Martinsville Betting Preview: 2019 STP 500

Kyle Busch has two wins at Martinsville.

Kyle Busch has seven top-five finishes in his last seven starts at Martinsville Speedway, including his first two wins on the flat half-mile layout. He comes off his 200th career win between NASCAR's three national series (998 starts) and he going for three straight Cup wins, something he's done twice already in his career (2015, 2018). He's got some serious momentum going right now which is why the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook posted him as the 8-to-5 favorite (Bet $100 to win $160) to win Sunday's STP 500.

The Las Vegas native will race in Saturday's Truck Series race, which the SuperBook posted him as the 1-to-2 favorite (-200), and Sunday's race will be his 1,000th NASCAR start between the three series. He's winning races at an incredible 20 percent rate. And so far in the 2019 Cup season, he's won 2-of-5 races for a 40 percent clip.

Another major factor in the low odds on Busch this week is that the Cup Series will be using the same race package used at Phoenix two weeks ago with no aero-ducts and an engine with 750 horsepower that he dominated with leading 177 of 312 laps. Yes, he's got plenty of reasons to be optimistic this week.

“We’ve run well, the last two years especially, at Martinsville and we’re definitely pumped about getting back there," Busch said. "I’m hoping we can have a really good car there again this time around like we did the last several years. We led a lot of laps and we were really fast in our last seven races there. Hoping that some of those things we were able to push through there a few times before and get our M&M’S Chocolate Bar Camry in victory lane there this weekend."

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin is a native Virginian who knows the track better than most with five wins and always gets to the front leading laps in 20 of his last 23 Martinsville starts. He'll be getting some home cooking this weekend, but he's not getting overly excited. It's all business.

“I treat every race the same and I know our team is always working hard to give the FedEx Toyota the best chance to take the checkered flag," Hamlin said. "I’m proud of my accomplishments at Martinsville, but every race is different and we will need to be fully focused and be at our best if we are going to have a shot at winning this weekend.”

He was runner-up last fall and won the first stage of both races last season. And despite him saying he treats all races the same, I don't buy it. He hasn't won there since 2015 and it bugs him. That's his home turf. He's run great with all four packages that have been used this season and the package used this week he finished fifth with at Phoenix. Because of his Daytona 500 win, he's clinched a Playoff berth and can now be more relaxed. He's talking big picture, but I'm looking for him to more aggressive than usual. Because of Busch's ridiculously low odds, Hamlin is the beneficiary getting sweet 10-to-1 odds.

READ MORE HERE....TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION AT VEGASINSIDER.COM

Team Chevy Martinsville Preview: 2019 STP 500

Chervolet looking for its first 2019 Cup win.

TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
STP 500
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA
MARCH 24, 2019

BOWTIE BULLETS
LEADER OF THE PACK: 

Chevrolet has gone to Victory Lane more than any other manufacturer at the oldest track on the circuit, Martinsville Speedway. Since 1949, the Bowtie Brand has captured 56 of the 140 races at the .526-mile, paper-clip-style venue. Buck Baker took Chevrolet to Winner’s Circle for the first time in 1957 piloting the famous ‘Black Widow’ – a car based off the Chevy 150 Utility Sedan. Since then seven other iconic Chevy brands (Bel Air, Biscayne, Impala, Monte Carlo, Lumina, Impala SS and SS) have entered the hallowed ground of Winner’s Circle at Martinsville adding to the long tradition of racing.

TENTH TIME: 
Jimmie Johnson pilot of the No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1 is a nine-time winner at Martinsville Speedway, and leads all active drivers in wins at the popular Virginia track. A tenth victory would put Johnson ahead of former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, and place him third on the all-time Martinsville wins chart. Only Richard Petty (15) and Darrell Waltrip (11) have more victories than the seven-time series champion at the half-mile venue.

STRONG TIES: 
Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports have more victories than any other organization at Martinsville Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports earned their first victory at the half-mile venue in 1984 with Geoff Bodine behind the wheel of a Chevrolet. Since that day, Hendrick Motorsports has gone on to record 23 more victories at Martinsville Speedway – all under the Chevrolet Banner. 2019 marks the 36th year of partnership between Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports, the longest running partnership at the organization.

TUNE-IN:
The STP 500 is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 24th at 2 pm, ET. Live coverage can be found on FS1, MRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Chevrolet has won 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer Championships
Team Chevy drivers have scored 779 wins and 701 poles in MENCS competition
Chevrolet drivers have won 56 of 140 races at Martinsville Speedway. Victories by current Team Chevy drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros Camaro ZL1, has nine victories at Martinsville Speedway (’04, ’06, ’07 – TWICE, ’08, ’09, ’12, ’13 & ‘16)
Kurt Busch No. 1 Camaro ZL1, has visited Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway twice (’02 & ’14)

A Chevrolet driver has sat on the pole at Martinsville Speedway 54 times
Team Chevy drivers have scored 259 top-five and 488 top-10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway
A Chevrolet has led laps 27,303 (of 63,607 possible laps) at Martinsville Speedway

