The sixth Sprint Cup race of the 2010 NASCAR season takes us to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 this Sunday, March 28th starting at 1:00 P.M. (EST). This is the first of two races that will be run at Martinsville this season. Jimmie Johnson continued his dominating start of this season with another win last week in Bristol. He is the odds-on-favorite to win again this week, but there are a few drivers that might have something to say about that. The following is a preview of the top seven drivers in the Sprint Cup point standings along with their current odds to win this week.
Kevin Harvick 12-1
With four top 10 finishes in the first five races along with two second place finishes, Harvick is the current point’s leader with 774. His best finish in this race was in 2006 when he started 26th and finished 7th. Last year he started 24th and finished 11th He has seven top 10 finishes at this track, but only one in this race.
Kenseth is currently only one point behind with five top 10 finishes including a 2nd place finish in the Kobalt Tools 500. A second place finish in 2002 was his best effort in this race after starting 26th. Last year he started 32nd and finished 14th He has five top 10 finishes at this track with three of them coming in this race.
Win three wins already, Johnson is just 14 points back. Last year he won this race after starting 15th and he also won in 2007 after starting 20th. Martinsville has been kind to Jimmie over the years as he has 15 top 10 finishes and six victories at this track. In this race, he has finished in the top 10 seven times including the two victories.
Biffle has finished in the top 10 in all five races this season including a 3rd place finish at Daytona. He is currently 24 points out of first. This is not one of his most favorite tracks as the best he has ever done in this race was in 2003 when he started 20th and ended up 18th. Last year he started 18th and finished 28th. He only has one top 10 finish in his career at Martinsville and none in this race.
With three top 10 finishes including taking second in last week race, Stewart finds himself 89 points out of the lead. He won this race back in 2006 after starting 6th. Last year he started 13th and finished 9th. Tony is definitely one to watch this week as he has won here twice and has 13 top 10 finishes in his career. Eight of those were in this race.
Busch has three top 10 finishes this season including a win in the Kobalt Tools 500. He is currently 97 points in back of Harvick. His best finish in this race was back in 2002, when he finished 10th after starting 20th. Last year he started 37th and finished 17th. He has won at this track once and has three other top 10 finishes. 2002 was his only top 10 finish in this race.
With two top 10 finishes including taking third in the Kobalt Tools 500, Burton is currently 97 points back as well. He has finished second in this race twice; in 1999 after starting 3rd and in 2000 after starting 5th. Last year he started 13th and finished 15th. Overall, he has 13 top 10 finishes at Martinsville and seven in this race.
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