Fantasy NASCAR Scouting Report – Martinsville

[themify_box ]NOTE: This post is a recap of what happened this spring at Martinsville[/themify_box]

Martinsville Top Ten Starters

1. Joey Logano
2. Ryan Newman
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Tony Stewart
7. Kyle Larson (Didn’t race. Regan Smith drove the #42 and started in the rear of the field)
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Kasey Kahne
10. AJ Allmendinger

Martinsville Full Starting Lineup

Martinsville Pre-Race Notes

Kyle Larson missed the race. Regan Smith drove the #42.

David Ragan drove the #18

Chris Buescher drove the #34

Casey Mears started in the rear of the field because of a transmission change.

Justin Allgaier started in the rear of the field in a backup car.

Martinsville Race Notes

Joey Logano won the pole and choose to start in the inside lane. He led the first 16 laps.

Early in the race Jimmie Johnson got stuck in the outside lane and fell from 5th back to 11th at the time of the lap 11 caution.

Notable Moment: On lap 11 Trevor Bayne had a cut tire, spun and brought out the first caution.

During the restart following the first caution Ryan Newman led 2 laps running the outside lane before Logano passed him.

On lap 20 Johnson said his car was so tight on entry he had to really slow down. He was in 15th on lap 21.

Notable Moment: On lap 22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun and brought out the caution.

During the Stenhouse caution Keselowski, Johnson and Kurt Busch were the most notable drivers to pit. The leaders all stayed out. They restarted 30th and back.

On lap 28 Gordon was trapped in the outside lane.

Running order on lap 31: 22,31,78,14,11,19,88,24,1,4 … 20,5,47,43,18,27,15,10,9,46 … 25,98,55,7,23,2,51,33,6,42 … 41,48,3,32,16,13,38,17,40,83 … 35,34,26

Tony Stewart liked his car and said he had good balance.

On lap 44 Martin Truex Jr. radioed his team and said he had power steering issues. Earlier in the race his car was leaking fluid.

Notable Moment: Around lap 53 JJ Yeley got into the wall after contact with Denny Hamlin which cut down his tire.

During the Yeley caution Aric Almirola was caught speeding on pit road and had to go to the rear of the field.

Big Moment: On lap 64 Brett Moffitt’s hood was bent up and Chase Elliott also had fairly heavy damage. They were involved in an accordion effect accident shortly after the restart. Afterwards Elliott reported he no longer had power steering.

During the Yeley caution Martin Truex Jr.’s power steering issue was fixed.

Running order on lap 65: 22,11,4,19,31,88,14,1,47,41 … 5,2,24,48,20,16,13,18,15,3 … 27,51,46,38,42,10,17,6,7,98

On lap 74 under caution Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted from the top ten. No other front runners pitted at that time. He had a left rear tire that was loose so it was a good decision. He didn’t like his car on short runs but it was good over long runs.

On lap 80 under caution Chase Elliott was in the garage area for repairs.

Around lap 89 Johnson was stuck in the outside lane again. His car wasn’t good and Chad Knaus said he was off speed wise.

On lap 93 Ryan Newman was in 17th. He was getting railroaded in the outside lane. His car was too free.

Big Moment: On lap 96 under caution Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted early and he had a crew member inside his passenger side window working on his shifter. His team was unable to repair that problem during that round of stops and his car was stuck in 4th gear.