Roundtable - Larson's speed, Johnson's struggles and looking ahead

1. Jimmie Johnson is off to an uncharacteristic start by his standards this season. He won the last Cup race at Martinsville in the fall. Could Martinsville be the place he breaks out of his slump?

Jim Utter: If there is a track where it could happen, it's definitely Martinsville. Johnson's early-season struggles are highlighted by the fact a lot of Johnson and the Hendrick Motorsports' No. 48 team's problems have been self-inflicted. Johnson has wrecked in practices and races. He's led just 29 laps so far this season and his best qualifying effort thus far was 14th at Phoenix. The problems stand out even more considering how well Johnson ran at the conclusion of last season on his way to this seventh Cup championship. Perhaps the lower downforce package as adaptable to Johnson's driving style as we thought.

Lee Spencer: Absolutely. Given Johnson’s record, he could win anywhere. I know the same thing was said last weekend entering the Auto Club 400, particularly after he scored his first top-10 finish the week before at Phoenix. But Martinsville Speedway is also special to the Hendrick organization. It’s where Rick Hendrick scored his first career-Cup win as an owner with Geoff Bodine in 1984. The tradition continued on the half-mile track with Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon. Johnson tied Gordon’s record with nine of Hendrick’s 24 Martinsville victories after last fall’s Goody’s 500 win.

Nick DeGroot: Jimmie Johnson has won at nearly every track on the circuit, but when thinking about which tracks he excels at, Martinsville tops that list. The half mile is where he really shines and can overcome the performance issues the No. 48 is facing right now.

Tim Southers: For sure. Johnson has nine career wins at the paper clip second to only Dover for most wins at one track and he won at Martinsville last fall. While it’s still way early in the season and he and his Hendrick Motorsports team rebounded nicely from a ‘slump’ during the year to win the title, I think Johnson would be very happy to get another Grandfather clock Sunday afternoon.

2. Kyle Larson got the sweep at Auto Club as Chip Ganassi Racing still shows marked improvement this season. What do you think has made the difference for that team?

Jim: First and foremost, CGR has made vast improvements on their cars. You have to believe the horsepower has been there since they use Hendrick engines and Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray are no slouches when it comes to driving talent. CGR's improvement this season is a stark reminder that even good drivers can accomplish only so much unless they have great equipment underneath them.

Lee: Stewart-Haas Racing’s departure opened the door — and the purse strings at Chevrolet — for Ganassi Racing. The additional support has paid off considerably for the company. Although it’s too early to hand over the best in the garage mantle for the Bow-tie Brigade, the argument could be made that this organization is the best of the Chevys at the moment with both cars in the top-six in the standings. I’ll be curious to see how Kyle Larson performs at the paperclip this weekend. Despite his short-track prowess, Larson has just one-top five finish in six starts at the track. He finished third in this race last year. In the fall, Larson led his first laps at the track (six) before posting his second-best result (14th).

Nick: When SHR moved away from Chevrolet, it allowed Ganassi to slide into their shoes as the number two Chevrolet team. With more support on that front and internal improvements both on a technical and personnel level, it's no surprise that they've come back stronger and faster in 2017. CGR is a real championship contender now and with a talent like Kyle Larson, he'll keep winning if they keep providing him with fast race cars.

Tim: The team has obviously made more of investment in their equipment this season and Larson might now just have the experience he needed to learn how to finish races and close the deal as he ran well at times last season and appeared to have a win locked up before something would happen late in the race. I think this will allow Larson to not only make the playoffs, but become a contender for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup; Series championship.

3. The NCWTS gets back in action this weekend at Martinsville, could we see a surprise winner this Saturday and who do you think it might be getting a Grandfather clock?

Jim: Martinsville Truck races always seem to be full of surprises but in the last two seasons, the races have been won by series veterans or Cup series regulars. I expect to see a strong performance from Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson. Gragson should be right at home on short tracks - which dominate the K&N Pro series' schedules - and Bell performed very well at the track last fall on his way to advancing to the Championship 4.

Lee: Although Christopher Bell wouldn’t be considered “a surprise winner”, given that he’s one of the hottest up-and-coming drivers in the sport, he has to be considered a favorite for Saturday’s Alpha Energy’s 300. Bell finished 19th in his first start and improved to fourth last spring.  

Nick: Trucks at Martinsville have a tendency to be unpredictable. Despite that, I don't expect there to be a surprise winner. The key to victory will be patience and experience, giving veterans and Cup double dippers the upper hand.

Tim: Although he’s won before, I think John Hunter Nemecheck could get a win this weekend and I also think this could be the weekend Austin Cindric could surprise some people in the garage on Saturday afternoon.

4. This is the first short track race of the season. Do you think we could see Kyle Busch make good on his threat to Joey Logano and have a repeat of a Logano-Kenseth moment on Sunday?

Jim: Typically, I would say no, particularly after what happened to Kenseth when he took matters into his own hands. But after NASCAR elected to do nothing to Austin Dillon for his retaliation directed at Cole Custer under caution in the Phoenix Xfinity Series race two weeks ago, nothing would surprise me. I think if Busch did attempt something, he would at least be smart enough not to make it as blatant as Kenseth did.

Lee: Certainly a Logano-Busch rematch would be good for ratings. But with both drivers still searching for their first win of the season, staying the course and concentrating on the task at hand would serve each of the drivers well. While Matt Kenseth found an opportune time to take out Logano in 2015, it’s amazing how drivers generally lose their mind in the heat of the moment over something that developed throughout the course of the race rather than a plan to exact revenge. However, all eyes will be on the Nos. 18 and 22 should Busch and Logano come within a bumper of one another.

Nick: I don't expect Busch to seek Logano out. They're both focused on winning first, but should one these two find themselves battling for that aforementioned win, the likelihood of fireworks flying between them increases exponentially.

Tim: While I think it could happen, I don’t think it will unless they get together on the track during Sunday’s race. I would think Busch would want his retaliation to hurt Logano’s chances for a title and retaliating now would not hurt Logano’s chances, it could only hurt Busch more in the long run.