Martinsville Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks

1. Jimmie Johnson – Picking Jimmie Johnson for the Martinsville Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 is the smart thing to do. He’s the sure thing and if you pick him you can have the utmost confidence in your fantasy selection. The only reason why you might look elsewhere is if your trailing in your fantasy league. I’ll assure you if you steer clear of Johnson you’re likely out of sync with the competition. If you’re leading your league he’s the driver who you want and it would probably be a good idea to tell your competition your picking him. That way you can try to force their hand to get out of sync and fall even further behind. Jimmie Johnson has a lot of good tracks on the schedule and Martinsville is his best. At this venue he’s been in 23 races and has 8 wins, 16 top fives and 20 top tens. When you exclude his first race then he’s never had a result worse than 12th. That’s pretty unfathomable. Also his two other finishes not in the top ten deserve an asterisk mark. One of them was in the spring race last year when Clint Bowyer did his dive bomb and the other was when he got a late speeding penalty. Also at Martinsville you can’t overlook his 5.3 average finish and 2,328 laps led. This spring at Martinsville Johnson had an awesome car. He started on the pole, finished first, led 346 laps, and earned a near perfect 148.4 driver rating. On Sunday he’ll be using that very car once again. In October 2012 he also won the trophy. In spring 2012 he would’ve finished either 1st or 2nd but Clint Bowyer’s dive bomb took him out of contention. In the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 Johnson will be starting in 2nd. This race has been won from that starting position fifteen times. In practice Johnson wasn’t overly happy with his car and it’s a little loose. I wouldn’t be to concerned about that. In one of his recent Martinsville wins he wasn’t happy with his car either but that didn’t keep him out of victory lane. In Today’s respective practice sessions his ten lap averages ranked as the 6th and 9th best. My prediction is Jimmie Johnson will win the Martinsville Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.

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2. Jeff Gordon – If you need to pick someone other than Jimmie Johnson then I think Jeff Gordon is “The Option”. At Martinsville he’s a seven time winner and has a 7.2 average finish. If you pick him for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 you can certainly avoid the headache a DNF this late in the season would cause you. In 41 Martinsville races he’s never had a DNF. Also over the course of his career he’s finished in the top five 63% percent of the time and in the top ten 80% percent of the time. This spring at Martinsville Jeff Gordon had a great car. He finished 3rd and had a 3rd place average running position. In the race I thought he potentially had a better car than his result. His car was fast over long runs and he was reeling in Jimmie Johnson late until a caution changed the complexion of the race. Also in the race Clint Bowyer finished 2nd so Jeff Gordon likely didn’t want to press the issue. One aspect of his performance in April that’s notable is that he failed to lead a lap. That snapped a thirteen race streak where he led at least 36 laps per race. In fall 2012 he once again had an awesome car. In that race he finished 7th, had a 5th place average running position, led 92 laps and earned the third best driver rating. In spring 2012 there’s no debate he had the best car and had Jimmie Johnson beat. He earned that victory but was booted by Clint Bowyer during a late restart. In that race he finished 14th, led 328 laps and had a 2nd place average running position. On Sunday Jeff Gordon will start in 9th. In practice Gordon looked really aggressive on the track. If that carries over to Sunday watch out! In Happy Hour his ten lap average ranked as the 11th best. Look for Jeff Gordon to be particularly strong over long extended green flag runs.

Recommended Reading: Big Board Speed Chart Cheat Sheet, Happy Hour Speeds, Happy Hour Notes, Practice #2 Speeds, Practice #2 Notes, Martinsville Starting Lineup, Pit Stall Selections

3. Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch isn’t a bad fantasy pick for Martinsville. He’s a very quality fantasy option for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. As long as he doesn’t have any problems in the race he’s been a lock for a top 5 finish in recent years. In five out of the last eight races here he’s finished within that mark. This spring at Martinsville he had a great car. He earned the second best driver rating, led 56 laps, had a 4th place average running position and finished 5th. Also at one point in the event he even passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead over a green flag run, not to many drivers can do that. Last October Kyle Busch recorded his best finish here. He finished 2nd and earned the 6th best driver rating. One aspect you have to like about Busch is his momentum. Outside of his Kansas predicted struggle he’s been good in every race in the Chase. On Sunday Kyle Busch will start in 3rd. In practice #2 his ten lap average ranked as the best. In Happy Hour it ranked as the 15th best. Also it should be noted Kyle Busch didn’t push his car hard in today’s sessions.