“Sorry I didn’t get this article out last week for the Martinsville race. I was pretty surprised at the number of emails I received wondering “where the heck is the Similar Track averages?!?”.

Thanks for letting me know that the article is useful to you.

Similar Track Concept

The theory behind this chart is that there are similar tracks (aka sister tracks) within the NASCAR schedule in terms of banking, distance and shape that a driver may excel at.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

With all the team changes a driver may do over the course of his career I think the long term view of a driver at any track can be skewed. Bobby Labonte, for instance, is not in as good of equipment as he was when he won the pole at Texas in ‘03 & ‘04. Of course he didn’t finish too well in those races…but you know what I’m getting at.

I like to look at a driver’s career stats at a track, but moreso his most recent statistics. So, this table is sorted by 2008/2009 averages rather then over the length of the drivers career. That stat is still in the table though.

The Tracks

This week’s race is at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX. So, the similar tracks we are going to look at are: Texas, Atlanta & Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The Similarities

C-o-o-k-i-e C-u-t-t-e-r

These tracks put the cookie in “cookie cutter’. They are all 1-1/2-mile, 24°-banked quad-ovals. They are super fast and (ho-hum) sometimes a little boring to watch. The wife and I will be at the track, head-phones on, scarfing down 1-pound mucho grande nachos and cheering (or jeering) the drivers on.

Enough rambling…here is the similar track averages chart for Texas Motor Speedway.

Rank	Driver	Texas	Atlanta	Lowe’s	Starts	Avg	‘08/’09 Avg
1	Kyle Busch	10.5	15.0	27.5	28	17.7	4.3
2	Carl Edwards	13.5	3.0	8.5	26	8.3	8.3
3	Jeff Burton	12.5	12.0	6.5	65	10.3	9.0
4	Kevin Harvick	12.0	21.0	19.5	45	17.5	9.8
5	Clint Bowyer	13.0	6.0	21.0	19	13.3	10.5
6	Jeff Gordon	11.5	6.0	8.0	65	8.5	11.2
7	Tony Stewart	8.5	9.0	9.5	55	9.0	11.3
8	Greg Biffle	29.5	10.0	16.5	35	18.7	12.2
9	Jamie McMurray	10.0	15.0	19.0	37	14.7	12.5
10	Jimmie Johnson	6.0	3.5	3.0	42	4.2	13.3
11	Matt Kenseth	9.0	9.0	12.0	51	10.0	13.7
12	David Ragan	25.0	23.0	24.5	13	24.2	14.0
13	Mark Martin	10.0	10.0	9.0	65	9.7	14.7
14	Denny Hamlin	9.0	17.0	16.0	22	14.0	14.7
15	Kurt Busch	9.5	11.0	16.0	46	12.2	15.8
16	Dale Earnhardt Jr	9.0	9.0	11.0	52	9.7	15.8
17	Ryan Newman	28.0	17.0	21.0	42	22.0	17.7
18	Kasey Kahne	24.0	9.0	10.0	30	14.3	18.0
19	Brian Vickers	19.0	17.0	24.5	31	20.2	18.7
20	Martin Truex Jr	8.0	21.0	17.0	23	15.3	20.3
21	Casey Mears	14.0	21.0	22.0	35	19.0	21.0
22	Aric Almirola	0.0	21.0	0.0	1	21.0	21.0
23	Elliott Sadler	21.5	20.0	26.0	56	22.5	23.2
24	Bobby Labonte	22.5	13.0	6.0	65	13.8	23.2
25	Sam Hornish Jr	27.5	25.0	17.5	7	23.3	23.3
26	AJ Allmendinger	32.5	16.0	25.5	9	24.7	24.3
27	David Reutimann	41.0	30.0	25.5	11	32.2	24.8
28	Scott Riggs	27.0	25.0	22.5	28	24.8	26.7
29	Paul Menard	22.0	27.5	24.0	15	24.5	27.0
30	Marcos Ambrose	21.0	33.5	0.0	3	27.3	27.3
31	Reed Sorenson	30.5	30.0	18.5	20	26.3	27.3
32	Michael Waltrip	26.5	23.0	18.0	61	22.5	28.2
33	Dave Blaney	22.0	27.0	25.0	50	24.7	29.3
34	Travis Kvapil	27.5	32.0	24.0	19	27.8	29.3
35	David Gilliland	21.0	28.5	33.0	16	27.5	29.3
36	Regan Smith	34.5	34.0	21.0	6	29.8	29.8
37	Juan Pablo Montoya	22.0	27.0	32.0	13	27.0	30.0
38	Sterling Marlin	26.0	18.0	28.0	53	24.0	31.0
39	Robby Gordon	32.0	20.0	28.5	44	26.8	31.2
40	Bill Elliott	31.0	22.0	17.5	51	23.5	32.5
41	Scott Speed	33.0	34.5	0.0	3	33.8	33.8
42	Joey Logano	40.0	30.0	0.0	2	35.0	35.0
43	Joe Nemechek	33.0	18.0	18.0	61	23.0	37.8

“

“Next up on the NASCAR Cup Series is the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. Known as The Great American Speedway, Texas is 1.5 miles long and banked at 24 degrees– similar to Atlanta, which had its first race in early March, and Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards – (last season: first @ Samsung 500, first @ Dickies 500)
After sweeping both Texas races last season, Edwards is going to be the most popular drivers to love this week. Typically, I avoid a consensus pick but after dominating those races with a total 335 laps led, there’s little room to debate. Edwards is the only three-time winner, his other victory came in 2005. Only one other driver has multiple victories at Texas, Jeff Burton who won in 1997 and 2007.

