NASCAR: Five predictions for Martinsville Fall Race

MARTINSVILLE, VA - APRIL 02: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, lead the field to green during a restart during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /

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KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 22: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) /

Martinsville Prediction #3 – A wreck will diminish a playoff driver’s chances of advancing.

Arguably one of the best features of short track racing is the amount of bumping and banging that will take place. Unfortunately, one or more of the playoff drivers will get caught up in a wreck that causes them to miss the next round.

While you sit at your desk at work, hit up the supply closet and find a paperclip. Hold this paperclip up to the ceiling and imagine 40 race cars on it. This is what we will get to watch this Sunday at Martinsville. Certainly, at least one, but probably more drivers will get pushy and start pushing.

The negative sides effect to this behavior would be how it will affect a playoff driver who is either being spun or can’t stop quickly enough to miss the wreck. What tends to happen more often than not at a short track is a faster car being stuck behind someone driving slower. The faster driver can only be patient for so long before “moving” the slower car out of the way.

This means a wreck at some point is likely and there will be at least one wreck that includes a playoff driver. As we saw with Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth at Kansas, a crash at any point in the playoffs can be the kiss of death for playoff hopes.

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