Johnson Takes Martinsville, and Championship Lead

Johnson rolls to his seventh Martinsville win, and grandfather clock (Getty)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson held off Kyle Busch on a restart with five laps to go Sunday and won for the seventh time in his career at Martinsville Speedway.

The five-time series champion moved into the lead in the championship standings, two points over Brad Keselowski with three races remaining.

Keselowski started 32nd, methodically worked his way forward, and took a late gamble to grab the lead on a restart with 19 laps to go. When Johnson and the rest of the leaders pitted for tires, Keselowski was a sitting duck once the race went back to green.

Johnson made the race a points bonanza, leading the most laps and earning three points for the victory.

Busch was second, followed by Kasey Kahne.

MARTINSVILLE RESULTS

                Denny Hamlin's Chase for the Championship is OVER, Finishes 33rd at Martinsville

Crew members work on the #11 FedEx Express Toyota of Denny Hamlin in the garage area during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin seemed to have electrical problems down the stretch that did him in. (Getty)

Final Martinsville Driver Ratings Following All Practice Sessions

Micah Roberts’ Top 10 Driver Ratings
Tums Fast Relief 500
Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, October 28, 2012 -  11:16 a.m. (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds        Practice 1     Qualified    Practice 2    Practice 3

 1. Brian Vickers 50/1                1st                 2nd               1st               1st      
Thoroughly dominated all practice sessions; fastest 10-consecutive lap average in Practice 2.
 2. Jimmie Johnson 4/1             7th                 1st                4th               6th 
Six-time winner with 5.8 career average finish; using brand new chassis this week.
 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12/1        2nd                20th              8th               2nd 
Using chassis that he’s raced in past four Martinsville races to a fourth-place average.
 4. Denny Hamlin 7/2                 3rd                 5th              11th               5th 
Four-time winner with a 6.4 career average; 20-points behind in Chase, needs this one bad.
 5. Jeff Gordon 7/1                     4th                11th              2nd              3rd 
Seven-time winner with 7.1 career average; best 10-consecutive lap average in final practice.
 6. Kyle Busch 10/1                    8th                 3rd               5th               4th  
Career best of third-place in 2011, finished fourth four times; good showing in all practices.
 7. Clint Bowyer 15/1                  5th                 8th               6th              10th 
Only one top-five finish in 13 starts, but MWR cars have something working well this weekend.
 8. Tony Stewart 8/1                 12th                 7th              12th             22nd 
Three-time winner, the last in 2011; using chassis that finished third and fourth at Richmond.
 9. Ryan Newman 25/1             13th               17th              20th              8th 
Won the spring race in April; using chassis that has raced to three top-10 finishes in four starts.
10. Paul Menard 100/1               6th                 9th               7th               7th 
Career best of 13th in 2010, but looked great in practice; using chassis from first race in April.

Note: This is the second race of the season held on the flat half-mile track. The first race was held on April 1, won by Ryan Newman.

Odds courtesy of the LVH Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights on the race, go to The Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow on Twitter: MicahRoberts7. 

Betting Notes

Brian Vickers no longer at 50/1 odds (Getty)

I can’t remember the last time there looked to be so many solid candidates to win at Martinsville. There are at least nine drivers that I could see that have a legitimate chance at winning Sunday’s race. In normal instances, the list is only about three drivers and they usually go onto to win, which is why the odds are always so low. A great case can be made for the three -- Denny Hamlin, Jimmie and Jeff Gordon -- this week, but I’m taking a shot with Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Clint Bowyer.

I’m a little late to the party with Vickers -- missing out on the 50-to-1 odds, but I’ll be happy with 12 or 15-to-1 odds. At Martinsville you want your driver to be able to get out front early and then take off. Before you know it, he’ll be making his last pit stop, and the race will be almost over. He’s got the look of a car in practices that looks dominating in the same way Hamlin, Johnson and Gordon have when they rolled to wins.

