 5 car, top 10 worse case.

Kurt Busch looks to be pretty stout and should be a good bet to finish in the top 10. He was really fast early but slowed a bit as practice rolled on. His lap times after 20 laps were mediocre

 Kasey Kahne again is not fast on a short run but looks like a solid long run car. He outperformed Kurt Busch on long runs but i’d rate Kurt ahead of Kasey slightly.

 Brian Vickers looks like a top 15 car, nothing special and with his recent struggles might be a good week to stay away until he has a good run.

Hornish and Allmendinger both look to be top 20 or top 25 cars. AJ could suprise because i think he ran all of Happy Hour on the same set of tires.  I lean slightly towards Allmendinger, he has track position going for him as well. AJ tends to like slick tracks as well and California definitely fits the bill there as tires fall off dramatically.

 Ok my pick to win the race is Denny Hamlin but i think Jimmie Johnson will have something to say about that before the race is over.

Sleeper B picks of the week are the 88 and 07. C list looks to be a crap shoot this week between 44, 43, 77, and 47.  Sorenson actually looked the best in practice between these guys.

Hope that helps FNPers, good luck this week.

Kyle Wiseman

Jimmie Johnson is the car to beat, big suprise there. Top 10 cars were 48, 14, 17, 24, 9, 99, 33, 11, 5, and 42. Stewart had some engine troubles in the first practice but seemed to get those straightened out in Happy Hour when they changed the ignition box. After that i thought the 39, 00, 83, 25, 2 were top 15 cars. Too bad the 2 car starts so far back. To round out the top 20 i have the 16, 88,18, 20, and 26.

Mark Martin didn’t impress me that much. He’s really fast to start a run but falls off more than normal.

Johnson is ridiculously fast throughout the run and will dominate, hopefully for him fuel mileage doesn’t play into the race.

Kenseth was solid in both sessions and seems to have turned the page on his season. Really solid on long runs as you’d expect and with the pit crew he has i expect another top 5 finish.

Gordon never really stands out in practice but ran some very good times and should be good for a top 10 at least. Very tough decision between him and Martin this week for me.

Kahne never did bust off that fast lap but was as good as anybody not named Johnson on the long run. With him starting up front i’m leaning towards him over Vickers. Vickers just seems a little off and with 3 starts left on him i’m probably going to save him for Texas, California, and Lowe’s.

Montoya didn’t run that many laps but that means to me that they are happy with the car.

C list thoughts i’d rank them 25, 43, 21, 77, 47, 44, and 71. 25 is the obvious choice in this group. Elliot may actually outperform Reed but pit crew advantage goes to Sorenson. Sideways Sam and Ambrose looked very average at best and Allmendinger was junk.

My pick to win is the 48. My sleeper pick of the week is the 25.

Kwiseman signing off, Good luck this week FNP’ers!!!