Martinsville Speedway is the host for this weekend’s NASCAR national series action with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Saturday and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday. At 0.526-miles, the paper-clip shaped oval is a favorite stop for fans and racers alike. It’s trophy, a locally-made grandfather clock, is among the most unique and coveted of any. This weekend’s storylines follow… Short-Track Standouts Go For First Win Of 2016 As NASCAR continues its third “win and you’re in” season for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, six currently winless short-track standouts will attempt to make their first visit to Victory Lane this year in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1) – Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Joey Logano. Kyle Busch has logged a top-four finish in four of five races this season. He boasts nine career wins on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ three short tracks (Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond), but has never won at Martinsville. Like his younger brother, Kurt claims nine short-track wins as well. He has two wins at Martinsville, most recently in spring of 2014. However, his 2014 victory is his only top-10 finish at the .526-mile track in his last 20 starts there. Kenseth has produced six short-track victories in his career, but has never won at Martinsville. The No. 20 Chevrolet driver could be due for his first grandfather clock though. He has placed sixth or better in his last four Martinsville starts. A five-time winner at short tracks, Dale Earnhardt Jr. notched his first, and only, Martinsville victory in fall of 2014. Although he has just one win at “NASCAR’s Wrigley Field,” he claims the third-best average finish (11.9) and driver rating (99.4) among active drivers there. Edwards has been strong this year with three top fives and four top 10s in the first five races. He has captured four career checkered flags at short tracks, but has never won at Martinsville. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has always struggled at the home of NASCAR’s most famous hot dog with just one top-five finish in 23 starts there. A winner of three career short-track races, Logano looked like he would clinch his first Martinsville victory last fall, but was wrecked out of the contest after leading his race-high 207th lap. The 25-year-old Connecticut native finished in the top five in his three Martinsville starts going into last fall’s race. Martinsville Maven: Johnson Attempts To Reclaim Winning Ways At Southern Virginia Short Track Fresh off his 77th career victory (Auto Club), which vaulted him past Dale Earnhardt for sole possession of seventh on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins list, Jimmie Johnson heads to Martinsville Speedway where history suggests he’s one of the favorites to notch his 78th career win. The No. 48 Chevrolet driver ranks first among active drivers at Martinsville in wins (8), top fives (18), top 10s (22), average finish (6.9), average running position (8.0), driver rating (118.4), average green flag speed (91.629 mph) and laps led (2,746). His last win at the Virginia short track came in spring of 2013 – five races ago. Johnson can continue to climb the all-time wins list at a quick pace. The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion trails sixth-place Cale Yarbrough (83 wins) by a mere six wins, and fourth-place Bobby Allison (84) and Darrell Waltrip (84) by only seven wins. Hamlin Sets Sights On Second Straight Martinsville Spring Win Denny Hamlin overcame an early pit road penalty by rallying from the 22nd position to pass teammate Matt Kenseth for the lead with 28 laps to go to win last year’s Martinsville spring race. The victory marked the 25th of Hamlin’s career, allowing the Virginia native to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Weatherly as the all-time winningest driver from The Cavalier State. Hamlin will go for his second straight spring Martinsville checkered flag in Sunday’s STP 500. In 20 starts at the Virginia short track, he claims five wins (second-most among active drivers), 11 top fives and 16 top 10s. Additionally, he ranks second-best among active drivers at Martinsville in average finish (8.0), average running position (8.9) and driver rating (110.6). The 2016 Daytona 500 champion placed third in the last two races (Phoenix and Fontana). Passing, Close Finishes The Norm For 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series A number of interesting numbers highlight the first five races of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, capped by the 51 green flag passes for the lead at Auto Club Speedway, a high at the two-mile track since the inception of loop data in 2005. It marked the second time in the first five races this season a track record for green flag passes for the lead was set (Atlanta, 44 green flag passes for the lead). “It’s great,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said about the lower-downforce aero package implemented in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “Every week has been fun, fun, fun. The cars are fun to drive, slipping and sliding. It’s a good challenge and I’m enjoying it.” Additionally, the seventh-closest margin of victory since the implementation of electronic timing and scoring 1993 (.010 seconds) has been recorded twice in the first five races – at Daytona and Phoenix. Through the first five races, the average margin of victory is 0.367 seconds – the closest through five races since the inception of electronic timing and scoring in 1993. “The new rules package today I thought was tremendous,” Brad Keselowski said after the Las Vegas race. “I think you saw, because of the rules package, where the cars fell off a lot at the end of the run and you really had to drive them sideways. Took a lot of balance as a driver, a lot of precise footwork and accuracy with where you put your car, how you place it, which is exactly what we want.” The NSCS has also showcased parity through the first five races. Four different drivers, four separate organizations and all three manufacturers have won a race. Wood Brothers Returning to Martinsville Tell your friends. The Wood Brothers are returning to Martinsville for the first time since 2011 when Trevor Bayne finished 35th in the famed No. 21 Ford. Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Blaney takes the track this time for the Woods, who have a storied history at the Virginia short track. Glen Wood made the first Martinsville start for the Wood Brothers on May 17, 1953. In 109 starts there, the Wood Brothers claim two wins (Cale Yarborough, 1968; David Pearson, 1973 from the pole), 28 top fives and 1,891 laps led. Wood Brothers drivers have completed 44,978 of 52,746 laps (85.3%) while competing at Martinsville. Elliott Leapfrogs Blaney For Sunoco Rookie Lead The seesaw atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings continues to teeter. Following his career-high sixth-place performance at Auto Club, Chase Elliott took back the lead from Ryan Blaney for the second time this year. Elliott leads Blaney by five points in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings. Not far behind are Brian Scott (-14) and Chris Buescher (-16). Right around this time last year, Elliott was readying for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, at Martinsville. He finished 38th in that one, but has since avoided any rookie jitters. On the season, Elliott boasts three top 10s, while Blaney owns two top 10s. They both have high finishes of sixth. Both Elliott and Blaney are alumni of the NASCAR Next initiative. Blaney claims eight combined NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series wins, while Elliott has six. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc. Bayne Readies For 100th Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Start Trevor Bayne is scheduled to make his 100th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville. Bayne has improved his points position after every race this season, from 27th after Daytona to his current standing of 21st. Criminal Minds’ Cook To Serve As Martinsville Grand Marshal A.J. Cook, an actress on the hit TV show “Criminal Minds” will say the most famous words in motorsports as the Grand Marshal of Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Off this weekend – back on track April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. Martinsville Media Day Recap Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, Timothy Peters, Tyler Reddick, Ben Rhodes and Tyler Young appeared at Martinsville Speedway last Tuesday to promote Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1). Below are some soundbites from the day: Hemric Discusses NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase, Abundance Of Competition – “I think you’re going to have to win a race if not two races to make this deal. There are going to be a substantial amount of one-time winners, I think, and that’s what is so unique about the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. There’s so much talent, we may see 10 or 11 first-time winners. I feel like the fans have seen the first two races of the season and they’ll see here coming into Martinsville we legitimately feel like there’s a range from 12-15 trucks, that depending on the race track, could win the race.” Nemechek Focused On Winning More Races – “It feels great to have our ticket punched for the Chase. To be able to come to the race track and not have to worry about points every single week, we can come to the race track and focus on winning. I think you’re going to see a lot more strategy and gambling from the guys who have their ticket punched to the Chase, rather than trying to salvage a good day in points if you aren’t running so well. Whatever it is, a two-tire call or a four-tire call at the end when nobody else is doing it, I think you’re going to see a lot of that.” Reddick Ready To Race– “I’ve just been really wanting to get back to racing. I miss racing. I love racing. We run 23 times, I’m blessed to be able to run the full-season (NASCAR Camping World) Truck Series schedule, but I’m used to racing a lot more throughout my whole life. … I’m just glad to be able to come back and race here at Martinsville again. This place, it’s breathtaking, the racing it puts on here. You’ll either be the happiest guy alive leaving the race track or you’ll be the maddest guy alive … So, it definitely brings a lot of emotion out of the drivers. It definitely brings a lot of emotion out of the fans. It puts on great racing and I just can’t wait to come back.” Rhodes Lauds The Advantages Of Finally Racing Full-Time – “What it does for you mentally, I can’t even put it in words. Especially when you’re able to contend for points, championship, rookie of the year, there’s just something, an unspoken nature that it does for you mentally and to just be able to have that bond with all of your guys. Not to say that I didn’t have that last year, but I wasn’t in the car full-time. That was the hardest thing for a learning driver – to not be in there. When I was watching the competition, I wasn’t really advancing because I was trying to apply what I learned from one race a month later. It was just hard to do that. Just for me, it might be easier to do for others guys, but I struggled with it. This year, being able to run 23 races, it’s going to be a good time. Before this season, before running full-time, this is a full step up for me because I only ran 14 national series events (before). That’s all I ran. And now I get 23 of them in one year, I’m a happy camper.” Young Off To Best Start Ever – “We talked last year, if we could ever get out of Daytona ok, I think it just sets you up with big momentum for the whole year. We finally played it right this year with a good finish, and went to Atlanta and had a good run. We always have this one circled on our calendar, at Martinsville, because I feel like we can run strong here. We just have to kind of mind our own business and keep our momentum going, get out of here with a good day, just keep upbeat and get ready for Kansas a month later.” Three Teams Have Four Drivers Entered For Alpha Energy Solutions 250 Kyle Busch Motorsports, GMS Racing and ThorSport Racing all have four trucks entered in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. KBM heads to Southern Virginia with Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates Christopher Bell and William Byron, in addition to current NASCAR XFINITY Series points leader Daniel Suárez and 