Quick Hits: Martinsville Speedway

The Sprint Cup Series enters the second half of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup this week, making its second visit of the year to the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

Virginia is the home of many current and former Sprint Cup drivers, and currently boasts two drivers in the Chase, the second most of any state. Those drivers, Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin, currently sit second and 12th in points, respectively.

Interestingly enough, until his win last week at Charlotte, nobody in the Sprint Cup garage considered Burton a title threat.

Ever since the Chase started, it’s been considered a three-horse race, and Burton only found his way into that triumvirate by his stellar drive last weekend.

Originally, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch composed the top three contenders. After Loudon, Busch was replaced by Greg Biffle as the third horse in most pundits’ eyes.

Now, after Edwards’ second consecutive bad race, Burton finds himself in the top three, 69 points behind Johnson.

The question is, why did it take so long for pundits to recognize Burton as a legitimate title threat? His worst finish in the Chase so far is ninth, the same as Johnson’s.

Each driver has one win in the Chase. Neither driver has sunk below their original seed in the standings since the Chase started (Johnson’s been above third since Loudon, Burton started in seventh and hasn’t been there since Loudon either).

Of course, this week, everybody’s all over Burton’s chances to win his first career title. NASCAR.com’s headlines today say that Burton and Johnson have the same momentum going into the second half of the Chase.

For the record, please note that Burton started the Chase 11th in NASCAR.com‘s power rankings, and didn’t rank higher than sixth until the Charlotte edition.

It’s as if he hasn't been under the radar the entire Chase, although, if you check out the archives, it’s pretty obvious he has been.

But wait a second. Maybe it’s not the fault of racing pundits for missing Burton. Maybe it’s just the system.

Every time a driver has won a race, except for Biffle’s win at Dover, he’s improved his position in the points greatly. Biffle went from ninth to third after winning Loudon. Johnson went from second to first after winning at Kansas.

Tony Stewart went from 11th to seventh after winning Talladega. And now, Burton went from fourth to second after winning last week at Charlotte.

If this pattern continues, then it’s only going to matter who wins at Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. Even though the standings are far more spread out than they were before Loudon, the Chase standings always reward the guy who won most recently.

If that’s the case, why bother trying to win the first seven races? As long as a driver survives all seven of them, he can go into the last three and go for wins and pull off an “upset.”

Hey, Clint Bowyer sounds like he could fit that category; he hasn’t won in the Chase yet, but his worst finish is 12th, and he’s fifth in points.

It could happen. And if it does, we’ll know that the pundits aren’t the problem.

Here are this week’s Quick Hits:

5. Burney Lamar and former sponsor Dollar General will reunite at Braun Racing for 2009. Lamar will drive the No. 32 Toyota in the Nationwide Series for 18 races next year. Brian Vickers will drive the car for the other 17 races. This will be Dollar General’s first full-time sponsorship deal in Nationwide since 2007 at Kevin Harvick Inc.

4. Ray Evernham is currently considering leaving Gillett Evernham Motorsports for a full-time gig with ESPN. Evernham has emphasized his role as a minority partner in the team, no longer acting as a decision-maker, according to Dustin Long at the Roanoke Times. Evernham also says that he was not involved in the decision to release Patrick Carpentier from the No. 10 Dodge.

3. Michael McDowell is now a free agent, after Michael Waltrip Racing failed to exercise its contract option on him for 2009. McDowell’s car has no sponsorship for next season, and the owners’ points from his car will likely go to Marcos Ambrose’s No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota next season.

2. Add J.J. Yeley’s name to the mix for the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge next year. “Chip hasn’t said no,” Yeley told Tim Tuttle of Sports Illustrated. “My name is still on the list. It would be a great opportunity.” A.J. Allmendinger is the other rumored candidate for the ride, which will be vacated by Reed Sorenson after this season.

1. Just as I reported before the Kansas race, Unilever has left Gillett Evernham Motorsports to partner with Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Nationwide Series team. The car will feature Hellmann’s sponsorship for the Daytona race. Although I originally reported that Klondike would be the dominant brand, they will be featured on the car for later events. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, and Landon Cassill will share the car.

Finally, congratulations to last week’s winners at Charlotte: Kyle Busch in Nationwide, and Burton in Sprint Cup.