Martin Truex Jr is 9/1 to win at Martinsville

 

Martin Truex Jr. Martinsville Advance No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Xfinity 500 (Round 35 of 36) ● Time/Date:  2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 29 ●  Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway ●  Layout: .526-mile oval ● Laps/Miles:  500 laps / 263 miles ● Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 130 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 240 laps ● TV/Radio:  NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Martin Truex Jr., and the No. 19 team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to a victory that gave him and the team much-needed momentum heading into the 2023 season. While the team was knocking on the door over the first 10 points-paying races, the breakthrough win finally came at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on May 1, and Truex has added two more points-paying victories and four overall this season – June 11 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.   ● Round of 8: Heading to the third and final race in the Round of 8 of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Truex sits sixth in the standings with 4,071 points, 17 points below the top-four cutline as the team will do all it can to bring home a victory in order to make it to the Championship 4.   ● All three of Truex’s Martinsville wins in the NASCAR Cup Series have come in his time at JGR, now in its fifth season. He has a total of five top-five finishes with the team at the .526-mile, paperclip-shaped oval.   ● Truex’s three Martinsville wins are included in his 10 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s at the track, and he’s led a total of 1,016 laps in 35 career Cup Series outings at Martinsville. Truex’s average Martinsville finish is 16.0.   ● 34 and Counting: Truex’s win at New Hampshire was the 34th of his Cup Series career, putting him in a tie with 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch for 25th on the all-time win list in NASCAR’s top series.   ● So far this season, Truex has scored three points-paying wins, nine top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and has led an impressive 851 laps through 34 races.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD

This will be your 36th Cup Series start at Martinsville. What has made you so good there, especially during your time at Joe Gibbs Racing?   “Martinsville for a long time in my career was a really tough place to figure out. We eventually hit on some things and it’s been pretty good for a while. Then we went to the NextGen car last year and it was a struggle for us. I’m really optimistic going into this weekend because we ran third there in the spring. Martinsville looks so easy, it’s just a small, little half-mile track, but it’s so tricky with the concrete in the corners and, every time you go there, it’s different. It doesn’t make sense because the track is the same, but it does make it different depending on the temperature and the tire and everything that’s going on with these cars. Running third there in the spring, I think we learned a lot we can use going forward and, hopefully, we can find some of that old magic we had there a few years ago again this weekend with our Auto-Owners Insurance Camry.”   Seems like there’s a lot of emotion from drivers who win at Martinsville. Why is that?   “I think it’s because it’s difficult and it’s been a staple in our sport for so long. Really, the track has remained unchanged and we’ve been through years of different cars and so many different things. And it’s always put on a great race and it’s always been difficult to win there, that’s why it’s such a big deal. There’s always a potential for beating and banging there and for tempers flaring. We’ve been in the middle of that before, as well.”   What are the challenges of racing at Martinsville as far as navigating it lap to lap?   “The biggest thing is just the beating and banging that happens there and getting knocked out of the way, which there seems to be a bit less of that so far with this car. For me, I’ve really only had one issue there, which was getting taken out of the race at the end in 2018. It gets like that at Martinsville, it’s just a tough track. When it comes down to a few laps to go, you can go down there and blow the corner and run into somebody and get the spot. That’s where the frustration comes from there, from a lot of drivers (doing that) over the years.”   Will this weekend at Martinsville be more aggressive than normal?   “I doubt it. I think it’s going to be as aggressive as it’s been with this car. You can only beat and bang with this car so much, and then you can’t get to someone’s bumper to get them out of the way. Just the way it is.”

Martinsville NASCAR Betting Preview: 2022 Xfinity 500

 NASCAR Xfinity 500 Picks, Predictions, Odds

Micah Roberts

Sports Betting Expert

14 minute read

---

We’ve come to the end of the road, almost. 

Just two races remain on the season, and Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway’s flat half-mile paperclip layout will be the final race of the Round of 8 in the playoffs. Four drivers will get chopped from the playoffs after the race and four drivers will comprise of the Championship 4 and race for the season championship next week at Phoenix Raceway. 

