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The Victory Lap of Martinsville II
Written by Thomas Harris   
Tuesday, 01 November 2011 20:20

tony-stewart-2011-martinsville-winDriving like he stole it, Tony Stewart made his outside move on Jimmie Johnson stick for his third win in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup with championship number three in his sights. Martinsville was tough on a good number of Chase drivers including Brad Keselowski, who had a great run going and spun with two laps to go.

 

Don’t count the Blue Deuce out, with three races left the Chase is still up for grabs.

 

Driver of Week: Tony Stewart – Third win of the Chase

Stat of the Week: 0 DNF’s at Texas for Kevin Harvick in 17 races.

Last Week’s Prediction Results: Tony Stewart – WINNER – 2nd in three races that I have got right let’s see if I can put the streak at 2 in a row.

This Week’s Prediction for Texas: Carl Edwards – Most wins in the history of Texas Motor Speedway with three.

 

Power Rankings
(Rankings will be based off of who is running the best, with an emphasis on the last several races but having respect for the duration of the 36 race schedule. Last Week’s Rankings can be found in parenthesis.)
1. (1) Carl Edwards – Leads the Sprint Cup Championship standings by eight and has outscored everyone in the Chase by 22 or more.
2. (4) Tony Stewart – Makes up 11 points in one race needs to make up three per race to win title.
3. (5) Kevin Harvick – 21 points back from Edwards and needs to make a big move at Texas to keep title hopes alive.
4. (2) Brad Keselowski – Not a great day at Martinsville but is 27 back which is within striking distance with the way the team can get hot.
5. (7) Jimmie Johnson – The streak of championships might be over after this week realistically.
6. (3) Matt Kenseth – Dropped 22 points at Martinsville and needs some help at Texas to climb back.
7. (6) Kyle Busch – Joe Gibbs Racing needs to evaluate the Chase in order to win the title with their best driver.
8. (8) Jeff Gordon – Great bounce back race, unfortunately too little too late.
9. (9) Kurt Busch – His Chase run has not been consistent enough to win the title.
10. (10) Kasey Kahne – Leads all drivers besides Edwards in points over the last five races.
11. (12) Jeff Burton – Has two of his three top 10’s the last two weeks
12. (11) Clint Bowyer – Going to MWR next year where he will need to bring down his DNF’s

 

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