Exciting Last Lap Pass At Auto Club Speedway

Kevin Harvick fought hard all race long and it paid off at the end when Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch were battling for the lead and he was able to close the gap on them. On the last lap Harvick got a great run on Johnson going down the backstretch and passed Johnson coming to the checkered flag to win the Auto Club 400 and his first race of the season at Fontana on Sunday.

This week the series heads to Martinsville Speedway for another short track race. in my opinion there are 3 drivers who have a great shot at winning this race and one of those has been struggling so far this year. The rest of the field will need everything to fall in place to have any shot at a victory this weekend.

Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500

Jimmie Johnson: Another great run at Fontana was cut short by Kevin Harvick on the final lap. However, Jimmie has six wins at Martinsville in his career and has finished in the top-10 there 17 straight times. The impressive thing is that 13 of those finishes were top-5′s! An absolute must for your fantasy team this weekend.

Jeff Gordon: Jeff has seven victories at this track himself during his career and had a streak of 11 straight top-5 finishes there broken last October when he finished 20th. He is another absolute must next weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has won the last three races at Martinsville Speedway and has four victories here in his short career. However, he has been struggling this season with a lot of mechanical issues. Still he has 10 top-10 finishes in 11 races he has run here.

Mark Martin: Mark has always hated racing at this track but has done very well here since joining Hendrick Motorsports a few years ago. He has posted three top-10 finishes in his four races with this team and having Jimmie and Jeff as teammates has helped him in the way he runs here.

Tony Stewart: Tony has two wins here and has had good cars just about every week this season. He struggled here a little bit last year finishing in the mid-twenties in both races. However, the previous year he finished in the top-10 in both races with his new Stewart-Haas team.

Ryan Newman: Ryan has done pretty well for himself at Martinsville throughout his career. He is still looking for his first victory here with his best finish being a 2nd place finish back in October of 2007.

Jeff Burton: It seems to be feast or famine for Jeff when he comes to Martinsville. Jeff seems to be on the lead lap at the end of the race almost every time, which is an accomplishment in itself on the short track but, his finishes are more in the teens than the top-10.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Dale is another Hendrick driver and he has had his good races at Martinsville. He has finished in the top-10 in five of the last eight races run here with a best finish of 2nd back in the fall of 2008.

As I said at the beginning I believe there are 3 drivers who have the best shot at winning this race. They are Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. I am giving the nod to Jimmie once again this weekend because of momentum. Finishing 2nd last week at Fontana gives him more momentum than the other two on this list.

Yahoo Picks for Martinsville Speedway

Group A

• Jimmie Johnson
• Jeff Gordon

Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Mark Martin
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Clint Bowyer

Group C

• Bobby Labonte
• Paul Menard

Top 5 Overall at Martinsville

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Mark Martin
5. Tony Stewart

Dark Horse: Bobby Labonte

Stay Away From: Greg Biffle