Fantasy Preview: RIR

Two weeks ago NASCAR raced the Car of Tomorrow under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway. This week, the teams face another twilight challenge at Richmond International Raceway in the COT, but the two tracks couldn't be any more dissimilar.

Phoenix's flat corners make drivers approach that course as if it were a short track similar to Martinsville Speedway, while the short track in Richmond has more in common with the unrestricted, intermediate speedways. With wide corners and a long sweeping frontstretch, this track allows drivers to maintain momentum all the way around and encourages two- and occasionally three-wide racing. That is a good thing, since it measures only .75-miles in length, and with 43 cars running faster than 125 mph, this place can get crowded.

An uphill battle
The Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400 is the fourth COT race, but it is the first time NASCAR has used the impound procedure at one of these events. All of the practice sessions will be held before qualifying on Friday, and once the field is set, teams will not be allowed to touch their mounts. With 50 cars on the entry list battling for only 43 slots, this is a huge disadvantage for all of the drivers outside the top 35 in owner points.

Only eight of 15 drivers required to qualify on time will make the show, and with that amount of competition, the most important task is to be fast on Friday. If a team does not time its way into the show, how it runs in race trim won't matter in the least, and more than ever the difference between the haves and have-nots is going to be big this week.

Avoid all of the drivers outside the top 35 this week, which is a shame because some of their numbers -- particularly short-track aces like Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace -- would otherwise make compelling dark horses.

The rich get richer
The new body style is supposed to level the playing field, but in the first three COT races, the teams that have dominated the sport in recent seasons continue to be the ones to beat. One organization has swept the COT events so far in 2007, with Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Busch winning at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson taking Martinsville and Jeff Gordon victorious at Phoenix. Additionally, Busch and Gordon have finished in the top 10 in all of these races -- the only two drivers to do so -- with the No. 24 earning a worst result of third.

Hendrick Motorsports believes its closest competition in the COT race comes from Joe Gibbs Racing, and it's hard to disagree. Both Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart had cars capable of winning at Martinsville and Phoenix, which narrows the list of favorites considerably.

If Hendrick is to keep its streak of COT wins intact, Busch is the best hope. He developed an immediate affinity to Richmond in his rookie season when the finished fourth in both the spring and fall races. Last year, he was fifth in the spring and second in the fall, which gives him an average finish of better than fourth in four career starts. It's hard to get much more consistent than that, and a victory is the only thing lacking from his Richmond resume. The only lingering doubt surrounding the No. 5 this week is that Busch has finished outside the top 30 in three of the last six races of 2007, but in those events he ran strong until circumstances took him out of contention.

Hamlin is Gibbs' best bet for victory this week. He finished second in this race last year and showed a lot of maturity when he backed off Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s bumper in the closing laps to keep from wrecking them both. He was equally strong in the fall event until his engine soured late in the going, and he is hungry to win in front of his hometown crowd. Hamlin was denied that home state victory at Martinsville a couple of weeks ago when he was forced to settle for third. He would have been Gordon's fiercest competitor at Phoenix if not for a pit-road speeding penalty halfway through the race and he is looking for vindication. (Continued)