Seeing as how Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have combined to win the past eight races at Martinsville, it seems foolish to pick against them this weekend.
Martinsville Fantasy Picks: Another Option Aside From Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin
But NASCAR’s Driver Rating stat offers some interesting alternatives.
Jeff Gordon (second) is barely below Johnson and has recorded a whopping 11 straight top-five finishes at the half-mile track. Tony Stewart (fourth) and Kevin Harvick (sixth) are also among the Chase drivers who could be viable alternatives to Johnson and Hamlin.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fifth) could be a viable second-tier driver (depending on your league), though it would be wise to stay away from Chase drivers like Greg Biffle (29th) and Matt Kenseth (19th).
As a side note, it’s no wonder Johnson dominates in the Chase: This is the fifth straight week he has been the top pre-race performer at a track.
The full standings:
TUMS Fast Relief 500 Pre-RaceFor point-paying races in current and past four years, at this track.Martinsville SpeedwaySunday, October 24, 2010Driver RatingFormula combining the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.Number of Races: 11
Rank Car Driver Avg Finish High AVG DRIVER RATING1 48 Jimmie Johnson 3.1 149.1 123.82 24 Jeff Gordon 2.9 132.2 123.03 11 Denny Hamlin 6.6 141.1 111.44 14 Tony Stewart 11.1 147.5 108.45 88 D Earnhardt Jr. 13.2 133.1 98.16 29 Kevin Harvick 17.2 108.9 90.17 18 Kyle Busch 17.8 121.9 89.98 5 Mark Martin 15.7 113.5 89.19 39 Ryan Newman 10.9 109.6 87.810 31 Jeff Burton 16.7 121.4 87.811 11 Jason Leffler 12.0 87.5 87.512 1 Jamie McMurray 17.5 114.4 86.013 33 Clint Bowyer 12.8 112.7 85.814 42 Juan Montoya 14.6 122.7 83.715 2 Kurt Busch 21.2 101.6 81.816 99 Carl Edwards 16.9 121.1 81.017 83 Brian Vickers 20.0 92.0 77.018 20 Joey Logano 15.3 100.7 75.819 17 Matt Kenseth 15.1 96.9 75.720 9 Kasey Kahne 19.9 102.4 73.621 12 Brad Keselowski 12.0 72.7 72.722 6 David Ragan 19.4 100.0 70.223 07 Casey Mears 18.6 97.4 69.224 71 Bobby Labonte 23.4 104.3 68.525 56 M Truex Jr. 21.8 93.1 67.226 19 Elliott Sadler 25.3 108.4 67.127 96 Ken Schrader 28.9 81.7 65.628 70 Tony Raines 20.0 88.8 65.329 16 Greg Biffle 22.4 91.9 64.630 00 David Reutimann 25.3 89.8 64.131 47 Marcos Ambrose 17.3 81.5 63.632 66 Jeff Green 26.0 98.7 62.833 43 Reed Sorenson 27.3 88.4 62.634 96 J.J. Yeley 28.6 77.7 58.735 36 Scott Riggs 22.3 77.7 55.436 34 Travis Kvapil 28.6 84.4 54.637 43 AJ Allmendinger 28.2 90.4 54.438 98 Paul Menard 21.5 74.1 53.439 70 Johnny Sauter 33.7 60.8 51.940 26 David Stremme 31.0 70.1 51.741 87 Joe Nemechek 29.3 83.8 50.542 78 Regan Smith 28.5 74.9 50.043 09 Aric Almirola 36.6 82.5 49.044 77 Sam Hornish Jr. 29.0 65.7 48.845 66 Dave Blaney 32.9 68.0 48.046 55 Michael Waltrip 26.0 69.4 47.347 36 Mike Bliss 34.2 77.9 45.448 21 Bill Elliott 28.0 57.4 43.449 4 Mike Wallace 29.0 44.7 43.450 37 David Gilliland 30.3 51.5 42.551 34 John Andretti 31.3 47.5 40.852 82 Scott Speed 33.3 48.7 40.153 10 P Carpentier 29.0 39.9 39.954 7 Robby Gordon 36.9 56.7 38.455 45 Chad McCumbee 25.0 35.0 35.056 55 M McDowell 36.7 47.7 34.957 38 Kevin Conway 31.0 34.3 34.358 13 Max Papis 40.0 32.5 32.559 66 Hermie Sadler 34.5 31.4 31.160 64 Derrike Cope 37.5 34.2 30.361 34 Kevin Lepage 35.5 34.9 29.662 64 Todd Bodine 43.0 25.8 25.8
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