Here’s a look at what I’m thinking this week using the odds order from BetMGM sportsbooks.

XFINITY 500 BETTING RESOURCES

Date: Sunday, October 30, 2022
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
Location: Ridgeway, Virginia
Distance: 263 miles
Laps: 500
Network-Time: NBC - 2:00 p.m.
Defending Champion: Alex Bowman

XFINITY 500 PICKS & PREDICTIONS

Chase Elliott (6/1) - He deserves to be the favorite because Hendrick Motorsports has this track figured out, he kicked it strong in the April race with the NextGen car leading 185 laps but finishing 10th. He’s got a championship at stake and he sits third in points. He has to race smart and points race here, I think. Sure he’ll have a car that can win, but the bigger picture is at play here. In 14 Cup starts at Martinsville he has a win, five top-fives, and 903 laps led. 

Denny Hamlin (7/1) - He’s the active leader with five Martinsville wins and 1,987 laps led. He has 16 top-fives in 33 career Cup starts. No one is better than him at Martinsville because he’s a Virginian and has been racing at the track forever. But he still needs the car and the NextGen car has not been able to meet his requirement standards. He started 25th in the spring race and finished 28th. He’s fifth in points and needs help to make the Championship 4, or he could just win. He’s got a plan.

“It’s going to be a fight. It’s definitely not going to be easy,’ Hamlin said. “I expect that passing is going to be very difficult, so track position is going to be super important. We’ve got to go in there Saturday and qualify up front and have good short run speed in addition to the long run speed. That has hurt us pretty bad the last couple of weeks but knowing how difficult it’s going to be to pass, I think we’ll put a little more emphasis on that and hopefully be able to get some stage points to give ourselves a chance to advance.”

Ryan Blaney (8/1) - There were 19 different drivers with wins this season and Blaney wasn’t one of them. But he’s still alive in the playoffs. He can still be the 2022 champ with a great run here where he’s been great since coming to Team Penske. All six of his top-fives in Martinsville have come in the nine races since 2018 when he signed with Penske. He should have at least one win there by now, like last spring when he won the first two stages, led 157 laps, and then finished 11th. He was fourth in the spring race this season. I’m on board for a win this week. Punt somebody Ryan, be tough, go big! Search for better odds.

(Getty)

William Byron (8/1) - He sits fourth in points and with a nice day he can stay above the cutline. But Hamlin is only 5-points behind him. I think he can win again. He won in the spring and led a race-high 212 laps, but he was strong there before the NextGen car as well. His last win was at Martinsville. Let’s see if they can dust off all those notes from April and see if they can get themselves into the Championship 4 at Phoenix. 

Joey Logano (9/1) - He’s leading the playoffs. He’s going for his second title. It’s right there and Phoenix is a great track for him. But so is Martinsville with a win and nine top-fives in 27 starts. He’s led 1,098 laps. The problem I have this week is that he may not go for the win, or make a move to irritate someone who can retaliate at Phoenix, and at Martinsville, you have to ruffle some feathers to win. It’s hard to pass. Play it safe, go for the win next week.

Martin Truex Jr. (9/1) - From 2017 to 2021, no one was better at Martinsville than Truex. Three wins, seven top-fives, and lots of laps led. NextGen car enters 2022 and goodbye to a strong edge. It’s been like that for Toyota drivers collectively at curtain tracks. No one that follows NASCAR is running to bet this at BetMGM because of the new car and also because he hasn’t won a race in 2022. He missed the playoffs. This price is definitely malpractice by the robots making the odds. He was 22nd in the spring race.

“Hopefully it’s a better race for us than the first time there,” Truex said. “We were off a little compared to how we’ve been there the past handful of years with the old car. I felt like we got it going pretty good in the race, so if we can just unload a little closer and be able to qualify better, that would help a lot. I feel like we’ve learned a lot as a company since that first race and our teammates tested there a while back, so I think we’ll certainly be better, but it’s going to be really tough to pass like we saw in the spring. Qualifying and pit road are both going to be very important; not that they aren’t always, but this week more so than normal.”

