Fantasy Preview: Martinsville

The Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway marks the seventh race of the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup. This paper-clip shaped track in Virginia is also the only short track in the Chase, measuring out at just over half of a mile. It is a track that is very much a drivers track, meaning that only a select few excel here because of the difficulty of maneuvering this course. See who those select few drivers are and who you should stay away from as we head to the smallest track in NASCAR.

Fantasy Preview: Martinsville

Contenders:

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson owns an average finish of 5.8 at Martinsville which is ridiculous on any track, let alone a track like this that's hard to drive. He hasn't won here since 2009, but he still gets top-5 after top-5 finishes and he would've scored another top-5 had Clint Bowyer not pulled his bonsai move in the spring race this season.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin's average finish at Martinsville isn't too shabby either, sitting at 6.4. He has four wins at Martinsville, but hasn't won here since sweep in 2010. Still, like Johnson, he keeps finishing high despite not winning, plus his back is against the wall this week in terms of trying to keep pace in the championship hunt.

Jeff Gordon: 39 career races at Martinsville, 31 career top-10's. That's insane. Not to mention that he has 7 career wins at the paper-clip and might have very well had win number 8 before the aforementioned Bowyer incident.

Pretenders:

Kasey Kahne: Martinsville has not treated Kahne well at all. Since Kahne's debut in 2004, he's only managed two top-10's at the track and those came in '05 and '06. Basically, despite him being in contention for the Chase, this will more than likely be the race that ends his hopes.

Greg Biffle: Biffle has the same stats at Martinsville as Kahne does and he's even been racing longer. His Chase chances are already done, but this race is going to keep him from gaining much ground anyway.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has racked up 8 top-10's here, but it's deceiving. His good runs here are far and few between and it's just not worth spending the large number of points to get a sub-par finish.

Darkhorses:

Brian Vickers: Every chance he's got to run this year in the No. 55 Michael Waltrip car, he's performed extremely well, including a top-10 at Martinsville earlier in the spring. He'll be cheap and will more than likely run at least in the top-15 all day.

Jamie McMurray: Ten top-10's here since his career began in 2003. Like Vickers, he'll be cheap and will probably have a good run. He's worth the buy.

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