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Melee in Martinsville

Advance Auto Parts 500

Ha, a new race after one of the most exciting I have ever seen.  There will be several vendettas to be dealt with this week at Martinsville, so don’t be surprised if it gets messier than Bristol.  Once again, I would like to give my warning that Martinsville is going to be like Bristol, so your picks should be people with some luck.  For that reason, my Yahoo picks are going to reflect those who did pretty well last Sunday.

Kevin Harvick will be a major factor in this race, especially after showing that he can weave through traffic like he did.  I think his RCR teammate Jeff Burton will have one of the vendettas to set straight, but I do think Jeff will do well.  RCR is starting to show some of their hard work, especially on these short tracks.  Both have a good chance of being on the lead lap when it counts.

Rusty Wallace is the undisputed king of Martinsville, as he showed off last year in the spring race.  The track was repaved after Jeff Gordon’s incident with the concrete, so the track is different from what he is used to.  I still think Rusty will be on top of his game this weekend, since this is probably his best chance to win a race this season.

As I said earlier, it will be a craps shoot again this weekend, so I am going to go with the guys that are having good luck, with a few exceptions.  Junior is again going to be my pick on a short track, where aero isn’t as big an issue as other places.  He still has that flame, and I think this might be his weekend (I swear, this is going to be the last weekend that I will put him on the team for a while).

Jimmie Johnson did well at Bristol, and I thought he was going to win the race until Waltrip knocked him into the wall towards the end.  His team likes to come out big after a bad showing, so I think he will do well.  He also won here last fall, where his team experienced a major loss in the plane crash that killed Ricky Hendrick.  Tony Stewart will be good, provided he can keep his car clean – which he sometimes has problems with.  Jeff Gordon is always a factor, and I know he will come out with a top 10 this weekend.  Mark Martin is another one that will most certainly have a car to beat, but he will need some luck after last weekend.  Sterling Marlin did really well last weekend, so I think his luck might just continue.

Ricky Rudd will be one of my underdog favorites this weekend, since he seems to have a flair for Martinsville and the short tracks – again, provided he stays out of the wrecks.  Bobby Labonte needs a win, or even a lead lap finish, really badly, but I am not sure that will come this weekend.  Jamie McMurray has been a contender in the last several Martinsville races, so I think he might just get a win this weekend.  Dale Jarrett did real well this weekend, and I think his luck will translate this week.  Ryan Newman needs a win bad, but I doubt it will happen during his current bad streak.

Remember, this weekend goes to the old weekend racing system, with Happy Hour on Saturday, after a Friday qualifying.  Pay attention to Happy Hour average speeds, as I think they will once again show who will have the best race trim.

Yahoo Picks

Group A
Earnhardt Junior (starting, again)
Jimmie Johnson
*I think you could put pretty much anybody here (in Johnson’s place), so use someone that you have yet to start this season

Group B
Rusty Wallace
Mark Martin
Bobby Labonte
Dale Jarrett

Group C
Scott Riggs
Brian Vickers

Hit me up at lindsey.chris@gmail.com with questions and comments.  Thanks for reading this everyone, I know I am new to Addict Fantasy Sports.