Martinsville primer

SINGLE ELIM HEAT
Final race of the first round means we'll lose 18 teams from this competition. Among the close matchups (entering qualifying at Martinsville's paperclip):
RMO Lug Nutz by 7 points over napolean (yes, our top two teams in the Yahoo and Overall standings were paired in the first round. Weird. But it also means one of them will likely be eliminated from Overall title contention with a loss here. Kinda sucks given the strong starts for both teams and some terrible starts for others, but the matchups were set before the season started)
Gonzo33 Racing by 9 points over Swindell Motorsports
JoRo's Rockets by 11 points over Arthur Racing
Shamrock by 21 points over Yduck


SINGLE ELIM HEAT
Like the bracket version, this is the last race of the first round/heat. The top 18 teams advance to the next heat against 14 other teams that received first-round/heat byes. Rev-a-lusions and HEAVY CHEVY share the final spots; nine other teams are within 50 points of them.


DOUBLE ELIM BRACKET/HEAT
M'ville will be the second race of the second round; not much to say at this point. If you're in a hole entering Sunday, you're in trouble. Big trouble. This round ends in two weeks at Talladega.


WORLD CUP
We're halfway through the Track Qualifying phase, and these teams are unbeaten through four matchups: Yduck (Indy group), napolean (Watkins Glen), Little Deuce Coupe (Martinsville) and Tony is The Man (Pocono). Based on RMFN World Cup history, those teams will likely only need one more point to secure a spot in the next round.


OVERALL
Expect some significant changes after Sunday's race at the paperclip. We'll eliminate 18 teams from both the single elim heat and single elim bracket. As of now, RMO Lug Nutz holds a slim edge of napolean, but that doesn't mean much in April.


CHASE
Same two lead early. The top 12 plus any other teams within 400 points of the leader advance to the Chase. Right now that would be 47 of the 48 eligible teams (Dirty Drivers is in an early hole).


MISC
RMFN has turn the tables after a VERY slow start to the 2011 season.
Through three races, RMFN had five scores above 300 points and 43 lower than 200.
The last two races, RMFN has 36 scores above 300 points and just one lower than 200.
The average scores reflect it, as well, going from 208 at Daytona to 251 heading into Martinsvile.
Who's hot (two or more consecutive 300+ scores): Loose Lugnuts, #3 Intimidator, Shamrock, and Tony is the Man.