Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500: Fantasy NASCAR “Top Tier Elite” Picks
Jeff Gordon – The Chase has been a huge disappointment for Gordon and now that he’s semi officially “done” I think he’ll bounce back in a big way. All year-long Gordon has been good on the shorter tracks in the circuit (Phoenix, Richmond, New Hampshire) and this is his best track . Before Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin started winning all the races at Martinsville Gordon was the driver to beat. Gordon is a 7-7-7 driver at Martinsville. 7 wins, 7th place average finish and 7th place average start. (Yahoo A Driver)
Jimmie Johnson – 2011 hasn’t been a typical year for Jimmie Johnson. Even his 11th place finish (caught speeding on pit road late, led 65 laps) at Martinsville earlier this year was out of the norm for him. It marked his first non-top ten finish at Martinsville since his first race here in 2002. Look for the six-time winner to be one of a handful of drivers who will be contenders for the win in the Tums Fast Relief 500. (Yahoo A Driver)
Denny Hamlin – Nothing has been good for Denny Hamlin as of late but Martinsville should be like medicine to him. Since 2007 Hamlin has four wins and an impressive 3.5 average finish. His worst finish in this stretch is 12th and he’s led 1,010 laps. In April Hamlin had an average running position of fifth and he posted the second best driver rating (118.7). Hamlin will be getting a little extra practice this week because he’ll be racing Kyle Busch’s Truck in the Camping World Truck Series. (Yahoo A Driver)
Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch and the 18 team have been exceptional at Martinsville as of late. They’re also a great picking alternative to get out of sync with the competition if you need to pull off a fantasy NASCAR “Hail Mary”. Kyle Busch has been a serious contender in the last four Martinsville races. In these races he’s finished 4th, 4th, 3rd and 22nd. His finish of 22nd was the result of a late wreck (Yahoo Race Chart). In April Kyle Busch led the most laps (151), had the best driver rating (133.4), and had the best average running position (3rd).
Kevin Harvick – In April Harvick proved why he’s called the “Closer” with his late pass for the win. It was pretty impressive considering his average running position was 16th. In the last three Martinsville races Harvick has been as good as anybody. Last fall he finished 3rd but in the 2010 spring race he finished 35th. In the 100 laps he completed he was pretty good though (Yahoo Chart). Despite only completing 20% of the laps his driver rating was the 7th best. (Yahoo A Driver)
Check out these other posts
- Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500: Fantasy NASCAR “Front Runner” Picks
- Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500: Fantasy NASCAR “Mid Pack” Picks
- Martinsville Tums Fast Relief 500: Fantasy NASCAR “Back Runner” Picks
