OPR Staff Fantasy Pick Results for NCWT and NSCS at Martinsville

For the first time ever, the OnPitRoad.com staff bonded together and decided to put their brains to the test and pick who they thought would run good at Martinsville this weekend. Looking back on both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, some of the picks paid off well others didn’t do as well.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Ashley McCubbin picked Darrell Wallace Jr. and Jeb Burton. Wallace ran up front all day and was in contention for the win all day, before finishing second. Burton, meanwhile, didn’t run as strong as he did last year and finished 21st after a mid-race spin. Points: 43+23=66

Marshall Gabell picked Timothy Peters and Erik Jones. Peters led 49 of the 250 laps and was running second late in the race when Wallace gave him a shot to send him up the track and out of the groove. Contact with his teammate German Quiroga handed Peters a sixth place effort. Meanwhile, Jones worked his way up through the field as the race went and was running inside the top five late in the race when contact from Johnny Sauter sent Jones around. As a result, the 17-year-old finished 18th. Points: 39+26=65

Tayler Stiles picked Johnny Sauter and Jeb Burton. Sauter had a quick truck all late afternoon – but seemed to find himself getting into a lot of people along the way. Call it either classic short track racing, or being too agressive – that’s your call. Either way, he ended up finishing fourth. Points: 41+23=64

Roger Holtsclaw picked Darrell Wallace Jr. and Timothy Peters. Points: 43+39=82

Top Pick: Roger Holtsclaw

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

 Ashley McCubbin picked Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Jimmie Johnson ran inside the top five all day, dominating the race as he led the most laps in route to finishing second while teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. carefully made his way from his poor starting spot to the top five and posted a solid third place finish. Meanwhile while Denny Hamlin won the pole and promised to win the race, the day didn’t go as he planned as he quickly faded outside of the top 10 and struggled most of the day before finishing 19th. Points: 44+42+25=111

Marshall Gabell picked Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. While his Hendrick Motorsports counterparts ran well, Gordon struggled much of the race (surprisingly based on his past on the paperclip) and even found himself with heavy front end damage to contact in the back of the pack. Gordon ended up finishing 12th. Points: 32+25+42=99

Tayler Stiles picked Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. Points: 44+32+25=101

Roger Holtsclaw picked Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Like his Joe Gibbs Racing counterpart, Kyle Busch struggled most of the day and ran around 10th spot before finishing 14th. Points: 25+31+44=100

Top Pick: Ashley McCubbin

With this weekend being a trial run, we will not be using these results to count towards future point standings. The idea was to try it out. Heading into Texas and beyond, OPR will have an official Fantasy point standings to keep track of how things go. The idea is for future races, you will have these three counterparts, as well as fellow writers and photographers join in that are part of the website.

Next Up: Texas Motor Speedway

The stars of the Sprint Cup Series head from one of NASCAR’s smallest tracks to the lonestar state to tackle the 1.5-mile oval known as Texas Motor Speedway. They say that everything is bigger in Texas so perhaps this’ll be the biggest race of the season so far. As the same with Martinsville, each Fantasy pick participant is asked to submit three drivers.

After having a week off, the stars of the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be back this weekend looking for a win. Will it be another dominating performance by the Sprint Cup double-dippers? Or will one of the series regulars take home the win? The Nationwide Series fantasy pick will have special rules as each participant is asked to submit three drivers BUT one of them must be a series regular.

If you feel that you can do better than the writers, feel free to e-mail us your picks at ashleymccubbin@speedwaymedia.com, or post them on the OnPitRoad.com facebook page. We’ll add them in to the pick article in a special fan section and see whether the fans can beat the writers in picking.