Here’s a likeable trio for Texas:

Denny Hamlin – (last season: fifth @ Samsung 500, 17th @ Dickies 500)
Runner-up of the last two races, Denny Hamlin must have trouble sleeping at night thinking about what he missed. By looking at his finishes from the April races at Texas, Hamlin does a good job of bringing momentum from the short tracks to Texas Motor Speedway. In three April starts, his average finish is 6.0. Much improved than his performance in the November race, 15.75.

Jamie McMurray – (last season: 14th @ Samsung 500, third @ Dickies 500)
Despite a less-than-stellar average starting position (26.1), McMurray owns the fifth-best average finish at Texas (11.2). If you pardon McMurray for his poor performances in 2006, his average finish jumps to 8.0.

Martin Truex Jr. – (last season: 14th @ Samsung 500, third @ Dickies 500)
If you are looking to save some starts in the Yahoo! game or make room in salary cap formats, Truex Jr. is a very good option to round out your provisional roster of B-List drivers. Texas is one of his better tracks– his average finish of 11.0 is fourth-best. Other than his 36th-place finish last season, due to an engine problem, Truex Jr. has never placed worse than 15th.

Also consider…
Matt Kenseth – (last season: ninth @ Samsung 500, ninth @ Dickies 500)
After starting the season with two straight victories, Kenseth has an average finish of 27.75 in the last four races. At Texas in 2008, he finished ninth in each race. In 2007, he finished second twice. That type of consistency has earned Kenseth the second-best career finish (9.9) at Texas. If there’s a chance for Kenseth to wake up from his nightmare, it’s this week.

Greg Biffle – (last season: 39th @ Samsung 500, fifth @ Dickies 500)
Back in 2005, Biffle won here but in four of nine career starts he’s been knocked out early due to accident or mechanical problems. Given the lack of consistency that the Roush Fenway cars have shown this season — the No. 16 in particular — I’m hating on Biffle this week.

L2H results last week @ Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500
Loves: Jimmie Johnson (first), Denny Hamlin (second), Jeff Gordon (fourth) – The three Martinsville dominators did not disappoint, leading all but 15 laps.
Likes: Ryan Newman (sixth), Juan Pablo Montoya (12th) – Newman is back on track, Montoya stayed true to his average finish.
Hate: Somehow I forgot to include a Hate last week. I guess because there are so many clear-cut starters at Martinsville it slipped my mind.

L2H 2009 Season Tally:
Love/Like average finish: 14.5“

The OBW Experts will get together the day after the Sprint Cup race to discuss the hot topics of the week.

This week we chat about the great action at Martinsville, everyone hating on Kyle Busch and ask where all the short tracks have gone.

After a relatively quiet race at Bristol, we got physical, half-mile racing this week at Martinsville. It’s a shame we’ve got to wait so long for another short track. Would you like to see another short track added to the schedule or perhaps space the half-mile tracks out differently?

James Jones: I’m a big fan of the original NASCAR tracks in the South, especially the shorter ones. So, if it would mean less racing at Auto Club Speedway and Pocono, then YES!

Ryan Rantz: I love short tracks. I wish NASCAR would abandon some cookie-cutter tracks and bring in some other shorter tracks like O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis into the mix. Short tracks are all about the driver and the 1.5-mile tracks are mostly about the equipment.

Mike Maruska: It proves that a) Martinsville is a good track and b) the CoT works when there are zero aerodynamics involved.

Eric McClung: I also enjoy the short tracks a lot. In the 80’s, a lot of the new ballparks built in Major League Baseball were built with symmetrical dimensions. Like the 1.5-mile tracks in NASCAR, they lacked character and ultimately became boring. Although it would be nearly impossible with the economy being what it is, I’d like to see some of these tracks get redesigned into unique venues.

Among the races thus far, this one seemed to have the most action up front. Would you say this was the best race of this early season?

Darren Fauth: It was good racing for sure. Definitely better than last week’s Bristol race. Sadly, I think we have lost that track. Two lanes of racing at a short track = boring. It was nice to see that at Martinsville you still have to bump ‘em out of the way.

James Jones: You know, seeing Jeff, Denny and Jimmie leading most of the race might make one think it was more of the same-old same-old. However, I do think it was the best race of the year so far. We had pre-race favorites Denny and Jimmie going at it for the lead; battling for sixth we had Newman and Martin who came up from far back in the field. Top it all off with great runs by Allmendinger, Ambrose, McMurray, and Reutimann. It was refreshing!

I was starting to think the haters were starting to call off the dogs on Kyle Busch a little bit, but after hearing the boos during his introduction and seeing the crowd jump out of their seats to watch him spin out– I was wrong. Can Kyle ever turn folks around or do you think he relishes being the bad guy too much?

Ryan Rantz: I think Kyle Busch couldn’t be happier. He enjoys taunting the fans. I know he’s got plenty of fans here because last year there was a Kyle Busch competition on this site and I did my best to heckle him but people consistently stood up for him, so Kyle has already turned people.

