NASCAR First Data 500 Preview

The Penske Fords dominated in the spring race at Martinsville

Team Penske gears up for Martinsville Speedway

Team Penske has won three of the past five races – including the last two – at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, home to Sunday’s First Data 500 Monster Energy NACAR Cup Series Playoff race.

Penske’s Brad Keselowski has won two of those Martinsville races – including one of the most dominating victories in the 141-race history at the famous half-mile paperclip-shaped track. He led 446-of-500 laps en route to the March trophy. Only four other times has a race winner led more. And while Keselowski has fallen out of championship contention – missing the Playoff cutoff by a mere three points last week – certainly his two Playoff-eligible teammates – Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney – can take some positive energy from the Penske organization’s performance at Martinsville.

Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, is the defending Martinsville Playoff race winner, leading 309 laps en route to the victory last October.

In the last five Martinsville races, at least two Team Penske drivers have finished among the top 10.

In March, Keselowski won the race and Blaney finished fourth. In this race last year, Logano won and Keselowski finished fifth. In Spring 2018, Blaney was third, Logano placed sixth and Keselowski finished 10th. In the 2017 Playoff race, Keselowski was fourth and Blaney was eighth. Keselowski won the Spring 2017 race and Logano was fourth.

Only five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin (9.6) has a better average finish than Keselowski’s 11.3. Logano (13.4) and Blaney (14.0) are third and fourth best, respectively, among the eight Playoff drivers in that important statistic.

Logano, 29, has nine top-10 finishes in 21 Martinsville starts, including the 2018 Playoff win. He’s started from the pole position a series-best five times among active drivers – including this March – and has four top-10 finishes in the last six races.

Blaney, 25, has three top-10 finishes in seven Martinsville starts, including a fourth this March. He’s finished in the top-10 in three of the last four races including a career-best of third in 2018.

Kyle Busch could use a rally

Martinsville

It’s been 18 races since Kyle Busch last held a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy, but the four-race winner this season arrives at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway as the series championship leader again – four points up on six-race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. and nine-points ahead of Sunday’s Kansas winner, another JGR teammate, five-race winner Denny Hamlin.

For most people in the garage and in the grandstands, Busch heads into this final three-race stretch to determine the Championship 4 drivers, a competitor "on the verge" of winning. Certainly, his past performance at these three upcoming tracks would confirm that.

Busch is the only driver among the eight with multiple Cup Series wins at all three venues – Martinsville (two), Texas (three) and ISM Raceway in Phoenix (three). For good measure and further consideration, Busch has won an additional nine times at Texas and 11 times at Phoenix in the Xfinity Series giving him double-digit trophies from those tracks.

At this week’s Martinsville half-miler, Busch has wins in Spring 2016 and in the 2017 Playoff race. He was runner-up three more times, including both spring races in 2017 and 2018. Most telling, perhaps, is that of his 17 top-10 finishes – 16 of them are top fives. When he’s on, he’s on.

He’s finished fifth or better in the last eight Martinsville races – including two victories and two second-place finishes. He led a race-best 274 laps and finished runner-up to Brad Keselowski in 2017. In the last seven races, Busch has led 937 laps – 65.8 percent of his 1,424 lap-total at Martinsville. Seven times he’s led at least 100 laps in a race. His average finish (12.0) is second only to five-time Martinsville winner Hamlin among the Playoff-eligible drivers.

"I really look forward to this round,’’ Busch said. "I feel like it’s our best round. We run well at all three of those places and we’ve won a few at Texas, we won Martinsville twice and Phoenix has been getting better for us too, winning the last two races there.

"We just need to continue to execute and do a good job and make sure that we mind our Ps and Qs.’’

Hamlin’s time to shine

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Denny Hamlin earned his fifth win of the season Sunday at Kansas Speedway and he’s already turning in career statistical numbers, such as his 17 top fives and counting total. But there’s a stat he would like to own, and it comes with a trophy too – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.

The 38-year-old Virginian is undeniably the prince of the Martinsville short track among his eight remaining Playoff competitors. His five wins at the half-miler are most among the Playoff field. Only seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson’s nine Martinsville victories are more than Hamlin’s among this week’s entrants.

From 2009-10. Hamlin won three consecutive races at the historic half-miler – a feat done by only a handful of drivers, all champions: Richard Petty (1968-69), Cale Yarborough (1976-77), Darrell Waltrip (1988-89), Rusty Wallace (1994-95) and Jimmie Johnson (2006-07). Fred Lorenzen holds the all-time mark of four straight Martinsville wins between 1963-65.

In addition to his trophies, Hamlin has finished runner-up three times and third place on three more occasions. He’s led 100 laps or more five times at Martinsville. Statistically, when Hamlin’s good, he’s great. He led 502 of his 1,001 career laps out front at Martinsville in just two races – 296 laps in a runner-up finish in Spring 2009 and 206 laps in his Fall 2009 victory.

He has five top-10 finishes in the last seven Martinsville races and the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was runner-up to Joey Logano in last year’s Playoff race. He was fifth in March and boasts the best average finish (9.6) among Playoff drivers. His 20 top 10s at Martinsville are best among Playoff competitors and second only to Johnson’s 24 in this week’s starting field.

Truex still looking for first win at Martinsville

The season’s most prolific winner, six-time race winner Martin Truex Jr. goes into Martinsville (Va.) Speedway still looking for his first career victory at the notoriously finicky half-miler.

