Pit Road Week 6: Martinsville

Weekly Review and Power Rankings

Week 6

By Richard Tix

After a week of tragic losses (RIP Bobby and Lynda) some NASCAR fans just needed racing to heal the heart. Sometimes in times of sorrow we need to look to do what those lost loved ones would want us to do, and in this case that might have been racing.

Boy, did Martinsville bring the racing. Just after the green flag flew the fireworks began. Drivers came into the pits early with level heads and left with tempers at a high.  Fireworks flew when Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch got into it on the track after they got into a wreck on pit road. Things settled down between the two after another caution. Kurt Busch then took his beat up SHR car towards the front after he said "our day is done." 

Kurts Day was anything but done, I guess he forgot Martinsville is a beat up cars dream. He took his #41 SHR Chevy all the way to the lead and battled with Jimmie Johnson on the closing laps. After taking the lead late he held JJ off for his first win in two years and his first with SHR. If you missed it, here are the STP 500 results.

Martinsville Preview

Pit Road: Power Rankings Week 6 (Week 5 Power Rankings)

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr (LW-4)- Look who is back atop the rankings and not just my Power Rankings, but also the NASCAR Standings. This spot almost went to JJ because JJ had a great day at Martinsville, but Jr has been so consistent and fought through bad days. Sunday wasn't a very good day, yet he finished 3rd. That says something about this team.
2. Jimmie Johnson (LW-5)- If JJ could have taken that win and got back around Kurt, I would have a different #1 this week. For now JJ will have to be patient, his time will come. 
3. Matt Kenseth (LW-2)- Kenseth finished 6th, yup 6th. I had to look at it again because what I remember about the race was a lot of JGR guys struggling. Good finish for the #20 team.
4. Carl Edwards (LW-1)- Carl is another driver having a great start to 2014 yet he had a mediocre finish at Martinsville. But because of all the mediocre finishes by guys on top of the standings he only falls to 4th after a 13th place finish. Look for him to bounce back at Texas.
5. Jeff Gordon (LW-3)- Gordon had a long day! After being many fans favorite to win on Sunday, Gordon found himself in the back. But at the end of the day the team didn't give up and salvaged a 12th place finish. 
6. Kyle Busch (LW-7)- A week after a win, Rowdy took the Pole for the STP 500. Other than that he had a long day of trying to find his car. He ended up finishing 14th, but like the next guy on this list still moves up a spot.
7. Tony Stewart (LW-8)- Not a great day for Smoke, he spent some time towards the front, but wasn't truly a contender for the win Sunday. After two straight top 5's he fell all the way to a 17th place finish. The bottom of these rankings really have a mix of guys who have been up and down, so Smoke somehow gains a spot without doing much. We will chalk it up as an Owner Win.
8. Kurt Busch (LW-NR)- After his "day was over" on Sunday, Kurt rallied to win his second grandfather clock (first since 2002). I will give him this, he did a heck of a job bouncing back after his near melt down when he and Brad Keselowski got into it. Maybe Kurt has turned the corner? If so he is a huge threat for the Cup.
9. Joey Logano (LW-NR)- After two rough weeks, JoLo once again had a strong showing at Martinsville. He picked up his 3rd top 5 (all of them 4th place finishes) and sits 8th in the standings. If he keeps it up, he should join his Penske teammate with a win in 2014.
10. Austin Dillon (LW-10)- Staying at 10th, Dillon was quiet again on Sunday but managed another top 15. Top 15's can get you on the list if you get them every week, but he wont be moving up very fast. Good start for a rookie though, as he is riding around learning, yet still finishing top 15 (I'm looking at you Danica).
11. Brad Keselowski (LW-6)- This happened in 2013 as well, but so far the causes of his slips are different. He has still seemed to have a fast car, but the finishes don't so it. One more week and he will go from first in the rankings to out of them in a few races.
12. Paul Menard (LW-NR)- Man I wanted to give this spot to AJ Allmendinger, but Menard has 3 top 10's in his last 4 races. That is too tough to ignore.

