Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500: Drivers who you don’t want to pick
Regan Smith – Smith had his best finish ever at Martinsville last fall (13th). However I’m a member at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com and I dug into his statistics a little deeper. Did you know that in that race he only ran in the top fifteen for 6.6% of the race? His 23rd place average running position shouldn’t make you feel any better. In his next three most previous races he finished 32nd, 31st, and 31st.
Paul Menard – In 2010 Menard finished 13th and 14th at Martinsville. Outside of that year his performances haven’t been good. His average finish is 22.7 and he’s finished lower than 20th six times in nine races. I predict the #27 Menard’s Chevy will be about a 20th place car at best in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.
Marcos Ambrose – Ambrose has had to many problems at Martinsville for my liking. He has a 24th place average finish and in the last three races he’s finished 34th, 29th, and 29th. Ambrose has also had a fair amount of bad luck this year so I think he’s clearly a driver who you should avoid picking at this high attrition track.
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Aric Almirola – Out of all the drivers who I rank on a weekly basis Aric Almirola has the worst average finish in the series at Martinsville. Upon closer inspection though in his six starts he’s had significant problems in four of them (brakes, engine, electrical and in the 2009 race I believe he was involved in an accident). In his two races when he didn’t have problems he finished 21st and 20th. In the 2008 fall race when he was piloting Mark Martin’s car he led 58 laps and had the 14th best driver rating (82.5). If he can avoid problems he could have a decent finish in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.
Bobby Labonte – When Bobby Labonte last finished in the top ten at Martinsville he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing (2006). Labonte won this race in 2002 but decade old statistics have no bearing. In COT races at Martinsville he has a 28.7 average finish and has a 56.5 driver rating.
David Ragan – Ragan has one top ten finish at Martinsville and it was in last springs race (8th). If you’re in certain allocation leagues he actually might not be that bad of a pick. Other drivers who are in the same tier of equipment that Ragan is in had good finishes last year (Casey Mears – 12th, Regan Smith – 13th, Travis Kvapil – 16th, Ken Schrader – 21st). As long as he avoids attrition he could have a relatively good day in the Good’s Fast Relief 500.
Make sure you read the full spectrum of ifantasyrace.com Goody’s Fast Relief 500 fantasy NASCAR rankings
Top Tier Elite > Front Runners > Mid Pack Projections > Drivers To Avoid
