There are three open spots in the Championship Four with one race remaining in the Round of Eight. There are seven NASCAR Playoffs drivers that want one of those spots. This could make for a very exciting Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
You can’t help but wonder if NASCAR had this kind of drama in mind when they scheduled Martinsville to be the final elimination race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Joey Logano is locked in the Championship Four because of his win in the first race in the Round of Eight at Kansas.
Kyle Busch was eliminated from championship contention. However, he was the winner of race two in the Round of Eight at Texas. That took away a clinch from one of the seven remaining playoff contenders. That left three open spots instead of two in the Championship Four.
Most would think that is a good thing for the remaining drivers. Because of the way the points sit between those seven drivers it is likely less of a good thing. Kevin Harvick needs very little to clinch his spot in the Championship Four. He simply can’t have a calamity of a day while the other drivers have great days and he should advance.
However, the four drivers below the cut line will have to race like they are in a “must win” situation. Kurt Busch IS in a “must win” situation. He cannot gain enough points to advance with a second place or lower finish.
Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. can mathematically advance without winning. However, in order to do that they would need to have a great day with other drivers having a disaster of a day in the race.
Denny Hamlin needs to have just a good day and he should advance. If one of the drivers below the cut line wins the race, he needs to have a good day and lose no more than two points to Brad Keselowski in order to advance.
Brad Keselowski needs to have just a good day as well and he should advance. However, if a driver below the cut line wins the race he will need to have that good day and gain three points on Denny Hamlin in order to advance.
With points awarded at the end of stages one and two Kevin, Denny and Brad have a somewhat simple path to clinching their spots in the Championship Four. Finish high in each stage to gain points. Put a winner from below the cut line in the mix at the end of the race and things get a bit more complicated.
Here is what the drivers (Playoff and Non-Playoff) are facing equally this weekend.
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
Xfinity 500 Data
Season Race #: 35 of 36 (11-1-20)
Playoff Race #: 9 of 10
Race Length: 500 laps / 263 miles
Stage 1 & 2: 130 Laps (each)
Final Stage: 240 Laps
These are the top overall active drivers at Martinsville Speedway in the Cup Series.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson ……………………… 109.9
Denny Hamlin ……………………….. 105.3
Kyle Busch ……………………………. 102.8
Brad Keselowski …………………….. 99.6
Joey Logano ………………………….. 96.5
Ryan Blaney …………………………… 96.3
Kevin Harvick ………………………… 94.4
Clint Bowyer …………………………… 91.3
Chase Elliott ………………………….. 90.3
Matt Kenseth …………………………… 86.8
Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2019 races (30 total) among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway.
Note: Drivers names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
Here are the active drivers that have won during their careers in NASCAR’s top division at Martinsville Speedway.
Active Cup Series Drivers with Martinsville Win(s)
Jimmie Johnson – 9 Wins
Denny Hamlin – 5 Wins
Martin Truex Jr. – 2 Wins (October 2019 race & June 2020 race)
Kurt Busch – 2 Wins
Kyle Busch – 2 Wins
Brad Keselowski – 2 Wins
Clint Bowyer – 1 Win
Joey Logano – 1 Win
Kevin Harvick – 1 Win
Ryan Newman – 1 Win
Note: Drivers names in red are currently in championship contention in Playoffs.
Last race Kyle Busch finally got his first win of 2020 even though he was already eliminated from championship contention. That was a big deal for Kyle. He could try to make a statement that although he can’t win the title he is at the top by winning the last two races of the season.
Jimmie Johnson has just two races left before he retires. That means he has just two races left to end his Hall of Fame career on a winning note. Jimmie is considered the “Master of Martinsville” among active drivers with the most wins and highest driver rating. Will he play spoiler this week like Kyle Busch did last week?
With all of that and much more on the line I will bet there will be plenty of beatin’ and bangin’ going on this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. We will see how it al plays out starting at 1 PM central time (2 PM eastern time) in the Xfinity 500.
By: Buck Stevens
