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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Week 33 Preview: Martinsville

Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500

Week 33


By Richard Tix

Talladega was a fun and exciting race for fans, but it also ended up being a very frustrating race for many. The outcome left Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, and Dale Ealrnhardt Jr out of the Chase and looking onto next year (or stealing wins in the last 4 races).

But, onward we go in the season into the Eliminator round. This round consists of the final eight drivers and three tracks (Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix). Drivers are sure to shake it up at Martinsville this week trying to lock in there spot for the finale at Miami on the short track. Lets take a look at the recent successful drivers at Martinsville and some of there stats.


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

The Good
  • Jimmie Johnson- JJ has been so good here that he really should be in his own category. Over his entire career (25 races) he has 8 wins, 18 top 5's, and 22 top 10's. That only 3 races outside the top 10! One was due to a car issue and the other two were finishes of 11th and 12th. 
  • Jeff Gordon- You can not mention one 8 time winner without the other. The question last time going in was will one win there 9th grandfather clock? Well Kurt Busch won earlier this year so its the same question this time around.
  • Clint Bowyer- He mad the "middle" section last time, which was because he always seems to run well, but has yet to win here. Well same story, but he has 5 straight top 10's, so it is time to move him up on notch.
The Middle
  • Brad Keselowski- BK is another guy who typically runs well at Martinsville but has yet to win here. Earlier this year he got into it with eventual race winner Kurt Busch and finished 38th. 
The Bad
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr- Small sample size (3 career races), but his finishes are 25th, 31st, and 40th. The finishes aren't even trending in the right direction. Luckily for Stenhouse, he should at least improve on the 40th earlier this season.
  • Michael McDowell- I normally don't like picking on the little guys, but in his 10 career starts he has a best finish of 26th and only 3 finishes in the top 35. 
  • Casey Mears- In his last 10 he only has one top 15 and only three top 20 finishes. Most of his issues at Martinsville have been since he joined Germain Racing so it may not all be his fault. 
Track Stats
  • 7 straight Chevy wins here at Martinsville
  • Other then Denny Hamlin (Toyota) Chevy has won 16 straight races. That's 16 of the past 20 races. If you add in Rusty Wallace's win in 2004 (Dodge) its 18 of the past 23.
  • The race has been won from the Pole 4 times in the last 12 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). Kurt won earlier this season after starting 22nd (3/30/2014).

 Martinsville Weekend Articles:

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