Dropped Out: Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Newman

Just Missed: AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, and Clint Bowyer

Honorable Mention: Marcus Ambrose and Aric Almirola

NASCAR Behind the Wall had about 25 votes on Twitter for this weekends race winner and not a single one picked Kurt Busch. So it looks like another week without congratulatory praise! Either we need better guesses, or more voters! I'm going with more voters because the driver I predicted didn't win either. NASCAR heads to Texas to get a view at the new jumbo screen, Big Haus. Check back for the preview and also new articles coming this week. 

Rookie Report: Week 5

2014 Season Rookie Report

Week 5

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall took a preseason and post Daytona 500 race look at the 2014 Rookie class. I have been waiting to let the rookies settle in a bit before taking another look at how there season is going. Well, after the results of Auto Club Speedway and how a few drivers finished I thought their is now better time then now to take a look back at them.

#3 Austin Dillon

Dillon sits 9th in overall points so far in the 2014 season, yet he still has yet to blow anyone away with his performance. However, most races he has stayed out of trouble and sat back and learned. He hasn't been over aggressive and that approach has faired well for him. He has back to back 11th place finishes and has finished top 16 in all but one race (Phoenix 24th). 

#42 Kyle Larson

Perfect timing for the rookie report for Kyle, as he just came off an exciting 2nd place finish at Auto Club Speedway. Larson battled Kyle Busch once again on the last lap but came up just short of the win. The more important stat, Larson has come away with a better finish in each of his races as the previous one (38th, 20, 19, 10, and 2nd). From the start he hasn't been as consistent as Dillon, but he has shown that flash of brilliance. 

#51 Justin Allgaier

We go from Larson who is 16th in overall standings all the way down to 29th to find the next rookie, Allgaier. So far Bristol seems to have been his best race of the season, finishing 17th and running 25 laps in the top 15. He also had a positive pass differential of +10 on the day/night. 

#7 Michael Annett

Just two spots down, 31st, we find the next rookie Annett. Michael is coming off his best finish of the season at Auto Club (19th place finish) after finishing a season best 26th the week before at Bristol. He still only managed to get up to 16th position, but he did have 128 green flag passes. He seems to be taking small steps in the right direction.

#26 Cole Whitt

Auto Club Speedway was overall friendly to the rookie class as Cole Whitt also is coming off his best finish of the season. Was this due to the conservative nature of the rookies set ups? Who knows, but fact is Cole Whitt finished 18th (his first top 20 finish). At one point he made it all the way up to 13th (1 lap) which is his highest of the season other than Daytona.

#23 Alex Bowman

Once again, another rookie having a career high best finish at Auto Club Speedway, Bowman finished the day 22nd after starting 40th. Alex's only race so far in 2014 that has yeilded a positive pass differential was Bristol with +11.

#30 Parker Kligerman

Bad luck has followed this kid around, or is it Parker? Either way you look at it he hasn't had a smooth rookie season so far. In 5 races he has only finished better than 40th two times. Its only up from here right?

Past Rookie Reports:

• Week 1
• Preseason

The Grandfather

The Quest to be the Best at Martinsville

By Richard Tix

**This article was before both Martinsville races in 2014. All stats do not include those races outcome which neither Gordon nor Jimmie Johnson won. For the race results to see how they did, see the link here. JJ finished second behind Kurt Busch and Gordon finished 12th**

Well as Martinsville approaches NASCAR Behind the Wall is going to take a look at two current drivers who have dominated during there time in NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway. When I say dominated this track, I truly mean it. They have been so good here that it is tough to even say one has been better then the other here, but lets be honest, we all want to know "who is the best" at everything and anything.

So lets get to it, your competitors are two Hendrick drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Since 1996 these two have paired to win 16 times (8 each) in 33 races. That means these two have combined to win almost half the time since that time (more impressive Jimmie Johnson has only been racing since 2001).

NASCAR Behind the Wall will attempt to look into these two drivers careers here at Martinsville from a few different angles to see if one has an advantage at winning there 9th Grandfather Clock.