Kyle Larson (12/1) - He needs room to do his thing, lots of room. Martinsville and superspeedways aren’t his thing because everyone is so close and bunched together. In 15 Cup starts at Martinsville, he has two top-fives and 112 laps led for a 20th-place average finish. He’s a definite pass for me here.

Christopher Bell (14/1) - He doesn’t have anything special in five Cup starts at Martinsville, but I do see some similarities in this half-mile flat paperclip as the 1-mile flat paperclip at New Hampshire that he won at in July. He’s seventh in the playoffs with his only way in by winning. So you got that going for you with a bet on him.

“The spring race at Martinsville was very unique, because it was very hard to pass,” Bell said. “We qualified well and ran inside the top-10 until we had a pit road penalty bury us and we weren’t able to recover. We showed potential there and I think JGR as a whole has improved on their short track program. I’ve got all the faith in the world that we are going to bring another Camry capable of winning, and I have to go out there and see what we can do.”

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

Denny Hamlin is 6/1 to win at Martinsville

Denny Hamlin

11 FedEx Ground Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Sunday Race Info:
Race: Xfinity 500
Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 31/2:00 p.m. ET
Distance: 500 laps/263 miles
Track Length: .526 miles

Express Notes:

Kansas Recap: Hamlin started sixth in the FedEx Freight Toyota and asked for help tightening up the car’s handling throughout the first two stages. Extremely windy conditions also made the car a white-knuckled handful, with gusts frequently pushing drivers up the track and sometimes into the wall. The FedEx Racing driver was able to keep the car out of the fence despite the challenging weather and finished the first two stages in fifth and eighth, respectively. The #11 team made some headway on the car’s handling in Stage 3, allowing Hamlin to circle the mile-and-a-half oval a little faster. Track position was difficult to make up, but he was able to climb multiple spots to cross the finish line in fifth. The result put him 32 points above the cut line to make the Championship 4 – the final four drivers who will compete for the NASCAR Cup Series trophy in the last race of the season at Phoenix Raceway.

Martinsville Preview: The Cup Series moves on next to Martinsville Speedway on Sunday for the final race in the Playoffs’ Round of 8. Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team will look to claim their spot in the Championship 4 either with a win or a solid points day. In his 31 career races at the half-mile, paperclip-shaped oval, Hamlin has notched five wins and 16 top-5 finishes.

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Martinsville Speedway

Races: 31

Wins: 5

Poles: 4

Top-5: 16

Top-10: 22

Laps Led: 1,884

Avg. Start: 8.5

Avg. Finish: 9.7

Hamlin Conversation – Martinsville:

How do you feel about your chances at Martinsville and the short track package?

“I’m confident in our chances at Martinsville. We’ve been very strong at these types of racetracks, and I’ll think we’ll have a really good FedEx Toyota when we go there. We want to battle for a win. Because if we’re in the battle for a win, we’ll be fine no matter where we finish.”

Will you have a particular strategy, given your points position and what you need to advance?

“I think we should be OK. But, of course, you just never know what can happen. I just need to make sure I get some stage points and don’t give it away early, and I think we’ll be alright to advance.”

FedEx “Drop Off, Win Big” Sweepstakes on the #11: The TV panel of the #11 car will carry a special message at Martinsville, encouraging FedEx small business customers to participate in the “Drop Off, Win Big” sweepstakes going on now through January. Small business owners can register online to have a chance to win up to $10,000, just for dropping off their packages at any of the 60,000-plus locations across the U.S. The TV panel message points fans to the URL where they can learn more and enter: fedex.com/dropoffsweeps.

FedEx Ground Along for the Ride at Martinsville: With the national observance of Corporate Compliance Week (Nov. 7-13) approaching, the alpha code “DELV” on Hamlin’s car recognizes the extraordinary focus on processes and compliance by the FedEx Ground’s Delaware Valley District.

Martinsville Betting Preview: 2020 Xfinity 500

After Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, four drivers will advance from the Round of 8 into the Championship 4 next week at Phoenix Raceway and four drivers will be chopped from the competition.

The latest odds to win the 2020 NASCAR Cup title are listed below and it appears to be a four-horse race.

