Next Race: First Data 500 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Sunday, October 28 The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 1:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 263 miles (500 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 130), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 260), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 500) Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick Tangled Atop The Standings The thrill and competitive tension for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship doesn’t get much tighter than this. The two season-long top trophy contenders – Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick – are separated by a single point as the series heads into Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to start the final three-race Round of 8 that sets up the championship finale. Busch retook the points lead from Harvick with his runner-up finish Sunday at Kansas and holds a 37-point edge on eighth place Aric Almirola – the final member of the championship-eligible field. A win this round automatically earns a driver a position in the Championship 4 for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And despite each driver’s seven-victory total and sizable points advantage, Busch and Harvick would still like to head to the grand finale with another win in the season’s final weeks. Busch has a pair of victories at this week’s Martinsville venue, including this race last year when he led 184 of the 505 laps. It’s been five races since his last victory (at Richmond) of 2018. He’s led multiple laps in only two of the six Playoff races. It’s been 10 races since Harvick’s last win (at Michigan) – the longest time between wins for him this year. He has led laps in five of the opening six Playoff events and started from the front row three times. He’s still looking for his first Playoff victory of 2018, however. His best post-season showing was a runner-up – to Busch – at Richmond. Tale Of The Tape The notoriously tough Martinsville half-miler has been the scene of two different recent resumes for the two championship leaders, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick. Busch is not only the defending winner of this fall race but finished runner-up in both the 2017 and 2018 spring races at the track. He has finished in the top five in the last six races at Martinsville – winning two and finishing second in two. He’s led more than 100 laps in three of those races – 352 laps in his 2016 spring victory, 274 laps in last spring’s runner-up showing and 184 laps in winning this Playoff race last year. In all, he’s led 1,324 career laps at Martinsville compared to Harvick’s 628 laps led. Harvick’s only win in 34 Martinsville starts was in the spring of 2011 while he was still driving for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). His best showing with his current Stewart-Haas Racing team was fifth, where he’s finished the last two races. He hasn’t led a lap at the track since April, 2016. However, it’s worth noting, Harvick finished 33rd in the Martinsville Playoff race in 2014 and still won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Truex Still On Path To Repeat Although Martin Truex Jr. is still very much in the thick of the championship conversation, the defending champ would like to tally a victory in this round to ensure his place among the Championship 4. But he has a little work to do – he did not lead a single lap during the second round of the Playoffs – his last time out front was the final corner of the last lap of the Charlotte Road Course before he tangled with Jimmie Johnson. Last year, for perspective, Truex had already led 2,068 of his 2,253 laps completed by this point in the season. This year he’s led 970 laps. Truex is looking for his first career win at Martinsville but has three top-10s in his last five races at the venerable half-miler. He’s led 193 of his career 244 laps led in the last five races there. He finished runner-up last year on the road to his championship and won the pole position this spring before finishing fourth. “We just know we have to be better,” Truex said “[Crew Chief] Cole (Pearn) knows it and Jazzy (engineer Jeff Curtis) knows it. The Playoffs haven’t been good to us this year and we’ve really battled a lot of adversity, especially in the second round. “I thought we could have won the first three Playoff races and then the last three haven’t been as good as it needed to be. Hopefully the next three we’ll step it back up. We had a lot of things work against us in the second round. With that said, to be able to move on with all those troubles I feel like we’re fortunate. We need to fix those problems, make our own luck and figure out how to run better.” Chase-ing A Title With his win Sunday at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott is now the only multi-Playoff race winner this season. He’s moved into the fourth position in the standings, just behind the season’s “Big 3” and appears to be poised for a real run at the championship. His average Playoff finish of 13.1 is third-best among the top four drivers – Kyle Busch (12.6), Harvick (16.0) and Truex (10.5). Eliminate the Talladega Superspeedway “wild card” – where all four drivers finished 23rd or worse – and Elliott’s 9.6 average in the other five Playoff races is second only to Truex. The defending Monster Energy Series champion has an impressive 8.0 average finish – minus Talladega. Of the “Big 3,” only Busch (Richmond) has won a Playoff race. The next three tracks – Martinsville, Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway in Phoenix – look promising for Elliott. He claims to be a big Martinsville Speedway fan