Career Totals

Career Races at Martinsville
Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Avg Finish
Jeff Gordon	42	8	27	34	7	6.8
Jimmie Johnson	24	8	17	21	3	5.3

Well, first up we may as well take a look at the whole career of both drivers at Martinsville. When it comes to Wins, Top 5's, and Top 10's Gordon starts with an obvious advantage because he has had 18 more chances at this track. So at the current pace JJ needs 10 top 5's, and 13 top 10's in his next 18 races here to match Gordon. That's a tough task, but JJ has a huge edge in the Wins category, already having tied Gordon with 8.

Last year both drivers picked up there 8th Grandfather clock of there career (JJ first and then Gordon). The fight in Gordon shows he still has the will to win at Martinsville and maybe he can notch a few more before he is done.

Last 10 Races

Last 10 Races
Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Avg Finish
Jeff Gordon	10	1	7	8	0	9.1
Jimmie Johnson	10	3	7	8	2	4.9

Next up, lets take a quick look at each drivers last 10 races here.  The career stats (other then wins) seemed to have edged just a bit towards Gordon, but as of late it seems to be all Johnson. Once again, both have been very good, but JJ's Average finish and wins in the last 10 can not be ignored.

Best 10 Consecutive Races

Best 10 Consecutive Races
Driver	Years	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Pole	Avg Finish
Jeff Gordon	2003-07	4	7	10	4	3.1
Jimmie Johnson	2004-09	6	9	10	2	2.4

This chart is thrown together using what NASCAR Behind the Wall think's is each drivers best 10 race run at Martinsville (Consecutive races/finishes). Jeff Gordon also had another run of 10 races that was impressive, but this one finished up better. Both are very impressive, but this article is to nit pick, and well JJ only missed the top 5 once. He also won 60% of the time during his 10 race run. Edge goes to JJ again.

Best 15 Consecutive Races

Best 15  Consecutive Races
Driver	Years	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Avg Finish
Jeff Gordon	2003-10	4	12	15	6	3.26
Jimmie Johnson	2003-10	6	13	15	2	3.06

Same thing as before except this time its 15 straight races. This time the two drivers best stretches are almost on top of each other (2003-2010). Think of how happy Rick Hendrick must have been during this stretch (well all of the time, but that besides the fact). Everytime he turned around one of his driver was winning and the other was finishing top 5, or the very least top 10. Must be a hard day huh? Well, like was said before, hard to argue against either of these guys, but once again JJ takes the slight edge.

Final Take:

In any match-up there has to be a winner and a loser right? Both drivers have been consistently good at Martinsville over their career and both can fill up huge houses with Grandfather clocks in every room, but at the end of the day Jimmie Johnson has just the slightest edge over Jeff Gordon. Gordon has had the longer career, which means JJ still has some work to do, but because JJ already has 8 wins and most likely more appearances left at Martinsville then Gordon he has the better shot to be the Modern Day Grandfather.

What do you think? Will Jimmie Johnson continue to be the Modern Day "Grandfather"? Will Gordon finish with the better career at Martinsville or will JJ's career end up passing him (as it is already arguably just as good)? Who will get #9 first? Who will win in 2014, Gordon? JJ? Both? Let me know on Twitter!


Check these out too:

• Driver Spotlight: Jeff Gordon (Preseason Addition)
• Chasing History
• Power Rankings
• TV/Race Schedule
• Driver Entry List

2014 Martinsville Speedway Entry List

NASCAR Driver Entry List for Martinsville Speedway

By Richard Tix

Week 6 of the NASCAR season head's to Martinsville Speedway. Will we have our 6th different winner of the season? Here is the driver entry list.

More Articles to Check Out:

• TV/Race Schedule
• March Madness Final Four
• Power Rankings
• Martinsville Fantasy Preview- ThisSportz
• NASCAR March Madness (Elite 8)- ThisSportz

2014 NASCAR Martinsville Schedule

By Richard Tix

Here is your Martinsville Schedule for NASCAR's first trip to the track.