NASCAR CUP CONTENDER ODDS

• Kevin Harvick +160
• Denny Hamlin +240
• Joey Logano +375
• Brad Keselowski +375
• Martin Truex Jr. +1700
• Chase Elliott +2600
• Alex Bowman +7500
• Kurt Busch +5000

Joey Logano is the only driver locked in by his Kansas win two weeks ago to kick off the Round of 8.

Kevin Harvick, who leads the series with nine wins in 2020, has a 42-point lead over the fifth-place driver.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
XFINITY 500
BETTING RESOURCES

• Race:Xfinity 500
• Date: Sunday, November 1, 2020
• TV-Time: NBC, 2:00 p.m. ET
• Venue: Martinsville Speedway
• Location: Martinsville, Virginia

Denny Hamlin, who has seven wins this season, has a 27-point lead, and Brad Keselowski has a 25-point lead. All three can advance if they don’t get involved in an early wreck, but things get dicier if one of the lower four drivers in points wins the race.

Martin Truex Jr. has won the last two Martinsville races and is 36-points behind the cutoff mark. If he is leading late, then it’s a likely battle between Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the final slot which should be fun.

Same with Chase Elliott who is only 25-points out from the final spot.

NASCAR CUP ODDS
XFINITY 500 ODDS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

• Martin Truex Jr. +325
• Denny Hamlin +550
• Brad Keselowski +550
• Kyle Busch +850
• Chase Elliott +850
• Joey Logano +850
• Ryan Blaney +900
• Kevin Harvick +1000
• More NASCAR Futures
• (Odds Subject to Change)

NASCAR CUP SERIES
HANDICAPPING MARTINSVILLE

Here’s a look at the favorites to win the Xfinity 500, along with some others drivers to keep an eye on this Sunday at Virginia.

DRIVERS TO WATCH - XFINITY 500

#19 MARTIN TRUEX JR. 3/1

He’s 31-points behind the transfer position to make the Championship 4 next week, but the reality is that he needs to win to advance unless Hamlin and Harvick wreck each at the start of the race. He’s won the last two on the flat half-mile paperclip layout, so why not another? Seven top-fives and 858 laps led between his 29 starts are really good.

Read More Here.....Top-5 Finish on VegasInsider.com

Clint Bowyer is 25/1 to win 2020 Xfinity 500

 

