Fantasy Preview: Vegas (cont'd)

Dark Horses

In general, fantasy owners should continue to avoid the Toyota teams for a few more races. This manufacturer is going to face a new challenge every week, and only time will tell how fast they can adjust. Last week, however, Brian Vickers was impressive from the time he unloaded his Red Bull Camry from the hauler. He was fast in practice, qualified well, and raced with the leaders most of the day. If not for some pit stop strategy near the end of the event, he might have earned a top-five result, but he nevertheless gave Toyota their first top-10 finish in only their second race. He still has to qualify on time -- and with a 54-car field, that is no small feat -- so you may not want to gamble on him early in the week.

Another driver who must qualify on time is Joe Nemechek. Bobby Ginn Racing put him in their new entry precisely because of his skill in time trials, and he has rewarded them by making both of the first two races of 2007. He continues to walk a razor's edge on Friday, but that hasn't seemed to affect him on Sunday. In the Daytona 500 he was elevated to ninth in the final fracas and he added another top-15 at California last week. Some of his best results during the last three years have come on the similarly-configured, 1.5- and two-mile tracks, but he continues to fly under the radar screen. That is precisely what fantasy owners want to see.

Underdogs

As strong as he finished last year, it was expected that Scott Riggs would come out of the gates fast in 2007. Unfortunately, he was slapped with a penalty at Daytona for a rules infraction that wasn't covered by the book and the loss of his crew chief contributed to a couple of disappointing runs. He has Rodney Childers back on top of his pit box this week, but cautious fantasy owners may still want to give him a race or two to adjust. More importantly, he needs to prove that he can run with the leaders again.

Likewise, teammate Kasey Kahne seems to have lost some of his dominance on the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks. At the beginning of 2006, he won three of the first four "cookie-cutter" races and finished fourth here at Vegas. His last five attempts on this type of track, however, resulted in four finishes outside the top 20 and three of these were in the 30s. Last week was another disappointing day for the Evernham team, when the No. 9 retired in 38th after blowing an engine. Luck is unpredictable, but in Vegas, Kahne is just as likely to roll snake-eyes as he is to get a lucky seven.