**All Times are Eastern**

Friday March 28, 2014

• 12 pm- Sprint Cup Practice- Fox Sports 1
• 4:30 pm- Sprint Cup Qualifying- Fox Sports 1

Saturday March 29, 2014

• 10 am- Sprint Cup Practice- Fox Sports 1
• 1 pm- Final Sprint Cup Practice- Fox Sports 1

Sunday March 30, 2014

• 1 pm- Sprint Cup Race, SPT 500

Full TV Schedule with Truck Practice times found here on NASCAR.com

More Articles:

• March Madness Final Four
• Power Rankings
• ThisSportz- Another good Blog to check out.

March Madness NASCAR Style: Final Four

By Richard Tix

College Basketball started there annual tournament this past weekend but NASCAR Behind the Wall had already beat them to the punch. In fact, we are already down to our Final Four that will be decided at Martinsville Speedway.

For a look back, here are the opening articles:

• Opening Bracket
• Elite Eight

If you need a refresher, here are the rules:

• Brackets were decided by current standings after the race at Las Vegas. Four Divisions, top 4 in the standings got the #1 seeds, 5-8 in the standings got the #2 seeds, 9-12 #3 seeds and so on.
• From the standings the rankings were given out serpentine style. Meaning: The driver ranked 5th (first #2 seed) started in the lowest #1 seed's bracket (in this case Joey Logano's). It continued all the way up until 3 seeds, which then went from Jr's bracket on down.
• Here is how the rounds break down by race (first race we have two eliminations to speed it up).
• Bristol: Round 32 and Sweet 16 (Bristol= NASCAR's Definition of Madness)
• Auto Club: Elite 8
• Martinsville: Final Four
• Texas: Championship
• The driver that finishes Highest in the race moves on (Think the last Chase Race)

Now lets get onto the match-ups and who advanced to the Final Four NASCAR Style

Elite Eight Match-Ups

The Jr Division					Loud Mouth Division
5	Stenhouse				4	Kahne
6	Almirola				2	Edwards
6-Time Division					Young Gun's Division
5	Ambrose				5	Vickers
7	Stewart				2	Gordon

5) Stenhouse v 6) Almirola

• Wow, what a barn burner here. Both had great runs at Bristol and then both had troubles at Auto Club. With Almirola getting taken out early by Brian Scott, Ricky pretty much got the automatic bye while finishing 34th. Lucky break for him.

5) Ambrose v 7) Stewart

• Apparently someone told Tony Stewart about my March Madness Bracket because he has been on fire. He has back to back top 5's to start the tournament. Meanwhile Ambrose finished his day in Fontana in 30th place.

4) Kahne v 2) Edwards

• Kahne was out of this one early when he took the #5 Chevy behind the wall to the garage. That didn't stop Carl from getting a top 10 (10th). Carl heads into the Final Four with a lot of momentum.

5) Vickers v 2) Gordon

• This was our best match-up of the round, well really the only match up close (unless you count the battle to not be the worst of Almirola v Ricky). Gordon should have won this one but a late caution gave Vickers the edge. Gordon just wasn't good on the restarts and it hurt his finish.

Final Four

5	Stenhouse				2	Edwards
7	Stewart				5	Vickers

So this is how the Final Four will look going into Martinsville. Most people don't count Vickers as a threat to win every week, but Edwards gets a tough match-up this week. Lets take a closer look.

5) Stenhouse v 7) Stewart

• Last season Smoke struggled and finished 17th at Martinsville and the time before that he finished 27th. He did have a win back in 2011 here, but he has either been good or towards the back. Martinsville is still new to Stenhouse, as he only has two Cup starts here. Last year he finished 25th and 31st.
• Edge: I like Smoke in this one. Ricky has been running better in 2014, but he still hasn't been proven at Martinsville.

