Updated Westgate odds to win 2015 STP 500 at Martinsville

Jimmie Johnson goes for ninth grandfather clock

STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

KEVIN HARVICK 6
JIMMIE JOHNSON 7-2
JEFF GORDON 7-2
DALE EARNHARDT JR 10
BRAD KESELOWSKI 12
JOEY LOGANO 8
MATT KENSETH 25
CARL EDWARDS 25
KASEY KAHNE 20
DENNY HAMLIN 7
KYLE LARSON 40
MARTIN TRUEX JR 25
KURT BUSCH 15
RYAN NEWMAN 25
JAMIE McMURRAY 40
TONY STEWART 40
CLINT BOWYER 100
DAVID RAGAN 100
CHASE ELLIOTT 100
PAUL MENARD 100
AUSTIN DILLON 200
GREG BIFFLE 200
AJ ALLMENDINGER 100
ARIC ALMIROLA 200
DANICA PATRICK 300
TREVOR BAYNE 500
RICKY STENHOUSE JR 500
SAM HORNISH JR 500
CASEY MEARS 500
FIELD 500

Denny Hamlin talks with media Friday at Martinsville

Hamlin is 7/1 to win STP 500 Sunday

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How does your car stack up based on practice speeds?
“It’s a little early to tell. Nobody was really in race trim much that first practice so you really aren’t going to know until tomorrow where you stand as far as that’s concerned. Overall, our cars had okay speed – ours did. Our teammates were a little bit off, but it looked like the Hendrick cars have some very good speed, as they should. I’m sure today we’ll probably be chasing them in qualifying and I’m sure in the race as well.”

Why do drivers get so upset with each other during this race?
“It’s the tight confines and contact is almost unavoidable at this race track. Usually when there is contact, it affects somebody negatively and that person feels like it could have been avoided and the other person sometimes doesn’t. There’s a disagreement. It’s just part of this race track. If you put us on a quarter-mile track, we’re probably going to have even more altercations with each other. It’s just the smaller the track, the more chances of that is going to be inevitable. It’s a one-groove track and the other short tracks we go to, you can move around a little bit and you can avoid it where here everyone fights for the bottom. It usually happens because someone is hung on the outside, they’re trying to get to the bottom and trying to force their way to the bottom and somebody doesn’t cut them a break and ends up spinning them out. That’s usually what happens here and it’s probably 90 percent of why the wrecks happen and people are upset.”

Are you more concerned with keeping up with other team’s performance or working on your performance?
“I think ourselves, it’s a fair question. I think that as a program we could still be better. I thought last week we showed signs of progress. You still have to finish and execute the way you’re supposed to at the end of these races to win them, but I thought overall on the mile-and-a-half program that’s been our strong suit really for the last year and a half if we’ve had any strong suit at all it’s been on the bigger tracks. It’s these tracks that you become a little more concerned with and are anxious for us to see this weekend kind of where our program stands on the short tracks. We feel like we have some great short track drivers in our stable that haven’t got to showcase that over the last two years because our program has been so bad. I think that hopefully that turns around this weekend.”

Is this a track where you have the best opportunity win?
“Normally I would say yes, but really it’s been the bigger tracks where we’ve had our best opportunities to win races. It hasn’t been at these. We did run pretty strong here though in the Chase race last time we were here. For me, our struggles come more at like Richmond, Loudon and Phoenix where our program has just taken a turn to the bad over the last couple years. This is kind of a one-off race track that the driver can make up a little bit of a difference and that’s why you see the same drivers up front here really no matter what’s going on in their program they’re up front here. I think that this is kind of a one-off track as far as that’s concerned. I’m very confident when we come here that this is one of those opportunities where you just need to seize as a race team. We should be in the mix. Hopefully, come Sunday it’s just a matter of if we can get our cars to do the things we need them to do.”

Would it be a big deal to get the win here for JGR and Toyota?
“It would be and obviously it’s been said 1000 times about when the last Toyota win has been. It’s been tough and it’s been a hard year for the organization and the manufacturer. Not that a win here would just satisfy all those needs – we still know that realistically we’ve got a lot of work to do, but it definitely would take a lot of pressure off because right now we’re all in that hornets’ nest of the bubble spot if this thing comes down to points.”