He has five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 27 starts. And his recent work has been his best. He has finished eighth or better in seven of the last nine races – including the last four. He was runner-up to Kyle Busch in 2017 and went on to win his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship. He was third in the 2018 Playoff race and finished eighth this March.

Truex trails his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch by only four points in the championship standings heading into Martinsville.

"We know what we need to do,’’ Truex said. "Now it’s just a matter of going out and doing it. I know [crew chief] Cole [Pearn] and the guys have a good plan every week, so I’m confident we can do that. We have been fast, ran up front and led laps at all of these tracks in this round.

"All eight [playoff] guys would love to go into Martinsville this week and win the race to move on. That’s our goal, but we also feel good about the other tracks too.’’

And, he added, "We’ve got a great team. We just have to go out and execute.’’

CHASE-ING

Chase Elliott in the spring race

Chase Elliott pulled off one of the most dramatic Playoff-extending performances of the season on Sunday in Kansas, racing to a runner-up finish to Denny Hamlin, which along with some poor luck from fellow contender Brad Keselowski, propelled him forward in the championship hunt.

As the standings are reset to reflect bonus points, Elliott vaults from just earning a spot among the Top eight (three points over Keselowski) to now being ranked sixth among the eight drivers. And Elliott has reason to be optimistic about optimizing his chances.

Elliott has four top-10 finishes in eight Martinsville Speedway races, including a pair of top-five runs. His best showing came this March when he was runner-up to race winner Brad Keselowski and led 49 laps on the evening.

He’s finished in the top 10 in the last three races at The Paperclip. And just for good measure, he does own a Martinsville trophy. He won the 2017 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race from the pole position, leading a race-best 92-of-250 laps.

This season, on tracks less than one mile in length, Elliott has a pair of top-five finishes (runner-up at Martinsville in March and fifth at Bristol, Tenn. in September.). He’s finished 15th or better in all five previous short track races and won the pole position for the April Bristol race.

Harvick ready to step up

Kevin Harvick is a three-race winner in 2019 and a former Monster Energy Series champion (2014), but he is adamant his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team will keep its eyes forward.

He advances to the Round of 8 for the sixth consecutive season and arrives at Martinsville Speedway a former winner (2011) – one of only four current Playoff drivers that has won a series trophy on the challenging venue.

Harvick would like, however, to claim another and ensure his position in the Championship 4 round for the third straight season. He starts this penultimate round of the Playoffs ranked fifth – one position behind where he will need to be to earn that championship opportunity Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He has seven top-10 finishes in the 11 Martinsville races he’s competed in for Stewart-Haas Racing, bested by a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 2017 Playoff race and the 2018 Spring race.

He’s been among the top 10 in the last four races, but hasn’t led a lap at Martinsville since March 2016. His average finish of 15.1 is sixth best of the remaining eight title contenders.

Harvick has reason to be confident, however. He’s finished seventh or better in three of the five previous short track races and is averaging a 13.8-place finish at short tracks this year He is a two-time Bristol, Tenn. winner and a three-time Richmond, Va. winner so this style of competition suits the 2014 Cup champion.

The Standard: Jimmie Johnson

Johnson too old and too slow now

Although seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is ineligible for the series championship for the first time in his certain NASCAR Hall of Fame career, he does have plenty of motivation to play spoiler this weekend at Martinsville.

Johnson is enduring his longest career winless streak – his last victory was June 4, 2017 at Dover, Del. – but this week he will be competing at a venue where he is the winningest active driver and on the verge of making more NASCAR history.

The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet can become only the third driver in NASCAR history to have earned 10 or more wins at more than one track. He is an 11-time winner at Dover and has nine victories already at Martinsville Speedway.

Only NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip have won 10 or more races at more than one race track. Petty won 15 times at Martinsville; 15 times at North Wilkesboro, N.C.; 13 races at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, 11 races at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and 10 times at Daytona International Speedway

Waltrip won 12 times at Bristol, Tenn., 11 times at Martinsville, Va. and 10 times at North Wilkesboro.

Johnson is easily the most successful driver at Martinsville this weekend with a series-best 19 top fives and 24 top 10s to go with his nine wins. He’s led a series-best 2,962 laps. Thirteen times he’s led at least 100 laps in a Martinsville race. Four times he’s led at least 200 laps and twice he’s led at least 300 laps.

He’s one of only seven drivers to ever win three consecutive races at Martinsville (2006-07) and from 2006-2009, he won five-of-six races. Not bad for a driver who finished 35th in his first start at the track.

His last top-10 finish at Martinsville was a victory in the 2016 Playoffs, when he went on to win the series championship.

Johnson currently holds a 15-point advantage over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez for 17th position in the championship standings – tops among those who did not qualify for the Playoffs.

Sunoco Rookie Race

With only four races remaining in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the competition for Sunoco Rookie of the Year is as close as it’s been.

JTG-Daugherty Racing driver Ryan Preece leads Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric by a mere six points going into Sunday’s race at Martinsville.

Hemric earned his first career series pole last weekend at Kansas Speedway but was collected in a crash and finished the day 31st. He has a season best showing of fifth at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in May and is ranked 25th in the standings. He’s led 22 laps in seven races, including a season high of seven laps at Charlotte in May.

Preece finished 12th-place at Kansas – his third consecutive top-20 run. His best finish of the year is third-place in that same May Talladega race. He’s led one lap – at Daytona in July.

Hemric was 27th at Martinsville earlier this season and Preece was 16th.