I’ve been setting my NASCAR Fantasy Racing team lineups and I’ve got a good feeling about 3 particular drivers that are this seasons ‘darkhorses’ or ’sleepers’ if you will.

Those that play the ’stock market style’ or ‘fantasy cap’ NASCAR games know you can’t fill the five spots on your team roster with Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jr., and Jeff Gordon. These drivers cost too much to have all of them on your team.

A key strategy on ‘fantasy cap’ NASCAR racing leagues is to buy the driver(s) whose values are low before they start to climb. Buy low and Sell high keep ‘em. This lets you get maximum race points off a lower cost driver, plus lets you buy a couple of high dollar ones as well. The key to the strategy is picking the right low cost drivers. Duh!

I believe that 3 of the best low cost picks are: #10 Scott Riggs, #07 Clint Bowyer and #25 Casey Mears.

Scott Riggs

Riggs showed great improvement during the 2006 season.

• 2 DNF’s in ‘06 compared to 7 in ‘05
• 132 laps led in ‘06 compared to 18 laps led in ‘05
• 2 poles, 0 wins, 1 top 5 & 8 top 10’s in ‘06 compared to 1 pole, 0 wins, 2 top 5’s & 4 top 10’s in ‘05
• 20th in the 2006 points standings compared to 34th in the 2005 season

Evernham’s program keeps stepping it up each year. I look for 2007 to be Rigg’s best NASCAR Cup season yet. He is priced at 9.41 on the Sporting News Fantasy Stock Car Challenge and 18.2 on ESPN’s Stock Car Challenge. A great bargain for your fantasy team.

Clint Bowyer

I’ve got a good gut feeling about Bowyer this year as well. His consistency continued to improve towards the end of the 2006 NASCAR season. I look for him to win at least one race this year.

• 4 DNF’s
• 112 laps led
• 0 poles, 0 wins, 4 top 5’s & 11 top 10’s
• 17th in the 2006 points standings

Bowyer had a really decent rookie year. 11 top 10’s! That’s great! I look for the RCR resurgence from last season to continue. Heck, I pick Bowyer to make the Chase.

Clint Bowyer is another great low cost sleeper to be on your fantasy team. He is going for 10.35 at Sporting News and 20.0 at ESPN.

Casey Mears

This is Mears year. It was just announced today that Darian Grubb (JJ crew chief while Knaus was suspended) will be Mears crew chief.

Like Riggs, Mears continues to improve. Now that he is in Hendrick equipment, I think Mears in the #25 is the best new combination of the year. I picked him to make the Chase as well.

Mears’ 2006 to 2005 stats don’t tell the story like the 2 drivers above. But he did finish 14th in points compared to 22nd in 2005. The thing about Mears in 2006 that showed his improvement was that when he sucked…he didn’t suck as bad.

But c’mon. When your driving around in Ganassi’s equipment AND your a lame duck driver you can’t expect greatness.

This is the year Mears will shine. He is going for 10.43 at the Sporting News and 19.5 at ESPN.”