Has the first stretch of races given you an idea of who is strong?
“I think it does and really I’m in favor of just going wherever there’s not going to be a high chance of rain or cold weather. Really it doesn’t matter how they iron out these race tracks at the beginning of the season, but we definitely need to think about weather and what it’s going to be like. Atlanta luckily turned out pretty decent, but it was a very cold weekend thrown in there. It’s tough to do because we are in an outside sport to try to predict weather, but I think that we do have an idea of what we’ve got, but it’s so early in the season that it’s going to be mid-summer before we really start to understand where your program fully is and you go back to some of these race tracks again. I think everyone right now is chasing really the 4 (Kevin Harvick) car and some other Hendrick guys. Still plenty of time to catch those guys here in the future.”

What role has J.D. Gibbs played in your career and how has the team been impacted by the news?
“J.D. (Gibbs, president of JGR) has been the guy that has really run the company when I first came in back in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when Joe (Gibbs, team owner of JGR) was still doing football. He was a huge part of that and his role is probably reduced a little bit when his dad came back, but he’s obviously still a very important part of our organization and how it’s run and things like that. It’s not like he can’t do those things, he’s still going to be at the shop doing some work and doing things, but obviously he’s got to overcome some obstacles and really that family has faced some obstacles with his son just a few years ago. They’re tough and they’ll work through it and as an organization we’re all praying for him.”

Have you spoken with J.D. Gibbs since the news came out on Wednesday?
“I haven’t since they announced it, but personally I’ve known for a little bit about it. Really, he seems upbeat about it. I saw him last weekend at the race track and he seems fine. It’s not something that he really harps on, but obviously it’s something that’s very serious and you have to treat it seriously. I think that they’ve got some of the best doctors in the world trying to help him and trying to figure out what’s going on and I think they’re still in the process of figuring out what all is going on so that will be ongoing I’m sure for a little while.”

Do you believe there are teams in the garage tampering with tires?
“I think for sure it has. I don’t think — I know NASCAR sat down all the crew chiefs last year in Phoenix and told them to stop doing it. My guess is that if they said stop then they’ve seen something. If it’s out there and they know about it, you should be gone forever. That’s a major, major thing and this isn’t like the old rodeo days of being able to go out there and run a big motor or soak the tires – this is a professional sport and people alter tires — that’s a big, big deal. Definitely no room for it in the sport, that’s for sure. Hope they clamp down on that if they do find it and if they find it multiple times with somebody, they should have a permanent vacation somewhere.”

How long have rumors of tire altering been going through the garage?
“This has been going on for years and years – it’s just ramped up again here lately. When I say going on, I mean just rumors and stuff. People can only say something about you so much before it’s actually reality and it’s reality. Things like this doesn’t keep getting brought up and said if it’s not actually happening. I’m not real close to it because we haven’t had our tires confiscated or anything like that – wish we were running well enough for that to happen, but we haven’t. I think that it’s going to be a tough thing, from what I understand for them to figure out whether it’s a natural leak or a drill-induced leak. They’ll figure out a way and whether it be somebody else looking at the tires to try to figure it out, they’ll find it and when they do the person – when they feel NASCAR getting hot on them they’re going to stop doing it. That’s maybe when you see some performance differences, you never know. We don’t know what kind of performance difference it can do because we haven’t done it.”

Are you looking forward to your Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown again?
“We’re going back to South Boston Speedway for the second year in a row and they did such a great job the first year helping with promotion and putting the event on and running the event – everything just went so well for us last year. Obviously it was a pretty quick decision to go back again this year and had a great race there last year. Matt Bowling won in great fashion. It was awesome to see a good finish at the end and I wish I was a part of it. Unfortunately I haven’t run very good over the last few years in my own race, but lack of practice time more than likely I will blame it on. I don’t know, we have close to 50 cars and some great guys come out to support that and we had standing room only or stand in the back of your truck room only type of atmosphere last year. Had cars on top of each other – we had just about everything you can imagine. We’re very excited to have it again and the proceeds – 100 percent go to the Denny Hamlin Foundation, which will benefit a lot of different children’s charities, mainly cystic fibrosis, which my cousin has and is still fighting with. We’re hopefully going to have another successful year this year with it. Tickets are $20 and suites are $200. We’ve got some great stuff going on with it. It will be a sold out crowd again and better get your tickets now if you want to watch it.”

