Contender Or Pretender: Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson (Contender) – Bristol has traditionally been one of Jimmie Johnson’s weakest tracks, now that we have the rough part of his schedule completed now we’re heading to his best track. In his career Jimmie Johnson has only once finished outside the top 10 and that was back in 2002 when he made his first career start at NASCAR’s smallest track. In the last 7 races at Martinsville Jimmie Johnson has won an astounding 5 races (71 percent). Picking Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville is perhaps the safest pick you’ll make this season.
Kevin Harvick (Pretender) – In the last 2 races Kevin Harvick hasn’t even been close to being competitive. In my opinion if you race uncompetitively for a long enough duration of time bad luck is going to catch up with you. Martinsville is Kevin Harvick’s traditional worst short track and with the way he’s been running lately I wouldn’t bet on his chances. Recently at Martinsville Kevin Harvick has been about a tenth place car.
Juan Pablo Montoya (Contender) – I have no clue why people are always writing Montoya off. At Martinsville they’ll do it again and say his 3rd place finish at Martinsville last year was a fluke. Don’t question his short track ability. Last fall Montoya started 21st and drove his way up to a third place finish and led 37 laps.
Matt Kenseth (Pretender) – No matter how good Matt Kenseth is doing he’ll never be a contender at Martinsville. Over the years Roush cars have improved their performances at Martinsville but their still leaps and bounds away from challenging the regular Martinsville front runners.
Jamie McMurray (Contender) – McMurray’s not typically the first name that comes to peoples minds at Martinsville but throughout his career he’s been strong at NASCAR’s shortest track. In his career he has 9 career top tens in 14 starts at Martinsville. McMurray was a front runner with his previous stint with Ganassi and even more remarkably he was consistently good in a Roush car.
Kurt Busch (Pretender) – Kurt won here in 2002, but that is his only one bright spot. Over the course of his career he has a 21.5 average finish. The last time Kurt even finished in the top 10 at Bristol was way back in 2005. Since then his average finish has been 23rd.
