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