- Toyota Racing

Updated LVH Super Book STP 500 Martinsville Odds

Johnson dropped to 5/2 favorite

STP GAS BOOSTER 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2013

JIMMIE JOHNSON 5-2
KYLE BUSCH 6
BRAD KESELOWSKI 9
MATT KENSETH 20
KASEY KAHNE 9
TONY STEWART 30
JEFF GORDON 6
DALE EARNHARDT JR 15
GREG BIFFLE 50
CARL EDWARDS 20
KEVIN HARVICK 15
CLINT BOWYER 9
MARTIN TRUEX JR 25
MARK MARTIN 40
BRIAN VICKERS 20
JOEY LOGANO 20
RYAN NEWMAN 35
RICKY STENHOUSE JR 100
KURT BUSCH 50
PAUL MENARD 75
MARCOS AMBROSE 75
JUAN MONTOYA 100
JAMIE McMURRAY 50
ARIC ALMIROLA 100
JEFF BURTON 100
REGAN SMITH 200
DANICA PATRICK 500
FIELD 300

Cope Twins Qualify for Martinsville Truck Race and Grab Attention While Doing It

NASCAR fans -- start your engines! Yes, two women will be making their official debut Saturday as NASCAR truck drivers, and they will be drawing a lot of attention, that's for sure! Amber and Angela Cope are 27-year-old twins who not only have the skill to drive for NASCAR, but the stunning looks of supermodels. You don't have to look too far to see how they got their driving skills. They are the nieces of 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, and these beauties are scheduled to make their NASCAR debut in Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race.

“This is what we have strived for since we started racing go-carts,” said Angela . “We successfully ran go-carts for years across the Northwest, then moved to North Carolina over five years ago with a dream to race stock cars or trucks. We will now get the opportunity to earn the respect of our competitors.”

The sisters didn't practice or qualify well on Saturday, but it doesn't matter. Their looks have caught the attention of many, including this page earlier in the week, which rarely posts anything regarding the Truck Series.

I can see a reality show and sponsorship opportunities coming their way just because of being able to market them well. They would cross-over into a lot of markets that directly hits NASCAR fans. Guess what the top selling perfumes are at Wal-Mart? Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and some other princess star. Kardashian's people actually got involved with NASCAR at the Las Vegas race sponsoring a Cup car with her pink logo and face on it.

It's not so much about how well you can drive anymore, but about how well you can get sponsorship dollars. There are dozens of good drivers out there who aren't driving because they can't sell themselves. They can say that winning, or doing well, will create business, but with these girls, you don't care how they finish. They'll get face time because people want to look at them.

I hope they do well enough to stick around for a while. NASCAR could use a boost of something like this. We anticipated Danica Patrick being something special for NASCAR, but she's turned out to be a grouch who can't seem to change her ways for the betterment of advancing her skills. She thinks she knows a lot more than she does about racing and is unwilling to completely listen. That's what star power does to people and it's why Jack Roush rarely goes with a veteran driver opting to go with fresh listeners right of the gate who will listen and learn.

Good Luck Girls!

The first two paragraphs of this post was taken from some web page, somewhere that I can't find again. If I find it, I'll post the credit.
  

    

Hamlin Weathers The Storm, Wins at Martinsville for Third Time

Associated Press

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Denny Hamlin won the rain-delayed NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway, surging to the front in a wild finish after a blunder.

Hamlin gave up the lead with less than 10 laps left Monday when he headed to pit road for tires. He then rallied from ninth place to the lead in a span of just four laps.

The finish was a two-lap sprint in which he started fourth. He pushed Ryan Newman out of his way, then slipped inside Matt Kenseth and leader Jeff Gordon for the victory.

The race originally was scheduled for Sunday but was postponed a day because of rain.

Chevy Bow-ties and Virginians Set To Battle at Martinsville; Jeff Burton Looks Strong

by Micah Roberts
Las Vegas Review-Journal

The top story coming into this week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway centered on Jimmie Johnson capturing the last four season championships, winning three of the first five races this season, and dominating nearly every season at Martinsville since he’s been on the circuit.


Following Saturday’s practice sessions, the story has shifted to how good some of the other drivers have been in practice, in particular Jeff Burton. The native Virginian, who grew up 64 miles away in nearby South Boston, tied for the fastest lap during the first practice session and was second fastest during happy hour in final preparation for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500.

Burton not only had the best showing during Saturday’s practices, he also ran the most laps in each with 60 in the first and 99 in the final session. He looks to have his best chance at winning since finishing third in this race in 2008. His only Martinsville win came in the fall of 1997.