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – 8th IN STANDINGS: “Martinsville is a track where I still feel like I struggle quite a bit. I seem to usually be pretty good during practice and qualifying, but then have a tough time in the race. It’s a track where I’ve worked, and continue to work, really hard to get better, so hopefully some of that effort will start to show this weekend. For guys who grew up stock car racing, I don’t think this track is that unusual, but for a sprint car guy a short track with tight, flat corners is pretty different. In spite of some mistakes on our end and some bad luck, we’ve had a decent start to the season and are in a good spot in the points, so I’m hoping for a good weekend where we can maintain in the standings and have a solid race. This is a key race come the playoffs, so to go there this weekend and get better and learn some things would be great.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – 12th IN STANDINGS: “It’s short track racing which I enjoy, very different from most of the short tracks that I’ve visited over the years, but it’s a challenge. It’s not a place that I feel like has clicked very well with me, so we have put a lot of effort into trying to run better there and I put a lot of effort into trying to run better there. I like that challenge.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1 – 14th IN STANDINGS: “I showed-up at Hendrick with cars and set-ups that just did everything you wanted them to. Rules packages have changed quite a bit since then. And, we’ve just lost our advantage. When I look at our problems in the last couple of years, we’ve said a lot about aero and think that aero is a big piece of it and I don’t disagree. In fact, I don’t know what it really is. When we go to a track where mechanical grip matter, like Martinsville, and we don’t run well, it is mechanical grip too. So, times change. We’ve got to re-think things and re-build things. We’ve put a lot of effort in and it’s just frustrating to not get the results as quick as we want, but we’ll head their optimistic once again and with a lot of new stuff on the cars and see if it works.”

ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 88 NATIONWIDE PET INSURANCE CAMARO ZL1 – 16th IN STANDINGS: MARTINSVILLE WAS A STRONG TRACK FOR YOU LAST SEASON. ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK THERE? DO YOU THINK THE TRACK WILL CHANGE AT ALL WITH THE NEW PACKAGE? 
“It will just be faster with more downforce. It will be interesting. We were really strong there in the spring and just kind of struggled there in the fall. Hopefully, we can figure out where we went wrong and get back to running well there.”

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 AXALTA CAMARO ZL1 – 19th IN STANDINGS: MARTINSVILLE HAS NOT BEEN KIND ON ROOKIES, YOURSELF INCLUDED. HAVE YOU LEANED ON YOUR TEAMMATES A LOT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU NEED TO GET AROUND THAT TRACK? “Yeah, that is a tough race track. It’s very challenging, but I feel like a lot of the same things that work at any other short track are going to work there. So, I’m trying to work on those things and hopefully, when we get there, we will have a better idea. I think we had some bright spots in the fall we just had a wreck on pit road and that blew the brake ducts out of the car so we didn’t have any brakes, but other than that we had some solid points of the race, so I’m looking forward to it.”

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW COATINGS CAMARO ZL1 – 20th IN STANDINGS: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SHORT TRACKS LIKE MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY? “I love going to Martinsville Speedway. It’s an hour away from my house, so it feels like home. Anytime you can get to a short track and beat and bang and really work on those hard-braking corners you feel like you got a chance so I can’t wait to get there. Our cars have had speed this year, and I’m really looking forward to going to the flat paperclip that is Martinsville with Danny Stockman and the No. 3 team. We’re all racers at heart so we love short track racing.”

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CAMARO ZL1 – 22nd IN STANDINGS: “Short tracks have always suited my driving style. It seems like we always perform well at those tracks, especially in the past couple of years. As we continue to build up our program at Germain Racing, some of our strongest results have come from short tracks and superspeedways. So, we want to go to those places and capitalize every time. We had a good short-track run at Phoenix, and that’s given us a lot of momentum and excitement heading to Martinsville. Our GEICO Camaro ZL1 was up in the top 15 all day during our last race at Martinsville, and I think we’re capable of another strong run.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 KROGER FLAVOR FILL UP CAMARO ZL1 – 22nd IN STANDINGS: OF ALL THE TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE DO YOU THINK MARTINSVILLE MIGHT BE THE ONLY ONE THAT DOESN’T CHANGE WITH THIS NEW PACKAGE? 
“It is still going to change. Aero matters. Little bits matter and we took a pretty large swing at it from the downforce side, so the thing I always heard is people talking about… even going back to Legend car racing, is how aero dynamics don’t matter. Run a windshield or a screen it doesn’t matter, well, take a license plate and stick it out the window against your hand at 45 mph, I promise everything matters. So, Martinsville, we are going over 45 mph, we are going to take all we can get and use that advantage. It won’t change as much as most. I think Bristol is the other one that won’t change quite as much, it will be fast at Bristol, but I think Martinsville is going to be a good time. I like having more power back.”

DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 8 LIBERTY NATIONAL CAMARO ZL1 – 27TH IN STANDINGS: “It is pretty cool to go back short-track racing this weekend, plus to do it at Martinsville. I remember going to Martinsville as a kid to watch a lot of short track races, just being a fan. Outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway, I would consider Martinsville my home track. It is also a place I haven’t raced at since 2016 in the Truck Series. There has been a little bit of a drought there, so I am looking forward to getting there on Saturday and jumping all in. My crew chief Luke Lambert and all of the guys on this No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team all really enjoy Martinsville, so hopefully we can hit on the balance and have a good weekend. I’m just excited to go back short-track racing.”

RYAN PREECE, NO. 47 KROGER CAMARO ZL1 – 28th IN STANDINGS: HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET TO MARTINSVILLE THE FIRST SHORT TRACK OF THE SEASON? 
“Well I’ve won at Martinsville, actually my first modified tour win came at Martinsville so I’m excited to get back there. The atmosphere you get when you go to a place like Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond, it’s just such an electrifying feeling you get. To have everybody that close to you and usually pretty full, packed grandstands. I enjoy the heavy on the brake, get on the gas quicker than other guys. It’s going to be one of those places I have circled on my calendar.”

DARRELL ‘BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 XXX CAMARO ZL1 – 30th IN STANDINGS: WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT RACING AT MARTINSVILLE? 
“That is just a short track feel, heavy braking and I’ve over stepped my boundaries there on the Cup side and we have been fast there though. Something about that place clicks. When you show up and you have all the confidence in the world. It’s a track I look forward to most on the schedule. Mostly because of the two wins we have there in the Truck Series. But, new package, I’m not sure how it’s going to race. All these tracks we are going to are unknowns now.”

Chevrolet Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturers Championships
Total (1949 – 2015): 39
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-2015)

Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Drivers Championships
Total (1949 – 2016): 31
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005 – ’11)

Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016

Event Victories
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 – (in 2007)

2019 STATISTICS: 
Wins: 0
Poles: 2
Laps Led: 248
Top-five finishes: 2
Top-10 finishes: 12
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 779 (1949 – to date)
Poles Won to Date: 701
Laps Led to Date: 232,504
Top-Five Finishes to Date: 3,971
Top-10 Finishes to Date: 8,1814

Total NASCAR Cup wins by Corporation, 1949 – To-Date

       GM: 1,114
       Chevrolet: 779
       Pontiac: 155
       Oldsmobile: 115
       Buick: 65

       Ford: 779
       Ford: 679
       Mercury: 96
       Lincoln: 4

       Chrysler: 466
       Dodge: 217
       Plymouth: 190
       Chrysler: 59

       Toyota: 125

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 100 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Martinsville King Jimmie Johnson is 30/1 to win 2019 STP 500

Jimmie Johnson's last Martinsville win was 2016.

Jimmie Johnson on Martinsville:
“In Martinsville, the inside lane is so important, but so is having a strong race car. Passing is tough and you will see the ‘bump and run’ a lot – sometimes you just have to rough someone up to get by them, but you have to be smart, because as soon as you get by them, they will be right back on your bumper into the corner and could pay back the favor. It’s obviously one of my favorite tracks. I am looking forward to this weekend.”

WINNING PERFORMANCE: Jimmie Johnson has the third-best winning percentage at Martinsville Speedway all-time. In 34 starts, he has nine wins, which means he has won 26.5 percent of the time he has raced at Martinsville. NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty has the most wins at the 0.526-mile track (15), Darrell Waltrip has 11 and Johnson is tied with former teammate Jeff Gordon for third all-time with nine.

LAST WIN AT MARTINSVILLE: Johnson’s most recent win at Martinsville came on Oct. 30, 2016. The win – his second of three in the playoffs that season – placed Johnson in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he earned his record-tying seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship.

KEVIN HAS A CLOCK, TOO: No. 48 team crew chief Kevin Meendering has also won a race at Martinsville Speedway. Meendering was the lead engineer on the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. when the driver won his first race at Martinsville on Oct. 26, 2014.

NINE CLOCKS AND COUNTING: Johnson is responsible for nine of Hendrick Motorsports’ 24 wins at Martinsville. Martinsville is one of four tracks at which Johnson has earned at least seven wins. He has won three of the last 13 races at Martinsville.

'SPIN' WITH JJ: Johnson recently went for a spin with ESPN on-air personality and friend Marty Smith at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The spot was filmed to showcase how easy it is to fill out an NCAA bracket on ESPN.com. Smith is shown in a Chevrolet Camaro spinning a basketball on his finger while Johnson is driving approximately 160 mph at the 1.5-mile track. Click here to see the clip.

CHASING 84: Johnson is on the verge of his 84th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win. He secured his 83rd in June 2017 to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on the all-time wins list. An 84th win would tie Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth all-time. Johnson is currently 10 wins behind former teammate Jeff Gordon, who has 93 victories and is third on the list. Johnson has the most wins of all active drivers.

Q&A WITH THE CHAMP: Johnson will take part in a question-and-answer session with fans at the pre-race experience at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, March 24, at 11:15 a.m. local time. The stage is at the start-finish line inside the track.

JOHNSON ON BABBITVILLE RADIO: Johnson recently recorded a podcast episode on Babbittville Radio with host Bob Babbitt, an IRONMAN historian and Hall of Famer, regarding his quest to compete in the Boston Marathon next month. Johnson and Babbitt talk about racing, training and working with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. To listen to the episode, click here.