Darren Fauth: I think that Kyle will forever receive the boos. I did an ‘unscientific’ study of Cheers and Jeers at Texas Motor Speedway in 2006. Kyle Busch only got boos on that day. I think people will continue to hate Kyle through his career. He will ultimately end his career as one of the greatest anti-heroes of NASCAR if his winning ways continue through his career.

Mike Maruska: I wish people cared less about WWE-type drama and wanting to draw these lines of good and bad.”

“Well, after two short tracks in a row (and arguably coming off the best race of the 2009 NASCAR season) we head to my home track, Texas Motor Speedway. And yes, once again, the NASCAR ticket fairy has graced the wife and I with race tickets.

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas Motor Speedway History

• Construction on Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995.
• The original configuration called for an unusual dual banking system that had 24 degrees of banking for stock cars and eight degrees for open-wheel cars.
• The first NASCAR race at Texas was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas was on April 6, 1997.
• In 1998, Turn 4 at Texas was reshaped to ease the transition from the turns to the front straightaway.
• A second renovation started after the 1998 race and eliminated the dual banking and gave the track its current configuration.

Track Numbers

• There have been 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.
• Four drivers have competed in all 16 Texas races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
• Jeremy Mayfield won the first timed qualifying on April 4, 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.
• Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• 11 drivers have scored poles at Texas, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Ryan Newman with two each.
• 13 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three.
• 12 of 16 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole (Kasey Kahne in 2006).
• Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
• There have been two green-white-checkered finishes: fall 2006 (339/334) and spring 2008 (339/334).

Hot Fact

Carl Edwards is the only driver with a season sweep at Texas, winning both races in 2008. Jimmie Johnson, who won there in 2007, is the only active driver who averages a top-10 finish at Texas (9.1).

Texas Motor Speedway Data

• Race #: 7 of 36 (4-05-09)
• Track Size: 1.5-mile
• Race Length: 334 laps/501 miles
• Banking/Corners: 24 degrees

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2008 pole winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr (190.907 mph, 28.286 seconds)
• 2008 race winner: Carl Edwards (144.814 mph avg race speed)
• Track qualifying record: Terry Labonte (192.137 mph , 03-31-00)
• Race record: Carl Edwards (151.055 mph, 11-06-05)
• Estimated Pit Window: Every 48-52 laps, based on fuel mileage.

“

What is The C-List?
The weekly guide on getting the most out of low-rent fantasy drivers; C-List drivers in the Yahoo! game and/or drivers valued at $20.00 or less in salary cap games.

Marcos Ambrose – (first career start @ Martinsville Speedway)
Ambrose is coming off an impressive 10th place finish at Bristol and could do well at another short track. Last season, Ambrose finished 18th at Phoenix last season which, like Martinsville, is also very flat.

AJ Allmendinger – (last season: 15th @ TUMS QuikPak 500, 2007: average finish 36.5)
On one hand, Allmendinger gained 24 spots to finish 15th in the October last season. On the other, his set of 2007 starts were duds.

Bobby Labonte – (last season: 25th @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, 37th @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
At the moment, Labonte is popular pick in the Yahoo! game but I’m not sure why. In the last five years (10 starts), Labonte does own three top-fives, but an average finish of 21.9. Labonte has not finished better than 22nd in the last two years (four starts).

Roll on the dice on the veteran if you’d like but Ambrose and Allmendinger are the grade A options on this week’s C-List.

Sterling Marlin – (2007: 21st @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, 2006: 21st @ Subway 500)
Over the last five years (nine starts), Marlin’s average finish is 18.1– better than the aforementioned Labonte. It sounds crazy to consider Marlin, but he is coming off a win last week at Bristol. OK, it was the legends race so that doesn’t really count.

Marlin makes the most sense as a Hail Mary in salary cap leagues if you want to start the three Martinsville dominators: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin.

C-List results last week @ Food City 500:

Juan Pablo Montoya (eighth) Looked great at Bristol and still looks good this week.
Aric Almirola (35th) He was a long shot that didn’t pay off, hard to pass on his previous finishes.

C-List 2009 average finish: 18.4″

Junior & Junior

If you ventured into the NASCAR aisle of the Web in the last 48 hours you’ve probably seen the gamut of emotions and opinions surrounding the Juniors (which always seems to be the case with the most popular and often polarizing figure in the sport).

It’s the nature of the beast, but anything associated with Dale Earnhardt Jr. is subject to scrutiny.

It’s not Earnhardt’s fault. It just happens when you have millions of impatient fans with sky-high expectations. So when Earnhardt struggles on the track, his crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr, gets a lot of the blame. This week there has been a lot written about the two Juniors and I disagree with almost all of it at some level.

• It’s all Tony Jr’s fault! Dump him now before it’s too late.
• No one else can be Dale Jr’s crew chief!
• Dale Jr sucks!

Ok, so someone will always throw the last one out there regardless of the context.

How About Some Perspective?

A year ago Earnhardt was enjoying a spectacular transition to Hendrick Motorsports. He won two races during Speedweeks and notched a top 10. He led laps in 10 of the first 12 races, had 1 win, 7 top 5’s and 10 top 10’s in the first 15 races. Critics point to his one win on fuel mileage as a fluke but he could have easily had two or three other wins in slightly different circumstances (late fades at Martinsville and Phoenix, a bump at Richmond, a flat tire at Charlotte).

