Fantasy NASCAR Contender or Pretender: Bristol 2

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Kyle Busch (Contender) -No driver is even close to matching the dominance Kyle Busch has displayed at Bristol in the COT era. He’s won nearly half the races (three out of seven), and only once has he finished outside the top ten. His Bristol average finish in the COT is 5.71. What makes Kyle Busch really good at Bristol is that he attacks the track. Evidence of this is the 899 laps he’s led in the COT.

Jimmie Johnson (Pretender) – Jimmie Johnson won the spring Bristol race and was really good last year but throughout his career Bristol’s been a rough place for him. With the performances we’ve  seen out of him in recent weeks and his current inability to find his lucky horseshoe picking Johnson definitely isn’t the way to go this weekend. His average finish in the summer race 18.75.

(Come check out my new Jimmie Johnson ifantasyrace.com page)

Denny Hamlin (Contender) – Denny Hamlin is unquestionably the best driver who’s never won at Bristol. Hamlin nearly won the first COT race at Bristol and has been close on several occasions. Hamlin’s had problems in three COT races at Bristol (fuel pick up issues, engine, and hitting the wall) but his problem free average finish is fourth.

Mark Martin (Pretender) – Last year Martin performed remarkably well at Bristol but from a career long standpoint his numbers aren’t so good. Only once in the sixteen prior races to 2009 has Martin finished in the top ten. These numbers include 2007 and 2008 when Martin avoided this track because he doesn’t like it. I expect some sort of drama out of this team every week for the rest of the regular season.

Kurt Busch (Contender) – All of Kurt Busch’s wins at Bristol are in the old car but the Blue Deuce was strong in the spring race. He led a race high 278 laps and he has the crew chief who set up the car that swept Bristol last year. Look for Kurt Busch to once again be a contender.

Clint Bowyer (Pretender) – Just like Martin I expect drama out of the 33 team every week until the regular season is over. In the last five Bristol races Clint Bowyer’s finished worse each consecutive race (3rd, 7th, 13th, 21st, 40th). If this trend continues than his points advantage over Martin will be gone.

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