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2019 Season 14th in standings 5 starts 0 wins 0 pole positions 0 top-five finishes 2 top-10 finish 4 laps led     Career 620 starts 83 wins 35 pole positions 224 top-five finishes 354 top-10 finishes 18,707 laps led     Track Career  34 starts 9 wins 3 pole positions 19 top-five finishes 24 top-10 finishes 2,862 laps led

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Martinsville Speedway Track Facts: 2019 STP 500

Joey Logano won at Martinsville last fall and Denny Hamlin finished second.

Martinsville Speedway Data

Season Race #: 06 of 36 (03-24-19)

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

Race Length: 500 laps / 263 miles

Stage 1 & 2 Length: 130 laps (each)

Final Stage Length: 240 laps

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Martinsville

Jimmie Johnson........................ 113.3

Denny Hamlin........................... 107.0

Kyle Busch............................... 104.2

Brad Keselowski......................... 96.8

Joey Logano............................... 94.9

Kevin Harvick............................. 94.0

Clint Bowyer............................... 91.5

Ryan Blaney............................... 87.1

Ryan Newman............................ 85.7

Chase Elliott............................... 84.1

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2018 races (28 total) among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data

2018 pole winner:

Joey Logano, Ford

96.504 mph, 19.622 secs. 10-28-17

Track qualifying record:

Joey Logano, Ford

100.201 mph, 18.898 secs. 03-28-14 (Round 1 of 2)

2018 race winner:

Clint Bowyer, Ford

81.663 mph, (03:13:14), 03-26-18

Track race record:

Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet82.223 mph, (3:11:55), 09-22-96

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 2019 Top 16 at Martinsville Speedway

Rank	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Kyle Busch	27	2	2	15	16	1	12.3	104.2
2	Joey Logano	20	4	1	6	9	0	13.2	94.9
3	Kevin Harvick	35	0	1	5	17	1	15.3	94.0
4	Denny Hamlin	26	3	5	13	19	2	9.8	107.0
5	Brad Keselowski	18	0	1	7	12	0	11.8	96.8
6	Aric Almirola	20	0	0	1	3	4	21.4	68.3
7	Martin Truex Jr	26	1	0	5	10	2	18.4	78.9
8	Kyle Larson	10	0	0	1	1	4	24.2	72.5
9	Kurt Busch	37	1	2	3	6	3	21.0	80.6
10	Ryan Blaney	6	0	0	1	2	0	15.7	87.1
11	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	12	0	0	0	2	1	28.2	48.8
12	Chase Elliott	7	0	0	1	3	0	16.6	84.8
13	Erik Jones	4	0	0	0	0	0	20.2	68.5
14	Jimmie Johnson	34	3	9	19	24	1	8.0	113.3
15	Clint Bowyer	26	0	1	6	15	2	13.8	91.5
16	Alex Bowman	6	0	0	0	1	0	24.7	55.7

* – Based on last 28 races at Martinsville Speedway (2005 – 2018).

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Top Five Loop Data Leaders:

Martinsville Speedway

Driver Rating		Average Running Position		Laps in The Top 15
Drivers	Driver Rating	Drivers	Avg. Running Pos.	Drivers	Laps in Top 15
Jimmie Johnson	113.3	Jimmie Johnson	6.871	Jimmie Johnson	11,802 (84.1%)
Denny Hamlin	107.0	Denny Hamlin	7.073	Denny Hamlin	10,649 (81.4%)
Kyle Busch	104.2	Kyle Busch	8.423	Kyle Busch	10,538 (77.8%)
Brad Keselowski	96.8	Brad Keselowski	9.346	Kevin Harvick	9,702 (69.1%)
Joey Logano	94.9	Joey Logano	12.854	Clint Bowyer	8,862 (68.0%)

Martinsville Speedway:

History

·        Opened in September of 1947 by H. Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway, originally a dirt track, is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the United States.

·        The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.

·        The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race was Sept. 25, 1949.

·        The track was paved in 1955.

·        The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.

·        Concrete corners were added atop asphalt in 1976.

·        There have been 140 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.

Starts

·        A total of 626 different drivers have competed in at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway; 402 have competed in more than one.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Martinsville Speedway with 67; followed by Dave Marcis and Ricky Rudd with 55 each.

·        Kurt Busch leads the series in starts among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway with 37; followed by Kevin Harvick (35) and Jimmie Johnson (34).

·        In total, 62 drivers have made their first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Martinsville Speedway.

·        Gray Gaulding (10/30/2016), Chase Elliott (03/29/2015) and Michael McDowell (3/30/2008) are the active drivers who have made their first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career start at Martinsville Speedway.

·        Fonty Flock (nine starts) leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Martinsville Speedway with a 3.125.

·        Ryan Blaney (six starts) leads all active drivers in the series in average starting position at Martinsville Speedway with a 7.833.

