Fantasy NASCAR Preview: Martinsville

Kenseth is rarely a contender for the win at Martinsville, but is usually very consistent with 5 top 10's in 17 starts. His 30th place finish in the spring should be considered an aberration, but he is also best used at some of the other tracks coming up on the schedule. Don't waste him here.

Mears was 7th in the spring, rounding out the Hendrick quartet. He was also 20th last fall and has a top 10 on his resume from 2006. The entire stable is good at Martinsville, and Mears is actually a pretty solid class B choice this weekend.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Montoya is a solid class B option. He was 13th in the spring, proving that his finishes of 8th and 16th last season were not flukes. His skills at Martinsville are not a shock to anyone, racing this short track is a lot like coming in and out of hairpin corners on a road course. The shocking part has been his ability to stay out of trouble.

Like his brother, Kurt wasn't a factor back in the spring. He hasn't finished any better than 6th in his last 7 starts, and has only 2 top 10's in 11 starts since he won at Martinsville in 2002. Despite that, he's a sleeper in the class A group this weekend. He's always a threat to do well on a short track if he can avoid trouble.

Riggs ran into some trouble in the spring but should be a solid class C choice. He was 10th in the spring of 2006 at Martinsville, 8th last spring, and followed that up with a solid 16th place finish in the fall of 2007.

Sadler was 15th in the spring, a solid enough run to mark him as a decent class B option this weekend. He was 6th in the spring of 2006, so he also has some recent success.

After his demolition debut in Martinsville in 2006, Ragan finished a solid 15th in the spring race and 26th in the fall of 2007. This spring, he made further improvements with an 11th place run. He is a plausible class B choice this week if you can remove yourself from the image of him wrecking every other car on the track in 2006.

Biffle was 7th in this race last year, his first career top 10 at Martinsville. He was 20th in the spring, and is best used elsewhere.

Kahne has had strong runs at Martinsville before, including a 2nd place finish in 2005 and another top 10 in 9 starts. Still, he was just 17th in the spring and is not one of the stronger class B options.

Reutimann finished 39th in the fall after mechanical trouble, but did manage to lead a few laps. He was 17th last fall at Martinsville, and could surprise some people this weekend after some of the races he has had in the second half of the season.

Smith has been the forgotten man at DEI all season. However, he almost won (and probably should have won) at Talladega a few weeks ago and followed that up with a 23rd place run at Charlotte. He was 14th at Martinsville in the spring and is a great class C option this weekend.