The intensity is high...you can feel it, whether you’re the average NASCAR fan, or more importantly for our purposes here, a fantasy racing owner. The Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway signals the end of the “Race for the Chase,” so you'll be seeing some high-level action on Saturday night. Drivers who are “on the bubble” will make a strong push for a top spot and will make for solid upside choices for the week.

Clint Bowyer is a great fantasy start as he may be in desperation mode this week. Photo Credit: The Freewheeling Daredevil

Clint Bowyer is currently in the all-important 12th Chase spot as we head to RIS, but he only has a 17-point advantage over David Ragan, who sits just outside the golden dozen. Past numbers at RIS don’t matter to me this week. I’m starting both Bowyer and Ragan where I can, and you should, too. The stakes to get into the “NASCAR playoffs” are simply too high right now.

Kasey Kahne has been up and down this year and is 48 points behind Bowyer, yet Kahne can get hot at any time, so you have to take the chance on him also. Okay, okay, now for some numbers to support the theories on the “bubble boys.”

I wouldn't move on without reminding you that Bowyer won at Richmond in May, and he has three top-10 finishes in four starts there. I couldn’t leave that out. Yet, even if Bowyer had finished 42nd, I would still start him this week. I’ll also note that Ragan has finished in the top 5 once at RIR in three starts, and that he placed 17th in May. Kahne has five top-10s in nine Richmond starts. He appears to be a longer shot to make the Chase, but for fantasy purposes, expect the good run.

“It’s obviously down to crunch time. We have one more week, but if there is anything that gives you a good feeling, it’s knowing that we won there in the spring, and it’s a track that I typically run good at. But as we all know, Richmond is a track where anything can happen. You know we have kind of put ourselves in this situation, but it is time to see what we are made of. A lot of pressure this weekend, but I think we can handle it,” Bowyer said.

For top drivers who have clinched (five) and others who are “highly probable” to clinch (five), the race at RIR offers a chance to improve seeding in the Chase with another victory. The most hotly-contested push will be for the “Unofficial” one spot, which is up for grabs between Bowyer, Ragan, and Kahne. For other drivers, winning means getting closer to Kyle Busch when the Chase begins. Of course, there is always the great chance that Busch will win again, but other top-ranked drivers are going to challenge him hard. There are still 10 bonus Chase points on the table, and they are all too important.

Denny Hamlin cannot afford to run into any bad luck, because finishing outside the Top 25 could kill his Chase hopes. In May, he led for 381 of the 410 laps at RIR, only to fall victim to tire issues and place 24th. In the past seven races at Richmond, Hamlin leads all drivers in average running position (5.3) and percentage of laps in the Top 15 (97.5). Hamlin is a very strong starting option this week as he tries to finish the job he couldn’t in May.

Another top option for this week is Kevin Harvick. He has finished inside the Top 10 in each of the past seven RIR races. During that span, he leads all drivers in fastest laps run (278), average green flag speed (118.441), percentage of laps in the Top 15 (95.3), and Quality Passes (191). NASCAR defines quality passes as "passes of cars in the Top 15 while under green flag conditions." Harvick is a terrific pick to finish in the Top 5 this week.

Oh, and by the way, Kyle Busch has finished in the Top 5 in six of his past seven RIR races, including three runner-up showings in the past four races. He has never won at Richmond. Not that you would reserve him, anyway. He has an average finish of 5.6 at Richmond, and it would be a minor shock to see him fail to finish near the top of the field.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has three wins at RIR, with an average finish of 11.5. Tony Stewart has 13 top-10 finishes in 19 Richmond starts. Jeff Gordon only an average finish of 15.3 at Richmond, so I wouldn’t blame you for avoiding him in salary cap-style games. Ryan Newman has been a disappointment this year, but he has finished sixth, eleventh, and sixth in his past three Richmond starts. Bobby Labonte has placed 16th or better in his past three RIR events.

Here is more pre-race analysis from RotoExperts.com Junior Staff Writer Sean Engel.

Look for in-depth Chase for the Cup coverage from a fantasy perspective from Scott and Sean beginning next week. E-mail Scott at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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