Top Five in Average Starting Position at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time & Active)

Rank	All-Time Drivers	Average Starting Position	Starts	Rank	All-Time Drivers	Average Starting Position	Starts
1	Fonty Flock	3.125	9	1	Ryan Blaney	7.833	6
2	Fred Lorenzen	4.294	17	2	Joey Logano	8.450	20
3	Frankie Schneider	5.000	3	3	Denny Hamlin	9.192	26
4	Tim Flock	5.889	11	4	Ryan Newman	9.912	34
5	Cale Yarborough	5.935	31	5	Kyle Busch	10.889	27

Poles

·       In total 61 different drivers have won poles at Martinsville Speedway; seven of the 61 pole winners are active this weekend.

Martinsville Speedway Active Pole Winners Pole Winners Poles Joey Logano 4 Denny Hamlin 3 Jimmie Johnson 3 Ryan Newman 3 Kyle Busch 2 Kurt Busch 1 Martin Truex Jr 1

·        28 of the 61 Monster Energy Series Martinsville pole winners have won multiple poles.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip leads the Monster Energy Series in poles at Martinsville Speedway with eight Busch Pole Awards (1979, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1992).

·        Curtis Turner won the inaugural Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Award at Martinsville Speedway in 1949.

·        Joey Logano leads the series among active drivers with the most poles at Martinsville with four – 2015 sweep, spring 2016 and fall 2017. 

·        A total of 13 different drivers have won two or more consecutive poles at Martinsville Speedway; the most recent was Joey Logano who won three consecutive poles at Martinsville from 2015-2016. 

·        Five drivers have won three or more consecutive poles at Martinsville Speedway in the Monster Energy Series:

• Glen Wood (fall of 1959 and 1960 sweep
• Darrell Waltrip (1979 sweep and spring 1980)
• Mark Martin (fall of 1990 and 1991 sweep)
• Jeff Gordon (2003 sweep and spring 2004)
• Joey Logano (2015 sweep, 2016 spring)

·        Youngest series Martinsville pole winner: Ricky Rudd (April 26, 1981 – 24 years, 7 months, 14 days).

·        Oldest series Martinsville pole winner: Morgan Shepherd (April 26, 1987 – 45 years, 6 months, 14 days).

First-Time Pole Winners	Date
Curtis Turner	9/25/1949
Buck Baker	5/21/1950
Fonty Flock	10/15/1950
Perk Brown	10/19/1952
Glen Wood	10/12/1958
Bobby Johns	5/3/1959
Lennie Pond	4/23/1978
Ricky Rudd	4/26/1981
Ricky Craven	4/21/1996
Kenny Wallace	4/20/1997
Tony Stewart	4/18/1999
Scott Riggs	4/10/2005

·        A total of 12 different drivers have posted their first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at Martinsville Speedway: (Chart to the right is in chronological order)

·        A total of 11 different manufacturers have won at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Award at Martinsville Speedway.

·        Chevrolet leads the series in poles at Martinsville with 53; followed by Ford with 34 and Toyota with five.  

Wins

·       A total of 52 different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Martinsville Speedway. Nine of the 52 different winners are active this weekend.

Martinsville Speedway Active Race Winners Race Winners Wins Jimmie Johnson 9 Denny Hamlin 5 Kurt Busch 2 Kyle Busch 2 Brad Keselowski 1 Clint Bowyer 1 Joey Logano 1 Kevin Harvick 1 Ryan Newman 1

·        25 of the 52 different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winners at Martinsville Speedway have won multiple times.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Martinsville Speedway with 15 victories (1960, 1962, 1963, 1967 sweep, 1968, 1969 sweep, 1970, 1971, 1972 sweep, 1973, 1975, 1979).

·        Jimmie Johnson leads the series among active drivers at Martinsville Speedway with nine victories (2004, 2006, 2007 sweep, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016)

·        A total of nine active drivers have won at Martinsville Speedway.

·        A total of 12 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers have posted consecutive wins at Martinsville Speedway.

• Fred Lorenzen won four MENCS races straight (the most) from the fall of 1963 through the spring of 1965. 
• Jimmie Johnson is the most recent driver to win consecutive races (2012 Playoff race / spring of 2013) at Martinsville.

First-Time Race Winners	Date
Herb Thomas	10/15/1950
Dick Rathmann	4/6/1952
Jim Paschal	10/18/1953
Jack Smith	10/28/1956
Bob Welborn	10/6/1957
Fred Lorenzen	4/9/1961
Earl Ross	9/29/1974
Dave Marcis	9/28/1975
Morgan Shepherd	4/26/1981
Harry Gant	4/25/1982
Geoff Bodine	4/29/1984
Ricky Craven	10/15/2001

·        A total of 12 different drivers have posted their first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Martinsville Speedway; the most recent was Ricky Craven (10/15/2001).

·        In total 39 different car owners have won at Martinsville Speedway.

·        Hendrick Motorsports leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Martinsville Speedway with 24 wins – Jeff Gordon (nine), Jimmie Johnson (nine), Darrell Waltrip (four), Geoffrey Bodine (one) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one).

