The final three-race round in the NASCAR Playoffs starts this weekend as the Round of Eight drivers (and all the others) go short trackin’ at Martinsville Speedway in the First Data 500.
Eight drivers now have three races to either win or score enough points to be one of the four drivers to advance to the winner-takes-all championship race to end the season and crown the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion.
There is less than one race worth of points separating the top ranked driver in this round of the post-season and the bottom ranked driver. That means when the racing starts with the beating and banging that can happen when NASCAR goes short trackin’, the Playoff picture could change dramatically.
A great day for some and the drivers at the bottom can move to the top. A disastrous day for some and the drivers on the top can move to the bottom.
Here is what all drivers will be dealing with equally.
Martinsville Speedway Data
Track Size: 0.526-mile
Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 12 degrees
Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 12 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 0 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 0 degrees
Frontstretch Length: 800 feet
Backstretch Length: 800 feet
First Data 500 Data
Season Race #: 33 of 36 (10-27-19)
Race Length: 500 laps / 263 miles
Stage 1 & 2 Length: 130 laps (each)
Final Stage Length: 240 laps
These are the active drivers that have performed the best overall at Martinsville Speedway during the careers in NASCAR’s top division.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson …………………….. 111.5
Denny Hamlin ……………………….. 106.9
Kyle Busch ……………………………. 104.4
Brad Keselowski. …………………….. 99.6
Kevin Harvick ………………………….. 94.3
Joey Logano …………………………… 94.2
Clint Bowyer ……………………………. 91.7
Ryan Blaney ……………………………. 91.0
Chase Elliott ……………………………. 89.7
Ryan Newman ………………………… 84.4
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2019 races (29 total) among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway. Driver names in RED above are currently in championship contention in the playoffs.
There are nine active drivers that have won a cup series race at Martinsville during their careers.
Active Cup Series Drivers with Martinsville Win(s)
Jimmie Johnson – 9 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 5 Wins
Kurt Busch – 2 Wins
Kyle Busch – 2 Wins
Brad Keselowski – 2 Wins (including 2019 March race)
Clint Bowyer – 1 Win
Joey Logano – 1 Win (this race in 2018)
Kevin Harvick – 1 Win
Ryan Newman – 1 Win
Driver names in RED above are currently in championship contention in the playoffs.
There are as many stories as there are drivers that will be racing at Martinsville this weekend in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. That means there will be an enormous amount of strategies and motivations down pit road and on the track. This is why there are typically so many incidents when NASCAR heads to the short track. Here are a just a few things to think about while you are watching the race unfold.
Jimmie Johnson is the current “Master of Martinsville.” He tied for third on the all-time race winners list at the track with nine wins. (#1 Richard Petty – 15 wins; #2 Darrell Waltrip – 11 wins; Tied at #3 Jeff Gordon – 9 wins). Jimmie missed the Playoffs for the first time in his career this year. It has been 91 races since Jimmie has been to Victory Lane (the longest streak in his career without a win). I am pretty sure he is not going the worry about if a driver is in the Playoff hunt or not if he has a chance to capture his 10th Martinsville Trophy Clock.
Joey Logano is the defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion. He earned his spot in the Championship Four last year by using the “Bump and Run” maneuver on Martin Truex Jr. to win this race last year. That was after Martin had raced him cleanly in the race just laps before. That is the kind of thing drivers tend not to forget … even a year later.
Brad Keselowski was eliminated from championship contention this year by just three points following the race last weekend at Kansas. He dominated the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway earlier this year. You can bet he will want to make a statement by sweeping the races at the track in 2019 regardless of what diver is in his way to do it.
Three drivers in contention are working hard to emerge as the sport’s new superstars: Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. They can take a giant leap in that effort if any of them were to win their first ever NASCAR Cup Series Championship this year. Win the race this weekend would put them in position to do that in the Championship Race to end the season.
The bottom line is this. When the green flag waives to start the First Data 500 starting at 2 PM central time (3 PM eastern time) at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, October 27th drama will follow. The only unknowns are what kind and how much drama will there be?
By: Buck Stevens
