Well, the 2015 regular season is about to come to an end. After Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the NASCAR playoffs will be set and the field of 16 drivers that will duel it out for the championship will be finalized. Currently, the 11 drivers that have won this season are locked into the Chase. Jamie McMurray clinches his berth by starting Saturday night’s race, and a few other drivers can clinch their spot on points as well: Ryan Newman (by finishing 31st), Jeff Gordon (by finishing 17th), and Paul Menard (by finishing 9th). Of course, the way to really lock yourself in is to get a win, and it will be interesting to see what guys like Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson do this weekend to try and accomplish that, as they are quite far behind in points.

Fantasy Sleepers for Richmond 2

Aric Almirola – If Clint Bowyer really messes up here on Saturday night, Aric Almirola could be in the cat bird’s seat to make the Chase on points. Additionally, he’s one of those guys that I could see gambling for the win late in the race as well. Richmond has been a pretty good race track for Almirola throughout his Sprint Cup career (18.1 average finish) and it actually ranks 4th-best among active venues on Aric’s résumé. He has two top 10s and five top 20s in seven career starts here and hasn’t ended up worse than 20th at Richmond since the 2012 season. That’s not too bad for a guy like Almirola. Plus, in this race last year, he came home with a solid 10th-place result. Last year we saw the #43 team sneak into the Chase with a win at Daytona, but will they get lucky again in 2015? I don’t see it happening, but never say never. Momentum-wise, Almirola is on a five-race streak of finishes between 11th and 18th, which is actually quite impressive for him.

A.J. Allmendinger – Believe it or not, Richmond has been Allmendinger’s 3rd-best track on the circuit over the last two-and-a-half years of Sprint Cup action. He finished 13th here back in April after a solid top 5 qualifying effort and wound up with a surprising top 10 result back in the 2014 April event. Looking at his last nine starts at this track, A.J. has posted a finish of 16th or better in all but one of those races, which is actually a great value for a mid-tier guy like Allmendinger. As I’ve mentioned before, the move by JTG Daugherty Racing to Chevrolet has really given this team some added horsepower, and with a little luck this #47 team has been able to get some pretty good finishes in 2015–like their 7th-place run at Pocono last month. Don’t be surprised if The Dinger comes away with another top 15 here on Saturday night.

Kasey Kahne – I’m really trying to figure out how Rick Hendrick hasn’t worked out a deal to release Kasey Kahne from the organization. That’s an entirely different subject that I could go on forever about, but this team has got progressively worse since Kasey joined the organization. He currently owns an 18.2 average finish in 2015 Sprint Cup action, which would equal out to Kahne’s 4th-worst season in his Sprint Cup career. Now, with all that being said, I’ll go ahead and place Kasey as the #1 driver currently “on the outside looking in” that could sneak into this year’s Chase with a win on Saturday night. Kahne has won at Richmond before (way back in 2005) and ended up 6th here back in April. He has been known to pull a surprise victory out of his ass before so it really wouldn’t surprise me if Kasey took the Federated Auto Parts 400 checkered flag this weekend.

Austin Dillon – Here’s a guy that isn’t really being talked about much as far as a last-minute winner to get into the Chase, but all it takes for a team like this #3 bunch to get to victory lane is a little luck because they have been putting some strong race cars on the track lately. In fact, in three of the last five Sprint Cup races, the #3 Chevrolet has come home in 13th place or better, including a solid 4th-place run at Michigan last month. Dillon’s history here at Richmond leaves much to be desired, though. In three career starts at RIR, the driver of the #3 Chevrolet has came home in 27th, 20th, and 27th. It’s going to take a hail mary for Austin Dillon to make the Chase this year, but you know Richard Childress will be doing all he can to put this #3 car in NASCAR’s playoffs this season.

Last time we were at Pocono, we heard a lot about the bumps in turn two. Fortunately, those have been fixed so we can focus on some of the great racing that this track has to offer. With that being said, races here have a tendency to come down to fuel mileage, so it’s not uncommon for the best car to not be in victory lane at the end of the day. What that does, though, is open up the door for sleeper picks to pay major dividends for fantasy owners.

