Week 32 -- Martinsville
Remember way back last spring when the gNA$hCAR guys visited Martinsville and Jeff Gordon was stinking up the place with another great performance before a chunk of concrete ruined his day? That was the day Rusty Wallace broke his winless drought. A lot has changed since then, especially the track surface, which has been repaved to prevent what happened to Gordon from happening again. Wallace, meanwhile, is another of the also-rans in the championship chase, while Gordon is sitting pretty to make a run at the title. Just five races to go, and the champ will be decided most likely by which of the top three guys doesn't screw up between now and then. Let's see who is likely to take the fall this week. Not a lot of guys seem to drive this track well, which may be a factor in who finishes.
Glenn's Ten:
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- Jeff got robbed of a trip to Victory Lane here in the spring and has yet to win in the 10-race Chase. This may be his best shot of the remaining tracks. Even though he qualified a disappointing 15th, he is still poised to make a good run at a track where he has won two of the past three races.
The rest of the top 10 (in no particular order):
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Junior has a streak of about a dozen top 10 finishes. He should do well here, but perhaps my picking him for a good finish will be his undoing (fingers crossed!).
* Ricky Rudd -- Fatback McSwain's got Ricky back to being competitive. Rudd ripped off a top-10 qualifying lap Friday after nearly wrecking his first lap. If he can keep the car in one piece he'll be a serious threat Sunday.
* Bobby Labonte -- He doesn't have Fatback, but he shouldn't need him. This is a Bobby-type track.
* Dale Jarrett -- Starting 32nd, but don't count him out. Not the way he's been running lately.
* Ryan Newman -- Starting on the pole with a new track record. But it's not where you start, as the saying goes. Will Ryan be able to keep it together for 500 laps? I'm frankly a little worried.
* Rusty Wallace -- Rusty hasn't been running well lately, but he's psyched about this place because he last win came here. He'll either make the top 10 or he'll be in the garage early.
* Jeff Burton -- Made the show last weekend, and here is another track where Burton used to be a dominant factor.
* Mark Martin -- It's do well or start thinking about next year.
* Tony Stewart -- Where are you, Tony? Something's lacking from his championship run this year. Wins? Yeah, those too.
Chasers I didn't pick: Kurt Busch (Might get close because he knows he has to, but this track might be the biggest bullet he has left to dodge.); Jeremy Mayfield (What's left to lose? Hope the SAFER barriers are in good shape.); Jimmie Johnson (You'd think I'd give him more of a shot, being that his boss knows this place pretty well, but I fear for Jimmie on Sunday.); Matt Kenseth (Can't finish every race in the top 10.); Elliott Sadler (If DJ does well then maybe Elliott will too, but more likely in the 20s.)
