Fantasy NASCAR Picks for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville

Chad RobbOct 21, 2013

This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads back to Martinsville Speedway for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500.

The race last April at Martinsville was dominated by Jimmie Johnson. He started the race from the pole and led 346 of the 500 laps on his way to Victory Lane. If you have any starts with Johnson left, this is the week to use him.

Since the NASCAR Sprint Cup season is coming to an end, it is becoming more difficult to find drivers for your fantasy NASCAR team. For those who play the YAHOO! Fantasy Auto Racing game, selecting your teams is more about allocations than it is about who will win the race.

Since most fantasy NASCAR teams are running low on the number of starts on the good drivers, I am ranking the drivers in Group A, Group B and Group C in YAHOO! Fantasy Auto Racing to help you determine who would be the best driver for your team.

Here are my selections for the race Sunday at Martinsville….

Group A

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The drivers who will score the most points for your team this week will come from Group A.

Jimmie Johnson is the favorite to win the race. If he is able to win on Sunday, it will be his ninth victory at the race track. Jeff Gordon is finishing the season strong and has seven career wins at Martinsville. Matt Kenseth needs a win to continue his march towards his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Kevin Harvick cannot be counted out at any race track this season.

Below are my ratings for Group A. It will be hard to go wrong with any of these drivers this week.

Jimmie Johnson
Jeff Gordon
Clint Bowyer
Matt Kenseth
Kevin Harvick
Brad Keselowski
Kasey Kahne
Denny Hamlin

Group B

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Group B will be where you will be able to make up ground on your competition this week. The fantasy NASCAR players who still have allocations left with Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be happy. Those who do not will wish they would have saved a start, because Busch and Earnhardt are the clear favorites to dominate Group B this week.

My sleeper pick in Group B is Juan Pablo Montoya. Martinsville is hard on brakes, much like a road course. Montoya has two top-five finishes at the race track. He could sneak into the top 10 this week.

Kyle Busch
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ryan Newman
Brian Vickers
Kurt Busch
Greg Biffle
Carl Edwards
Jeff Burton
Jamie McMurray
Joey Logano
Juan Pablo Montoya
Martin Truex Jr.
Mark Martin
Marcos Ambrose
Paul Menard
Aric Almirola
Bobby Lobante

Group C

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There will not be as many good drivers to choose from this week in Group C as there were last week at Talladega. Last week, Michael Waltrip and Austin Dillon made rare starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This week, it will be back to the regular drivers in Group C.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is still the best driver in this group, but it may be wise to save him for next week’s race at Texas.

Elliott Sadler will fill in for Brian Vickers in the No. 55 car for Michael Waltrip Racing. He is the second-best choice and should be used on all teams.

Danica Patrick started 32nd and finished 12th in the April race at Martinsville. She proved she knows how to get around this type of race track. This is the week to use Patrick on your team.