Martinsville Speedway is one of those places that race teams and drivers poke at with a very long stick. It's cute and historic and it looks kind of harmless from a safe distance. But they all know the shortest track on the Sprint Cup schedule can turn, lunge and take out a big hunk of flesh at the snap of a finger.

Kurt Busch

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As bad as it's been in the past with the lapped cars in one lane and the lead-lappers in the other, this weekend's race will be the insane end of impossible

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-- KURT BUSCH

Because of that, fans and racers alike either love Martinsville as a Chase venue, or would just as soon bypass it.

These days, in this Era of Jimmie, the choice between love and bypass can be a tough one. Especially if you are attempting to somehow dislodge Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team from their role of favorites to win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Martinsville is a classic. Built in the late '40s, it's located in the backwoods of Virginia. Mountains, trees and a railroad track helped dictate its shape.

That shape is paper clip-like. That is, Martinsville is essentially .526-miles of drag strips connected by U-turns.

Because of its design and length, it has the reputation of being a sheet metal-eater.

On the psychology side, it can drive the best of drivers buggy.

Drivers such as former Cup champion Matt Kenseth.

"I've never really been very good at getting around Martinsville," Kenseth said. "I think you have to get the car to turn good in the center, but you still have to have good rear traction on the exit."

Drivers such as Carl Edwards.

"It's very hard on the brakes, and it's very much a rhythm race track," Edwards said. "You use all of your senses there to feel your way around the track. You need to be really aware of the brakes, so you don't overheat the brakes. That's a really big part of running well there. I've had good luck there, but I haven't won a race yet so I don't know what it takes to win there. I think I know. I think it takes good patience and good strategy and a fast racecar."

This year, in Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500, the edge factor will be kicked up by the use of double-file restarts and, probably, lots of them.

"As bad as it's been in the past with the lapped cars in one lane and the lead-lappers in the other, this [weekend's race] will be the insane end of impossible," Chaser Kurt Busch said.

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You would think those drivers still harboring hopes of wedging their way between Johnson and a fourth straight championship would be slobbering all over themselves at the thought of racing at Martinsville.

That's because those drivers need Johnson?who has won three of the five Chase races and who is stretching out his points lead?to run into trouble and do it soon.

What better place than Martinsville this weekend?

Well, it turns out, there are many better places. History shows Martinsville is not an X-factor track in the Chase. It's a JJ-factor track.

Five times the Chase has visited Martinsville and four times, Johnson has come away the winner. Overall, Johnson has six victories and 11 top-five finishes in 15 starts at Martinsville.

Those numbers have to be putting smiles on Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and everybody else who is hoping the 48 team will make history this season.

Johnson simply said this week, "I think it's going to be a great race. It's been a good track to us over the years, and it's been an opportunity for us to gain points on some of the other Chase contenders that maybe don't prefer or like that track."

Tony Stewart, fourth in points and 155 behind Johnson, used to detest that track. Now he likes it. He said his game plan will be to ignore Johnson's history and numbers at Martinsville.

"All we can do is just do our job," Stewart said. "Even if we win [each] race for the last five weeks in a row, there is still no guarantee that we could close the gap. All we can do is worry about ourselves right now. It really takes the pressure off of us. All we can do is go for broke now."