Fantasy Preview: Dover

The Chase heads into its third week this Sunday at Dover with the running of the AAA 400. Jimmie Johnson has the points lead after two weeks with consecutive second place finishes at Chicagoland and New Hampshire. Johnson now heads to his most successful track by far, owning seven victories at Dover which is not good news for the rest of the field. However, Dover can have the tendency to have big wrecks that eat up a lot of cars, so nothing is a given. Let's see who you want on your fantasy team for this weekend.

Fantasy Preview: Dover

The Favorites:

Jimmie Johnson: This is as obvious as any choice gets. Johnson has been great at Dover from the get-go of his career, sweeping the two races in his rookie season. He never let off after that, adding five more wins including the June race earlier this season. Don't fool yourself here, you'll want Johnson.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth is one of the few drivers who has been able to challenge Johnson at Dover and while he only has two wins at the Monster Mile in his career, he always runs solidly in the top-10, actually make that the top-5. He hasn't finished outside of the top-5 in the last four races here. My only worry here is the lack of speed Roush-Fenway Racing has had the last few weeks, but I feel that they'll be ok here.

Jeff Gordon: He hasn't enjoyed much success here recently at all, despite four career wins at Dover. But my reasoning for him being a favorite is this, he was the only car who could challenge Johnson earlier this June and actually had the lead in that race before a loose wheel forced him to pit before he needed to. Plus, being last in the points right now gives Gordon nothing to lose so he can try anything to win.

The Darkhorses:

Aric Almirola: This will only be his second career Sprint Cup race at Dover, but he did finish a very solid 6th in his first race here back in June. The No. 43 car which he drives had great success at Dover when A.J. Allmendinger was the driver, so it just appears that the No. 43 is hooked up to run very well here.

Kevin Harvick: If Harvick is going to break out a win to state his case to champion this year, this is one of his best shots to do it. Harvick was runner-up to Johnson here in June and hasn't finished out of the top-15 in the last five races here. Despite having no wins, Harvick has always run consistently at this track.

Martin Truex Jr.: He's in the same spot as Harvick if he wants to try and win this championship. Truex's only career win came at Dover in 2007 and he continually runs well here, notching a seventh place finish here in June. The Michael Waltrip Racing cars have been fast all year, so he's worth the money.

Stay Away From:

Brad Keselowski: This race will be a big determining factor for Keselowski to see if he can stay with Johnson for the championship run. He's never finished better than 12th at Dover and I'm sure Keselowski sees this track as his weakest in the Chase.

Denny Hamlin: The same goes for Hamlin here as it does for Keselowski. Hamlin does own a pair of top-5's here, but he hates this track so much that he consulted a sports psychologist to help him get over his hatred of this track. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Jamie McMurray: Just because. He hasn't had a top-10 here since 2008. He's had a horrible season so far and I don't think it will turn around this week. Maybe next year, Jamie.

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