Burton’s success during Saturday’s practice comes a week after NASCAR tested the new spoiler at Charlotte, where he and his Childress teammates were stars of the two-day session. The spoiler debuts on the short track of Martinsville this week. It won’t have near the same impact this week that it will have on larger downforce tracks, but it is a sign — along with Martinsville’s practice — that the Childress organization is going to be a thorn in Johnson’s quest to win five straight titles.

Johnson has won six career races at Martinsville, including five of the last seven. He’s finished outside of the top 10 only once in his 16 career starts, and that was his first Cup start on the track. No one comes close to Johnson at Martinsville, but things may be a little different this week.

Johnson’s cars usually come right off the hauler ready to dominate with little tinkering throughout the practices. But this week they looked like a normal team scrambling to get the optimum setup during practices rather than the team that always has it figured out. Their average speeds and times were not Johnson-like at Martinsville.

However, they still have the best crew in NASCAR and chances are they will have that car set up good enough to compete while making the necessary changes as the race goes on. Nine straight top-five finishes coming into this race is pretty strong and chances are it will happen again, but winning is definitely a question mark.

One of the top candidates Johnson will have to go through to get his seventh win on the track will be his teammate and boss, Jeff Gordon, who has seven career wins at Martinsville. Gordon could have probably tacked on four more wins, but Johnson has pigged them all over that span. Over the past 10 races, Gordon has finished in the top five each time, with two wins and three second-place finishes.

Gordon was strong in every practice, whether in qualifying trim on Friday, where he was fourth quickest, or in race trim Saturday, where he was fifth and fourth. respectively. Look for a strong run out of Gordon this week who is searching for his first win since Texas almost a year ago.

Two other Hendrick cars joined Johnson and Gordon as top contenders to win this week after stellar practice sessions. Mark Martin practices well every week and has the look of being able to win on any track, but the surprise came with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was fastest in average speeds during happy hour.

Read More Here.....
Includes Updated Las Vegas Hilton Super Book odds, Martinsville facts, and Final Driver Ratings

Martinsville Driver Chassis Selections: Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500

compiled by Jeff Wackerlin
MotorRacingNetwork.com

1. Kevin Harvick: Coming off seventh top 10 in 17 starts; Has not led a lap since the 2004 fall race when he was up front for 104 laps; 15.2 average finish in the six races with the new car; Will race the same chassis (No. 212) that his teammate Clint Bowyer drove to victories at New Hampshire (Sept. 2007) and Richmond (May 2008).

2. Matt Kenseth: Last of six top 10s came in the 2008 fall race; Best finish (second) came in the Spring race of 2002; Finished 23rd in this event last year after getting involved in a late accident; 15.0 average finish in the six races with the new car.

3. Jimmie Johnson: Six-time winner; Has won five of the last seven races; 5.1 average finish leads all drivers; Has led 1,551 laps in 16 starts; Will debut a new chassis (No. 590) in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500.

4. Greg Biffle: Only top 10 (seventh) in 14 starts came in the 2007 fall race; 20.7 average finish in the six races with the new car; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 667) in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500.

5. Tony Stewart: Finished third and ninth, respectively, in first two track starts with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009; Posted 11 top 10s and two wins in previous 20 starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 587) in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500.

6. Kurt Busch: 23.1 average finish in eight starts with Penske Racing; Four top 10s, including one win, came in previous 11 starts with Roush Racing; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 722) in the Goody’s Fast pain Relief 500.

7. Jeff Burton: Has posted three top 10s in 11 starts with Richard Childress Racing; Scored one win and 11 top 10s with Roush Racing; Chassis No. 283 will be the car of choice for the No. 31 team this weekend; This car was converted to a short-track car after its most recent finish, of 14th, last October at Charlotte.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Fifth best track on the circuit based on 14.1 average finish; Has posted an 11.3 average finish in four starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Best finish came in the 2008 fall race in second; Will debut a new chassis (No. 562) that was tested at Rockingham.

9. Paul Menard: Has yet to finish in the top 15 in five starts; Best finish came in this event in 2006 in 16th; Will debut a new chassis (No. 619) that was tested at Rockingham last week.

10. Kyle Busch: Coming off first top-20 finish (fourth) in four starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Previous four top 10s came with Hendrick Motorsports; Led 106 laps in the 2007 fall race; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 249) that most recently finished eighth at Charlotte last October.

