Martinsville Fantasy NASCAR Preview
A+ = Really, Really Good Pick
Jimmie Johnson – With 5 wins in the last 7 races at Martinsville how can Jimmie Johnson not be the obvious top pick at Martinsville. He’s also not doing half bad this season either.
Jeff Gordon – Did you know that Jeff Gordon’s average finish over the last ten Martinsville races is 2.9. I’ll bet you didn’t know it because of how dominant Jimmie Johnson has been here.
A = Really Good Pick
Tony Stewart – In the last 10 Martinsville races there’s only been three drivers who have run in the top fifteen 87.5% of the time and Tony’s one of them. The other two are listed as A+ drivers this week.
A- = Good Pick
Denny Hamlin – The only man who’s beaten Jimmie Johnson twice over the last 7 Martinsville races is Denny Hamlin. At ifantasyrace.com I pride myself with watching races (that’s why I didn’t jump in one the media band wagon and declare him Jimmie Johnson’s main contender in 2010 and instead I gave you warnings about him : ) and he hasn’t been good at all this year. He still hasn’t finished in the top 10.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Little E is pretty good here. Over the last 10 races at Martinsville he’s passed more cars than anyone. He also has the 5th highest driver ranking over this period of time (98.8).
Mark Martin – If you’re any an allocation league I would avoid Martin and save him for an intermediate track. Last year at Martinsville he finished 7th and 8th.
Juan Pablo Montoya – Montoya will be strong at Martinsville Sunday. This is his strongest short track. His career average finish here is 5th best among active drivers (11.0).
B+ = Just A Tier Below The Good Picks
Kevin Harvick – He’s been getting a lot better at Martinsville recently. Last year he finished 10th and 11th. What makes me nervous about him is that he doesn’t seem to be running strongly at the moment, he’s basically been sliding by.
Jamie McMurray – If you need a solid sleeper this week McMurray’s your guy. Last week I said “I think the Daytona 500 champion will start performing here and that momentum will carry on to a top 10 at Martinsville”. Well I still mean it.
Jeff Burton – Burton hasn’t been a top ten machine here lately, but he also hasn’t been all that bad. His 11.3 COT average finish is highly respectable.
Clint Bowyer – In the 6 COT races Bowyer has finished in the top ten on four occasions and in the COT his average finish is 10.5.
Ryan Newman – Newman has been a steady driver at Martinsville as of late. Last year he swept the top 10 finishing 6th and 7th.
B = You Can Pencil Them In Outside The Top 15
Kyle Busch – His success at Martinsville in a Gibbs car is rather limited. Last fall he finished 4th but other than that he hasn’t finished better than 24th with Gibbs.
Carl Edwards – I believe the 99 car will be the best Roush car at Martinsville. In 2008 he finished in the top 10 twice and in 2009 his results (particularly the spring race) were better than his finish position.
Joey Logano – There is little data on Logano at Martinsville, but his 12th place finish last fall might make the risk worth the reward.
Marcos Ambrose – Ambrose is a good short track driver. Much like Logano the data is limited here, but his 14th place finish in the 2009 spring race might be worth the gamble.
B- = Got Some Question Marks Here
Kurt Busch – He won here in 2002 but his last top 10 was in 2005. The writing on the wall says “don’t pick me”.
Brian Vickers – Vickers has finished 11th the last two years in the fall race but in the spring races he’s struggled.
Matt Kenseth – The 17 is a good top 8-15 driver at Martinsville. In the last four years Kenseth has finished better in the fall race then he has in the spring race.
Greg Biffle – Picking him here is one of the worst fantasy racing mistakes you can make.
David Reutimann – In six career races at Martinsville Reutimann has yet to crack the top 15.
Kasey Kahne – He’s had a few good runs at Martinsville in his career but if you’re in allocation league don’t waste your pick on him here.
Martin Treux Jr. – Treux Jr. finished in the top 10 once but other then that he’s never finished below 19th.
C+ = I’m Not Picking Them
AJ Allmendinger – Allmendinger might be slightly downgraded to much here. He’s finished in the top 15 twice in the last 3 races at Martinsville.
David Ragan – Martinsville is a tough track for Ragan. In 2008 he found limited success and finished 11th and 13th.
Elliott Sadler – If you’ve raced at this track as long as Sadler has and your average finish is 24.6 you might as well park it for the week.
Things that are important when you select drivers for Martinsville (everything is based on a ten scale of hearts. 10 being the most important).Qualifying ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Happy Hour ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Recent Performances on similar tracks ♥♥♥
What happened the last time they raced at Martinsville ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Track History ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