CLINT BOWYER Martinsville Thank You   KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Oct. 29, 2020) – In his 16 years of racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Clint Bowyer has sported dozens of paint schemes in many colors, but none like he’ll drive Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway when the 41-year-old former race winner makes his final appearance at the historic, half-mile track in Southern Virginia.   Bowyer announced on Oct. 9 that he will retire from full-time racing and join the FOX television booth in 2021. To commemorate his career, Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Mustang fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) on Sunday will carry 58 logos of nearly every major sponsor that appeared on a Bowyer racecar during his tenures at Richard Childress Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and SHR.   “SHR allowed us to run this paint scheme at Martinsville as a way to say ‘thank you’ to all my current and past sponsors,” said Bowyer, who will close out his full-time racing career at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 8. “Along with the fans, it’s our corporate partners that allow the drivers and race teams to do what we do each weekend. If it wasn’t for the support of all these people, we wouldn’t be able to race.”   Bowyer’s car will feature his 2020 partners at SHR on the hood while carrying 43 brand logos on the decklid that date back to his first full NASCAR Cup Series season in 2006. Since his first start in 2005, when he ran one race, Bowyer has run 539 races, earning 10 victories, 82 top-five finishes and 225 top-10s. Bowyer hopes to add to those totals when he returns Sunday to Martinsville, where he owns a victory, six top-fives and 16 top-10s in 29 races.   While Bowyer is closing out his full-time driving schedule, he remains highly competitive. He arrives in Martinsville after finishing 17th at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in a race that began Sunday afternoon but didn’t finish until Wednesday night because of persistent rain. Bowyer won the first stage, led 89 laps and held the lead until he was forced to make an extra fuel stop with just 25 laps remaining.   He wouldn’t mind a little redemption at Martinsville. Not only does he like the flat, .526-mile oval, it’s sort of a home race for the native of Emporia, Kansas, as his current residence is in nearby Clemmons, North Carolina.   “It’s 40 minutes from the house,” he said. “It’s just a fun, fun weekend. Fun racetrack. It’s old-school racing at its finest.   “When I went there the first couple of seasons in the sport, that was the one racetrack that I couldn’t wait to leave. I was terrible. I hated it, every aspect of it. Everything in your natural tendencies as a racecar driver doesn’t hold true there. Alright, I have to pass this guy in front of me. Well, I have to get in the corner deeper than him, I have to pick up the gas sooner than him, and both of those things took me about 27 times there before I ever figured it out.”   In 2018, Bowyer notched one of his most memorable victories when he dominated the 500-lap race by leading 215 laps on his way to ending his 190-race winless streak. It was his first victory at SHR, and he climbed from his No. 14 Ford on the frontstretch and looked to his left to see his wife Lorra and daughter Presley, led by then 3-year-old son Cash running from turn four toward “Dad.”   He couldn’t resist running toward his family.   “You know, I make fun of these other drivers sometimes for having tears in victory lane, but I’ve got to admit that moment got to me,” Bowyer said with a laugh about embarking on a raucous victory celebration that saw him climb into the stands with the Martinsville fans who stayed in Southern Virginia an extra day because snow canceled the race scheduled for the previous day.   “Cash was young enough that he had never been to victory lane before, so it was his first chance to be there,” Bowyer said. “That’s something I always wanted to make happen.”   Bowyer said Cash still asks him when he’s going back to victory lane. He’d love to Sunday and carry all the logos of the corporations that have made his career possible.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Clint Bowyer Tribute Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Martinsville seems to be the most difficult track for drivers to figure out. Why is that? “It’s a short track, but it’s not like any other short track you’ve ever been to. It goes against everything your tendencies tell you to do. You have to back the corner up and let the car roll way around the corner before you get back on the gas. Your tendencies are to get in the corner as deep as you can and get back on the throttle as fast as possible. Those are two things that are catastrophic there, so you’ve got to discipline yourself and stay disciplined throughout the race.”   Martinsville is your second-to-last NASCAR race. Are you at peace with how you career has played out? “I don’t think anybody is ever satisfied with anything in life. I mean, if you win, you leave, ‘Damn, I wish I had hit that restart a little bit better. I didn’t lead every lap. I had a bad pit stop.’ That’s if you win. There are certainly things about that that you’ll always be not satisfied about, but I’m very satisfied with being able to be a part of this sport for a long time, having a lot of friends in this sport, making a lot of friends because of this sport, representing so many different organizations and just powerhouses in Corporate America. It’s cool to have those relationships still to this day, to be able to look back and say, ‘Hey, man. I represented them. They were a sponsor of mine.’ Or, ‘I know that CEO or that president, and I’m going to dinner with him next week.’ Those are all the things that were afforded to me in my life and my family because of this sport and being a part of it for so long. I don’t regret anything. I can promise you this – I’ve probably had more fun than about anybody out there these last 16 years, probably too much fun, sometimes. But, would I take anything back or change anything? Absolutely not. I mean, we got close (to the championship) once – finished second and I think fifth – had good runs within the playoffs and things like that. Did I win as many races I would have liked? No, but I had wonderful opportunities to and raced for a lot of good organizations. I won races for all three manufacturers. That’s something that was super cool. I’ve done a lot. I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’m satisfied, for sure. There’s no question about it.”   Do you envision a time when you’ll return to the car for a one-off race at some point in the future? “I’m definitely open for anything. Hey, you can’t just shut off being a racecar driver. Are there tracks that I wish I never see again? Yes, but I’m probably gonna see them anyway. I’m gonna be there calling the races, but certainly there are some tracks that I’m really, really going to miss. Those road courses, believe it or not, are right up there. The short tracks and things like that, those are tracks that I felt like my talent and my experience that I’ve learned over the years were really good. I think that if an opportunity comes down the line and somebody was to be out or something like that, I would love to fill in if I could do a good job, and I know I could at some of those tracks, so who knows? I think we’re just going to have to see how it all goes and, if an opportunity comes to the table, maybe I’ll take it.”   How do you want your racing career to be remembered? “I want people to obviously remember the good runs that I had, the fun that we had. I think everybody knows there are people who win races and there are people who win races and had a lot of fun doing it, and I’m proud to say there are probably not many people who celebrated and had as much fun winning as we did, but we had a lot of fun on the bad weekends, too. You’ve got to shake that off. You’ve got to chase this dream and the organizations and the people I represented – that’s what you’re most proud of, but the relationships and friendships I’ve made because of this sport, being a part of it, are what you’re most proud of. The fans, I haven’t said that enough. There is nothing more fun than going to a NASCAR race, and it’s that way because of the fans. This year has completely sucked, being at those tracks without fans. It is an empty hole that you can’t replace. You literally can’t. I’ve been one of the only drivers over the years – I’m not saying I’m the only one, but I go out each and every week and jump on the golf cart and go ride around and see fans and see people. I can’t tell you how many people – you know that ‘Ole Jim’ is going to be parked right there in the corner with his Winnebago and he’s going to have cornhole out, and he’ll have him some Busch Lights there. You know you can stop there for a cold beer, gotta see Jim. Over here are those people from Louisiana who have been your fans forever. You know those people. I don’t know their names, but I know damn well every single year that’s where they’re parked, where you can rely on them and know that they’re there and know that they’ll be there with your flag or your shirt on or your hat on their head. Those are the things that you’ll miss the most.”