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. GMS will take the track with Daytona winner Johnny Sauter, Spencer Gallagher, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standout Kaz Grala and 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson. ThorSport brings its regular stable of drivers to Martinsville – two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, Cameron Hayley, defending two-time Chili Bowl Nationals winner Rico Abreu and 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion Ben Rhodes. Deckers Ready To Wheel At Martinsville Sisters Paige and Claire Decker, along with their cousin Natalie, will all attempt to qualify for Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Natalie and Claire will make their NCWTS debut while Paige has one start to her name (Martinsville, November of 2015). Paige and Claire can join Amber and Angela Cope as the second pair of sisters to make a NASCAR national series start. Natalie, an alumna of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program operated by Rev Racing, will take the seat of the No. 14 NTS Motorsports entry. In 2012, the Eagle River, Wisconsin native won the Central Wisconsin Super Stock Association championship. She is part of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program (KDDP) – a program that has been established by the family of late NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Alan Kulwicki to help worthy drivers along the way in reaching their dream, while at the same time keeping Alan Kulwicki’s memory and legacy alive. “I’m excited but nervous to make my first laps in the No. 14 Chevrolet.” Natalie said. “I hope to learn a lot on and off track. I am super thankful for this opportunity to be able to show my abilities and join an elite class of drivers.” Claire will pilot the No. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet. She has competed in the Super Late Model ARCA Midwest Tour Series and won the “Trickle 99” Super Late Model race honoring fellow Wisconsin racer Dick Trickle. “I understand I am facing an uphill battle and am looking forward to my first time in a truck,” Claire said. “Of course I want to make this race against a very competitive field but the worst case scenario is that I gain a lot of experience, meet new fans and showcase my sponsors to a larger audience.” Paige will compete in the No. 74 truck for Mike Harmon Racing. Also an alumna of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, Paige won the Super Late Tundra Feature Round Four at Golden Sands Speedway in 2013, becoming the first female and first rookie to win the event. *The record for most female drivers starting a NASCAR national series race is four, set at Martinsville on Oct. 23, 2010 (Jennifer Jo Cobb, Amber Cope, Angela Cope, Johanna Long). Three female drivers have started a NASCAR race on several occasions, most recently on Oct. 20, 2012 at Kansas (Jennifer Jo Cobb, Johanna Long, Danica Patrick). Grala Attempting To Make Truck Series Debut At Martinsville Seventeen-year-old Kaz Grala will attempt to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the No. 33 Chevrolet for GMS Racing. Grala takes the reigns of the No. 33 from Grant Enfinger, who was originally scheduled to race the whole season, but will now run select events. Grala currently competes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for Ben Kennedy Racing. In three NKNPSE starts this season, he has produced a top-five finish and two top-10 showings. The Westborough, Massachusetts native finished seventh in the NKNPSE standings in 2014 and 2015. In January, Grala became the youngest driver to ever participate in the Rolex 24. Haley Set To Make Fourth Truck Series Start Fresh of his thrilling victory in last Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway, Justin Haley heads to Martinsville where he will attempt to make his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in the Braun Motorsports No. 32 Truck. Haley, 16, competed in three races last season, earning a high finish of seventh at Phoenix. In three NKNPSE starts this year for HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, Haley has recorded one win, two top fives and three top 10s. He ranks third in the series standings. Last season, he finished sixth in the NKNPSE standings on the strength of six top fives and 10 top 10s. Grandfather Clock: Elder Statesman Crafton Looks To Continue Martinsville Success Fall Martinsville race winner Matt Crafton will attempt to capture his second consecutive victory at the Virginia short track in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250. In a series record 28 starts at Martinsville, the 39-year-old Tulare, California native claims two wins, eight top fives and an all-time series-best 16 top 10s. He has dominated in his last four starts at Martinsville, logging finishes of first, third, second and first from spring of 2014 through fall of 2015. In the first two races of the season, the two-time series champion finished 10th at Daytona and 30th at Atlanta. He led 76 of the first 111 laps at Atlanta before a wreck ended his day. Standings Snapshot Through two races, Johnny Sauter and John Hunter Nemechek have all but clinched the first two spots in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase by winning at Daytona and Atlanta, respectively. Parker Kligerman leads the series points. He is followed by Daniel Hemric (-1), Nemechek (-3), Timothy Peters (-6) and Tyler Young (-8). Ryan Truex (-10), Brandon Brown (-12), Ben Rhodes (-12), Grant Enfinger (-13) and Sauter (-14) round out the top 10. Joey Logano won last year’s spring race at Martinsville, while Matt Crafton took the checkered flag in the fall. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Etc. No Days Off: Bell Wins Ohio Sprint Car Series Event While the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was off last weekend, Christopher Bell was keeping his racing skills sharp. The Oklahoman won the first Ohio Sprint Car Series contest on Saturday night at Atomic Speedway. … Sprint Cup Stars Entered At Martinsville NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson will pull double-duty at Martinsville this weekend, competing in the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in addition to the NSCS STP 500. source – NASCAR communications
