Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on getting his first win of the season at Auto Club Speedway last weekend. The win virtually guarantees Brad a spot in the Chase, so both of the Penske drivers are in. Getting a win this early in the season takes a lot of pressure off of those teams, and they can concentrate on getting even better before the start of the Chase.
STP 500
The series heads back east this week for the running of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Martinsville is one of the shortest tracks on the circuit at .526-miles. It is also relatively flat with only twelve degrees of banking in the corners. You really need to qualify well here so you get a good pit stall. Plus, you need to have a really good handling car so that you don’t get lapped early in the race.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has won eight races at Martinsville and has finished in the top five in eighteen of his twenty-six starts there. He is my pick to win his second race of the season and he is a must to have on your team this weekend. He has also finished in the top five in four of his last five races at this track.
Jeff Gordon: Not to be outdone by Jimmie, Jeff also has eight wins at this track and he should be one of the drivers to give Jimmie a run for his money this week. Jeff has finished in the top three in three of his last four starts here and he has twenty-eight top five finishes in his forty-four career starts at this track.
Denny Hamlin: Denny has four wins at this track and has finished in the top five in half of his eighteen starts here. Denny has been running well lately and should have another good run once again this weekend. I think handling is worth more than power at this track and so far this season, the Toyota’s seem to be a little bit behind the Chevrolet’s in that department. Like I said, that shouldn’t make that much of a difference here.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale won the race at Martinsville last fall and has seven top ten finishes in his last nine starts here. This team has been good all season and he should have confidence coming back here after that win last season. It is too bad that most of the drivers that run well at this track are all in the same group in the Yahoo league.
Clint Bowyer: Clint has yet to win a race at this track, but he has finished in the top ten in his last five starts at Martinsville. Clint needs a good finish to give himself and his team some confidence as the season progresses. Clint has finished in the top ten here in twelve of his eighteen career starts which is very good for anyone on this track.
Tony Stewart: This could be the track that Tony breaks out of his funk at. Tony finished fourth here last fall and has finished in the top ten in more than half of his starts here. With the way Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch have looked this season, Tony should have the equipment to get the job done here.
Ryan Newman: Ryan has run well all year once again and is getting closer to winning a race all the time. He has one win at Martinsville and finished third here last fall. This is the type of track that he likes to run at and this weekend should be no different. I won’t be surprised when he comes away with a win sometime this season.
Brad Keselowski: Brad has finished in the top ten here in half of his ten career starts. With momentum on their side this team could reel off some consecutive wins. However, he has only led laps in two of his ten races here and his best finish so far is fourth. I think there are better choices to pick for your team this week.
Kevin Harvick: With eight straight top two finishes it’s hard to pick against Kevin any week. He has one win at this track and has finished in the top ten in twelve of his twenty-seven starts at this track. Once again there are better tracks to use Kevin at even with the streak he is on right now. I will save him for some other time.
Joey Logano: Joey finished in the top five in both of the Martinsville races last year and he also led a bunch of laps in both of those races. This team needs to figure out how to finish a race because they seem to start out fast every week and then fade away towards the end of the race.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Gordon
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Clint Bowyer
- Tony Stewart
- Greg Biffle
- AJ Allmendinger
Yahoo Driver Group C
- David Ragan
- Brett Moffitt
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Gordon
- Denny Hamlin
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Ryan Newman
Dark Horse: AJ Allmendinger
Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.