Martinsville - Lineup

Let's cut right to the chase and look at the numbers from today:

P1 10-Lap Averages:

Rank Car# Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 5 14 93.956
2 5 Mark Martin 47 56 93.903
3 47 Bobby Labonte 43 52 93.779
4 48 Jimmie Johnson 24 33 93.708
5 14 Tony Stewart 4 13 93.344
6 24 Jeff Gordon 49 58 93.250
7 20 Joey Logano 16 25 93.166
8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3 12 93.084
9 1 Jamie McMurray 2 11 93.010
10 6 David Ragan 45 54 92.934
11 13 Casey Mears 2 11 92.922
12 99 Carl Edwards 49 58 92.883
13 78 Regan Smith 51 60 92.737
14 27 Paul Menard 2 11 92.733
15 16 Greg Biffle 2 11 92.535
16 17 Matt Kenseth 23 32 92.369
17 83 Brian Vickers 3 12 92.240
18 56 Martin Truex Jr. 59 68 92.205
19 09 Landon Cassill(i) 4 13 92.123
20 22 Kurt Busch 38 47 92.045
21 21 Trevor Bayne(i) 4 13 91.819
22 2 Brad Keselowski 29 38 91.632
23 38 Travis Kvapil(i) 1 10 90.784
24 71 Hermie Sadler(i) 42 51 90.422
25 31 Jeff Burton 1 10 90.108
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P1 Overall Lap Averages:

A-List:
Ky. Busch - 20.32 (42 Laps)
Harvick - 20.37 (47)
Hamlin - 20.55 (20)
Johnson - 20.68 (70)
Gordon - 20.71 (65)

B-List:
Allmendinger - 20.40 (45 Laps)
Bowyer - 20.42 (58)
Logano - 20.47 (50)
Montoya - 20.47 (50)
Martin - 20.48 (80)
Kahne - 20.51 (44)
Burton - 20.60 (48)
Earnhardt Jr - 20.61 (53)
Newman - 20.74 (56)

C-List:
Mears - 20.52 (46 Laps)
Labonte - 20.58 (68)
Ragan - 20.58 (73)
Smith - 20.61 (75)
Menard - 20.64 (52)
Schrader - 20.91 (58)



P2 10-Lap Averages:

Rank Car# Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 1 Jamie McMurray 8 17 94.675
2 27 Paul Menard 15 24 94.355
3 5 Mark Martin 23 32 94.354
4 18 Kyle Busch 4 13 94.129
5 29 Kevin Harvick 6 15 94.100
6 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 64 73 94.090
7 48 Jimmie Johnson 7 16 94.005
8 39 Ryan Newman 5 14 93.980
9 20 Joey Logano 2 11 93.977
10 24 Jeff Gordon 4 13 93.935
11 11 Denny Hamlin 58 67 93.912
12 9 Marcos Ambrose 2 11 93.910
13 00 David Reutimann 4 13 93.897
14 31 Jeff Burton 5 14 93.883
15 33 Clint Bowyer 4 13 93.806
16 56 Martin Truex Jr. 6 15 93.751
17 43 A J Allmendinger 3 12 93.716
18 2 Brad Keselowski 47 56 93.448
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 33 42 93.430
20 14 Tony Stewart 2 11 93.428
21 13 Casey Mears 3 12 93.393
22 47 Bobby Labonte 17 26 93.333
23 4 Kasey Kahne 17 26 93.311
24 16 Greg Biffle 2 11 93.275
25 17 Matt Kenseth 6 15 93.110
26 6 David Ragan 9 18 93.040
27 78 Regan Smith 2 11 92.566
28 83 Brian Vickers 43 52 92.455
29 21 Trevor Bayne(i) 2 11 92.319
30 7 Robby Gordon 21 30 92.195
31 22 Kurt Busch 32 41 92.185
32 36 Dave Blaney 1 10 91.977
33 09 Landon Cassill(i) 2 11 89.954
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 P2 Overall Lap Averages:

A-List:
Harvick - 20.34 (52 Laps)
Gordon - 20.40 (40)
Johnson - 20.43 (85)
Hamlin - 20.46 (91)
Ky. Busch - 20.52 (81)

B-List:
Bowyer - 20.39 (45 Laps)
Kahne - 20.40 (48)
Martin - 20.44 (51)
Earnhardt Jr - 20.44 (51)
Allmendinger - 20.45 (74)
Montoya - 20.45 (76)
Newman - 20.50 (54)
Keselowski - 20.51 (72)
Burton - 20.52 (74)