The only question mark with Vickers is that he doesn’t have a great record at Martinsville. No top-5 finishes over his career in 14 starts. But then again, he never had a car this good, either.

Martinsville Practice Notes: Vickers and Earnhardt Jr. Look Strong

Vickers has the look of a winner this week (Getty)

By Micah Roberts
The Linemakers on Sporting News

Martinsville Speedway has been dominated by the same four drivers over the past decade. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart have won multiple times, combining for 16 wins in the past 19 races. One of the drivers to crash the party over that stretch — Rusty Wallace in 2004 — has retired and the other two — Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman — did so in two of the past three races.

Based on what happened during Friday and Saturday’s three practice sessions in preparation for Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500, we may have another party crasher. Brian Vickers has never had a top-5 finish at Martinsville in 14 career starts, but that should change Sunday because he was fastest in all three sessions.

Vickers not only had the fastest single lap speeds, but he was also strong in average lap times, including having the best 10-consecutive lap average in the second session.

Being fastest in practice doesn’t necessarily equate to winning the race, but at Martinsville’s flat half-mile paper clip of a track, it’s usually a good indication that he’ll be able to get up front and lead for quite a few laps. Gordon, Johnson and Hamlin have all been top practice performers during their dominant race wins and now Vickers falls into that category.

Read More Here.........

Practice 1 Speeds - Vickers Fastest

Practice 2 Speeds - Vickers Fastest Again 

Practice 3 Speeds - Vickers Fastest Again

Vickers, Fastest in First Two Martinsville Practices, Talks Future

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 55 MyClassicGarage.com Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing

Brian Vickers fastest in first two Martinsville practice sessions (Getty)

Are you excited for this race and the announcement about next year? 

“Always fun to be back in Martinsville for a lot of reasons. This will be my last race this year with MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing). This is where I ran my very firststock car race ever in the Allison Legacy Series — I have no idea what year that was, but it was awesome and I really enjoyed it. Obviously, here today to announce and speak of 2013. I know a lot of you have asked questions and I really appreciate your curiosity. For me, staying with MWR was a conscious decision to try to be in the best position to win races and be with the best team that I thought I could do that with. There’s a lot of factors that are involved in that — from the manufacturer to the team to the owner to the sponsors to the crew chief and just blatant chemistry. Obviously it’s more than just building fast race cars, which MWR does and Toyota is delivering great engines right now and a lot of support. The chemistry I have with Rodney (Childers, crew chief) is unprecedented for me in my career. I’ve never had anything like it and that’s the kind of results that I want to continue having. The obvious question is why is it not full time? Mark (Martin) is settled in pretty snug next year and to be honest with you, sometimes things work out for a reason. I look back to this year and going in to 2012, there were some opportunities to go full time, but I made the decision that I wanted to be in a car even if it was for eight races that I felt like I could win races with and a team I wanted to be with long term — it was really more of a long term decision. A short term and long term decision, and I feel like that mission was accomplished. Now, going into next year I am kind of in the same boat — there were some opportunities out there that were full time, but where do you really want to be? The question I’m asking myself is, ‘Where do you really want to be? What is your goal and how do you get there?’ My goal is to win a championship. Clearly that’s not going to happen next year with the exception of maybe an owner’s championship with Mark and Michael (Waltrip), but to win a driver’s championship and an owner’s championship you’ve got to be with a good team, you’ve got to have the chemistry and you’ve got to be with a good manufacturer — I feel like I found that with Toyota, with MWR and everyone on board, with Aaron’s, with Rodney and all the guys on the whole team. I wish I could list all of them — management and everything. Obviously, it’s going to be nine races again next year — far short of what I would like to have, but I’m as excited about those nine races as I’ve ever been excited about any race in my career. That’s what was important to me was to know that even in those nine — showing up at the race track every week I had a shot to win the race. That’s why I made the decision I made and I’m very thankful and very happy for the opportunity at MWR – Michael (Waltrip) and Rob (Kauffman, co-owner) and everyone on the team has given me this year and again next year. Honestly, I know a lot of you are like, ‘Wait, you can race full time and you chose this?’ Trust me, I’m excited about it. I made a conscious decision to do it two years in a row and I can assure you that I am enthused about it.”

