Goody’s Fast Pain Relief Free Picks
RIDGEWAY, VA (ATS Consultants) – The Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 for a 1:13pm start from Martinsville, VA.
The track is a is barely a half-mile around and makes for some great racing action. This is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The layout does not allow for high speed but there are some flat narrow turns that provide for some hard-breaking and smooth accelerations. Kevin Harvick was last year’s champion and Denny Hamlin won it in 2010. Jimmie Johnson won the race in 2009.
Hamlin dropped to seventh place, 24 points behind leader Greg Biffle. He won at Phoenix in the second race of the season. Hamlin won the race in 2010 from a starting position of 19 and also won the race in 2008. In 2010, Hamlin also had won for the third straight time at Martinsville and fourth in the past six races at the Virginia track. He lead a race-high 172 laps and then gave up the top spot to Jeff Gordon to opt for new tires with less than 10 laps remaining. That strategy paid off. He finished 12th last year and 2nd in 2009.
Harvick won the race last year and came in 35th the year before. Rusty Wallace was the last drive to win back-to-back when he won four straight from 1993-96. Harvick remains in second place in the standings, moving up two points on leader Greg Biffle. He leads third-ranked Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 10 points.
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Earnhardt Jr. finished second here last year and has had some success despite not winning here. He finished third twice and last year, passed Kyle Busch for the lead with 21 laps remaining in the 500 lap race. But Harvick took the lead with four laps to go when Earnhardt Jr. got loose, allowing Harvick to squeak by him. He crossed the finish line 0.7 seconds ahead of Earnhardt Jr. He did move up two positions to climb into third place, just one spot lower than his high point of the season. He’s 10 points behind second-place Harvick and one point ahead of fourth-place Tony Stewart.
2012 Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Information
Race Date: Sunday, April 1
Location: Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, VA
Pre-Race: 12:30PM ET
Green Flag: Approx. 1:13PM ET
TV Coverage: FOX
Radio Coverage: MRN
Track Type: Oval (500 laps)
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