By Brian Polking
July 21, 2009 5:45pm CDT

Even though O'Reilly Raceway Park isn't too far from the more famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this weekend's Nationwide race is technically a non-companion event. As a result, there aren't many Cup regulars pulling double duty. Along with regulars Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and David Reutimann are the only Cup guys available to fantasy owners. Luckily, owners will have the surprisingly productive cast of fill-in drivers at their disposal.

There was no stopping Kyle Busch in last year's event. He led 197 of the 200 laps at the track he refers to as his worst on the circuit. A year has passed, but Busch is still dominating the series. He will be looking to repeat his victory at ORP this weekend as well as follow up his win last weekend at Gateway. Busch will also try to extend his streak of top-two finishes to an incredible eight races.

At a small track like ORP where passing is difficult, starting up front becomes extremely important. Staying on the lead lap is hard enough for drivers that qualify in the back and winning is nearly impossible. No driver has from a starting spot worse than 18th, and five drivers have won from the pole. Only six drivers have been to victory lane at the track when starting outside the top 10.

Cup Regulars

After his dominating performance last season, Kyle Busch will have to lead every single lap this year if he wants to top it. His streak of seven straight top-two finishes is setting a new standard of excellence in the series. Busch has been to victory lane in two of his past three starts at ORP.

Carl Edwards' 11th-place run in last year's event doesn't tell the whole story. After losing two laps early on, Edwards drove back around Busch on two occasions to get back on the lead lap. At the end of the race, it was clear that Edwards had the best car on the track. He has an 8.3 finishing average at ORP in his last three starts.

Fantasy owners will quickly learn to love the new driver rotation for the No. 32 car, and David Reutimann gets his turn behind the wheel this weekend. He has finished as high as third at ORP, and Reed Sorenson showed last weekend that Brian Vickers isn't the only driver that can produce quality results in the No. 32. Reutimann has three top 10s in five series starts this season.

He only has one start at ORP, but Matt Kenseth scored a fourth-place finish back in 1999. Kenseth's qualifying record this season bodes well for the driver of the No. 16 this weekend. He has started sixth or better in all seven of his starts in 2009. Based on the numbers, drivers that start of front at ORP have a clear advantage.

Nationwide Regulars

After finishing 10th in his debut at ORP, Brad Keselowski struggled to a 19th-place finish last season. Success has come easy to Keselowski the past few seasons, and ORP was one of lone trouble spots. He has been the class of the Nationwide regulars this year, and it will be interesting to see if he can tackle the tiny oval this time around.

He won here in 2007 after a thrilling duel with Greg Biffle, and Jason Leffler has posted three top fives at the track in his career. He has been a great short track driver his whole career, and ORP plays right into his strengths. Bad luck cost him a shot at a win last weekend at Gateway, but Leffler could easily close the deal on his first win of '09 this weekend.

With four straight top-12 finishes at the track, including back-to-back top sevens, Scott Wimmer's record tells fantasy owners all they need to know. He will be behind the wheel of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 machine, which has allowed him to produce some great results this year. Wimmer finished fourth in last season's event.

He will be doing double duty at ORP this weekend in the Truck Series and Nationwide Series, and Ron Hornaday Jr. will be driving Kevin Harvick's No. 33. He is a former winner at ORP and finished fifth in his last start at the track. Hornaday Jr. finished ninth in his first start for Harvick this year.

The season that Erik Darnell has quietly put together deserves some recognition. In seven starts, he has posted five top 10s and has never finished worse than 12th. Darnell has compiled an 8.4 finishing average this year and will look to continue his impressive performance in the No. 6 this weekend as he makes his debut at ORP.

In eight starts at ORP, Jason Keller has four top fives, including a win. He has compiled a 10.2 finishing average at the short, flat track and has plenty of experience on his side this weekend. Keller hasn't been running his best lately but is coming off a top 10 last weekend.

Mike Bliss has been on a tear lately, posting seven top 10s in his past 10 starts. He has been equally impressive at ORP where he has recorded four straight top 10s. Bliss has climbed to sixth in the standings after overcoming a slow start to the '09 season.

The fill-in drivers have been fantasy gold this season, but Stephen Leicht and Brad Coleman have both struggled in their starts at ORP. Leicht finished 24th in his only start while Coleman finished 31st and 23rd in his starts. However, Leicht is back behind the wheel of the No. 29 that he drove to a sixth-place finish last weekend, and Coleman will be driving the No. 20 machine that he scored a top-five run with.