and has two top–10 finishes in five starts there. He led 123 laps in last fall’s Playoff race but finished 27th. Elliott scored his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Texas Motor Speedway and has four top-10s in five Monster Energy Series starts there, with a best showing of fourth in the fall of his 2016 rookie year. The Phoenix oval – newly named ISM Raceway – has been one of Elliott’s best venues. Although he hasn’t won there, he has four top-10s in five starts and finished 12th in the other. He’s finished second (fall, 2017) and third (spring, 2018) in the last two races there. The track will debut a complete remodel in November. Bowyer Looking To Go Back-to-Back Not only did Stewart-Haas Racing driver Clint Bowyer advance to the Round of 8, he genuinely likes his chances at the tracks which will set the championship’s Championship 4. Bowyer won the most recent race at this week’s Martinsville venue, leading a race-best 215 laps en route to the first of two victories for the No. 14 Ford this season. Bowyer has three top-10s in the last three Martinsville races, including a third place in last year’s Playoff race. He trails Elliott by only three points – and is technically tied with Joey Logano and SHR teammate Kurt Busch in the standings. “I am way more comfortable on the short tracks,” Bowyer said. “If I can put together Martinsville and Phoenix like I am capable of and run Texas like we are capable of, I think we can be in Homestead [for the winner-take-all championship finale].” Looking To Make The Cut Even with only three races remaining to set the final championship field, the four drivers currently on the outside of the cutoff are still keeping the competition close. Fourth place Chase Elliott holds only a three-point advantage over this spring’s Martinsville winner Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch. Aric Almirola – the only driver among the four to win a Playoff race – is eighth, 12 points behind Elliott in the final cutoff position. Busch is the winningest driver at Martinsville among them, with a pair of victories. His last trophy, however, came in the spring of 2014 – which is also his last top-10 at the track. He’s only led laps in five of the past 23 races – and not since the fall of 2015. Logano – who like Bowyer and Busch is three points behind Elliott – is winless at the track in 19 starts. He has won four Busch pole positions, including last year when he also led 59 laps of the race but ultimately finished 24th. He has three top-10 finishes in the last four races, including a sixth place this March. In the Playoffs, Logano has been a model of consistency with five top-10s in six races. And now he is the lone Penske Racing Ford still championship-eligible with his two teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney eliminated from contention after Kansas. The final championship-eligible driver, Almirola, sits 12 points behind fourth-place Elliott. The Talladega Playoff race winner has only three top-10 finishes in 19 starts at Martinsville. His best finish was fourth in the fall of 2012. His last top-10 was eighth in 2014 – nine races ago. He was 14th in the spring. Looking To Play Spoiler Even with all the playoff excitement and anticipation headed into Martinsville Speedway, it’s a pair of drivers who fell out of championship contention who boast the best records at the track. Seven-time Monster Energy Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who was eliminated after the opening round of the Playoffs, is currently on a career-long winless streak of 55 races. He’s never gone a full season without winning since his fulltime debut in 2002. So perhaps no one is looking forward to Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway more than Johnson, who leads all current drivers with nine wins there. Johnson has an amazing 24 top-10 finishes in 33 starts and his average finish is a series-best 7.9 His driver rating of 114.6 is tops in the field as well – nearly 10 points better than the next best – 106.3 belonging to Denny Hamlin. Hamlin, who also was eliminated from Playoff competition in the opening round, owns the next-highest Martinsville win total (five) among active drivers. He has 18 top-10 finishes in 25 Martinsville starts. He also is looking to snap a losing streak. His last Monster Energy Series victory was Sept. 3, 2017, at Darlington. Keeping Good Company In scoring his third victory of the season last week at Kansas, Chase Elliott joins a long list of a highly-esteemed group of drivers that won their first three races in the same season. The list includes 26 drivers, headed by NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Glen Wood, who both scored their first three wins in the 1960 season. Fellow Hall of Famers David Pearson followed them with three trophies in 1961 and Bobby Allison in 1966. Cup champions Bobby Labonte (1995), Jimmie Johnson (2002) and Tony Stewart (1999) are on the list, as are former Cup champ Kurt Busch (2002) and Carl Edwards (2005), who actually won their first four races in that season. Jeff Burton (1997) and Geoff Bodine (1984) also won their first three races in one season and for Bodine, his first win at Martinsville in 1984 was also the first ever for the legendary Hendrick Motorsports organization. Next Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 The Place: Texas Motor Speedway The Date: Saturday, November 3 The Time: 4:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 4 p.m. ET Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) Next Race: Texas Roadhouse 200 The Place: Martinsville Speedway The Date: Saturday, October 27 The Time: 1 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 105.2 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200) And