While the team faded in the second half of the year, make no mistake, the #88 was a top 5 team overall in 2008. Earnhardt Jr’s 99.0 driver rating was 4th best. And before anyone brings up his 12th place points finish, remember that Kyle Busch was 10th.

One thing that is easy to forget is that we as fans are limited in what we see from a race team. We don’t see the intricate preparations at the shops during the week or in the garages on weekends. We see a few practice sessions, qualifying, race day and whatever else the announcers can reveal (which is not always accurate either).

The CoT has flummoxed almost every team at some point in the last two plus years. It’s not a case of Eury simply turning a wrench once or twice and getting it to turn better.

Other Drivers, Similar Situation

In 2006 (and 2008 for that matter) Steve Letarte was viewed by some Jeff Gordon fans as incompetent and unable to provide the correct support for the #24 team. Of course 2007 was a dream season for Gordon and 2009 is shaping up to be a similarly dominant one.

Tony Stewart has suffered through down times, so has Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch will too at some point. Even Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus endured a rough start to 2008. After five races they sat in 13th place with only one finish better than 12th. Five races is not enough time to judge a driver-crew chief combo.

Is Eury The Only One That Gets Junior?

While Eury Jr has been a big factor in Earnhardt’s success, including his 6-win 2004, it’s also unrealistic to say that Eury Jr is the only crew chief capable of dealing with the emotional Earnhardt.

Like no other driver in NASCAR gets emotional on the radio? As if Eury is the only one that can decipher what changes are needed when Earnhardt says his car is a P.O.S?

When Earnhardt first announced his move to Hendrick, I thought Alan Gustafson would have been the perfect crew chief to help transition to a new team. Obviously with Gustafson now paired with Mark Martin, that’s not possible, but Hendrick wouldn’t struggle for options to work on the #88.

The tone of the coverage this week has been that of a team in crisis. Earnhardt is 19th in points and only 66 shy of 12th place. He has made driver errors, lost an engine and qualified poorly in others. Bad in-race adjustments or lousy setups are only parts of the problem on the #88 team, but it’s also very early in the season.

If Earnhardt Jr is still outside the top 12 come July, then it’s fair to revisit Eury’s future. Until then, let’s all relax, give them a chance to rebound, lead some laps, challenge for wins and see how it all plays out.”

The NASCAR Cup series shifts from its most famous short track, Bristol Motor Speedway, to its shortest short track, Martinsville Speedway, for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. The track is just 0.526 miles long and uniquely shaped like a paper clip. Although the banking at Bristol is the highest on the circuit, Martinsville is banked just 12 degrees in the turns.

The defending champion of this race is Denny Hamlin. The most recent winner was Jimmie Johnson, who won here in October of last year.

The top-three average career finishes at Martinsville are owned by the drivers who finished second, third and fourth last week at Bristol:

Jimmie Johnson – (last season: fourth @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, first @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
Winner of four of the last five races here, Johnson also owns the top career average finish (5.6). In 14 career starts, Johnson has a whopping 10 top-fives. He has finished outside of the top-10 only once– his first career start. Johnson enters this race with a streak of 13 straight top-10s and seven top-fives.

Jeff Gordon – (last season: second @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, fourth @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
Gordon’s numbers at Martinsville are nearly as impressive as his teammate’s. Who is the better start this week is frankly a toss up. Gordon’s average career finish is 6.9, second-best. Gordon enters this race with a streak of 12 consecutive top-10s and eight top-fives.

Denny Hamlin – (last season: first @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, fifth @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
Although Hamlin does not boast the body of work on par with Johnson and Gordon, he has been impressive nevertheless. In eight career starts, Hamlin has seven top-eights and an average finish of 7.8, third-best.

I love all three drivers this week. If you can squeeze them under your salary cap, do it.

Owners in allocation leagues should hold nothing back given how dominant these three drivers are at this track. Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick hurt a lot of owners last week– go for broke.

To fill out your provisional rosters, there a few likeable drivers out there:

Juan Pablo Montoya – (last season: 13th @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, 14th @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
Despite a single top-10, Montoya owns the fifth best career average finish (12.8) at Martinsville– albeit in only four starts. Those finishes have ranged from eighth to 16th. Montoya is coming off his best finish of the season and — after bumping Jamie McMurray around — does not appear to be holding anything back.

Ryan Newman – (last season: 19th @ Goody’s Cool Orange 500, 23rd @ TUMS QuikPak 500)
In 14 career starts at Martinsville, Newman has five top-fives and six top-10s. Last season’s October race snapped a streak of 10 straight top-20s. After a slow start and some bad luck to begin the season, Newman finished seventh last week. Oh, his teammate Tony Stewart has the fourth-best average finish here (12.6). He’s a pretty good option this week too– depends on how many starts you have.

L2H results last week @ Food City 500
Loves: Kevin Harvick (30th), Matt Kenseth (33rd) Hey, I’m not the only one who got burned.
Likes: Denny Hamlin (second), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (14th), Tony Stewart (17th) Hamlin looks like a man on a mission to win.
Hate: Carl Edwards (15th) Not bad, but not want you’d want anytime you start Edwards.

