Halloween must be fast-approaching considering the eerily mysterious event that happened this past weekend at Martinsville.
Jimmie Johnson didn't win the race.
Not to worry kiddies, he did come in second and increased his lead over any real contender left in the Chase field. He had won five of the six previous races at Martinsville coming into the race.
It was Denny Hamlin who ended up taking the checkered flag this past Sunday, earning his third win of the season. Hamlin had been coming off two back-of-the-pack finishes heading into the race, essentially making his win pretty much irrelevant in terms of the Chase standings.
Johnson's second-place result had a far bigger impact as he extended his lead over current second-place driver Mark Martin to 118 points. Martin, along with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, are the only drivers less than 200 points off Johnson's pace. He appears to be well on his way to a fourth Sprint Cup title in a row.
One of the few things that could possibly stop him is getting involved in a wreck this weekend at one of the most dangerous tracks on the circuit.
The Sprint Cup moves to the largest and most steeply banked oval track on the circuit this weekend for the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega. The Talladega Superspeedway -- home to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame -- is known mostly for two things, big crashes involving several drivers and extremely high speeds. The fastest-ever time recorded in NASCAR history was clocked at Talladega when Rusty Wallace got up to 216.309 mph on June 9, 2004.
This weekend is the second stop at Talladega this season. Back in late April, rookie Brad Keselowski earned his first and only career victory at TS, sending Carl Edwards flying through the air in the race's final lap. The crash sent some debris from Edwards' car into the stands as Edwards got sent into the fence. It was one of a few notable wrecks in the race. Johnson was involved in one of the crashes and ended up finishing 30th in the early race at TS.
Talladega is a restrictor plate race in which drivers can sometimes go five-wide into the long straightaways. Sometimes the cars get too close and cause "The Big One," a multi-car crash that takes place at a high rate of speed.
The driver average table has some unexpected names at the top of this week, with the top four drivers all having participated at Talladega back in late April for the first time in their career. This is one of the most unpredictable tracks on the circuit and is therefore a difficult race to predict. This is a good time to take a shot in the dark with a driver you wouldn't normally consider. Just hope that the driver you pick is able to avoid "The Big One."
Tier 1 Start -- Tony Stewart
Stewart has the highest finishing average of any driver in Tier 1 but is only eighth overall in that department amongst active drivers. Stewart earned his first win at Talladega in this event in 2008 and has a finishing average of 14.2 overall at the track. Stewart got the win even though he came in second as Regan Smith was penalized for passing below the yellow line. Stewart has had some poor finishes in the state of Alabama, but there are plenty of high-end drivers with some less than respectable results in their career at Talladega.
Others to consider: Juan Pablo Montoya; Kurt Busch
Tier 1 Sit -- Kasey Kahne
With the exception of a second-place finish back in 2006; Kahne has had some bad results at Talladega over the years. Kahne has two 36th-place results in a row at the track to his credit and a finishing average of 23.5 overall. In fact, seven of his 11 results have been 23rd or worse. If you're taking a shot in the dark this weekend, cross Kahne off your list.
Others to avoid: Carl Edwards; Denny Hamlin
Tier 2 Start -- Ryan Newman
Newman has never picked up a victory at Talladega in his career but he has seven top-10 finishes in 15 career starts. Tier 2 is surprisingly weak overall at the track, making Newman's 18.5 finishing average not all that bad.
Others to consider: Brian Vickers; Matt Kenseth
Tier 2 Sit -- David Reutimann
Reutimann had a surprisingly strong race last weekend at Martinsville, finishing in fifth place. It would again be surprising if he had a good result at Talladega on Sunday. Reutimann has finished 20th or worse in four of his five career races at the track and should again be avoided this week.
Others to avoid: Kyle Busch; Clint Bowyer
Tier 3 Start -- Marcos Ambrose
Ambrose finished fourth in his only career race at Talladega earlier this season and has had a surprisingly strong 2009 campaign overall. Sitting at 17th in the standings overall, the Aussie is turning plenty of heads in the world of NASCAR. He might not be able to improve upon his fourth-place result from earlier this year, but he should have another rock solid performance.
Others to consider: Joey Logano; Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Tier 3 Sit -- Martin Truex, Jr.
For the second straight week I am advising Fantasy owners to steer clear of Truex. In his past four attempts at the track, Truex has been 33rd or worse and has a finishing average of 28.1 overall at the track. Coming off of a 28th-place result at Martinsville, Truex is not an advisable option.
Others to avoid: Jamie McMurray; Casey Mears
Tier 4 Start -- Paul Menard
I'm jumping on the Menard bandwagon for the second week in a row as he came through with a 23rd-place result at Martinsville last weekend. At Talladega, Menard has a finishing average of 24 overall, coming in second in this race back in 2008. He has finished inside of the top 15 in each of his past three races at the track and is a pretty easy pick for this weekend.
Others to consider: Bobby Labonte; David Ragan
Tier 4 Sit -- Sam Hornish, Jr.
Hornish has the lowest finishing average of any driver at Talladega in his career, with a 35th and 34th place finish to his credit. He has had an improved season in 2009 but doesn't come in to Talladega on much of a roll, finishing 36th and 40th in his past two races.
Others to avoid: A.J. Allmendinger; Reed Sorenson
Tier 5 Start -- Brad Keselowski
Could lightning strike twice for Keselowski? Probably not. Did he deserve to win at Talladega earlier this year? Let's not get into that. The fact is Keselowski was near the front at the end of that race and had a solid ride all day. Look for him to have another solid result at Talladega this weekend even though he won't be one of the favorites to make it two straight wins in Alabama.
Others to consider: Scott Speed; Robby Gordon
Tier 5 Sit -- John Andretti
Andretti has never had much success at Talladega in his career and earlier this year was no exception as he came in 27th place. The pickings are a bit better than usual in this tier, so choose wisely as you could get a surprisingly strong score from a Tier 5 driver this weekend.
Others to avoid: David Gilliland; Joe Nemechek
Ian's Starting Five
Tier 1 -- Tony Stewart
Tier 2 -- Ryan Newman
Tier 3 -- Marcos Ambrose
Tier 4 -- Paul Menard
Tier 5 -- Brad Keselowski
Do you have a Fantasy Racing question or a comment for Ian? Send him your feedback by clicking here and be sure to include your name and hometown!
