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2009 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

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2009 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

2009 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway

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The Chase's Only Short Track Battle:

This weekend the 2009 Chase For The Cup rolls into southern Virginia as the series visits Martinsville Speedway for the 2009 Tums Fast Relief 500. This event is guaranteed to feature close-quarters racing since forty-three cars barely fit around the tight half-mile speedway.

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (877)RACE-TIX

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:

Last week Jimmie Johnson scored his third race win of the 2009 Chase and extended his lead. Mark Martin and Juan Montoya were second and third in points coming into the race but each had troubles that allowed Johnson to pull even further away.

The top twelve:

  1. Jimmie Johnson
  2. Mark Martin -90
  3. Jeff Gordon -135
  4. Tony Stewart -155
  5. Kurt Busch -177
  6. Juan Montoya -195
  7. Greg Biffle -268
  8. Ryan Newman -288
  9. Kasey Kahne -331
  10. Carl Edwards -341
  11. Denny Hamlin -372
  12. Brian Vickers -485

Storylines:

Martinsville Speedway has a long history of hot streaks including:
  • Fred Lorenzen won four races in a row from 1963 - 1965
  • Richard Petty won an incredible 10 out of 14 races from 1967 - 1973 including three different season sweeps.
  • Cale Yarborough won four out of five races from 1976 - 1978
  • Darrell Waltrip won four out of five races from 1987 - 1989
  • Rusty Wallace won four out of five races from 1994 - 1996
Now we are in the Jimmie Johnson era at Martinsville Speedway. Jimmie has won five of the last six race here and is showing no signs of slowing.

What is it about Martinsville Speedway that encourages hot streaks?

Media Coverage:

TV: ABC Sunday, October 25th 1:00 PM Eastern

Radio: MRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 1:40PM

Recent Events:

2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson

2008 Polesitter: (Qualifying Rained Out)

Last Year:

The 2008 edition of this event saw Jimmie Johnson thoroughly dominate. That performance gave him a commanding point lead and left many race fans feeling like the 2008 Chase for the Cup was already over with four races remaining.

Jimmie Johnson left Martinsville last year with a 149 point lead over Greg Biffle and was able cruise from here to his third consecutive Championship.

Predictions:

I need to go with the obvious picks again this weekend. Flip a three-sided coin and pick your favorite Hendrick Motorsports Chaser. It seems like a Hendrick driver is all but guaranteed to win this Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson won five of the last six Martinsville races and has an amazing 1.8 average finish since October of 2006. In fact, Jimmie Johnson has not finished outside of the top ten at Martinsville since 2002. Jimmie is the obvious pick for yet another win this Sunday.

Jeff Gordon swept both races here in 2003 and again in 2005. Gordon also scored a strong top five finish here in the spring after starting on the pole. If Jimmie Johnson doesn't pick up the win on Sunday then his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon makes a great backup.

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