11. Jeff Gordon: Leads active drivers in wins (7), top fives (22), top 10s (28), laps led (2,796) and poles (7); Has finished ninth or better in last 14 starts; Led 147 laps in this event last year en route to a fourth-place finish.

12. Clint Bowyer: Ended a streak of four consecutive top 10s last fall with a 19th-place finish; Fifth-best average finish (10.5) among drivers that have raced in all six events with the new car; Has yet to lead a lap in eight starts; Will be back behind the wheel of the same car (chassis No. 267) that he tested at Darlington (Goodyear Test) and Rockingham.

13. Carl Edwards: Only top 10s came in both races in 2008; Third-place finish in the 2009 fall race was best in 11 starts; Has yet to lead a lap.

14. Brian Vickers: Only top 10 in 10 starts came in the 2006 spring race with Hendrick Motorsports; Has posted a 19.5 average finish with Team Red Bull in four starts; Best finish with Red Bull is 11th, which he accomplished in the last two fall events.

15. Jamie McMurray: Third best track on the circuit based on 15.6 average finish; Coming off eighth and ninth top 10s in 14 starts; Will make his first track start in a Chevrolet.

16. Mark Martin: Finished seventh and eighth, respectively in first two track starts with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009; Won the spring race in 1992 and 2000 with Roush Racing; 13.2 average finish in 44 starts; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 561) that he raced at Martinsville last fall.

17. Joey Logano: Making third Cup start; Finished a best 12th in last fall's race.

18. Scott Speed: Has finished 30th or worse in three starts.

19. Denny Hamlin: Coming off second victory and has finished sixth or better in last seven starts; Combined to lead 502 laps last season; Second-best average finish (3.0) in the six starts with the new car; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 267) in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500.

20. Martin Truex Jr: Only top 10 in eight starts was 10th-place finish in fall of 2008; Average finish is 23.9.

21. AJ Allmendinger: Scored first top-10 finish in five starts (ninth) in this event last year; 26.2 average finish; Piloting chassis No. 276 which was last raced at Phoenix last fall to a 13th-place finish.

22. Juan Pablo Montoya: Best oval on the schedule based on his 11.0 average finish; Posted a 7.5 average finish in 2009 in first two track starts in an Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet; Led 37 laps last fall en route to first top five.

23. Kasey Kahne: Has a 19.7 average finish in 12 starts; Last of two top 10s came in the 2006 fall event; Finished second in the spring of 2005.

24. David Reutimann: Yet to finish in the top 10 in six starts; Best finish was 16th in last fall's race; 24.8 average finish.

25. Elliott Sadler: Returns to hometown track where he's made 22 starts; One top five and three top 10s with an average finish of 24.8; Driving brand new chassis No. 270.

26. Ryan Newman: Finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in first two track starts with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009; Scored six top 10s in previous 14 starts with Penske Racing; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 492) that raced in both Martinsville races last season.

27. David Ragan: Best finish in seven starts was 11th-place finish in this event in 2008; 19.9 average finish; Primary chassis RK-635 was last run at Loudon in June of 2009 to a 33rd-place finish.

28. Regan Smith: Last of three races was in October of 2008 with a 42nd-place result; Scored a best 14th-place result in this event in 2008.

29. Bobby Labonte: Winner of this event in 2002 with Joe Gibbs Racing; 17.0 average finish after 34 starts; Six top fives and 13 top 10s.

30. Brad Keselowski: Making first Cup Series start; Has made four Truck Series starts with a best finish of 18th in 2005; Driving a brand-new chassis PRS-723.

Martinsville Preview: Goody's Relief Will Be If Anyone Can Stop Johnson; Good-Luck!

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Last week Jimmie Johnson went into the short track racing season on the high banks of Bristol, a place he had never won at, and won. This week, Johnson visits another short track at the much flatter Martinsville Speedway, a track that he has thoroughly dominated like no other.

Quick trivia time: When was the last time Johnson didn’t finish in the top-5 of a Martinsville race? How about the last time he finished out of the top-10?

In this race back in 2005, Johnson finished eighth and in his rookie year of 2002, his very first race on the track, Johnson finished 35th.

It seems hard to comprehend that someone could be so consistently good for such a long period of time at one particular track, especially when he ran so mediocre -- by his lofty standards -- at Bristol over the same span.

