Final Martinsville Driver Ratings: 2017 STP 500

Nine-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson didn't have the best practices, but race day should be different.  

Micah Roberts' Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver Ratings
STP 500
Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, April 2, 2017 - 2:16 pm ET
RATED DRIVER     ODDS                 PRAC 1    STARTS       PRAC 2      PRAC 3
  1. Kyle Busch (6/1)               2nd       10th        8th        2nd
Won this race last season and was fifth in past two fall races; 11 top-5s in 23 career starts.
 2. Joey Logano (8/1)              8th         5th        4th         6th
2010 runner-up; 11th and ninth -place finishes last season; had 2015 fall race won, but got Kamikazied.
 3. Denny Hamlin (6/1)            1st       12th       12th       13th 
Five-time winner, the last coming in spring of 2015; 2nd-best 9.2 avg finish and 1,363 laps led.
 4. Brad Keselowski (7/1)       13th        4th        1st         4th
Two-time runner-up, including last fall; finished fifth last spring. 13.8 avg finish in 14 starts.
 5. Jimmie Johnson (6/1)        19th       17th        7th       19th
Nine-time winner, including last fall. 7.3 avg finish and 2,839 laps led most among active drivers.
 6. Clint Bowyer (25/1)             6th        8th       11th        1st
2013 runner-up, 14.8 avg finish; he's finally got a good car and he loves racing on flat tracks.
 7. Kevin Harvick (10/1)          12th         9th       21st      18th
2011 winner, but only two other top-5s in 31 starts. Didn't practice well, but will be competitive.
 8. Ryan Newman (50/1)          4th       11th        2nd        5th 
2012 winner among his eight top-5s in 30 starts, 14.3 avg finish; good average speeds in practice.
 9. Martin Truex Jr (8/1)           9th         3rd        3rd       11th
Fifth-place twice, the last in 2012; 20.5 avg finish 22 starts. Has speed, but not much past success.
10. Kyle Larson (12/1)             3rd         1st        6th       14th 
Third-place in this race last year; on a run of finishing 1st or 2nd at past four race tracks.
11. Ryan Blaney (100/1)          7th         7th       13th        8th
Finished 19th in both 2016 races; fastest 10-consecutive lap avg during final practice.
12. A.J. Allmendinger (30/1)   21st         30th       5th       17th
Two-time runner-up, including this race last season; one of his better tracks in Cup series.

Opening odds courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting auto racing odds in Las Vegas since 1994.