Comments: NASCAR Picks for Charlotte

Had last weekend's race at Talladega been one lap shorter, it would have been a fairly benign trip to one of NASCAR's most unpredictable tracks. Instead, a 20-car pileup on the final lap turned the race into an all-too-familiar nightmare for drivers and fantasy owners alike. On the plus side, there are officially no more restrictor-plate races left in 2012. The downside is that there are just six races left to recover, and the home stretch of the season begins Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway when the Chase hits its halfway point.

While fantasy owners will definitely want to try and have a strong showing at Charlotte, the race can also serve as a scouting mission of sorts. Beginning with Saturday's race, four of the final six races of the year will be held at 1.5-mile tracks. Granted, not all 1.5-mile tracks are exactly identical, but a setup that works at one usually works well at just about all of them. Keep an eye on the drivers that finish at the front at Charlotte and file them away for Kansas, Texas and Homestead-Miami in the coming weeks.

1. Kasey Kahne, Farmers Insurance/Quaker State
2. Denny Hamlin, FedEx
3. Jimmie Johnson, Lowe's/Kobalt Tools
4. Kyle Busch, Mars Brands/Interstate Batteries
5. Jeff Gordon, Drive to End Hunger/Axalta
6. Matt Kenseth, Husky/Dollar General
7. Brad Keselowski, Miller Lite
8. Kevin Harvick, Budweiser/Rheem
9. Greg Biffle, 3M/Bondo
10. Carl Edwards, Fastenal/Aflac/UPS/Subway
11. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew
12. Joey Logano, Shell-Pennzoil
13. Ryan Newman, Quicken Loans/Haas Automation
14. Clint Bowyer, 5-Hour Energy
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Best Buy/Valvoline/Zest
16. Martin Truex, Jr., NAPA Auto Parts
17. Tony Stewart, Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1
18. Mark Martin, Aaron's Dream Machine
19. Marcos Ambrose, Stanley/Dewalt Power Tools
20. Paul Menard, Menards
21. Jeff Burton, Caterpillar/Cheerios
22. Sam Hornish, Jr., SKF/AAA
23. Aric Almirola, Smithfield Foods
24. Kurt Busch, Furniture Row
25. Jamie McMurray, McDonald's/Cessna
26. Juan Montoya, Target
27. Regan Smith, Guy Roofing
28. Trevor Bayne, Motorcraft/Quick Lane
29. David Ragan, CSX Transportation/Peanut Patch
30. Bobby Labonte, Kingsford/Clorox