C-List:
Ragan - 20.42 (52 Laps)
Mears - 20.43 (48)
Labonte - 20.56 (65)
Menard - 20.65 (64)




A-LIST:
JIMMIE JOHNSON (9 Starts Remaining) - No surprise here, Jimmie was pretty solid in practice. You come to learn that the 48 will never show all of their cards and look like the lock for the race win in practice. But Johnson improved the car a lot over the 2 sessions and ran a bunch of laps. We'll see what he can lay down in qualifying

DENNY HAMLIN (9 Starts Remaining) - Denny says he's really really really happy with his car in one of the SPEED TV interviews, and the speed sheets show it. I'm leaning on starting the 11, even if the 48 slightly out qualifies him. Right now the 11 looks like he could be the race winner.

Kyle Busch looked great in the first practice session but really lost the handle in the 2nd session. The car got loose and he wasn't very satisfied with the car overall when the session ended. Kevin Harvick looked very smooth over the session, and could be a Top 5 car, but he didn't make a single long run over either session which I did not like to see, especially with tire wear a potential issue. Jeff Gordon was miserable in the first session, got it turned around in the 2nd session, but I still don't see him being ahead of Hamlin or Johnson at the end of the day.



B-LIST:
CLINT BOWYER (9 Starts Remaining) - I really like the way Bowyer looked today. His numbers were fast AND consistent over both practice sessions. 2nd in Lap Average in P1, 1st in Lap Average in P2. Good momentum coming into this race, RCR cars have looked solid across the board. Bowyer gets a spot on the lineup.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (8 Starts Remaining) - Another guy who was pretty happy with his car, and his 10-lap averages were towards the top of the charts in both sessions. It's going to take a pretty good qualifying run for me to start the 42, but Montoya knows how to lay down a lap in qualifying, so we'll see what he's got tomorrow.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. (9 Starts Remaining) - A great start save option is Junior. He's got good momentum and a great track record here, his numbers were fair today so again this comes down to qualifying performance against the rest of the B-List on whether he gets the start.


BRAD KESELOWSKI (9 Starts Remaining) - I'm reaching for another start-save here. His car was not very good in race trim until late in the session he made a run that looked really impressive. He's fantastic in qualifying trim so he might be able to steal some qualifying points as well. Brad K is definitely a start in the Top 10 or get the bench driver for me this week.

Ryan Newman looked decent all day but didn't show the speed that I thought he would. There are other places we could use Newman and get great value out of him. His team mate/boss Stewart was not that impressive either. Kasey Kahne was another car who looked stable but not very fast in overall speed. A.J. Allmendinger looked great in the first session, but lost the handle in the 2nd session and faded to mid pack, so he just misses my lineup. Jeff Burton said he was not happy with his car "but no one was happy today"....got news for ya, yeah, plenty of people are happy with their cars, bench Burton. Both Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin looked fast on the speed charts, but both are miserably disappointed with the handling of their cars, so I doubt their flashes of brilliance on the speed charts will last for 500 laps, they find the bench.

C-LIST:
BOBBY LABONTE (9 Starts Remaining) - Bobby Labonte looked even better than I expected today. Decent in race runs, and actually laid down a couple of fast qualifying passes as well. He's a great start save option if he can qualifying well tomorrow.


CASEY MEARS (9 Starts Remaining) - Most shocking C-List I will roll out this year. Both Mears and Labonte seem to be performing on the same level this weekend, both were about the same in performance at Phoenix this year as well. I can't really choose between either one on my team, so I'm going with both, whoever qualifies better will more than likely get the start.


David Ragan laid down a good qualifying lap in P2, but that was about the only highlight for Ragan. His team had to "start over" going into P2 since they were so bad in P1, and they still were towards the back of the pack in 10-lap averages in P2. Paul Menard showed nothing impressive today, a half way decent qualifying run in P1 was the only highlight for Menard. Again, would not be surprised to see Menard ahead of all the C-Listers come Sunday, but we say that every week. We have to find races where Menard looks "on-par" with his C-List competitors, and this week looks like it could be one of those weeks.




Qualifying and pit selection is huge here, so check back tomorrow evening for our lockdown lineup! As always, join the chat over at http://www.FantasyNascarPreview.com Forum and check out their expert chat at 11:00 AM EST on Sunday, followed by our live chat at Noon.