Fantasy Sleepers for Pocono 2

Tony Stewart – Unfortunately it’s come down to this. I’m really starting to think that Tony Stewart’s career in NASCAR is over, but that’s a whole another topic. “Smoke” now resides in the “sleeper” picks of fantasy racing because of how terrible he is. Seriously, when guys like Sam Hornish, Jr. have scored more points than you this season, you know you’re running terribly. And it makes no sense because the Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolets have plenty of speed. After last weekend, though, I’m starting to think it might be the crew chief. Chad Johnston made some bonehead calls atop the #14 pit box at Indianapolis and basically screwed Tony out of a good finish. Now, with that being said, they had to have a good car in order to be in the position to screw up, which is exactly why “Smoke” is one of my top sleeper picks this week. The #14 Chevrolet showed more speed at The Brickyard than we’ve seen all season long, so maybe this team is starting to turn a corner. It’s going to take a while but I’m still holding out a small sliver of hope for Stewart. Looking at Pocono, he has ended up 21st and 36th in the last two events at this track but before that six straight races without finishing worse than 13th. That would be quite an improvement over Tony Stewart’s 25th-place average finish thus far in 2015.

Sam Hornish, Jr. – Yeah, I’m digging pretty deep into the sleeper bag this week. Believe it or not, Sam Hornish, Jr. and this #9 team hasn’t been running that badly as of late. Maybe it just seems that was because we got so used to him finishing in the mid-30s earlier this year. Anyway, after posting a top 10 finish at Sonoma in June, Hornish followed that up with a decent 22nd-place result at Kentucky and then with a 17th at Indianapolis last week. For a driver like him, that’s pretty good. Also, Sam’s history here at Pocono is decent, so you might want to keep an eye on him this weekend (just don’t blame me when “Slammin’ Sammy” slams the wall). In nine career starts at “The Tricky Triangle,” Hornish has finished 11th or better on four separate occasions, and he most recently ended up 19th here in 2012 while driving for Penske. Again, this is Hornish we’re talking about. If this #9 team can find a way to qualify up front for Sunday’s Windows 10 400, it might be worth a shot (in some leagues) to try out Hornish on your roster this weekend.

Casey Mears – In some leagues this season, Casey Mears has been a fantasy gold mine. Seriously. He can pretty much be counted on for a top 25 finish week in and week out and sometimes comes away with a top 15. Obviously this isn’t a grand slam you need to win fantasy leagues but getting those kind of results out of a driver in the tier of Casey Mears is pretty good. Pocono Raceway requires a good driver and a strong car. We can debate the talent of Mears all you want but the strength of the #13 Chevrolet’s is certain. Let’s just look at some of the recent races that have required more horsepower: Michigan, where Mears finished 13th, Daytona, where he ended up 11th, and Indianapolis last week, where the #13 car came home 20th. Like I said, not too bad. Additionally, when we were here at Pocono in June, Casey ended up with a solid 16th-place finish. He has just one top 10 finish in 2015–which came in the season-opening Daytona 500–and I doubt he grabs a second here in the Windows 10 400 on Sunday, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see the #13 Chevrolet come home with a top 15 finish this weekend.

Last week we were at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which was a small, one-mile racetrack. This week we’re at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a massive two-and-a-half mile flat track. Pretty much the only thing those two have in common is that they’re both relatively flat. Further, there’s really no other track on NASCAR’s circuit that compares to Indy, and we really have limited past statistics to evaluate because the Sprint Cup Series only races here once per season. Be sure to watch practice closely this week to see who is going to have a chance to kiss the bricks at The Brickyard in the Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 on Sunday.

Fantasy Sleepers for Indianapolis

Austin Dillon – While Kyle Busch was off winning his third race of the 2015 season last week at Loudon, Austin Dillon was also collected a third specific finish of this year: top 10. Despite continuing his mediocrity since joining NASCAR’s top series, young Austin has actually been a pretty solid pick as of late, finishing 7th at Daytona a few weeks ago and then 8th at Loudon last weekend. In case you forgot, Austin was one of my top sleeper picks last week and I figure you might as well roll with the hot hand right now. It also doesn’t hurt that the Childress engines have plenty of power and that we’re at a track that requires it. Dillon finished 26th in his first ever Cup start here at Indianapolis but he followed that up with a solid 10th-place result last season. And for what it’s worth, he qualified 6th and ended up 19th back at Pocono this year, which is somewhat comparable to Indy (although not really). Going into the Jeff Kyle 400 race weekend I have Austin Dillon as a mid-teens car with some upside potential. Keep an eye on the #3 Chevrolet in practice this weekend.