Top Five in Organization Wins at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time)

Organizations	Wins
Hendrick Motorsports	24
Petty Enterprises	19
Junior Johnson & Assoc.	12
Joe Gibbs Racing	9
Team Penske	8

·        20 of the 140 Monster Energy Series races (14.3%) at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the Busch pole. Three of those 20 wins came from active drivers:

• Jimmie Johnson (2012 and Spring of 2013)
• Denny Hamlin (2010) 

Note: Johnson won from the first starting position in 2008, but qualifying was not held due to weather. A total of 21 wins have come from the first starting position.

·        The first starting position is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Martinsville, producing more wins (21 victories - a winning percentage of 15.44%) than any other starting position.

·        36 of the 140 (25.8%) Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the front row: 21 from the first starting position and 15 from the second starting position.

MENCS Wins by Starting Positions at Martinsville Speedway

Note: In four of the early races at Martinsville Speedway (1950, Spring 1953, Fall 1953 and Spring 1954), the starting positions were not provided on the official race reports; therefore, the below chart is based off the provided starting positions of the winners of the remaining 136 races.

Starting Position	Wins	Winning %	Starting Position	Wins	Winning %
1	21	15.44%	14	6	4.41%
2	15	11.03%	15	4	2.94%
3	15	11.03%	16	1	0.74%
4	14	10.29%	17	4	2.94%
5	7	5.15%	18	1	0.74%
6	8	5.88%	19	2	1.47%
7	8	5.88%	20	3	2.21%
8	2	1.47%	21	2	1.47%
9	6	4.41%	22	1	0.74%
10	5	3.68%	23	2	1.47%
11	2	1.47%	24	1	0.74%
12	3	2.21%	36	1	0.74%
13	2	1.47%
Stats			Winning %	Wins
Winning from the First Starting Position:			15.44%	21
Winning from the Front Row:			26.47%	36
Winning from a Top-Five Starting Position:			52.94%	72
Winning from a Top-10 Starting Position:			74.26%	101
Winning After Starting Outside the Top 10:			29.41%	40
Winning After Starting Outside the Top 20:			5.15%	7

·        The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 36th, by Kurt Busch in the fall of 2002.

·        Youngest series Martinsville winner: Richard Petty (April 10, 1960 – 22 years, 9 months, 8 days).

·        Oldest series Martinsville winner: Harry Gant (September 22, 1991 – 51 years, 8 months, 12 days).

·        Clint Bowyer competed at Martinsville Speedway 24 times before winning earlier this season; the longest span of any the nine active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winners.

·        Five active winners have made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Martinsville Speedway: Clint Bowyer (24), Kyle Busch (21) Ryan Newman (20), Kevin Harvick (19), Brad Keselowski (14).

·        Jimmie Johnson can become the third driver in series history to record 10 or more wins at more than one track with a win this weekend; joining NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip. Johnson currently has nine series wins at Martinsville.

Driver	Tracks With 10 Or More Wins
Richard Petty	Martinsville (15), North Wilkesboro (15), Richmond (13), Rockingham (11), Daytona (10)
Darrell Waltrip	Bristol (12), Martinsville (11), North Wilkesboro (10)
Jimmie Johnson	Dover (11)
David Pearson	Darlington (10)
Dale Earnhardt	Talladega (10)

·        A total of 11 manufacturers have won in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway; led by Chevrolet with 56 victories, followed by Ford (29), Plymouth (12), Dodge (10), Oldsmobile (8), Pontiac (8), Toyota (7), Buick (3), Chrysler (3), Hudson (2) and Mercury (2).

Additional Finishing Positions

·        A total of 66 series drivers have finished runner-up in the Monster Energy Series at Martinsville Speedway.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt leads all drivers with seven runner-up finishes.

·        Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with four runner-up finishes at Martinsville; followed by Kyle Busch with three.

Top Five in Runner-Up Finishes at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time & Active)

Rank	All-Time Drivers	Runner-Ups	Rank	Active Drivers	Runner-Ups
1	Dale Earnhardt	7	1	Jimmie Johnson	4
2	Bobby Allison	6	2	Denny Hamlin	3
3	Lee Petty	6	3	Kyle Busch	3
4	Cale Yarborough	5	4	Brad Keselowski	2
	Jeff Gordon	5	5	Clint Bowyer	1
	Richard Petty	5		Joey Logano	1
				Martin Truex Jr	1
				Ryan Newman	1

·        A total of 152 different Monster Energy Series drivers have finished in the top five at Martinsville Speedway.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty leads the Monster Energy Series in top-five finishes at Martinsville Speedway with 30; followed by Jeff Gordon with 29.

·        Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with 19 top fives at Martinsville, followed by Kyle Busch with 15 top-five finishes.

Top Five in Top-Five Finishes at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time & Active)

Rank	All-Time Drivers	Top Fives	Rank	Active Drivers	Top Fives
1	Richard Petty	30	1	Jimmie Johnson	19
2	Jeff Gordon	29	2	Kyle Busch	15
3	Darrell Waltrip	27	3	Denny Hamlin	13
4	Jimmie Johnson	19	4	Ryan Newman	8
5	Dale Earnhardt	18	5	Brad Keselowski	7

·        A total of 260 different monster Energy Series drivers have finished in the top 10 at Martinsville Speedway.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon leads the Monster Energy Series in top-10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway with 38 top 10s; followed by Richard Petty with 37.