L2H 2009 Season Tally:
Love/Like average finish: 17.2“

1		With a 4th place finish Gordon extended his points lead by 76 points over Kurt Busch. At Martinsville Gordon has 7 Grand Father clocks, but his last win happened in 2005. In 2008 at Martinsville Gordon led 147 laps and averaged 170 points per race. Gordon once owned this track but Jimmie Johnson is the person to beat now
0	Jeff Gordon
2		With his 2nd win of the year under his belt Kyle Busch is already ahead of his wins total from last year. So how good is he? Well you’ll just have to wait until the real season starts in September when everybody takes it up a notch.
0	Kyle Busch
3		At Atlanta I delivered on my big Kurt Busch Power Rankings jump and at Bristol I delivered on my mild Kurt Busch Bristol warning (Things have changed since he last won) to help people not become a prisoner of the moment.
+1	Kurt Busch
4		Is Jimmie’s facial hair a distraction for the team? My guess is that if he would just shave it off the wins will come pouring in. At Martinsville Johnson will be the person to beat. In 14 career races at Martinsville Johnson has 5 wins, and 13 top tens.
+4	Jimmie Johnson
5		Clint Bowyer always manages to go under the radar. Even when I was writing my Power Rankings I knew someone was missing. Guess who it was. One of these days people (me, and everyone else) will start to take Bowyer more seriously. At least I don’t spell his name wrong anymore (inside joke).
+1	Clint Bowyer
6		Matt Kenseth needs to find a little bit of racing luck because a team can’t live off early wins forever. Kenseth now is down to 10th place overall in the point standings.
-3	Matt Kenseth
7		I just don’t think the magic is there for the 99 car this year. Performance wise this team is underperforming compared to last year but is this the real problem, or has the competition caught up?
-2	Carl Edwards
8		I knew Denny Hamlin would have a good day at Bristol. Martinsville will be the 1 year anniversary since Hamlin last won. If Hamlin ever wants to win a championship in his career then he needs to win at the intermediate tracks not just short tracks and flat tracks. At Martinsville in 7 races Hamlin has 1 win and 6 top tens
+3	Denny Hamlin
9		It’s surprising that the 14 team didn’t finish better then 17th at Bristol. Stewart was almost my pick to win because of how strong he has performed historically over the years at the spring Bristol race. Expect Stewart to bounce back and get a top ten finish at Martinsville.
-2	Tony Stewart
10		Mark Martin has performed well every race this year but some sort of unfortunate luck has bitten him every step of the way until now. With his first top ten of the season at Bristol now he gets to head to NASCAR’s oldest track that is practically named after him.
+5	Mark Martin
11		How good was Kevin Harvick? I really don’t know. The early damage on his car didn’t look that bad (In a COT way); in fact it looked like Jeff Gordon’s car at Las Vegas which is far more dependent on aerodynamics then Bristol. Kurt Busch managed to recover from his similar setback.
-2	Kevin Harvick
12		Jeff Burton had a good day at Bristol but I’m really starting to get worried about this teams Chase chances. The 31 team usually gets off to a fast start and then their performances drop off in the summer. Without a fast start this year how will this team make the Chase?
0	Jeff Burton
13		Kasey Kahne makes his first appearance in my Power Rankings this week in my lucky 13th spot. Vickers sure didn’t last very long here. Statistically Kahne is only good every other year and last year was his good one. Can be break this trend?
NOT RATED	Kasey Kahne
14		Dale Earnhardt Jr once again retains his position in the 14th spot. Martinsville is a very good track for Junior and he has 9 career top ten finishes here. In 2008 he lead 146 laps and averaged 165 points per race at this old track.
0	Dale Earnhardt Jr
15		Greg Biffle had another bad day at Bristol and finished 39th. The engine on the 16 went sour and it was a big early season hit on this teams Chase chances. Martinsville is not Greg’s best track and I would strongly encourage looking elsewhere for your fantasy rosters this weekend.
-5	Greg Biffle

“Rowdy Busch took the checkers first for the first short track race of the 2009 NASCAR season last weekend at Bristol. We have another short track race this weekend at the historic Martinsville Speedway and the sixth race of the season.

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

Martinsville Speedway History

• Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating racing facilities in the United States.
• The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 25, 1949.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held March 28, 1982.
• The first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville was Sept. 25, 1995.
• The track was paved in 1955.
• The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.
• Concrete corners were added atop the asphalt track in 1976.

Track Numbers

• There have been 120 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway.
• Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.
• Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville.
• 55 drivers have posted poles at Martinsville, led by Darrell Waltrip with eight.
• Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record, each with three.
• Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven poles.
• 45 different drivers have won races, led by Richard Petty with 15.
• Fred Lorenzen holds the consecutive win record with four.
• Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven victories.
• Petty Enterprises has won 19 races, more than any other organization.
• 17 races have been won from the pole, but none since Jeff Gordon swept both races from the pole in 2003.
• Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.

Hot Fact

Jimmie Johnson has won four of the last five races at Martinsville. Johnson finished 35th in his first Martinsville appearance (April 2002), his only DNF there. Since then, he has posted 13 straight top-10 finishes. Johnson has finished fourth or better in his last seven Martinsville races. He has completed all but 54 laps in his 14 appearances at Martinsville, with all his incomplete laps coming in that first appearance.

