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Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have combined to win eight of the last 10 races in Martinsville. Johnson has won the last three runs, while Gordon has taken seven checkers and 24 top 10s in 30 career races at the Virginia short track.

The Car of Tomorrow did little to even the playing field. Last year, Johnson swept both events to cap a three-peat at the half-mile paper clip.

In April, the 48 and the 24 battled to the line, resulting in smoke clouds and paint chips filling the air for a classic Martinsville finish. Then in October, a record 21 caution flags were thrown in a race that ended with Johnson winning under caution just as Ryan Newman threatened to take first.

If Johnson wins the first race at Martinsville in 2008, he will become only the second driver to win four straight at the track, joining Fred Lorenzen, who loved Virginia from Sept. 1963 to April 1965.

Tony Stewart (2006) and Rusty Wallace (2004) are the only drivers besides Johnson and Gordon to win at Martinsville over the last 10 races. Stewart also won in 2000, while Wallace’s ’04 victory lap was the seventh of his career in Martinsville.

Before Johnson and Gordon seemingly purchased the historic track — which has hosted Cup races since 1949 — Kurt Busch won in ’02. But it is Kyle Busch who has experienced more consistent success, with three top-5 finishes in only six races, including two fourths in 2007 and a fifth in ’06 with Hendrick Motorsports.

FANTASY STALL
Looking at Checkers
It’s Jeff Gordon’s turn to sweep this year...
Pretty Solid Pick
...And Jimmie Johnson’s turn to finish second twice.
Good Sleeper Pick
See Kyle Busch’s name in the chart to the right? That will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. this year.
Runs on Seven Cylinders

Any rookie
Insider Tip
Can’t go wrong with HMS.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Kyle Busch He’s already good at Martinsville, and the JGR equipment has worked for Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin in the past.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior is a fine short tracker, and if Jeff’s and Jimmie’s notes transfer, he could rack up his first career win in Martinsville.

Denny Hamlin Mr. Consistency has scored only one finish outside of the top 8 in his five Cup starts in his home state.

Juan Pablo Montoya The 2007 Rookie of the Year turned heads at Martinsville last year with a 16th in his first-ever visit. He followed that up with an even more impressive eighth-place run in October.

Ryan Newman This Penske pilot has never been stellar at Martinsville, but he is averaging a 10.1-place finish here since 2005. The key to that stat is a runner-up finish last fall.


RACE RESULTS FOR Goody's Cool Orange 500 (Mar 30th, 2008)
DRIVER MANUFACTURER START FINISH POINTS EARNINGS
Denny Hamlin (#11) Toyota 2 1 190 $201,391
Jeff Gordon (#24) Chevrolet 1 2 175 $165,336
Jeff Burton (#31) Chevrolet 24 3 170 $149,308
Jimmie Johnson (#48) Chevrolet 10 4 165 $142,861
Tony Stewart (#20) Toyota 9 5 155 $131,236
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) Chevrolet 22 6 160 $102,850
Casey Mears (#5) Chevrolet 39 7 146 $99,475
Jamie McMurray (#26) Ford 5 8 142 $91,150
Carl Edwards (#99) Ford 27 9 138 $123,775
Clint Bowyer (#07) Chevrolet 12 10 134 $97,200
David Ragan (#6) Ford 4 11 130 $87,200
Kevin Harvick (#29) Chevrolet 11 12 127 $119,961
Juan Pablo Montoya (#42) Dodge 29 13 124 $105,983
Regan Smith (#01) Chevrolet 33 14 121 $86,325
Elliott Sadler (#19) Dodge 25 15 118 $104,045
Paul Menard (#15) Chevrolet 35 16 115 $84,200
Kasey Kahne (#9) Dodge 6 17 112 $105,766
Travis Kvapil (#28) Ford 14 18 109 $102,764
Ryan Newman (#12) Dodge 13 19 106 $118,575
Greg Biffle (#16) Ford 19 20 103 $85,175
Martin Truex Jr. (#1) Chevrolet 42 21 100 $105,258
Dario Franchitti (#40) Dodge 43 22 97 $81,925
Brian Vickers (#83) Toyota 40 23 94 $73,625
David Gilliland (#38) Ford 21 24 91 $92,433
Bobby Labonte (#43) Dodge 32 25 93 $110,436
Michael McDowell (#00) Toyota 34 26 85 $88,808
J.J. Yeley (#96) Toyota 23 27 82 $80,425
Sam Hornish Jr (#77) Dodge 26 28 79 $114,800
Patrick Carpentier (#10) Dodge 37 29 76 $71,550
Matt Kenseth (#17) Ford 28 30 73 $117,066
Mike Skinner (#00) Toyota 30 31 70 $68,775
Jeremy Mayfield (#40) Dodge 31 32 67 $68,625
Kurt Busch (#2) Dodge 20 33 64 $68,400
Bill Elliott (#21) Ford 17 34 61 $87,570
Michael Waltrip (#55) Toyota 16 35 58 $82,383
Reed Sorenson (#41) Dodge 38 36 55 $95,389
Ken Schrader (#96) Toyota 7 37 52 $79,758
Kyle Busch (#18) Toyota 8 38 49 $86,050
David Reutimann (#44) Toyota 15 39 51 $68,000
Robby Gordon (#7) Dodge 41 40 43 $85,472
Scott Riggs (#66) Chevrolet 36 41 40 $67,875
Aric Almirola (#8) Chevrolet 3 42 37 $102,973
Dave Blaney (#22) Toyota 18 43 39 $67,246

2008 Jimmie Johnson Racing Magazine
The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season welcomes more change than ever before. With the new Car of Tomorrow running a full schedule, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s move to Hendrick Motorsport and ...
$6.99

 

2008 Jeff Gordon Racing Magazine
The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season welcomes more change than ever before. With the new Car of Tomorrow running a full schedule, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s move to Hendrick Motorsport and ...
$6.99

 

Ron Turcotte Autographed Secretariat Belmont 16x20 Photo
Ron Turcotte hand autographed Secretariat Color 16x20 Photo from the Belmont Stakes. Photo is Limited Edition. In 1973, Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years...
$159.00
$99.00

 

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