Fantasy NASCAR Report: Talladega Edition

Here are the drivers to watch this weekend at the Aarons 499 at Talladega.

Tony Stewart

The last time an owner/driver saw Victory Lane was Ricky Rudd at Martinsville back in September of 1998, but that could very well change this weekend.

Stewart, who has been competing for wins recently, will definitely be a factor for the win this weekend as he returns to the scene of his controversial win last fall.

Not to mention he's also in a team leasing power plants from Hendrick Motorsports, so look for him and old friend Dale Earnhardt Jr. to work together in the draft.

Kevin Harvick

Last race with crew chief Todd Berrier and the rest of his crew look for Harvick to give them a grand send off before they move across the shop to the No. 07 team.

Harvick is one of those "where the heck did he come from" guys at restrictor plate races.

Look for Harvick to qualify decently and then just hang around all day until he feels its time to make a late race surge to the front.

Plus he does have three teammates this season: Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears, which is always a plus at Talladega.

Kyle Busch

Defending winner of this event has had a run of rough finishes here lately and would love nothing more than to give another bow on that large Talladega front straight.

Look for Busch and teammate Denny Hamlin to pit together and draft together all day long just like last spring.

David Ragan

He finished third and fourth in last year's races at Talladega. With the deadline for Roush to reduce to four teams coming quickly, look for Ragan to drive with a some extra inspiration.

Ragan finished sixth in the only restrictor plate event of the 2009 season. Ragan will look to continue that kind of finish to move further up in the points from his current position of 30th.

Underdog: Reed Sorenson

Sorenson will be looking to avenge his 43rd place finish last April (after losing the motor on lap four) this weekend to attempt to move himself closer to the top 20 in points.

Sorenson is currently the bottom driver at Richard Petty Motorsports and has got to be feeling the pressure to perform.

Hopefully that pressure mixed with some luck will get this young driver a good finish this at Talladega this weekend.

Honorable Mention: Michael McDowell

I would have loved to pick McDowell as my underdog this week as he subs in for Dave Blaney in the No. 66 Prism Motorsports entry, but I can't.

While McDowell would love nothing better than to run a great race and try to change some minds and earn a full or part-time Cup ride, I don't think Prism will give him that opportunity as they will most likely continue their start-and-park trend.

Phoenix Results

Not a bad day for my picks with three of them landing in the top ten at the end of the day.

Gordon had an off night finishing 25th and Allmendinger was relegated to a 35th place finish.

Tony Stewart, Second

Jimmie Johnson, Fourth

Denny Hamlin, Sixth

Jeff Gordon, 25th

AJ Allmendinger,35th