Kyle Busch is 8/1 to win 2020 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville

 

KYLE BUSCH Sweet 16   HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Oct. 29, 2020) – With Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup Series win at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Kyle Busch celebrated a Sweet 16 of sorts following his first victory of 2020.   Sixteen of course is the number of consecutive seasons Busch has scored at least one or more victories, as the two-time Cup Series champion has now scored a win each season since entering NASCAR’s top series as a full-time competitor in 2005.   The Texas win also enabled Busch to join seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Rudd, and Rusty Wallace for the third-longest streak of consecutive years with at least one victory. With his streak still alive, Busch will look to extend it in 2021 in hopes of catching David Pearson, who is second on the list by scoring wins in 17 consecutive years from 1964 to 1980. Richard Petty holds the all-time record with 18 consecutive seasons with at least one victory from 1960 through 1977.   As the Cup Series heads to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway this weekend for the penultimate race on the 36-race schedule, Busch is hoping to keep the momentum from Texas going and also add a third Grandfather clock to his trophy case for winning a race at the paperclip-shaped half-mile oval in NASCAR’s top series.   Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), heads to Martinsville for Sunday’s Xfinity 500 with a win in hand and to a track where he’s run as well as anywhere over his last 10 starts. Since the fall of 2015, Busch has racked up an impressive eight Martinsville top-10 finishes, including victories in April 2016 and October 2018.   Early in his 13-year tenure with JGR, however, this wasn’t always the case at Martinsville. In fact, Busch finished outside the top-10 in three of his first four Martinsville races with JGR in 2008 and 2009. While he scored four combined top-fives from 2010 to 2014, it wasn’t until 2015 that he found his stride at Martinsville.   The beginning of the recent success at Martinsville for Busch and the M&M’s team came with the Las Vegas native’s first career win there in April 2016. Not only did he bring home his first Martinsville clock, he did it in dominating fashion, leading five times for a race-high 352 laps en route to victory lane.   So as the season heads into the homestretch, Busch and the M&M’S team hope to take advantage of the confidence built from their win at Texas Wednesday night, as well as his strong runs at Martinsville since 2015. Since he’s already conquered the .526-mile short track in Southern Virginia twice in recent years, Busch hopes he can turn his Sweet 16 win into yet another traditional Grandfather clock at the end of Sunday’s 500-lap marathon.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M'S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

