I just got through engineering a high school football game last night, and something the color analyst said made me think of racing at Martinsville. Apparently our team’s fullback looked a little lost, stumbling around once he broke through the line because he didn’t have anybody to hit as he carried the ball. The analyst went went on talk about how fullbacks thrive on contact and their rare carries just aren’t complete without laying someone out. I remember thinking, “That’s just like short track racing.”
We’ve talked about it before- in NASCAR, you’ve got your guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip who love drafting on the super speedways. Then, for whatever reason, you have your guys who are partial to the intermediate tracks like Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards. The road courses require an entirely different approach altogether, and the guys with open wheel experience such as Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon do better on the twists and turns of places like Infineon.
On the short tracks, it takes a fullback mentality. I can tell you right off the bat, there are guys I DON’T expect to do well. “Cousin” Carl Edwards will NOT run well here. I’ve got a feeling it will be a long day for David Ragan, who is already banished to the back with his back up car after crashing in practice. The bumping and banging doesn’t tend to favor Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Greg Biffle. The funny part is, most of these guys ran short tracks in the formative stages of their careers. Most racers’ had a local dirt track they cut their teeth on when they were young- on something like my local dirt track- the 3/8 mile Southern Oregon Speedway. Somewhere along the line, some of these guys lose their taste for the cramped quarters of a Martinsville or a Bristol.
On the other end of the scale, I expect good things from the Richard Childress crew. Clint Bowyer has an excellent shot at winning as he seems to thrive on contact. No doubt Kevin Harvick has a controlled aggressiveness that suits him well. When it comes to control, there’s none better than Jeff Burton, fresh off his win at Charlotte.
Other guys who’ve won here include two -time winner Tony Stewart as well as Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bobby Labonte. With 4 wins and a 2007 sweep of Martinsville, NASCAR’s “Mr. October”, one Jimmie Johnson will be favored by many.
While Hamlin and the elder Busch make great dark horse picks, and while conventional wisdom favors the reigning Sprint Cup champion- I’m going to be a little UNconventional. Well- unconventional if you go only on how this year has gone.
I’m going with 7-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon. The 4-time champion will keep his streak of at least one victory a year alive since 1994 with a win on the “half mile headache” tomorrow.
Yes, Gordon has had his ups and downs. Week after week, disgruntled Gordon fans are calling for crew chief Steve Letarte’s head on a platter, and there was the monster hit at Las Vegas. It’s funny to me how Kevin Harvick has no wins in 2008. and neither does the skillful Matt Kenseth- and yet you have no one calling for the dismissal of their pit bosses Chip Bolin and Todd Berrier.
It just serves to remind us of the lofty standards set for the owner of 81 career wins. This kind of historic success has this tendency to make us forget that Gordon has overcome a number of rough outings to be in the chase for the championship. In fact, Gordon came darn close to pulling off the win last week.
A win here would be redemptive for Gordon’s pit crew. Given the difficulty of passing at Martinsville, pit strategy will be key here. Gordon’s crew has the standard of excellence expected of them by virtue of their affiliation with Hendrick Motorsports. HMS crews are not cream puff crews. When it comes to the tough decisions, take heart Letarte critics- the crew chief won’t do anything that the Rainbow Warrior won’t allow.
When you combine this with Gordon’s love of contact and threading through tight quarters (it’s also worthwhile to note the “24″ has 5 wins at Bristol and 2 at Richmond), and the quality of his organization- the selection of Jeff Gordon to win at Martinsville is a pretty good pick.
Yes- he’ll have his mirror full of Johnson, Harvick, Burton, Stewart and maybe even Matt Kenseth, but Sunday will be Jeff Gordon’s day.
Who’da thunk a 5-7, 160 pound guy would ever be compared to a fullback?
