Fantasy: Added emphasis on road experts at Sonoma

The road-course circuit awaits the Sprint Cup drivers this weekend as the series visits Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course will throw a major curve at the stars of NASCAR with a departure from the ovals replaced by some right turns this Sunday.

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As recent history has shown, there are some drivers in the Cup Series who make an easy transition to the road-racing style and others who struggle immensely with this change.

Among those who cope better with this shock are the recent converts from IRL and other racing series: Juan Montoya, Patrick Carpentier and Marcos Ambrose all came to NASCAR from touring series that heavily utilized the road courses. There will be some added fantasy racing emphasis on those drivers at Sonoma, but there also is a group of the oval-track guys who race surprisingly well on the winding road circuits.

Top Fantasy Racing Drivers for Sonoma

1. Tony Stewart
Stewart comes to Sonoma as the championship standings leader and looking for his second victory of the season. The driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet is a two-time winner of this event (2001 and '05) and he's always shown a real ability on the road courses. Considering the momentum that Stewart is riding coming into this event, we would be shocked not to see him lead laps and challenge for the win.

2. Kyle Busch
While consistency has been a problem recently with the No. 18 team, we can't forget Busch's dominant victory in this event one year ago. He led 78 of the 112 laps and was never really threatened. If the No. 18 team shows up this weekend with their little black book, the field could be in trouble.

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3. Juan Montoya
Montoya enters this race as a legitimate contender for this season's Chase. It's been a tremendous season for the driver of the Earnhardt Ganassi No. 42 Chevrolet. Montoya possesses some of the best road-racing skills in NASCAR, and they will be on full display at Sonoma. He won this event in 2007 for his first only Cup victory and finished a strong sixth in this event one year ago.

4. Marcos Ambrose
The No. 47 team will be coming to Sonoma this weekend with some unfinished business in mind. Ambrose was running some of the fastest laps in the field late in last year's race and reeling in the leaders before his transmission failed. The Australian cut his racing teeth on road courses in the V8 Supercars Series in his home country before switching to NASCAR. His road-course racing abilities are unquestionably exceptional.

5. Jeff Gordon
It's difficult to believe that Gordon is fifth in this Sonoma power ranking, but the veteran driver has fallen off the top of the hill at Infineon Raceway in recent seasons. Gordon is a five-time winner at Sonoma, but hasn't visited Victory Lane there in the past two years. However, he's posted solid top-10 efforts in those races. We expect nothing less from him this weekend. Gordon sports a stellar 9.3 average finish position at the California road course.

6. Ryan Newman
We tend to think more of Newman when it comes to oval tracks, but he's surprisingly good on road courses, as well. The driver of the No. 39 Chevrolet recently snapped a six-race, top-10 streak at Michigan, but that shouldn't deter the clever fantasy racing player this weekend. Newman owns five career top-10s in seven starts at Sonoma. He should bring one of his best cars to the track this Sunday.

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7. Clint Bowyer
As Bowyer and the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing team continue to heat up, they come to a good track to keep the momentum going this weekend. Sonoma has been a good place for Bowyer in his brief Sprint Cup career. He owns two top-5s in three career starts at the track. Those finishes on this track don't happen by accident. Bowyer can wheel a stock car on a road course.

8. Jimmie Johnson
While Johnson normally is the 500-pound gorilla at most any track the Cup Series visits, he takes a step back toward the field at Infineon Raceway. Johnson has never won at Sonoma and he has only two top-10s in seven career starts at the road course. Last season's outside pole and 27 laps led show that the defending Cup champion is improving at Sonoma, but he's not likely to roll into Victory Lane this weekend.

9. Jeff Burton
Solid and steady is usually the way to describe Burton's racing at most any course and Sonoma is no exception. Burton has steadily improved his road-racing skills through the years, and recently he's enjoyed a great deal of success at Infineon Raceway. Three of his past five starts there have resulted in top-10 finishes. He should be no worse than a top-15 finisher in this event.

10. Boris Said
Said seldom finds his way into our power ranking, but at Sonoma we have to give him a nod of approval. While he has had his ups-and-downs at the track through the years, Said has managed to collect four top-10s in nine starts there. He will pilot the No. 09 Chevrolet of Phoenix Racing this weekend, so the equipment shouldn't hold back the road-racing specialist.