Fantasy Report: Richmond Edition

My favorite weekend of the season, Richmond International Raceway. Here are my picks for drivers to bring home solid finishes this weekend at the 3/4 mile track in Henrico County.

Tony Stewart

Stewart had his first ever Nextel Cup win at the then called Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 in the Spring of 1999 Smoke's rookie season. Stewart is tied with a few other drivers for most wins at Richmond amongst active drivers with three.

Stewart Haas racing has been riding a high of late and currently have both their cars in chase contention and history has proven teams in chase spots after the spring Richmond race are likely to be there after the second Richmond race, the chase cutoff.

Ryan Newman

Newman has a good list of solid finishes at Richmond including a win back in 2003. After finishing third last week at Talladega look for Newman to continue his rise up the point standings looking to put himself in a more secured position for the rest of the regular season.

Denny Hamlin

Who said you can't go home? Lord knows Hamlin loves to.

Hamlin will look to improve upon previous finishes at his home track including his most disappointing where he led 381 laps only to finish 24th. He has lead laps in every one of his cup starts at Richmond.

He will look to win himself another pole this weekend and make sure the last 20 laps go a bit smoother then they did last spring. He'll know he'll have every Virginia native in the stands cheering him on.

Kurt Busch

The brand new points leader has seen almost half of his career Nextel Cup wins come at short tracks much like the one he will see this weekend. Kurt knows at this point the best thing for him to do is pull as far away from Gordon and the rest of the field as possible to secure himself a spot in the Chase.

Look for Kurt to race with his head this weekend and pull home a solid finish and a great points night under the lights at Richmond.

Underdog: Marcos Ambrose

Who would think this guy would be turning into a contender on the short tracks on the Nextel Cup schedule but after some recent finishes he has become one in that No. 47 Toyota. Look for Marcos to continue his recent consistency and continue his case for rookie of the year by bringing home a solid top ten if not top five under the lights at Richmond.

Last Week: Talladega

Well can't say I saw that race playing out exactly the way it did. Saw the wrecks coming just not the way they did especially not on the final lap with Edwards flying down the front stretch.

Not a banner day for my picks with this being the first week none of my picks finished in the top five or even the top ten. Looking to rebound this week at my home track of Richmond.

Tony Stewart: 23rd

Kevin Harvick:38th

Kyle Busch: 25th

David Ragan: 12th

Reed Sorenson: 11th