October 22, 2009
First Victory Lap for Jimmie
Fantasy Insight- Martinsville 2
By Dennis Michelsen
Hail to the victor! This week at Martinsville Speedway Jimmie Johnson starts the first lap of his 1601 victory laps as he races his way to his fourth championship in a row. Oh sure anything can happen in the next 1601 laps but even if Jimmie Johnson fell through the seat on a porta potty he would come out smelling like roses! If the competition finishes in the top five then Jimmie Johnson wins. If Jimmie does have that rare bad race so does everyone else. Johnson has an incredible 31% winning percentage in Chase races! His 46 career wins are impressive enough but if he always won at that clip he would already have 85 wins which would tie him for third best in NASCAR history. I have news for all those Jimmie Johnson haters out there…you are likely to have a lot of success to hate for a long time! If it was just the Hendrick Motorsports equipment then his teammates would also be closer in the hunt. So at the end of the day the combo platter of Jimmie Johnson and Crew Chief Chad Knaus might be the best combo in the history of the sport. Long live the king and try not to give him too many one finger salutes for the next 1601 laps because they can't help it that they are the best! Good luck with your fantasy picks this week.

Weather Update
Variable cloudiness with a high temperature around 64F.

http://raceweather.net/

Crazy Fact of the Week
Take away his first race at Martinsville as a rookie and Jimmie Johnson's average finishing position in the last 14 races at the old paper clip is 3.1!

Consistency is King
Jimmie Johnson tops the consistency ratings with 97 out of 100 points. Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya round out the top five drivers based on the ratings over the last five races run in the Cup series.

Track Type Casting
Mark Martin leads the track type rating with 95 out of 100 points. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin round out the top five drivers based on the ratings over the last five races at tracks with similar characteristics as Martinsville.

Horses for Courses
Jimmie Johnson leads the horses for courses rating with 98 out of 100 points. Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr round out the top five drivers based on the ratings over the last five races at Martinsville.

Power Packing
J Gordon 285
J Johnson 284
M Martin 273
T Stewart 273
D Hamlin 270
JP Montoya 268
R Newman 263
C Bowyer 262
Ku Busch 260
Ky Busch 256
G Biffle 255
J Burton 254
M Kenseth 252
C Mears 252
C Edwards 251
K Harvick 245
D Reutimann 242
K Kahne 241
D Earnhardt Jr 241
M Truex 238
J Logano 238
J McMurray 235
Allmendinger 234
M Ambrose 233
B Vickers 233
E Sadler 231
D Ragan 231
S Hornish 231
R Sorenson 227
M Waltrip 224
D Stremme 224
P Menard 222
R Gordon 222
S Speed 221

Long Shot Pick (20-1 or Better in Vegas Odds) (Last Week 14th)
Kurt Busch (25-1 Odds) Strong qualifying effort in the spring

Showtime (Last Week 13th)
Tony Stewart (8-1 Odds) Best betting value in the field

Place Pick (Last Week WIN)
Denny Hamlin (5-1 Odds) Strong on this type of track

And the Winner Is… (Last Week 17th)
Jimmie Johnson (5-2 Odds) Strongest favorite this year.

It's been a fun week now its time to kick back and enjoy some DOIN' DONUTS on Thursday night with Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen. Donut Time follows V8 Radio and the Speed Freaks! The fun starts at 6pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com!