2) Edwards v 5) Vickers

• Neither one of these guys are power houses at this track. Carl only has 3 top 10's in his last 10 starts here. He does seem to finish around the 12-20 position, so maybe a solid day will let him slide into the Championship. Vickers on the other hand has shown glimpses of being good at Martinsville, yet he average finish is 16.8 in 8 races.
• Edge: I'm going with Edwards this time. I think a consistent finish about 15th might win this match-up between the two. This could be a close battle though.

March Madness NASCAR Style:

• Opening Bracket
• Elite Eight

Week 6 Preview: Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway

STP 500

By Richard Tix

Last week NASCAR made its annual stop at Auto Club Speedway and for the second time in two years Kyle Busch came away the winner after stealing the lead in the last couple laps. For the most part the race was exciting and had a great finish, but some fans were upset because of the Good Year Tire performance. Teams were having trouble keeping tires on the cars and it led some added drama but also a lot of extra frustration.

So now NASCAR's big question going into Martinsville, will the tire hold up? Auto Club is a beast of its own when it comes to tire wear. Was it the tires? Was it aggressive set ups? Was it the huge moguls messing around with the tire pressure? All of it is fair game. I think it is a mix between Good Year and teams pushing there equipment to the edge.

In my opinion, racing is pushing your equipment to its breaking point and finding that balance that gives your team the upper hand. In this case it is tires and tires are tricky. The drivers who were frustrated seemed to just be that way because it was unpredictable. In the broad sense it was, but it did look like tires would start going around the 20-25 lap mark. It is a tough call because I think some of it could have to do with set ups and some of it could have to do with lines drivers were taking (also, some of it on Good Year).

It will be interesting to see how or if anything happens at Martinsville with the tires (obviously its a short track and a different tire). One thing is for sure, NASCAR will have to address the issue at some point if it keeps happening.

So lets get onto the NASCAR's Good, Middle, and Bad drivers in the last few races at Martinsville. Here is a look at NASCAR Behind the Wall's Preview and Review for Martinsville last year (Note: only the first appearance at Martinsville)


The Good, Middle, and Bad
(This is just a review of each drivers recent past performance, generally about 5-10 past races)

The Good:

• Jimmie Johnson- 8 grandfather clock's in his career. Enough said. Last years winner in this race (first race).
• Jeff Gordon- Gordon has 8 as well, but he has done it in 42 races compared to JJ's 24. He is the last winner at Martinsville (second race). Will they split again this season? Or will one take the lead?
• Denny Hamlin- He is next in line with 4 career wins at Martinsville. Only 3 times in 16 tries has he finished outside the top 10 (12th, 33rd, and 37th). The big question with DH is, will he race this week?

The Middle:

• Clint Bowyer- I like using this spot on a driver who has run well here late but maybe doesn't have the full career stats here. Well in Clint's case, he just hasn't won yet. He has been good, but not great here yet. But he could make a splash this year (Same with Brad Keselowski).
• Extra Credit: Brad Keselowski

The Bad:

• Kurt Busch- Seems weird to see a "wheel-man" as Kurt on this list, but he hasn't faired too well here. In 27 races he only has 4 top 10's. One of those was a win, but his last top 10 was 17 races ago in 2005. 
• Greg Biffle- 22 races and only 5 top 10's, 0 wins, and 0 top 5's. However, 3 of those 5 have come in the last 3 races, so things maybe looking up for him here.
• Paul Menard- Menard has 13 starts at Martinsville and not once has he finished top 10. He just finds a way onto these lists.

Track Stats:

• 6 straight Chevy wins here at Martinsville
• Other then Denny Hamlin (Toyota) Chevy has won 15 straight races. Thats 15 of the past 19 races. If you add in Rusty Wallace's win in 2004 (Dodge) its 17 of the past 22.
• The race has been won from the Pole 4 times in the last 11 races.
• Most cautions was 21 in 2004 for 127 laps. 
• The farthest back a winner has started from was 36th (Kurt Busch) in 2002 (10/20/2002). This is Kurt's only win at Martinsville.

So who do you have winning the Grandfather Clock this year? Let me know who you got running well on Twiitter! Also, come back after the race for the newest addition of Pit Row (Power Rankings)