Martinsville Speedway Data

• Race #: 6 of 36 (3-29-09)
• Track Size: .526 mile
• Race Length: 500 laps/263 miles
• Banking/Corners: 12 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 0 degrees
• Frontstretch: 800 feet
• Backstretch: 800 feet

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2008 pole winner: Jeff Gordon (96.288 mph, 19.666 seconds)
• 2008 race winner: Denny Hamlin (73.163 mph, 3-30-08)
• Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart (98.083 mph, 19.306 secs., 10-21-05)
• Race record: Jeff Gordon (82.223 mph, 9-22-96)
• Estimated Pit Window: Every 140-150 laps, based on fuel mileage.

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Whose Title Is it? Gordon, Johnson Battle For “Mr. Martinsville”

Together, they own seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles, but for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) only one matters this weekend:

Mr Martinsville.

Johnson, the reigning and three-time series champion, and Gordon, the four-time series champion, both excel at the famed .526-mile short track. But even the word “excel” may be too bland.

They ace the place.

As such, Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 could be a duel for dominance.

Gordon and Johnson have combined to win nine of the last 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Martinsville — the highlight their bumper-banging, one-two finish (Johnson first, Gordon second) in the spring 2007 event.
Johnson has won five of those nine races, Gordon four. They also rank one-two (Johnson first, Gordon second) in a crucial pre-race NASCAR Loop Data category, Driver Rating. Johnson leads at 124.7. Gordon is next at 124.0.

More crazy-good numbers for Johnson: He averages a top-10 finish at 10 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ 22 tracks. Martinsville ranks second on that list, with Johnson’s average finish there at 5.6. His best (5.5) is at Phoenix International Raceway. He also leads two other pre-race Loop Data categories for Martinsville — Average Running Position (6.4) and Laps in the Top 15 (3,579, or 89.3%).

Gordon leads all active drivers with seven wins and seven poles at Martinsville. He also has 20 top fives and 26 top 10s in 32 starts there. He’s finished in the top five in the last eight Martinsville events. His average finish there — 6.9 — is nearly two positions better than his second-best track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (8.6).

Kyle Busch Seeks To Master Martinsville

After winning last week at Bristol Motor Speedway and climbing to fourth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) faces down one of his racing challenges this week at Martinsville Speedway.

The historic half-mile has held one of the series’ hottest drivers at bay, with Busch posting three top fives and four top 10s in eight series starts there. According to pre-race NASCAR Loop Data statistics for Martinsville, Busch has an Average Running Position of 14.9, with his best finishes a pair of fourths in 2007.

He finished 38th there last spring and 29th last fall, both due to brake problems.

“The first race locking up rear brakes and eventually breaking the rear gear, and then the second race overheating the front brakes and popping right-front beads,” Busch said. “We went and tested at Little Rock to try and get our brakes squared away and we found out how to pop right-front beads over and over.We fixed that problem.We used to pop them in 46 to 50 laps and now we can go 80 laps straight and not see a darn issue.”

Busch heads into this weekend at Martinsville with momentum, having won a national series race in each of the last four weeks. Last Sunday, it was the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Bristol. Two weeks ago, he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Atlanta. Three weeks ago, he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at his hometown track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and a month ago, he swept both the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events at Auto Club Speedway.

Don’t Forget Denny: Defending Martinsville Winner On A Quiet Roll

With much focus given to the Jeff Gordon-Jimmie Johnson dominance at Martinsville Speedway, and Kyle Busch’s recent hot streak, Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota) has crept up the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings largely unnoticed.

He finished second to Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, an effort that propelled him into the top 12 for the first time this season.

Now comes Martinsville, which wears a big bulls-eye on Hamlin’s schedule.

“This is a great track, with a ton of history and special style of racing,” he said.“I think it’s where I am at my best and I know the entire No. 11 FedEx team circles the Martinsville races on the calendar.”

Hamlin’s quiet climb has been a season-long effort.

Starting with a 26th-place in the Daytona 500, he moved to 15th after a sixth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. A 22nd-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway moved him to 14th in the standings, before last week’s runner-up effort.

The Bristol finish vaulted Hamlin six spots, to eighth in the series standings. And now he anticipates Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, of which he — a Virginia native — is the defending winner.

“The experience of winning a Cup race here, at a Virginia track where I raced Late Models a few years ago, and in front of great racing fans and in front of my family, was something I will never forget,” Hamlin said. “And to have a Martinsville clock sitting in my home that I see everyday – it reminds me of that day and also how much went into getting to that point.”

Hamlin ranks fifth in pre-race Driver Rating for Martinsville (101.3), per NASCAR Loop Data statistics.
His average finish of 8.9 ranks third best behind Johnson (5.6) and Gordon (6.9), respectively.

Gilliland, No. 71 Chevrolet In 35th As 2009 Car Owner Standings Take Effect At Martinsville

Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 marks the season’s first event where competitors who are not in the top 35 of the 2009 car owner standings must qualify for a starting position.

Prior to this week, the final 2008 car owner standings were used to “lock in” the top 35.

For the rest of the season, the top 35 in each week’s owner standings are guaranteed a starting spot. Everyone else must qualify on time.

Top-35 positioning is crucial to those teams hovering just above or below the “bubble”. The team occupying the 35th position this week is the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by David Gilliland and owned by Kevin Buckler.

The No. 71 was 34th in owner points heading into last week’s event at Bristol. Gilliland managed to stay in the top 35 with a 36th-place finish there.

