This Weekend in NASCAR – Martinsville Magic

NASCAR returns to its roots this weekend with a visit to Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway, a paper-clip-shaped relatively flat (12 degree banking) 1/2-mile oval that has been hosting NASCAR since 1948.  The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is in action Saturday and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars will go fender to fender at Martinsville on Sunday.

Storylines for this weekend follow…

Ho-Hum: Another Top-Two For Harvick

Kevin Harvick has been THE story for weeks now, posting his eighth consecutive top-two finish with a runner-up showing at Auto Club.

The No. 4 Chevrolet driver now has two wins and three second-place performances this season and leads Joey Logano by 27 points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

This Sunday, Harvick returns to the venue at which he last finished outside the top two – Martinsville Speedway – for the STP 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). (Kevin, if you’re reading, don’t watch this.) Harvick finished 33rd  at “The Paperclip” in last year’s opener of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Eliminator 8 Round. His lone top-two finish at Martinsville was a victory in spring of 2011.

“Happy” continues to chase Richard Petty’s record of 11 consecutive top-two finishes set in 1975.

“Bradical” Dude: Late Race Gamble Leads Keselowski To Victory

Running fifth with two laps left in the Auto Club 400 on Sunday, Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford team made the gutsy decision to take four fresh tires, moving Keselowski all the way back to 14th on the Lap 202 restart.

The decision paid off with a ticket to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Keselowski engulfed the field like a wave, moving up to fifth for the next restart on Lap 207 and tracking down Kurt Busch on the 209th and final lap of the race – the only go-around Keselowski led all day – to take the victory.

Keselowski, who paced the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with six wins last season, will attempt to continue his momentum by taking the checkered flag at Martinsville Speedway for the first time in his career. The 31-year-old claims one top five and five top-10 finishes in 10 starts at the .526-mile track.

Last weekend’s Auto Club race marked the second of Keselowski’s 17 career victories where he led just one lap. Ironically, the first came on Keselowski’s first career win, at Talladega Superspeedway (4/26/09). (Keselowski’s Talladega triumph entered NASCAR.com’s March Madness tribute in the “Biggest NASCAR Upset” bracket as the sixth seed. Fans can vote on NASCAR’s biggest upset here.)

The points leader entering the 2014 Chase, Keselowski ranks fifth in the standings, trailing Kevin Harvick by 62 points.

Might As Well Call Martinsville “Hendrickville”

Hendrick Motorsports’ 22 wins at Martinsville Speedway not only rank first in track history, they mark the most victories by an owner at a specific track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series annals.

The organization goes for its 23rd triumph of “The Paperclip” this weekend with five race entries: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott.

Martinsville mavens Johnson and Gordon will lead the way. Both rank first among active drivers with eight wins at the storied short track. The pair also claims the most runner-ups at Martinsville among active drivers – Gordon with five and Johnson with four.

Unsurprisingly, Johnson boasts the top driver rating in the series at Martinsville (122.5), while Gordon’s is second-best (119.8).

There’s No Place Like Home For Hamlin

Chesterfield, Virginia native Denny Hamlin heads to his home track at Martinsville, which may be just what the doctor ordered after his tough-luck outing at Auto Club.

The No. 11 FedEx Toyota driver owns four wins at Martinsville, his most at any track (he also has four at Pocono). In addition, he boasts nine top fives and 14 top 10s at the southern Virginia track. His driver rating (110.1), fastest laps run (612) and average running position (8.8) at Martinsville are all the third-best among active drivers.

Hamlin finished 28th at Auto Club, a showing not indicative of his performance that showed off serious speed. The Joe Gibbs Racing wheelman led a season-high 56 laps, looking like he could contend for the win before he was sent to the back after Lap 185 when his team drew a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire.

If Hamlin can park his car in Victory Lane, he will tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Weatherly for the most wins by a driver from Virginia with 25.

High Ratings: Dale Jr. Excels At NASCAR’s Oldest Track

Four drivers average a driver rating of more than 100 at Martinsville. The top three aren’t that big a surprise, considering they also reside atop the active Martinsville wins list – Jimmie Johnson (122.5), Jeff Gordon (119.8) and Denny Hamlin (110.1). The other highly rated driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won his first Martinsville race last October in the series’ most recent visit to the Virginia short track. Earnhardt’s driver rating of 101.2 makes Martinsville his best track in terms of the loop data statistic, and the only track at which he eclipses the 100 driver rating barrier. For the record: No. 2 on his list is Michigan at 98.0. Last on his list is Sonoma, at 72.1.

