Tums Fast Relief 500

Who Will Win?

Gordon

Jeff Gordon: Jeff Gordon has battled Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps of the last two races at Martinsville, but each time Johnson has prevailed. The two drivers have 13 Martinsville wins combined, so it's reasonable to believe the battle will carry over to Virginia this week. This time Gordon gets the upper-hand at the tight, half-mile short track. – Ricky Craven

• Lost in all the "crown Jimmie" madness is the fact that Jeff Gordon has been putting up runs and finishes that, in any other year, would have NASCAR nation screaming. He's charged up five spots in the standings the last couple weeks, and he's one good break away from really challenging Johnson. It may or may not happen at Martinsville, but both drivers are strong there. Gordon may not make up much ground, but barring disaster, he won't lose much, either. – Jay Busbee

Jimmie Johnson: Of the 22 tracks on the Cup schedule, Jimmie Johnson has the best average finish (of drivers with more than three starts) at seven of them. So it's saying something when talking about his best track, and Martinsville is it. Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon will be right there, too, but picking against Johnson here would be doing so solely for the sake of being different, and now's not the time to take stupid risks. – Jay Hart

Three reasons qualifying in the top five at Martinsville will enhance your chances of winning, by Ricky Craven

Craven

1. Premier pit-stall selection: There are only a few stalls that offer some relief from the congestion associated with Martinsville's small pit road: the stalls in front and behind the openings leading to the garage area, as well as the first and last stalls on pit-road. All other competitors will start the race with the prospect of cars pitting in front and behind them, and run risks ranging from slowing your stop as you maneuver around them to contact resulting in a tire rub, or worse.

2. Starting with a clear track … is often the biggest benefit of qualifying at the front. If you're able to jump out to a lead, or even run among the leaders, you often benefit from single-file racing when you can use the entire width of the track for your corner entries and exits. This prevents excessive tire wear or added abuse to brakes that occur when racing mid-pack, side-by-side, fighting for position lap after lap. This is obviously a greater value during long green-flag runs.

3. Sizing up the competition … is another benefit to starting and staying among the leaders. It's hard to know how good your car is when you spend all day racing for 20th. You may have a top-10 car, but because you're racing in mid-pack you don't really know what adjustments you need to make. In fact, you could end up making adjustments that hurt rather than help your car.

However, if you're running third and feel your car is better than those around you, then you have the advantage of knowing you are a contender for the win, which may help prevent over or under adjusting your car during pit-stops.

Top story line

Johnson

• Suddenly, Jeff Gordon has emerged as the biggest threat (if there even is one) to Jimmie Johnson's run at a fourth-straight title. Mark Martin is still in the conversation, but only Gordon has proven capable of staying with Johnson at Martinsville. Beating Johnson this weekend would not only help Gordon in the standings, but would be a huge confidence boost for the 24 team. They question is, can they beat Johnson? – Jay Hart

• Jimmie Johnson appears destined for his fourth consecutive title. Johnson has pitched the equivalent of three shutout games in the first five playoff races, as he has collected maximum points (195) in each of his three wins. No other driver has accomplished a maximum point day, but they need to if this year's Chase is going to recognize a different champion than the previous three years. – Ricky Craven

• Let's be honest – the Chase is pretty much over for anyone south of Tony Stewart. But there are some guys – Kasey Kahne chief among them – who continue to race like they've got a shot. It's great to see that they haven't checked out on the season yet, and it bodes well for 2010 for these drivers. Keep an eye on how they treat the last five races; with testing still forbidden, the teams that use this as 2010 spring training, rather than just running out the string, will be the ones to watch next year. – Jay Busbee

From The Source

Mark Martin: "Did the 17th-place finish hurt? Yes. But it's not over. I still say, like I've said all along, we've got to get through Martinsville and Talladega. Then we'll have a clear view of what's going to happen here with this championship. Give us those two more races to see."