“Being 35th in owner points is like having the last seat in the last life boat on the Titanic,” Buckler said. “You breathe a sigh of relief, but you are still out in the freezing ocean waiting for a life line.”

Now comes Martinsville, with its tight confines and little room for error.

“We will be able to go to Martinsville and unload the car in race trim and run,” said Gilliland of the advantage for his team and crew chief Slugger Labbe. “Slugger and the guys will be able to work on it and get it a little closer to what we need in the race. It will definitely help us in our situation to be better on Sunday. I am excited to be able to work on the race setup when we unload.”

The No. 82 Team Red Bull Toyota driven by Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Scott Speed and owned by Dietrich Mateschitz, is 36th, 21 points out of 35th.

The No. 8 Guitar Hero Chevrolet driven by Aric Almirola and owned by Chip Ganassi is 37th, also 21 points out of 35th; the No. 82 earns the 36th spot due to a tiebreaker. Both drivers have a season-best finish of 21st; Speed won the tiebreaker with a higher second-best finish to date, a 28th compared to Almirola’s 30th.

Close behind — by one point — is the No. 98 Energizer/Menards Ford driven by Paul Menard and owned by Max Jones. The 96 is 26 points out of 35th.

Above the “bubble,” the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet driven by another Raybestos Rookie contender, Joey Logano, and owned by Joe Gibbs, is 34th, 14 points ahead of Gilliland.

Further ahead, in 33rd, is the No. 34 Taco Bell Chevrolet driven by John Andretti and owned by Teresa Earnhardt. The No. 34 is 41 points ahead of the 35th-place No. 71 driven by Gilliland.

Loop Data Suggests Earnhardt Jr., Martin And Stewart Could Challenge At Martinsville

Statistically, the Jimmie Johnson-Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports tandem is the clear favorite this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

But Rick Hendrick’s other two drivers – Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin – are no slouches at the Virginia short track either.

Of the two, Earnhardt owns the better recent statistics. He has scored top-10 finishes in three of the last four races there, and since the inception of Loop Data, ranks high in a number of key statistics.

Earnhardt has a Driver Rating of 102.4 (fourth-best), an Average Running Position of 10.4 (fourth), 311 Fastest Laps Run (fourth), a series-high 396 Green Flag Passes, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 76% (fourth) and 219 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), which is second-most.

Earnhardt has never won a Martinsville race, but has eight top fives in 18 career starts.

Martin, on the other hand, has two Martinsville wins, but has struggled there recently. His last win came in 2000. He also took the last four Martinsville races off when he switched to a partial schedule after the 2006 season.

Martin has finished out of the top 10 in his last three Martinsville races, with his last top five finish coming in the spring race of 2005.

Since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 78.2, an Average Running Position of 17.0, 22 Fastest Laps Run, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 44.7% and a Pass Differential (passes minus times passed) of 13.

Though not a Hendrick Motorsports driver, Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet does use Hendrick engines. The statistics suggest Stewart may be a factor on Sunday.

He has a Driver Rating of 113.7 (third), an Average Running Position of 7.4 (third), 312 Fastest Laps Run (third) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 86.6% (third).

Stewart won there in 2006, breaking a staggering streak laid down by Gordon and Johnson. The two have paired for nine of the last 12 Martinsville wins. Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Rusty Wallace are the only other drivers to win since 2003.

Martinsville Milestone: 25th Anniversary Of Hendrick Motorsports’ First NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win

With 25 years, 175 wins and eight NASCAR Sprint Cup titles in his rearview mirror, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick knows how to mark special occasions in the sport.

So how did he celebrate his first series win on April 29, 1984 at Martinsville Speedway?

Armed with toilet paper, Hendrick and some friends road-tripped that Sunday night to Pleasant Grove, N.C., where they redecorated driver Geoff Bodine’s front yard.

“He did that?” Bodine said. “I thought the neighbors did that. Now I know. They could have done anything that night — painted my house pink — and it wouldn’t have bothered me. We were so happy.”

While victory celebrations have evolved, Hendrick Motorsports’ transformation from fledging All-Star Racing, as it was known then, to its current powerhouse status began at one of NASCAR’s most historic tracks. On that April day in 1984, Bodine led 55 laps, passing then-defending series champion Bobby Allison with 48 laps remaining to take the lead and the win.

Hendrick, a Palmer Springs, Va., native, wasn’t even there. At church with his wife, Linda, he got the winning news via phone, delivered by then-general manager Jimmy Johnson.

“We missed Rick, but, you know, no one thought we were ready to win,” Bodine said. “It was only our eighth race together with a brand new race team. How do you do that? How do you win your eighth race out?”

Native Virginians In The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Garage

From the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet: Car chief David Bryant (Farmville), mechanic Jim Jenkins (Hampton) and engineer Tom Stewart (Hampton).

From the No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge: Driver Elliott Sadler (Emporia), engineer Kevin Kidd (Tazewell) and gas man Rodney Rhodes (Hickory).

From the No. 14 Old Spice Chevrolet: Crew chief Darian Grubb (Floyd), mechanic Darrell Haskins (Danville) and shock specialist Adam Gravitt (South Boston).

From the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota: Front tire carrier Brad Donaghy (Orange County) and tire specialist Keith Eads (Arlington).