Tough Task: Chase Elliott Hopes To Buck “Debut Downer” Trend

Reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott starts his ‘Jeff Gordon Replacement’ march this Sunday at Martinsville, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. It’ll be the first of five races in 2015 before hopping in the No. 24 Chevrolet fulltime in 2016 (his other races this season are Richmond, Charlotte, Indianapolis and Darlington). And, if history is any indication, it’ll be a tough task. The last driver to score a top-10 finish in his first career start was Carl Edwards’ 10th-place finish at Michigan in 2004. Only three drivers have scored a top 10 in their debut since 1990: Edwards, Matt Kenseth (6th at Dover in 1998) and Kenny Irwin Jr. (8th at Richmond in 1997). The last driver to score a top five in his premier series debut: NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, who finished second at Atlanta in 1980. And one last note…to best his father – NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott – Chase will have to finish 32nd or better. Bill Elliott finished 33rd in his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut, at Rockingham in 1976.

Who’s The Boss: Jersey Native Martin Truex Jr. Looks To Continue Glory Days At Martinsville

Second generation NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr. is proving he was born to run in 2015.

The South Jersey native who began his racing career not far from the streets of Philadelphia, is on fire after notching five straight top-10 finishes to start the season – tying his career-best streak set in 2012. He keeps on rising in the standings where he ranks third, five points behind Joey Logano and 33 behind defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick.

Despite starting outside the top 10 in three of the first five races, Truex has shown no surrender. At Auto Club Sunday, he proved if he should fall behind that he can make up his position by finishing eighth after descending to the back of the field multiple times.

Truex has high hopes for Martinsville where he can prove he’s tougher than the rest. He will attempt to pilot his No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet to the promised land at the .526-mile track where he claims two top-five and four top-10 finishes.

Kurt Busch Attempts Martinsville Repeat

After being suspended for the first three races of the season, Kurt Busch has collected a fifth and a third-place finish in his first two starts, respectively.

Busch looked like he was going to pull off the ‘perfect weekend’, leading qualifying, all practices and the race at Auto Club on Sunday, but was tracked down by Brad Keselowski on the final lap and finished third.

This weekend, Busch will attempt to defend his win in last year’s Martinsville spring race in the STP 500.  Busch claims two victories at Martinsville and his victory from the 36th position there in 2002 is the deepest in the field a race winner has ever started.

Busch’s recent success coincides with his crew chief switch to Tony Gibson for the November race at Texas Motor Speedway last season. In five races with Gibson, Busch claims two top fives, four top 10s, a 6.5 average finish and an average driver rating of 111.5. His driver rating ranks second over that span, and his average running position of 6.8 ranks third.

Super Subs: Buescher, Moffitt Making Most Of Fill-In Roles

Unfortunately, Brian Vickers cannot race for the foreseeable future as he recovers from health issues related to blood clots.

Brett Moffitt, who piloted Vickers’ No. 55 Toyota to an eighth-place showing at Atlanta, subbed for him at Auto Club and placed 22nd. Since Moffitt moved into the No. 55 for Michael Waltrip Racing, Chris Buescher took over for him in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford at Auto Club, finishing 20th in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut.

Moffitt and Buescher, both 22 years old, will pilot the same cars again in this weekend’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Neither driver has ever competed at Martinsville in any of NASCAR’s national series.

No. 11 Boasts Storied History At Martinsville

Denny Hamlin is a perennial contender at Martinsville, having earned four grandfather clocks in his young career. However, he is not the first driver to experience success in the No. 11 car at the 0.526-mile track.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough set the tone in the No. 11 at Martinsville, with four wins in 16 starts from 1973-80.  He finished in the top five an astounding 11 times during that eight-year stretch, including three runner-up finishes.  And when fellow Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip took over the Junior Johnson owned ride in 1980, the success continued.  Waltrip won four Martinsville races for Johnson, including a stretch of seven consecutive top-five finishes from 1981-84.

It’s not hard to imagine Johnson’s success as a driver helped contribute to his ownership triumphs.  Johnson won twice at the paperclip-shaped track and had eight finishes of third or better in 19 attempts.

Overall, the No. 11 has 15 Martinsville wins, including a sweep by Geoff Bodine in 1990.  Only the No. 43 car has visited Martinsville Victory Lane more. Richard Petty, the all-time Martinsville wins leader, had 15 victories at the track. John Andretti earned a Martinsville win for Petty Enterprises in 1999.

Back in action April 10 at Texas Motor Speedway

Custer To Pilot JR Motorsports’ No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado In Team’s Trucks Debut

Fresh off its first NASCAR XFINITY Series driver championship – powered by the efforts of then-18-year-old wunderkind Chase Elliott (the youngest title-winner in NASCAR national series history) – JR Motorsports makes its first foray into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, debuting at Martinsville Speedway with another teenage prodigy – Cole Custer (the youngest NASCAR national series race and pole winner).

Custer, 17, will pilot the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday’s Kroger 250 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1), the first of 10 scheduled races he will run for JRM this season. Last year in his first NCWTS campaign, he amassed one victory, two poles, two top fives, six top 10s and 150 laps led in nine starts.

JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., has fielded race teams since 2002 and launched its XFINITY Series program in 2006. The team boasts 23 XFINITY Series wins and 42 late model victories, including track championships in 2012 and 2014. Elliott’s XFINITY Series championship paired with Regan Smith’s runner-up showing in points marked the first time in JRM’s history it secured a one-two finish atop the standings.

Kyle Busch Motorsports Looks To Continue Martinsville Streak

For the last four years, Kyle Busch Motorsports has been a fixture in Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway. The Mooresville-based racing team has won one race each season at “The Paperclip” from 2011-14 (Denny Hamlin, 2011-12; Darrell Wallace Jr., 2013-14). Each of those races was in the fall though; none were won in the spring. KBM rival ThorSport has taken the last two checkered flags in the spring Martinsville showdowns (Johnny Sauter, 2013; Matt Crafton, 2014). Furthermore, Hamlin is not entered in Saturday’s Kroger 250 and Darrell Wallace Jr. has moved on to the XFINITY Series with Roush Fenway Racing, so a fresh face will have to continue KBM’s streak.

Three drivers will attempt to pilot their KBM Toyota Tundra’s past the finish line first: Erik Jones (No. 4), Daniel Suarez (No. 51) and Justin Boston (No. 54). Only Jones has competed at Martinsville. He claims finishes of ninth, 18th and fourth at the .526-mile track. Jones made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville in April 2013.

Moto Family: John Hunter Nemechek Takes Father “Front Row” Joe’s Place For 2015 Debut 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series got a taste of “Modern Family” at Auto Club Speedway last weekend when actor Eric Stonestreet served as the race’s Official Pace Car driver.

This Saturday, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will witness the third episode of its “Moto Family” when John Hunter Nemechek makes his 2015 debut in relief of his father “Front Row” Joe Nemechek.

As a driver under the age of 18, Nemechek is limited to racing on tracks that are road courses of 1.25 miles or less in length. Last season, he ran a split schedule with his father, logging six top-10 finishes in 10 starts, with a best showing of fourth. Expectations are high for the younger Nemechek this season after his win at the Snowball Derby – one of the most prestigious events in short-track racing – in December.

Following this weekend’s race, Joe will compete in three of the next four events, lending the seat to John Hunter again at Dover. John Hunter turns 18 on June 11 and will take over the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet full-time at Gateway on June 13.

Standings Snapshot

After a month-long layoff, the high-octane NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is back in action at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.

Tyler Reddick is its current standings leader. The 19-year-old Brad Keselowski Racing driver is followed by Matt Crafton (-2), Erik Jones (-7), Johnny Sauter (-15) and James Buescher (-24).

Crafton is the two-time defending series champion. Jones leads all Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates in the standings. Buescher took the Truck Series title in 2012.

Rounding out the top 10 are Bryan Silas (-27), Ben Kennedy (-29), Ray Black Jr. (-29), Joe Nemechek (-29) and Korbin Forrister (-31).

Can Kennedy Build On Strong Atlanta Finish?

“Ken” he do it?

This weekend at Martinsville, Ben Kennedy will attempt to build off his strong Atlanta showing, where he won his first career Keystone Light Pole Award and tied his personal-best with a third-place finish.

History shows he “Ken.”

The No. 11 Red Horse Racing driver will try to top that career-high third-place finish he originally set at Martinsville last spring when he heads back to “The Paper Clip” for Saturday’s Kroger 250. In two other starts at the .526-mile track, Kennedy owns finishes of fourth (fall of 2013) and 16th (fall of 2014).

Rookies Readied For Martinsville At Test

At times, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series can be unkind to rookies. The inexperienced drivers often struggle having to keep up with grizzled veterans like Matt Crafton, Jonny Sauter and Timothy Peters.

Fortunately, the NCWTS rookie testing rule allows first-year drivers to test on tracks they have yet to race on.

Justin Boston, Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric put the extra work in, gaining valuable seat time last Tuesday at Martinsville Speedway – a track that can be unforgiving if a driver is not technically sound.

NASCAR fans will see if practice made perfect in Saturday’s Kroger 250 at “The Paperclip.” Boston and Hemric hope to land in the top 10 for the first time this season, while Suarez attempts to improve on his fourth-place Atlanta showing.

NCWTS Youth Movement

One cool aspect of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is that it acts as a proving ground for young drivers to test their skills.

Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway marks the first race of the season that drivers between the ages of 16 and 18 can compete. Wheelmen from that age group can only race on road courses or tracks 1.25 miles or less in length. Seventeen year olds Cole Custer, Gray Gaulding and John Hunter Nemechek will all make their 2015 NCWTS debuts this weekend. Although the youngest, they are not the only youthful drivers in the series. Erik Jones, Cameron Hayley, Brandon Jones and Matt Tifft, all 18 years old, are also entered at Martinsville. Series points lead Tyler Reddick turned 19 in January.