2007 Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway

2007 Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway:

Martinsville Speedway's short half-mile short track is a vast departure from last week's high-speed shootout at Lowes Motor Speedway. Putting 43 NEXTEL Cup drivers on this tight track makes for close quarters racing. In the spring Jimmie Johnson held off Jeff Gordon for the win. Will these two Chase leaders dominate this Sunday's race?

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (877)RACE-TIX

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

Martinsville Speedway is a .526 mile true oval. Asphalt straightaways and concrete in the turns. Martinsville only has 12 degrees of banking in the turns so drivers will really use their brakes to get it slowed down for the corners. Racing at Martinsville has been described as driving down a drag strip, turning around and driving back up the other lane, 500 times.

Race Distance:

263 Miles = 500 Laps

The Big Picture:

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson continue to pull away from the rest of the Chasers. Only Clint Bowyer remains within striking distance.

These Hendrick Motorsports teammates have dominated Martinsville in recent years so their point lead looks safe this week.

The current top twelve:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Jimmie Johnson -68
3. Clint Bowyer -78
4. Tony Stewart -198
5. Carl Edwards -240
6. Kyle Busch -280
7. Kurt Busch -315
8. Kevin Harvick -328
9. Denny Hamlin -349
10. Jeff Burton -366
11. Martin Truex Jr. -378
12. Matt Kenseth -442

Storylines:

Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and the Busch brothers are currently fourth through seventh in the points. With only four Chase races left after Martinsville they need to pull out all the stops and start chipping away at Jeff Gordon's lead now or give up on their 2007 Championship dreams.

This will not be an easy task since Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson have won seven of the last nine NEXTEL Cup races at Martinsville Speedway. Will the Chase leave Martinsville as a two-horse race or will bad luck finally strike the 24 and/or 48 teams?

Media Coverage:

TV: ABC Sunday, October 21st 1:00 PM Eastern Radio: MRN and SIRIUS Satellite Actual Race: 1:40PM

Posted Awards:

$4,872,371

Last Year:

In 2006 The main story of this race was one of domination. At the halfway point of the event this race had only seen two leaders. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were the only two drivers to lead the race at that point.

Although other drivers would eventually lead portions of the race Hendrick Motorsports teams dominated the race and Jimmie Johnson ended up with the win.

Predictions:

Until someone proves that they can derail the Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut I need to go with the obvious picks again this weekend. Flip a coin and pick your favorite Hendrick Motorsports star, one of the two top Hendrick drivers are all but guaranteed to win this Sunday.

Jeff Gordon swept both races here in 2003 and again in 2005. His Dupont team is clicking having posted wins in the last two NEXTEL Cup races in a row. Gordon could easily stretch his point lead further with another Martinsville win.

This leaves me with Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson as my backup. Johnson won the last two Martinsville races. In fact, Jimmie Johnson has not finished outside of the top ten at Martinsville since 2002. Jimmie will be a factor again this Sunday.