From the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet: Tire specialist Charles Moles (Floyd) and transporter drivers Barry Sheppard (Stuart) and Mark Williams (Stuart).

From the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet: Driver Jeff Burton (South Boston), tire specialist Tracy Ramsey (Fredericksburg), mechanic Greg Meredith (Fancy Gap), engineer Jeff Curtis (Fairfax), gas man Curt Bowman (Meadows of Dan) and transporter drivers Franky Nester (Ridgeway) and James Nunn (Ararat).

From the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet: Gas man Caleb Hurd (Pulaski) and transporter driver Kirk George (Ararat).

From the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet: Nos. 5 & 88 team manager Brian Whitesell (Stuarts Draft), front tire changer Kyle Turner (Yorktown) and spotter Jeremy Brickhouse (Chesapeake).

From the No. 8 Guitar Hero Chevrolet: Car chief Jefferson Hodges (Williamsburg), catch can man Mark Schmuck (Virginia Beach) and gas man Benjy Grubbs (Richmond).

Also: Ed Watkins (Dover) – No. 43 jack man; Anthony Cardamone (Bristol) – No. 55 jack man; Pete Wright (Martinsville) – No. 82 mechanic and No. 11 driver Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield).

What To Know: A Guide to Off-Track NASCAR Happenings

Small Track, Big Impact

Martinsville Speedway officials, plus local and state leaders, announced Tuesday that the historic track, which hosted the first official NASCAR Sprint Cup event in 1949, has an annual impact of $170 million on the local economy.

A study conducted by the Washington Economics Group produced the result. The study also determined that 2,824 permanent jobs for Virginia residents can be tied directly or indirectly to the track.

Martinsville Speedway president W. Clay Campbell was joined at Tuesday’s announcement by Chuck Yaros, associate economist for the Washington Economics Group, which did the study; Deborah Buchanan, Chairman, Henry County Board of Supervisors; Gene Teague, Martinsville City Councilman; Ward Armstrong, who represents the 10th district in the Virginia House of Delegates; Roscoe Reynolds, who represents the 20th district in the Virginia State Senate and Mark Heath, President and CEO of the Martinsville and Henry County Economic Development Corporation.

Sunday’s Honorary Officials

Country music superstar Trace Adkins will be busy during pre-race ceremonies for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville.

He’ll serve as both Grand Marshal and Honorary Starter for the event, leading 500 local men, women and their families as honorary Grand Marshals. Goody’s Headache Powders and Martinsville officials selected 500 people from the Martinsville and Henry County, Va., area for the honor, and to salute hard workers everywhere.

Adkins, however, won’t sing the National Anthem. He and the rest of the crowd will enjoy the effort of the 29th Army Band from the Virginia National Guard.

Ambrose To Auction Off Special Helmet

Tasmania native Marcos Ambrose (No. 47 Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota) is doing a good deed during Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville, and he’d like NASCAR fans to help him out.

Recent deadly wildfires devastated southern Australia, and Sunday, he’ll wear a specially-painted helmet that will be auctioned off to benefit wildfire survivors and rescue workers.

The Martinsville event marks the second consecutive week Ambrose will wear the helmet painted by Nick Pastura, an American artist.

He wore it last week to an 11th-place finish at Bristol, and will wear it again next week at Texas Motor Speedway. The helmet will be auctioned off Monday, April 6, online at www.marcosambrose.com.

All proceeds will go the Yarra Glen Volunteer Fire Brigade, a unit of the Victorian Country Fire Authority in southern Australia. One of the Brigade’s members, Steve Teear, is an Ambrose fan who worked around the clock for nearly two weeks battling wildfires. He also visited Charlotte, N.C., last year on a tour of Australian race fans.

Ambrose hopes to raise $230,000, which would help Teear’s Brigade purchase a new 3,000-liter, four-wheel-drive water tanker.

For more information on the auction, please visit www.marcosambrose.com.

Up Next: Texas Motor Speedway

After consecutive short-track events, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stretches out a bit, traveling to Fort Worth, Texas for the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 5.

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) won both 2008 events at Texas, beating second-place finishers Jimmie Johnson in the spring event and Jeff Gordon in the fall.

Edwards also led the most laps in both events, 123 in the spring and 212 in the fall.

Next Sunday’s race will air on FOX starting at 1:30 p.m. ET. The green flag will drop at approximately 2 p.m.

Fast Facts

The Race: Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500
The Place: Martinsville Speedway (.526-mile concrete oval)
The Date: Sunday, March 29
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 500 laps/263 miles
TV: FOX , 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN (Locally WZBB-FM 99.9) and Sirius Satellite.
2008 Polesitter: Jeff Gordon
2008 Winner: Denny Hamlin
Schedule: (All times local ET) Friday – Practice, 12-1:30 p.m., Qualifying, 3:40 p.m. Saturday – Practice, 10:30-11:15 a.m., 11:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m.

2009 Top 12 Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Jeff Gordon	794
2	Kurt Busch	718
3	Clint Bowyer	715
4	Kyle Busch	709
5	Carl Edwards	665
6	Kasey Kahne	639
7	Tony Stewart	633
8	Denny Hamlin	631
9	Jimmie Johnson	627
10	Matt Kenseth	610
11	David Reutimann	607
12	Kevin Harvick	584