Martinsville Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Kurt Busch – Martinsville is arguably Kurt Busch’s worst track, but I wouldn’t overlook him. He’s finished in the top ten 16% percent of the time, and in nearly half his starts (46% percent of the time) he’s finished outside the top twenty. Since his most recent Martinsville win in spring 2014 he’s only finished in the top ten once, fortunately that came last fall in the most recent race. In 2018 at Martinsville, Kurt Busch had his best year in a long time. Last fall he earned the 4th best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and finished 6th. In both Stage #1 and #2 he finished 5th. In spring 2018 he ran well. He finished 11th, earned the 10th best driver rating and had an 8th place average running position. Additionally, he finished 8th in Stage #1 and 7th in Stage #2. In fall 2017, Busch didn’t have a bad race but he walked away with an asterisk mark 22nd place finish. He was caught up in a late wreck. With 5 laps to go he was running in 13th. It should be noted he earned the 11th best driver rating and had a 12th place average running position. At Martinsville, I would look for Busch to be a low-double digits driver.

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Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson is a legend at Martinsville, but I think it’s clear his “Elite” days are over. At Martinsville, Johnson is a 9-time winner who’s finished in the top five 56% percent of the time and in the top ten 71% percent of the time. Since winning in 2016 he hasn’t been up to par. In the last two spring races he’s finished 15th and in the last two fall races he’s finished 12th. Also over that four race stretch he has the 10th best driver rating and a 12.5 average running position. Last fall, Johnson ran well and finished 12th. Also in the race he earned the 14th best driver rating and had a 16th place average running position. In spring 2018 he was an OK performer. He finished 15th, had a 12th place average running position and earned the 13th best driver rating. In both Stage #1 and #2 he finished 10th. In fall 2017 he started in the back and finished 12th. I would say his finish might just be better than he performed. If there wasn’t late cautions he was poised to finish mid-teens. With 20 laps to go before the late cautions broke out he was in 16th. Additionally it should be noted he finished 4th in Stage #1 and 10th in Stage #2. In spring 2017, Johnson had a good car but finished 15th. Late in the race for whatever reason he simply wasn’t at his best. In the race he finished 8th in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2 and earned the 5th best driver rating. In fall 2016 he raced his way to victory lane. At Martinsville, I would look for Johnson to be a low-double digits driver who’ll compete for a top ten.

Austin Dillon – Austin Dillon shouldn’t be overlooked at Martinsville. Last year he had a pair of 30th place results, but in the four prior events he had a 9.8 average finish and a 14.3 average running position. Last fall he had a good car and was a top ten contender but finished 30th. In Stage #2 around lap 220 while he was running around 11th he made an unexpected pit stop because he melted the bead of his tire. A few laps later he came back to pit road because of a sway bar problem which doomed him to his poor result. In spring 2018, he had a tough race and finished 7 laps down in 30th. Other than having radio issues and getting a pit penalty I didn’t hear of any major problems happening to him, but its clear something happened. I’ll speculate he likely had a minor parts problem. In fall 2017, Dillon had an OK performance. He finished 13th, earned the 15th best driver rating and had a 16th place average running position. In spring 2017 he had a good race. He finished 5th, earned the 8th best driver rating and had a 12th place average running position. Additionally, he finished 9th in Stage #1, and finished just outside the top ten at the end of Stage #2. At Martinsville I would look for Dillon to be a mid-teens driver who has potential to finish marginally better.

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