Greg Biffle – I realize that this guy probably shouldn’t be classified as a sleeper pick, but I’m pretty sure very few people are even considering The Biff for their fantasy rosters this season. The Roush-Fenway organization is all riding the same struggle bus, just as I said they would earlier this year. However, I’m quietly holding out some hope for Biffle and this #16 team at The Brickyard this weekend. Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. The reason I kind of like Biffle this week is because of his history at this track: in 12 career starts at Indianapolis, Greg has posted six top 10s and an average finish of 13.2. Even better? Five of those top 10s have come in the last seven years. Even more optimism when it comes to the #16 Ford on Sunday is the fact that The Biff ran 12th at Pocono earlier this year. Right now I don’t see it happening, but if this team can pull off a surprise top 10 finish this weekend, Biffle could be a very valuable pick in some fantasy leagues.

A.J. Allmendinger – When JTG Daugherty Racing made the switch to Chevrolet, I liked it because I believe it gave them just a little more horsepower. Now obviously there’s still some holes that need patched with this organization, but they’re getting there. Also, they have a very talented driver behind the wheel–yeah, I just said that about A.J. Allmendinger. Last week at Loudon, A.J. came home a very surprising 13th, which has been his best finish since Richmond back in April. But this team ran very well at Sonoma last month and had a decent weekend the following week in Daytona, so it’s not like the #47 has been running terrible. So, looking at A.J.’s history here at Indianapolis, paired with the speed he has shown as of late, I think there’s some upside potential in this #47 Chevrolet on Sunday. In six career Cup starts at The Brickyard, Allmendinger has just one top 10, but he has also never finished worse than 22nd. Also, his career average result of 18th is better than some of the “big dog” drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kurt Busch, and Martin Truex, Jr. It’s going to take a mistake-free race and a whole lot of luck for Allmendinger to get a good finish here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, but it’s not out of reach for this team.

We’re back to reality this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and by that I mean that we’re back to the old rules package. Therefore, the “top dogs” like Hendrick Motorsports and Kevin Harvick/Kurt Busch should be up front on the speed charts all weekend long. Loudon is an interesting track, though, because nobody finishes inside the top 5 on a consistent basis here. Also, there tends to be a couple sleeper picks that end up inside the top 10 at the races here. We could even see a surprise winner in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 301. This is a short race on a short track and track position will be a premium on Sunday. Starting up front is very important at this venue.

Fantasy Sleepers for Loudon

Jamie McMurray – This #1 team had a disappointing night at Kentucky last week and still managed to leave with another top 15 finish, if that tells you how their season is going. Like I’ve said before, I think Jamie McMurray is going to make this year’s Chase on consistency just like Ryan Newman did in 2014. With that being said, Loudon is a race that Jamie Mac could definitely play spoiler. Looking at the other short, flat tracks that we’ve ran at this season, McMurray finished 2nd at Phoenix and 10th at Martinsville. Looking at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he has the 5th-best average finish in the series over the last two years here (9.3) and that includes top 5 finishes in each of the last two fall races at this track. McMurray should be the #1 ranked sleeper across the board this week at Loudon.

Austin Dillon – It was typical Austin Dillon last weekend; after a solid (but scary) finish at Daytona, Austin went into Kentucky Speedway and showed great speed all weekend, leading some to believe he might be a sleeper for a top 10 finish. Then Saturday night’s race rolled around and he laid a big fat egg, finishing 25th. Of course. So it’s hard for me to say that Austin will be a solid pick this weekend at Loudon, although I guess that’s why we call them sleeper picks, right? What I do know is this: in two career Sprint Cup starts at this track, Dillon has notched finishes of 14th and 11th, which is pretty good considering that was during his rookie campaign. Now we all know he’s kind of in the sophomore slump this season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t pull off another top 15 here on Sunday. Austin finished 15th at Phoenix earlier this year, which is also a flat, short track.

Kyle Larson – Larson and the #42 team have been bringing some super fast race cars to the track lately, but they’re just not getting the finishes they deserve. Unfortunately, these disappointments to fantasy owners have been happening all season long (can you say sophomore slump?). The good news this weekend is that there is a little more hope than usual. I think Kyle really likes New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and if he doesn’t, he should. You don’t just finish top 5 in both races at a track during your rookie season and not like that venue. Larson also came home 10th in this year’s Phoenix race, which is a track that is somewhat similar to Loudon (as I mentioned before). He didn’t get to race at Martinsville because of the fainting episode. I know it’s really hard to trust this kid right now but that’s the exact reason why he’s considered a sleeper pick. The thing about Larson is that he is so talented that he could go out and win the damn thing this Sunday…