Fantasy NASCAR Scouting Report – Charlotte

NOTE: This post is a recap of what happened in fall 2015 at Charlotte.

Charlotte Top Ten Starters

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kyle Busch
3. Joey Logano
4. Greg Biffle
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Kurt Busch
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Carl Edwards
9. Aric Almirola
10. Ryan Newman

Charlotte Full Starting Lineup

Charlotte Race Notes

Matt Kenseth started on the pole and selected to start in the top lane.

When the Green Flag waved Jeb Burton damaged his car in an accordion effect wreck and brought out the first caution.

Kyle Busch who started in 2nd jumped to an early lead and led the opening 4 laps under yellow.

On lap 5 when the race restarted Matt Kenseth re-took the lead and led the next 72 laps.

Greg Biffle didn’t have a good car early. He started in 4th and was in 13th on lap 10. He crashed in Happy Hour and his team repaired his car.

Running Order On Lap 11: 20,22,18,41,11,19,88,48,31,3 … 4,78,43,21,16,47,2,13,5,55 … 9,10,15,42,24,27,17,1,51,7 …. 14,38,6

Matt Kenseth really liked his car on lap 21. He said his balance was really close.

On lap 25 the competition caution came out.

Running Order On Lap 26 under caution: 20,22,18,41,11,19,88,48,3,31 … 4,78,21,43,2,5,13,47,55,16 … 9,10,24,15,42,17,27,1,51,14 … 6

Running order on lap 40: 20,41,18,22,11,3,19,31,4,88 … 78,5,2,48,21,55,42,13,24,47 … 43,17,9,16,10,1,27,14,51,6 … 15

Big Moment: On lap 41 Kasey Kahne was running in 12th but got into the wall hard. It led to an unexpected pit stop that dropped him two laps down. Prior to wrecking he had a good car that could run every line on the track.

Kyle Larson started in 31st and he was up 15 spots, 50 laps into the race.

Running order on lap 54: 20,41,18,22,11,3,19,31,4,88 … 78,2,48,55,21,43,42,13,24,17 … 47,9,16,10,1,27,6,14,51,15

Kevin Harvick really liked his car on lap 60.

Big Moment: On lap 61 Kasey Kahne got into the wall again. This time he got into it much harder. This sent him to the garage for repairs.

Notable Moment: On lap 70 Carl Edwards got into the back of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and it led to the #88 getting into the wall. Earnhardt Jr. stayed out on the track. He was running around 10th at the time. It was obvious his car was hurt. He was back to 19th in about 4 laps.

Running order on lap 74: 20,22,18,41,4,3,11,78,31,19 … 48,55,43,21,42,2,13,9,24,88 … 47,15,1,17,10,27

Big Moment: On lap 76 Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a tire go down and it brought out the caution.

During the Dale Earnhardt Jr. caution Matt Kenseth had poor pit strategy and took four tires which put him back in the field. While he was in traffic he didn’t run nearly as well.

On lap 81 Joey Logano took the lead.

Notable Moment: On lap 88 Greg Biffle was on pit road making an unexpected pit stop. He had a loose wheel.

Running order on lap 100: 22,18,48,4,3,42,11,78,21,41 … 20,43,31,19,13,1,9,47,55,24 … 15,2,17,14,10,51,38,7,40,43 …. 27,83,88,6,16

Kyle Larson’s car was really strong running the high-line. He was a big mover and was up over 20 positions on lap 104. He liked his balance.

Running order on lap 116: 22,18,48,42,4,11,3,78,43,20 …. 21,19,41,31,1,13,24,47,9,55 … 2,17,15,10,14,51

Brad Keselowski didn’t like his car on lap 125. He said it didn’t run well and didn’t have good balance during his pit stop.

Notable Moment: Tony Stewart got into the wall and had visible damage during his pit stop on lap 126.

Running order on lap 132: 22,18,40 (<-didn’t pit yet), 48,4,3,42,78,11,20 … 43,41,21,19,31,27,1,2,55,13 … 24,9,17,47,88,15,10,51,46,38 … 14,16,83,6

Running order on lap 158: 22,18,48,42,4,3,78,11,43,20 … 41,19,21,31,2,1,24,55,13,17 … 47,15,9,10,51,40,16,46,14,6 … 88,83,27

Matt Kenseth had a slow pit stop under caution around the mid-point. He overshot his pit box slightly and had to backup. It caused him to restart in 20th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the wave around during a caution around the mid-point and was now only one lap down.

Big Moment: On lap 174 Matt Kenseth had contact with Ryan Newman and got into the wall hard. Ryan Newman also had meaningful damage.