- Toyota Racing

Practice 1 Speeds - Vickers Fastest

Practice 2 Speeds - Vickers Fastest Again 

Practice 3 Speeds - Vickers Fastest Again

Earnhardt Jr. Second Fastest in First Martinsville Practice

Sporting News

Junior has run at Martinville over past four starts (Getty)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. missed only two races because of a concussion, but he felt like he was out for much longer.

When he got back into his car on Friday, it felt and appeared like he hadn’t missed a beat.

Earnhardt returned to action Friday at Martinsville Speedway and was second in the first Sprint Cup practice session at the half-mile track.

Martinsville is a good track for Earnhardt, who has seven top-10 finishes in his last nine starts there, including second and third in his last three races on the .526-mile oval.

“I feel like I’ve been out of a car for a year,” Earnhardt said prior to practice. “It doesn’t feel like a couple of weeks. (But) I feel like we can go right to (it). … I like this racetrack and I feel like we can run good here.

“I want to do a good job over the next four weeks (to finish the season). I want to run hard and I want us to go into every weekend trying to do what we’ve done all year long.”

Earnhardt suffered concussions in crashes on Aug. 29 and Oct. 7. He missed the races at Charlotte and Kansas while Regan Smith replaced him in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports car. Smith blew an engine at Charlotte and finished seventh at Kansas.

“I’m just excited to be back to work, get back in the car and get back to normal—get back to the life that I’m used to,” Earnhardt said. “I haven’t been able to do my job, so I’m glad to be doing this (this weekend).”

READ MORE HERE...

Martinsville Practice 1 Results - Vickers Fastest

Starting Lineup - Johnson wins pole

LVH Odds to Win 2012 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville

By Micah Roberts
The Linemakers on Sporting News

Denny Hamlin almost in do-or-die situation at Martinsville (Getty)

Denny Hamlin is the 7-to-2 favorite to win Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, a track that the Virginia native has won at four times over his career. Six-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson is the second choice at 4-to-1, followed by seven-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon at 7-to-1.

Hamlin is 20-points behind Chase leader Brad Keselowski with four races to go. He’s basically in a must-win situation after finishing 13th last week at Kansas. You could almost feel the mind games going through Hamlin’s head during the Kansas race, as he watched several cars slip and slide into the wall due to the new surface.

He had a dilemma to face: “Do I go for a strong finish even though I’m uneasy on this track, or do I lay up, take the safe route, and get out town without falling too far behind?”

Hamlin chose the latter, but in the process, finished worse than Johnson, who was ninth with a busted up car.

Read More Here....Odds to win at Martinsville

Martinsville Odds & Ends: 2012 Tums Fast Relief 500

At Martinsville Speedway:

History

·         Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.

·         The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was Sept. 25, 1949.

·         The track was paved in 1955.

·         The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.

·         Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976.

Notebook

·         There have been 127 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.

·         Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.

·         Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

·         57 drivers have won poles, led by Darrell Waltrip with eight. Jeff Gordon, with seven poles, can tie that mark this weekend.

·         Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record, each with three.

·         47 different drivers have won, led by Richard Petty’s 15.

·         Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with seven wins. Jimmie Johnson hassixand Denny Hamlin has four.

·         19 races have been won from the pole, the last by Denny Hamlin in October 2010.

·         Petty Enterprises has won 19 races, more than any other organization. Hendrick Motorsports, with 18 wins, can tie that mark this weekend.

·         Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.

·         Three active drivers average a top-10: Jimmie Johnson (5.7), Denny Hamlin (6.4) and Jeff Gordon (7.0).