·        Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in top 10s at Martinsville with 24; followed by Denny Hamlin with 19.

Top Five in Top-10 Finishes at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time & Active)

Rank	All-Time Drivers	Top 10s	Rank	Active Drivers	Top 10s
1	Jeff Gordon	38	1	Jimmie Johnson	24
2	Richard Petty	37	2	Denny Hamlin	19
3	Darrell Waltrip	31	3	Kevin Harvick	17
4	Bobby Allison	28	4	Kyle Busch	16
5	Terry Labonte	27	5	Ryan Newman	16

·        Dick Hutcherson (five starts) leads the series in average finishing position at Martinsville Speedway with a 3.8 average finish.

·        Jimmie Johnson (34 starts) leads the series among active drivers in average finishing positions at Martinsville Speedway with a 8.0; followed by Denny Hamlin with a 9.8 (26 starts).

Top 10 in Average Finishing Position at Martinsville Speedway (All-Time & Active)

Rank	All-Time Drivers	Avg. Finish	Starts	Rank	Active Drivers	Avg. Finish	Starts
1	Dick Hutcherson	3.8	5	1	Jimmie Johnson	8.0	34
2	Frank Mundy	4.0	3	2	Denny Hamlin	9.8	26
3	Bill Amick	4.5	2	3	Brad Keselowski	11.8	18
4	Bill Snowden	5.0	2	4	Kyle Busch	12.3	27
5	Bud Moore	5.0	2	5	Joey Logano	13.2	20
6	Lee Petty	5.5	24	6	Clint Bowyer	13.8	26
7	Swede Savage	6.5	2	7	Ryan Newman	14.7	34
8	Jeff Gordon	6.7	47	8	Kevin Harvick	15.3	35
9	Dick Rathmann	7.0	5	9	Ryan Blaney	15.7	6
10	Jimmie Johnson	8.0	34	10	Chase Elliott	16.6	7

Track Event Specific Stats

·        Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions 10 times in the Monster Energy NASCAR Series at Martinsville Speedway:

	Date of Race	Drivers That Started First Due To Qualifying Cancelled
1	Sunday, May 17, 1953	Joe Eubanks
2	Sunday, May 16, 1954	Ralph Liguori
3	Sunday, October 16, 1955	Gwyn Staley
4	Sunday, September 24, 1995	Jeff Gordon
5	Sunday, October 19, 2008	Jimmie Johnson
6	Sunday, March 29, 2009	Jeff Gordon
7	Monday, March 29, 2010	Kevin Harvick
8	Sunday, October 30, 2011	Carl Edwards
9	Sunday, April 2, 2017	Kyle Larson
10	Monday, March 26, 2018	Martin Truex Jr

·        Eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been shortened due to weather:

Date	Scheduled No. of Laps	Actual No. of Laps	No. of Fewer Laps	Race Winner	Runner-up
4/23/1995	500	356	144	Rusty Wallace	Ted Musgrave
4/24/1977	500	384	116	Cale Yarborough	Benny Parsons
9/26/1976	500	340	160	Cale Yarborough	Darrell Waltrip
9/30/1973	500	480	20	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough
5/31/1970	500	377	123	Bobby Isaac	Bobby Allison
4/9/1961	500	149	351	Fred Lorenzen	Rex White
10/12/1958	500	350	150	Fireball Roberts	Speedy Thompson
10/17/1954	200	165	35	Lee Petty	Hershel McGriff

·        There have been six Monster Energy Series races that have ended in NASCAR Overtime at Martinsville Speedway:

Date	Scheduled No. of Laps	Actual No. of Laps	NASCAR Overtime	Race Winner	Runner-up
10/29/2017	500	505	5	Kyle Busch	Martin Truex Jr.
4/1/2012	500	515	15	Ryan Newman	AJ Allmendinger
3/29/2010	500	508	8	Denny Hamlin	Joey Logano
10/25/2009	500	501	1	Denny Hamlin	Jimmie Johnson
10/19/2008	500	504	4	Jimmie Johnson	Dale Earnhardt Jr
10/21/2007	500	506	6	Jimmie Johnson	Ryan Newman

·        Since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993, the closest margin of victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway is the April 1, 2007 race won by Jimmie Johnson with a MOV of 0.065 second over second-place Jeff Gordon.

Top Five Closest Monster Energy Series Margins of Victory at Martinsville Speedway

Margin of Victory	Date	Race Winner	Runner-Up
0.065	4/1/2007	Jimmie Johnson	Jeff Gordon
0.107	10/28/2018	Joey Logano	Denny Hamlin
0.141	10/29/2017	Kyle Busch	Martin Truex Jr
0.141	10/15/2001	Ricky Craven	Dale Jarrett
0.170	10/30/2011	Tony Stewart	Jimmie Johnson

·        A total of 152 different drivers in the Monster Energy Series have led at least one lap at Martinsville.

