Friday, March 28, 2008

Who's going to win at Martinsville ?

After a weekend of no action, the Sprint Cup drivers will spring back into short track action this Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
This is always one of my favorite tracks in NASCAR (I'll try to do my top 10 favorite tracks in the near future). Just like Bristol, everyone is close to each other and it usually has some close finishes.
This is the track where Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon beat and banged on each other for the win last spring. I wouldn't be surprised if we see another close finish again.
As for those who should be pretty good this weekend, look at those who did good at Bristol two weeks ago.
That would basically include Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer (who finished in the top three) and Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt has been the best driver at Hendrick's so far. That's good for him while his teammates (Gordon, Johnson and Casey Mears) have ran into some bad luck. I believe it's only a matter of time before Gordon and Johnson will be back in the top 12 and moving back to the top. These teams are too good.
And even though Denny Hamlin was the only Joe Gibbs team to finish in the top 10, don't forget about Tony Stewart or current points leader Kyle Busch. Both had bad luck in Bristol and could have easily been in the top five if not for that.
It's always hard to pick a winner, especially since I'm going on what I saw from two weeks ago and I haven't seen any practice times yet, but I'll take Harvick with Stewart, Earnhardt, Kyle Busch and Biffle rounding out the top five. Don't be surprised if Gordon and Johnson get into the top five or 10.
The points lead is real close and to show that there is parity in NASCAR the four different car makers are in the top six - Busch in first (Toyota), Biffle in second (Ford), Harvick in third (Chevrolet) and Kasey Kahne in sixth (Dodge).
For those concerned with Toyota's dominance (I've read and heard people grumbling about them), I think it's important to see that there are only three Toyota's dominating the series which just happens to be three Toyota's from Gibbs. Busch is first, Stewart is in seventh place and Hamlin is in 15th place.
Gibbs came to Toyota with a successful program already. They already had established teams and system in place. They weren't brand new like the other Toyota teams.
The only other Toyota doing well is Brian Vickers (17th in standings). Michael Waltrip's best driver is David Reutimann (in 25th place) who is about to start driving the No. 44 since Dale Jarrett retired after the Bristol race (Jarrett will be participating in the All-Star Race in May). And the best Toyota driver last year, Dave Blaney, is in 37th place so far this season.
Mears, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet that Kyle Busch left last season, is surprisingly in 33rd place. I know he's had a lot of bad luck. The same can be said for Jamie McMurray in the No. 26 Ford. It's been reported that he may be out of the seat if things don't turn around soon.
Martinsville is one of those tracks where anything can happen. The short track action has seen a lot of wrecks and tempers during the years. Hence why it's a lot of people's favorite track.

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