·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Martinsville Speedway winner: Richard Petty (4/10/1960 – 22 years, 9 months, 8 days). Oldest NSCS Martinsville Speedway winner: Harry Gant (9/22/1991 – 51 years, 8 months, 12 days).

·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Martinsville Speedway pole winner: Ricky Rudd (4/26/1981 – 24 years, 7 months, 14 days). Oldest NSCS Martinsville Speedway pole winner: Morgan Shepherd (04/26/1987 – 45 years, 6 months, 14 days).

 

Denny Hamlin has to make his move in the Chase this week (Getty)

Martinsville Speedway Data

Chase Race #: 7 of 10

Season Race #: 33 of 36 (10-28-12)

Track Size: 0.562-mile

Banking/Turns: 12 degrees

Banking/Straights: 0 degrees

Frontstretch Length: 800 feet

Backstretch Length: 800 feet

Race Length: 500 laps / 263 miles

 

Top 12 Driver Rating at Martinsville

Jimmie Johnson....................... 121.4

Jeff Gordon.............................. 120.8

Denny Hamlin.......................... 113.4

Tony Stewart........................... 101.5

Dale Earnhardt Jr..................... 100.1

Kyle Busch............................... 94.4

Kevin Harvick............................ 93.9

Ryan Newman.......................... 90.1

Jeff Burton................................ 88.9

Clint Bowyer............................. 87.9

Jamie McMurray....................... 83.2

Brad Keselowski....................... 82.3

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (15 total) among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2011 pole winner: None Due To Weather

 

2011 race winner: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 68.648 mph, (3:49:52), 10-30-11

 

Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 98.083 mph, 19.306 sec., 10-21-05

 

Track race record: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 82.223 mph, (3:11:55), 9-22-96

NASCAR in Virginia

·         There have been 277 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville	127
Richmond International Raceway	Richmond	113
South Boston Speedway	South Boston	10
Langley Field Speedway	Hampton	9
Old Dominion Speedway	Manassas	7
Southside Speedway	Richmond	4
Starkey Speedway	Roanoke	4
Norfolk Speedway	Norfolk	2
Princess Anne Speedway	Norfolk	1

·         165 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Virginia.

·         There have been 18 race winners from Virginia in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Joe Weatherly	25	0	0
Ricky Rudd	23	1	0
Denny Hamlin	22	11	1
Jeff Burton	21	27	0
Curtis Turner	17	0	0
Ward Burton	5	4	0
Glen Wood	4	0	0
Elliott Sadler	3	9	1
Emanuel Zervakis	2	0	0
Lennie Pond	1	0	0
Wendell Scott	1	0	0
Tommy Ellis	0	22	0
Jimmy Hensley	0	9	2
Rick Mast	0	9	0
Hermie Sadler	0	2	0
Elton Sawyer	0	2	0
Stacy Compton	0	0	2
Jon Wood	0	0	2

LVH SUPER BOOK ODDS TO WIN
TUMS FAST RELIEF 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2012

JIMMIE JOHNSON 4
DENNY HAMLIN 7-2
BRAD KESELOWSKI 8
KYLE BUSCH 10
KASEY KAHNE 12
JEFF GORDON 7
TONY STEWART 8
DALE EARNHARDT JR 12
MARTIN TRUEX JR 18
CLINT BOWYER 15
MATT KENSETH 40
GREG BIFFLE 40
CARL EDWARDS 40
BRIAN VICKERS 50
KEVIN HARVICK 18
JOEY LOGANO 40
KURT BUSCH 100
RYAN NEWMAN 25
MARCOS AMBROSE 100
SAM HORNISH JR 200
JEFF BURTON 100
PAUL MENARD 100
JAMIE McMURRAY 100
JUAN MONTOYA 100
ARIC ALMIROLA 100
REGAN SMITH 300
BOBBY LABONTE 1000
TRAVIS KVAPIL 2000
DAVID GILLILAND 5000
FIELD 100