What does the Texas win do mentally for you in these final weeks to wrap up the season?   “I told Coy (Gibbs) when I was on my way into victory lane, I said, ‘I’m done, I’m good for the year.’ I was joking, of course, but that’s how much relief it felt like it was. We got knocked out of the playoffs and, going through this Round of 8, typically there’s pressure. You know, you have the pressure, the pressure builds through every round, and the Round of 12 for me was like the Round of 8. I knew that we had to do everything right in order to make the Round of 8 being like our Final Four. But we obviously weren’t good enough. We weren’t able to capitalize and do what we needed to do. Now that you’re out, you pretty much have no pressure, you just go out there and you race and whatever happens is what happens. But when you’re able to run up front and run with those guys, you’ve still got to push hard, you’ve still got to do things right. M&M’s, Skittles, Interstate Batteries, Toyota, all those guys, they want to see us successful, they want to see us win, and it means a lot to be able to continue that winning tradition with the 18 and with Adam and all of our guys, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. They give full effort, man. There’s no quit. But it just hasn’t quite lined up for us this year.”   You have a little bit of momentum going into Martinsville. How do you focus now on such a quick turnaround?   “It’s a quick turnaround but, man, it’s way more stressful for the team guys than it is for the driver. I’m looking forward to it. I felt like, through the middle part of the race, once we got everything sorted out from the start of the race there in the first Martinsville, we were pretty good. We ran lap times comparable. We actually ran with the 19 (teammate Martin Truex Jr.) for much of a couple runs, and I was just trying to stay out of his way because he was on the lead lap. So I felt like we were as good as he was. He obviously won the race, so I feel like there’s a chance that, given, if we can make it through the first set of tires without going a lap down, then we’ll be OK, and I think we could have a shot to win there, too, with our M&M’S Camry.”   Now that you’ve got the monkey off your back, what is your outlook for the next two weeks and possibly getting another win before the year is out?   “Yeah, absolutely. That’s what we’re going to push for. We want to go to Martinsville and run up front, try to win that one, and same thing, go to Phoenix, let’s spoil the championship party and not see the champion have to be the winner.”   What’s unique about Martinsville that makes for good racing there?   “Typically you are off the throttle more than you are on the throttle at Martinsville, so your time is lost or made when you are off the gas. That lends itself to guys dive-bombing and making moves and being light on the brake and running into the back of guys or rooting them out of the bottom and getting them shuffled back. The more that track becomes a bottom feeder type racetrack and you can go and get a guy shuffled out, there’s no worry to you because he can’t get back in line. If he goes back five spots, then you have that cushion again. There are all kinds of different ways Martinsville has always put on really good and exciting racing.”   What is the key to you getting a win at Martinsville?   “It’s a tough racetrack and, any time you come in the pits and make an adjustment on your car, you certainly hope it goes the right way, or you make enough of it, or you don’t make too much of an adjustment. The last run can be tricky, too, because you can be coming off a 50-lap run on right-side tires and take four and you’ve only got 30 (laps) to go, or you could have 80 to go and you know you have to manage that run all the way to the end.”

Kevin Harvick is 12/1 to win at Martinsville

 

