Final martinsville update

I'll do two things with this final weekend update.  First, I'll give you the lineup I'll be playing most heavily this weekend.  Second, I'll give you a full list of driver targets for you to pick from so you can make your own well informed decisions as well.

My Main Lineup
Here is where I'm going with my main lineup.  Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Landon Cassill.  I think this gives you (1) the two guys most likely to dominate the race in Busch and Truex, (2) two point hogs in Bowyer and Newman who should finish well and maybe gain 5 or so positions each, and (3) two guys starting in the back with a chance to score 5-8 position difference points without even doing much (hopefully even more for McMurray).  MONDAY UPDATE:  IF YOU DON'T WANT TO USE CASSILL, YOU CAN CONSIDER PIVOTING OFF BOWYER AND CASSILL TO TY DILLON AND EITHER AUSTIN DILLON OR DANIEL SUAREZ.
Good luck!


Full List of Driver Targets
Information updated from the initial driver target list is shown in bold.

• Kyle Busch ($11,000) -- He has dominated at Martinsville recently.  In the last four races, he has two wins and he's finished in the Top 5 in all four races.  He has led over 40% of the total combined laps in those four races.  He had the fastest 20 lap average in final practice and second fastest 15 lap and 10 lap average.
• Martin Truex ($10,700) -- Has never won here or at any other short track.  But he has finished in the Top 7 four of the last six races here.  He starts from the pole and will likely lead laps early.  He also started from the pole in October 2016 and led 147 laps on the way to a 7th place finish.  In final practice, he had the third best 10 lap average, the best 15 lap average and the sixth fastest 20 lap average.
• Brad Keselowski ($10,100) -- He is the only one who has been anywhere near Kyle the last four races.  He has one win and has also finished in the Top 5 all four races.  He has led over 11% of the total combined laps in those races.  In final practice, he had the best 10 lap average, the ninth best 15 lap average and the tenth best 20 lap average.
• Chase Elliott ($9,900) -- Last year in October, Chase led 123 laps at Martinsville and had the race won until Denny Hamlin took him out in a very controversial "pass" for the lead.  Chase had to pit to repair damage and finished 23rd.  In Spring last year, Chase started 2nd and finished 3rd.  He led 20 laps in that race.  It would be fitting to see Chase score his first Cup series victory here this weekend.  In final practice, he had the eighth best 15 lap average and seventh best 15 lap average.
• Joey Logano ($9,500) -- He has won the pole 4 of the last 6 races at Martinsville.  But, he has no wins, only one Top 5 and three Top 10 finishes in those six races.  He obviously has some speed here (and his teammate has done very well) but he hasn't been able to translate that into race success yet.  Didn't show great speed in practice in Saturday.  Carries a lot of risk starting third.
• Jimmie Johnson ($9,100) -- Jimmie has an awesome history at this track with nine career Cup series victories.  His last was in October 2016.  However, he didn't even lead 100 laps in that race and he hasn't led a large number of laps in any recent races here.  That said, he showed some speed last week for the first time this season and he does have that history here.  So he's worth watching this weekend.  Was down in 27th on the 10 lap average chart in final practice.
• Clint Bowyer ($8,300) -- Ran very well at Martinsville last year in his first season at SHR.  In Spring, he started 8th and finished 7th.  In fall, he started 5th and finished 3rd.  On Sunday, he will start 9th.  In final practice, he had the 4th best 10 lap average, 3rd best 15 lap average and 3rd best 20 lap average.
• Ryan Newman ($7,900) -- Possibly a good option at a moderate cost.  Newman has been solid at Martinsville.  He's finished in the Top 10 three of the last five races and has not finished lower than 16th in those five races.  He's unlikely to led laps or get many fastest laps, but he is a good bet for a 6th-12th place finish and solid points.  He showed solid speed in practice.  He was sixth in 10 lap average, fifth in 15 lap average and second in 20 lap average.  He remains a solid pick starting 14th.
• Austin Dillon ($7,700) -- Another possible moderate cost option.  He's finished in the Top 20 the last four Martinsville races.  In the last two Spring races, though, he's finished 4th and 5th.  He's also had some very impressive position difference showings in the last four races.  He is +25, +15, +15 and +12 positions in the last four Martinsville races.  At a track where it's difficult to pass, that is very impressive.  He also showed solid speed on Saturday.  In final practice, he was ninth in 10 lap average, sixth in 15 lap average and fifth in 20 lap average.
• AJ Allmendinger ($6,400) -- We had AJ as a lower cost option last week and he finished 22nd with a +10 position difference bonus.  We're going back to him at Martinsville where he has done really well in most races.  Last October, he did have an early accident and finished 40th.  But, in the three prior Martinsville races, he had three consecutive Top 10 finishes.  His road course skills and braking ability are real assets at a track like Martinsville where the corner speeds drop so low.  AJ has raced at Martinsville eight times since joining JTG Daugherty Racing in the #47.  He has two terrible finishes of 40th or worse, but in the other six races, he has finished no worse than 11th and has a high of 2nd in October 2016.  I'd like to see him start toward the back of the field, which would make him a low risk, high upside choice at a great salary.  He starts 25th, which gives him good position difference potential.  He had good single lap speed in practice, but was only 20th on the 10 lap average chart in final practice.  The Fox broadcast also caught a team conversation where they seemed very concerned about the car as the run went on.  I still think he's an option, but am thinking more about the next guy now.
• Ty Dillon ($5,600) -- Starts 32nd and had decent speed on Saturday.  In the first practice, he had the 13th fastest single lap and was 7th quick in 10 lap average.  In the final practice, he had the 14th fastest single lap and was 15th quick in 10 lap average.  However, in two starts at Martinsville in the 13 car, he has basically run in place and finished no higher than 22nd.  What we would be hoping for is a finish somewhere between 20th-25th.
• Landon Cassill ($4,500) -- Cassill is replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #00 car.  He is really a solid driver and, at this cost, could be a viable salary saving play as long as he qualifies at the back.  He and Allmendinger could open up something of a "stars and scrubs" type option that would allow you to roster our top three drivers Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott with a solid points grinder like Ryan Newman.