Lowes NASCAR Fantasy Preview
Lowes
Lowes Motorspeedway is 1.5 mile track that recently has become known as “The Beast Of The Southeast”. Whether or not this track has earned this nickname is up for debate, but lets forget about this now because you’re here for Fantasy Racing.
The ifantasyrace.com Top 5 drivers to watch for Lowes are………
1) Jimmie Johnson– The 48 is swinging .500 in the Chase and at Lowes Johnson might just improve his average. Johnson once owned this place but recently other drivers have went on to victory lane here (Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann, Jeff Burton & Jeff Gordon). At Lowes Saturday night I expect Johnson to take back the keys to his house. Johnson’s last victory at Lowes happened in 2005 but don’t let that scare you off. The 48 car has found their Chase groove and when this team is determined the only team that can beat them is themselves. Johnson leads the series in driver rating (116.6), number of fastest laps on the track, best average green flag speed, laps in the top 15, and in quality passes at here. If any team wants to win at Lowes first they must get through the Lowes car.
2) Juan Pablo Montoya- The 42 car has been as strong as anyone since the Chase started. Juan Pablo Montoya has more importantly been very strong at the intermediate tracks throughout the season. When you’re doing your fantasy racing preparation for the week and all you look at is his 27.4 average finish then you haven’t been paying attention lately. Throw out all your old Montoya stats and become a real time fantasy racer who is a person who plays by what they see, not on what’s happened in the last decade. Stats do have their place in terms of setting a baseline for the weekend but if that’s all you do then you’ll miss the mark. Montoya is excellent at driving the high line and a Lowes that’s where the passes are made.
3) Jeff Gordon- In the last two weeks at the last two intermediate tracks Gordon has finished second both times. In my opinion Jeff is a dangerous pick here because he’s had some real problems here in the past. Remember what I said in the Montoya comment about being a real time fantasy racer, well do the same with Jeff Gordon. There are only a few elite intermediate track teams in the series and Gordon is one of them.
4) Kasey Kahne- Kasey Kahne’s primary NASCAR strength is his driving ability on the intermediate tracks. His prowess at these tracks has definitely been made clear at Lowes Motor Speedway where Kahne has won 3 times. In the last 7 races at Lowes Kahne has an average finish of 6.1. A good day will definitely be in the cards for this team Saturday night.
5) Mark Martin- Mark Martin is as strong as anyone on the intermediate tracks but I do worry about how his cars perform so poorly on the restarts. The 5 car losses lots of track position and spots on almost every restart. Lowes is a track that has become increasingly difficult on drivers and as a result there have been more cautions. If Martin continues to lose spots on each restart then 5th place is where I’ll rank him.
Other Drivers to watch:
Carl Edwards- Now that Carl is back on two legs again in 9 starts at Lowes only twice has Edwards failed to finish in the top 10.
Greg Biffle- He’s had some good recent runs here having finished in the top 10 two out of his last three races.
RCR- RCR has improved moderately in the last couple of races and Jeff Burton is the defending race winner here. (Especially Harvick)
Things that are important when you select drivers for Lowes (everything is based on a ten scale of hearts. 10 being the most important).
Qualifying: ♥♥♥♥♥
Happy Hour:♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Recent Performances on similar tracks:♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
What Happened the last time they raced at Lowes: ♥♥♥♥♥
History at the track:♥♥♥♥♥