Johnson has six career wins at Martinsville including a stretch from the fall of 2006 to this race last year where he won five of the six races run. That is a pretty remarkable feat for any type of racing in all classes, but to do it in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series which has some of the largest starting fields and bank rolls to make great competitive cars really shows just how good Johnson is.

He may not give us the banter we all want to hear. He doesn’t have a lot of choice words for any other drivers. He hasn’t got caught up in any rivalry or payback threats. No, all Johnson does is win Championships and there is no better evidence of his machine-like performance that display all his perceived vanilla traits than at Martinsville.

We could also look at the beginning of 2010 if further evidence is needed to just how great Johnson is. He’s generally a slow starter, but he’s already got three wins in five races giving him 50 for his career. Only three drivers in NASCAR history -- Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, and David Pearson -- have gotten to 50 wins faster than Johnson.

From every aspect of NASCAR racing, Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus have it all covered. The driver usually gets most of the credit, but it starts with the team who always has his chassis set up ideally for each race right when it comes off the truck.

The question this week is who may be the top contender to give Johnson a run for the money on his most successful track? The two races that Johnson hasn’t won over the last races there have been won by Virginia native Denny Hamlin. Over those last seven races, Hamlin has finished out of the top-5 only once, and that was a sixth-place run.

Martinsville could be the perfect place to get Hamlin out of his current funk that has seen him go the first five races without a top-10 finish, numbers that are well below expectations for a driver many picked to be the one to topple Johnson’s quest for a fifth straight Championship.

Jeff Gordon is the current active leader in wins at Martinsville with seven. He hasn’t there since 2005 when he swept the season, but has been competitive at the highest level while Hamlin and Johnson have pigged all the wins. Since sweeping in 2005, Gordon has eight straight top-5 finishes that include three second-place runs. Overall Gordon has 22 top-5 finishes in his 34 career starts on the track.

Tony Stewart showed some signs of life last week at Bristol and its about the same time last year that he showed the NASCAR world that he would be able to contend at a high level with his new team. The same turnaround occurred for his teammate Ryan Newman.

Last week Stewart got his first top-5 of the season by finishing second. Both his cars should be primed for good runs this week. Newman finished sixth and seventh in last years Martinsville races while Stewart was third and ninth.

Two other candidates who could run well are Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya. Both cars looked terrific in their first run on the short last week as teammates. Both had great practice sessions that translated well in the race with Montoya leading laps on four separate occasions and McMurray finishing eighth. Montoya had a career best third-place finish in the fall Martinsville race last season.

Kurt Busch had a great run last week leading the most laps and finishing third, but Martinsville always seems to get the best of him. He does have one career win on the track -- back in 2002 -- but only has one top-5 finish on the track since. His brother Kyle has been just a little better, but the short track excellence they show at Bristol hasn’t translated over to Martinsville as pronounced, almost an opposite to what Johnson has shown between the two short tracks.

Kyle Busch has three fourth-place finishes mixed in with four finishes of 24th or worse.


TOP 5 Finish Prediction:
1) #14 Tony Stewart (12/1)
2) #11 Denny Hamlin (8/1)
3) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6/1)
4) #24 Jeff Gordon (8/1)
5) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya (18/1)

Visit VegasInsider.com for more stats and info on this weeks Race.

Odds To Win Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville - Las Vegas Hilton Super Book

GOODY'S FAST PAIN RELIEF 500

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON 5-2
MARK MARTIN 15
JEFF GORDON 6
KYLE BUSCH 15
DENNY HAMLIN 5
JUAN MONTOYA 18
TONY STEWART 10
CARL EDWARDS 20
GREG BIFFLE 40
KURT BUSCH 18
KASEY KAHNE 30
CLINT BOWYER 15
KEVIN HARVICK 12
JEFF BURTON 15
BRIAN VICKERS 100
MATT KENSETH 60
DALE EARNHARDT JR 20
JOEY LOGANO 40
RYAN NEWMAN 40
MARTIN TRUEX JR 100
DAVID REUTIMANN 100
JAMIE McMURRAY 35
DAVID RAGAN 75
BRAD KESELOWSKI 200
MARCOS AMBROSE 100
SAM HORNISH JR 500
AJ ALLMENDINGER 200
ELLIOTT SADLER 300
PAUL MENARD 500
BOBBY LABONTE 500
REGAN SMITH 500
SCOTT SPEED 500
TRAVIS KVAPIL 1000
FIELD 200