Fantasy Preview: Charlotte

The Chase for the Sprint Cup enters its fifth race this Saturday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is the final night race on the 2012 schedule and a race that should feature good runs for some Chasers and not so good ones for others. Of course, Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the 12 Chase drivers, will not be in the race this weekend or next weekend at Kansas due to effects suffered from a concussion sustained at Talladega last week. With that in mind, let's view who you may want to have on your fantasy team this weekend for the Bank of America 500.

Fantasy Preview: Charlotte

Contenders:

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson used to be untouchable at Charlotte. There was a period of time when Johnson won four races in a row at this track (he has six total wins here), but he's encountered some struggles the last few races here, including crashing out in this race one year ago. Don't bet against them though, they're within striking distance of the championship lead so you know he and his team will be turning the wick up.

Kasey Kahne: Charlotte is arguably Kahne's most successful track where he's amassed four wins and nine top-10's, as well as having an average finish at this track of 12.7. Not to mention, he won here earlier this season and he needs a good finish to keep his championship hopes alive.

Mark Martin: Martin also owns four wins at Charlotte and though one of those hasn't come since 2002, you can't deny his success there with 23 top-10's. He had a great run going here in the summer this year before his engine blew. That No. 55 car has had great speed all season so don't doubt him.

Pretenders:

Kevin Harvick: He has one win here, but it was when everyone else was running out of fuel and besides that his success here has been marginal. He hasn't run particularly strong all year long and I don't see anything changing this late in the season.

Martin Truex Jr.: He only has two top-10's here in his career and he's been racing at Charlotte since 2005. He is also on a bit of a dull stretch right now and it's tough to see anything changing, even though his teammates have been fast.

Juan Pablo Montoya: He only has one career top-10 at Charlotte, he's had a terrible year, he's just not worth watching.

Darkhorses:

Regan Smith: Why not? Smith has never finished worse than 25th at Charlotte and has a top-10 here in his short-lived Sprint Cup career. Replacing Earnhardt Jr., Smith will be in the best equipment he's ever been in.

Sam Hornish Jr.: He doesn't have a top-10 here, but dang, Hornish has run well in the No. 22 since he's stepped into that car every week. He's a cheap buy and will most likely finish pretty well.

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