·        NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough leads the series in laps led at Martinsville Speedway with 3,851 laps led.

Rank	All-Time Lap Leaders	Laps Led	Laps Completed	% Laps Led
1	Cale Yarborough	3,851	13,392	28.8%
2	Jeff Gordon	3,779	23,269	16.2%
3	Rusty Wallace	3,632	19,829	18.3%
4	Darrell Waltrip	3,617	23,727	15.2%
5	Richard Petty	2,964	27,891	10.6%
6	Jimmie Johnson	2,862	16,911	16.9%
7	Fred Lorenzen	2,731	6,638	41.1%
8	Bobby Allison	1,986	18,271	10.9%
9	Dale Earnhardt	1,947	18,907	10.3%
10	Ricky Rudd	1,570	24,887	6.3%

·        Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in Monster Energy Series in laps led at Martinsville with 2,862 laps led.

Rank	Active Lap Leaders	Laps Led	Laps Completed	% Laps Led
1	Jimmie Johnson	2,862	16,911	16.9%
2	Denny Hamlin	1,536	12,526	12.3%
3	Kyle Busch	1,424	13,189	10.8%
4	Joey Logano	825	9,976	8.3%
5	Kevin Harvick	628	17,196	3.7%
6	Clint Bowyer	572	12,570	4.6%
7	Kurt Busch	464	17,883	2.6%
8	Brad Keselowski	437	8,957	4.9%
9	Martin Truex Jr	262	12,493	2.1%
10	Ryan Newman	196	16,594	1.2%

·        Jimmie Johnson needs to lead 138 laps or more at Martinsville Speedway to become just the fifth driver in series history to lead 3,000 or more laps at multiple tracks; joining NASCAR Hall of Famers Cale Yarbrough(five tracks with 3,000 or more laps led), Richard Petty (four tracks), Rusty Wallace (three tracks) and Darrell Waltrip (two tracks). Below are the seven drivers in series history to lead 3,000 or more laps at a single track:

Driver	Tracks With 3,000 Or More Laps Led
Cale Yarborough	Bristol (4,305), Martinsville (3,851), Rockingham (3,732), Nashville Fgds (3,632), Atlanta (3,283)
Richard Petty	North Wilkesboro (5,308), Richmond (5,136), Nashville Fgds (3,957), Rockingham (3,130)
Rusty Wallace	Bristol (3,743), Martinsville (3,632), Richmond (3,024)
Darrell Waltrip	Martinsville (3,617), Bristol (3,436)
Jeff Gordon	Martinsville (3,779)
Dale Earnhardt	Bristol (3,751)
Jimmie Johnson	Dover (3,105)

NASCAR In Virginia

·        There have been 513 NASCAR national series races among 10 tracks in the state of Virginia.

·        Martinsville Speedway hosted the very first NASCAR national series race in the state of Virginia on Sept. 25, 1949 –  the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event was won by Red Byron (Oldsmobile).

Tracks in Virginia
Track Name	City	Monster Energy	Xfinity	Gander Outdoors	Total Races	First Year
Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville	140	34	40	214	1949
Richmond Raceway	Richmond	125	70	11	206	1953
South Boston Speedway	South Boston	10	35	3	48	1960
Langley Field Speedway	Hampton	9	14	0	23	1964
Old Dominion Speedway	Manassas	7	0	0	7	1958
New River Valley Speedway	Dublin	0	4	0	4	1989
Southside Speedway	Richmond	4	0	0	4	1961
Starkey Speedway	Roanoke	4	0	0	4	1958
Norfolk Speedway	Norfolk	2	0	0	2	1956
Princess Anne Speedway	Norfolk	1	0	0	1	1953
Totals		302	157	54	513

Virginia in NASCAR

·       A total of 180 different drivers that have made at least one start in a NASCAR national series race have their home state recorded as Virginia.

·        19 drivers from Virginia have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. 11 of the 19 Virginia native NASCAR winners have won in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

	Drivers from Virginia
	Driver	Monster Energy	Xfinity	Gander Outdoors	National Series Combined
1	Denny Hamlin	32	17	2	51
2	Joe Weatherly	25	0	0	25
3	Ricky Rudd	23	1	0	24
4	Jeff Burton	21	27	0	48
5	Curtis Turner	17	0	0	17
6	Ward Burton	5	4	0	9
7	Glen Wood	4	0	0	4
8	Elliott Sadler	3	13	1	17
9	Emanuel Zervakis	2	0	0	2
10	Lennie Pond	1	0	0	1
11	Wendell Scott	1	0	0	1
12	Tommy Ellis	0	22	0	22
13	Jimmy Hensley	0	9	2	11
14	Rick Mast	0	9	0	9
15	Hermie Sadler	0	2	0	2
16	Elton Sawyer	0	2	0	2
17	Stacy Compton	0	0	2	2
18	Jon Wood	0	0	2	2
19	Jeb Burton	0	0	1	1
	Totals	134	106	10	250