KEVIN HARVICK It’s a Journey   KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (October 29, 2020) – In the 1999 film, For Love of the Game, Billy Chapel (played by Kevin Coster) is pitching for the Detroit Tigers and in the midst of a perfect game.   With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, with his arm weary and aching, he looks up to see Ken Strout ready to bat for the New York Yankees. Ken Strout is the son of Joe Strout, who Chapel played with 20 years prior.   Ken Strout is the last chance for the Yankees to break up the perfect game. As Chapel sees him walking up to the plate, he looks up and says, simply, “Why not?”   That’s how Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), might be feeling after this past week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Harvick started on the pole and led early, but he brushed the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall early on as the track may or may not have been a little wet during a constant mist. Then the rains came and, after more than 72 hours, the race finally got restarted late Wednesday afternoon.   Or, better than “Why not?” perhaps an overriding thought in Harvick’s mind is, “It’s a journey.”   That’s because 2020 has been a journey for everyone. NASCAR conducted four races, took a nine-week break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then contested 30 races in six months before getting delayed by rain for more than 72 hours this week at Texas.   Never fear, though, because we (might) be almost done.   Harvick finished 16th at Texas and is still first in points, 42 markers above the cutoff to advance to the Championship 4.     He now moves on to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the final race in the Round of 8.   Harvick has one win, five top-fives, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 628 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. His average start there is 14.1, his average finish is 14.9, and he has a lap completion rate of 98.2 percent – 18,695 of the 19,039 laps available.   Thankfully, Harvick will have the help of Mobil 1 as a sponsor and partner at the tight, half-mile Martinsville paperclip.     Mobil 1 isn’t just the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR team with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track. In its 18th consecutive season as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR,” Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of teams throughout NASCAR’s top three series.   During the playoffs, Mobil 1 is giving fans the chance to win exclusive prizes, including signed exclusive SHR gear, race gloves, race used parts and die casts, one-of-a-kind stickers and a once in a lifetime opportunity to receive a zoom call from SHR co-owner Tony Stewart or Harvick’s SHR teammate Cole Custer.   To find out more or to enter, fans can head to http://officialmotoroilofnascar.com/.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Thoughts heading into Martinsville?   “For me, it doesn’t really change that much. Most of the preparing comes from videos and things you have done in the past. And I could do all that during the rain delay in Texas.”   Can you talk about the promotion with Mobil 1 that is taking place?   “We are always excited to have Mobil 1 on the car and they are such a great partner of ours as we go week-to-week through the entire season. The best thing I’ve seen that you can win in this promotion is a Zoom call with Tony Stewart. That is a little bit scary (laughs), but they have all sorts of cool racing prizes and things and you can go to http://officialmotoroilofnascar.com/ and find all these prizes. It’s always fun to have a sponsor that supports what we do and hopefully we can go to Martinsville and have a good showing.”   Can you talk about your relationship with Mobil 1?   “Running up front and winning races has been a lot of fun together. It’s great to see a partner like Mobil 1 come in be so involved in our race team. They are very involved day-to-day in our engine program and our lubricants, whether its transmission, rear-end hubs, whatever it is – we are always getting something that is better. It’s kind of a little bit of an unfair advantage, but one that everyone works really hard at to continue to get better.”   Why do your prefer Mobil 1 synthetic?   “I’m a synthetic guy because, in 1993 when we were sitting in the engine shop, we dumped Mobil 1 synthetic in and that’s all we did and gained seven horsepower. From that day on, we would actually save our money and then go to the local auto parts store because, at that time, it was like $5.50 a quart and the conventional and other oils were like $3.50. At the big races, we would put the Mobil 1 in the car and the regular races would put the regular oil in there. You know I’m going to say synthetic.”

Odds to win 2020 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

NASCAR CUP SERIES

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

ODDS TO WIN 2020 XFINITY 500

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 - 2:15 PM ET

Martin TRUEX JR 3/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 6/1
Denny HAMLIN 6/1
Kyle BUSCH 8/1
Joey LOGANO 8/1
Chase ELLIOTT 8/1
Ryan BLANEY 8/1
Kevin HARVICK 12/1
Alex BOWMAN 25/1
William BYRON 25/1
Kurt BUSCH 25/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 30/1
Clint BOWYER 30/1
Matt DIBENEDETTO 50/1
Aric ALMIROLA 80/1
Erik JONES 80/1
Ryan NEWMAN 100/1
Austin DILLON 100/1
Tyler REDDICK 100/1
Darrell WALLACE JR 100/1
Christopher BELL 100/1
Matt KENSETH 200/1
Cole CUSTER 200/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR. 300/1
Chris BUESCHER 300/1
Michael McDOWELL 1000/1
John HUNTER NEMECHEK 2000/1
Ty DILLON 5000/1
Ryan PREECE 5000/1
Daniel SUAREZ 10000/1
Corey LAJOIE 10000/1
Brennan POOLE 10000/1
Quin HOUFF 10000/1
JJ YELEY 10000/1
Timmy HILL 10000/1
Josh BILICKI 10000/1
Joey GASE 10000/1
Reed SORENSON 10000/1
James DAVISON 10000/1