Then There Were Six Two weeks ago, the Round of 8 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs ended at Talladega Superspeedway. It was one for the books as the only two drivers who were officially locked into the Round of 6 were GMS Racing’s Justin Haley and ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger. Haley won at the Playoff opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Enfinger won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But, Timothy Peters, a non-Playoff driver, took home the victory in a wild finish at Talladega. Haley was the highest-finishing Playoff driver in fourth, Stewart Friesen finished sixth, Noah Gragson finished 13th, Ben Rhodes finished 16th, Brett Moffitt in 17th, Enfinger in 19th, Johnny Sauter in 22nd and Matt Crafton finished in 26th. Rhodes and Friesen didn’t make the cut for the Round of 6, leaving Haley, Enfinger, Sauter, Moffitt, Gragson, and Crafton as the remaining Playoff contenders in the hunt for the championship. This was Rhodes’ second appearance in the Playoffs and Friesen’s first. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff contenders will return to action and once again do battle on the historic short track of Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 27 for the Texas Roadhouse 200 (at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Winners List at Martinsville Up next for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs is Martinsville Speedway, a track at which veterans Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton shine. Currently, Sauter is the winningest active driver at Martinsville, but if Crafton can pull off a win next weekend, he will tie him on that list. And Noah Gragson has the opportunity to not only secure his spot in the next round of the Playoffs but to also put his name on the list of multi-race winners at Martinsville. Sauter has won at Martinsville three times in his career and has eight top fives and 11 top 10s in 21 starts. Crafton has made 33 starts at Martinsville, the most of any driver, posting two wins, nine top fives, and 19 top 10s. Gragson’s first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win was at this race in 2017, his second appearance in the series at the track. At the time, Gragson was not in the Playoffs. John Hunter Nemechek, although not a Playoff driver, also has the opportunity to add his name to the list of multi-race Martinsville winners. Nemechek won at Martinsville Speedway earlier this season. Dennis Setzer is the only driver to have ever won back-to-back races. There are seven multi-race winners at the track in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history (Kevin Harvick, Sauter, Setzer, Mike Skinner, Crafton, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace). Harvick, Sauter, Setzer and Skinner all have three wins and Crafton, Hamlin and Wallace each have two. Timothy Peters Back Behind Wheel Again A familiar face will be on the track this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Timothy Peters is set to drive the No. 23 Chevrolet for GMS Racing. This will be his fourth race with the team. Peters, 38, won the series’ most recent race at Talladega Superspeedway for GMS. Peters got his first Truck Series win at Martinsville in 2009 and he won a couple of late model races as well. With Peters behind the wheel of a GMS truck, that makes it the sixth entry for the team. Peters, is from Danville, Virginia, so going back to his home track is something special. He competed full-time in the Truck Series from 2009-2016 and finished top five in points in five of the eight seasons. He also won 10 races. Jeb Burton to Pilot No. 30 Toyota Tundra On Point Motorsports announced that Jeb Burton will drive the No. 30 Toyota Tundra in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. This will be On Point Motorsports’ fourth start in the series as a new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series organization. Burton will make his 52nd career start in the Truck Series and his seventh at Martinsville. He has a pole and a pair of third-place finishes in the 2013 season. Burton also has two starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville. Burton’s most recent race in the series was at Chicagoland. He was involved in a crash that caused him to finish 34th. Prior to that, Burton raced at Richmond and Dover, finishing 12th in both races. Burton has one career win, seven top fives, 19 top 10s and seven poles. All seven of his poles came in the 2013 season, when he also had his first win. With Four to Go, No Track is the Same There are only four races left in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs before a champion is crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16, and each event will pose its own special challenges for the competitors. Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the circuit. It is a 0.52-mile asphalt/concrete oval with 12-degrees of banking in the corners and an 800-foot frontstretch and backstretch. Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile asphalt oval with 20-degrees of banking in Turns 1 and 2, and 24-degrees of banking in Turns 3 and 4. ISM Raceway, the second-to-last track the series will visit, is a 1-mile dogleg oval in Avondale, Arizona. ISM also marks the last cutoff race and has been recently renovated with the start-finish line moved in between Turns 1 and 2. And lastly, Homestead-Miami Speedway is a 1.5-mile, four-turn oval with 18-20-degrees of progressive banking in the corners. The series will hold its season finale at the Miami facility with the highest finisher of the Championship 4 Playoff drivers to be named the 2018 champion. source – NASCAR communications
