charlotte xfinity

I can't wait to write about Cup on Saturday night when we will have qualifying spots nailed down the day before the race. As I said with Trucks, same day qualifying really limits what I can do. 

• Michael Annett is a real steady performer at the 1.5 mile tracks -- 14th, 6th and 7th in the three races this year. I mention him first because he probably won't qualify great so might be an option that gets us some pretty safe positive position difference at an affordable price.
• A.J. Allmendinger has done surprisingly well at the 1.5 mile tracks this year. He has a win at Atlanta and has led over 40 laps in two of the three races this season.
• All the Joe Gibbs cars -- Hemric, Gibbs, B. Jones and H. Burton -- should be really good. Hemric and Gibbs most likely to be lap leaders.
• Tommy Joe Martins and Jeremy Clements are two guys that have put together three solid runs at all the 1.5 mile tracks this year. Martins Top 20 in all three and Clements Top 18 in all three. Martins said in his podcast this week this is a new car that he is really excited about. He was slow in practice though, so maybe not as great as he thought or he was being extra cautious with how slick the track was Friday afternoon.
• Grey Gaulding -- It's a complicated owners points thing, but it's critical for Gaulding to have a solid run in the #52 to maintain owners points position to lock in this car for next week. Extra sponsorship this week should allow a full tire allotment.
• Dillon Bassett -- Also an owners points deal here trying to get into the Top 40. Had Austin Dillon in the car last week and showing speed in RCR affiliated car.
• Avoid Brandon Gdovic. First, he's overpriced. Second, his car was WAY off and he looked very uncomfortable in practice. Possible it was just the ride height, which is an easy fix for Saturday, but not taking the chance.
• There should be good competition at the front of the field this week. All the Gibbs cars, Austin Cindric and maybe Allmendinger should battle up front. Depending how qualifying shakes out, it might be a week to focus on stacking position difference guys under the theory that no one is going to run away and dominate laps led or fastest laps and crush you if you don't have them. There are a lot of potential under $10k options going down to about Myatt Snider at $7,400.

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