2023 Stewart-Haas Racing Martinsville Recap

 

STEWART-HAAS RACING Xfinity 500

Date:  Oct. 29, 2023 Event:  Xfinity 500 (Round 35 of 36) Series:  NASCAR Cup Series Location:  Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval) Format:  500 laps, broken into three stages (130 laps/130 laps/240 laps)   Race Winner:  Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 1 Winner:  Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner:  Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)   SHR Race Finish:             ●  Aric Almirola (Started 12th, Finished 2nd / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps) ●  Chase Briscoe (Started 3rd, Finished 4th / Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)   ●  Kevin Harvick (Started 8th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 499 of 500 laps) ●  Ryan Preece (Started 9th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 499 of 500 laps)   SHR Points: ●  Kevin Harvick (14th with 2,194 points) ●  Aric Almirola (22nd with 651 points) ●  Ryan Preece (24th with 614 points) ●  Chase Briscoe (29th with 521 points)   Almirola Notes: ●  This was Almirola’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was third, earned Aug. 26 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. ●  Almirola’s second-place result bettered his previous best finish at Martinsville – fourth, earned in October 2012. ●  Almirola earned his second top-five and his fifth top-10 of the season. This was his second top-five and ninth top-10 in 30 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. ●  Almirola led once for 66 laps to increase his laps-led total at Martinsville to 141. ●  This was Almirola’s third straight top-15. He finished 14th Oct. 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ninth last Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ●  This was Almirola’s fifth straight top-15 at Martinsville. He finished sixth in October 2021, eighth in April 2022, 15th last October and sixth in March.   Briscoe Notes:    ●  Briscoe earned his fourth top-five and his eighth top-10 of the season. It was his second top-five and fourth top-10 in six career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. ●  Briscoe equaled his best result of the year. He also finished fourth April 23 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. ●  Briscoe’s fourth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Martinsville – fifth, earned in March. ●  This was Briscoe’s fourth straight top-10 at Martinsville. He finished ninth in each of his visits to the .526-mile oval last year and fifth in March. ●  This was Briscoe’s second straight result of 17th or better. He finished 17th last Sunday at Homestead. ●  Briscoe finished fourth in Stage 1 to earn seven bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight additional bonus points.   Harvick Notes: ●  This was Harvick’s third straight result of 16th or better. He finished 16th Oct. 15 at Las Vegas and 11th last Sunday at Homestead. ●  Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only one finish outside the top-20 at Martinsville, a span of 20 races. ●  Harvick finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn a bonus point and ninth in Stage 2 to earn two more bonus points.   Preece Notes:      ●  This was Preece’s second straight top-20. He finished 13th last Sunday at Homestead. ●  Preece finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn another four bonus points. ●  Even with his 20th-place finish in the Xfinity 500, Preece is a winner at Martinsville. Preece won Thursday night’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at the track, leading three times for a race-high 134 laps to take his 26th career Modified Tour victory and his second at Martinsville.   Race Notes:        ●  Ryan Blaney won the Xfinity 500 to score his 10th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his first at Martinsville. His margin over second-place Almirola was .899 of a second. ●  This was Ford’s 728th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its seventh of the season. ●  This was Ford’s 31st all-time series win at Martinsville. It won its first race at the .526-mile oval on April 9, 1961 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen. ●  There were seven caution periods for a total of 61 laps. ●  Only 12 of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ●  This was the last race in the penultimate Round of 8 of the NASCAR Playoffs. Blaney, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell secured their spots in the Championship 4 via their respective wins while William Byron earned his place on points. Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher did not advance to the final, winner-take-all Championship 4 next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.   Sound Bites:   “We had a good car. We just fought track position. Qualifying kind of set us behind and then when we finally cycled to the front and got track position, we had a great racecar. Man, I was being so patient and taking care of my tires. I wasn’t slipping a tire. I wasn’t doing anything to hurt my tires and they just started to give up on me there toward the end, and the 12 (Blaney), his car would hold on a little longer. I’m not sure if he was on four tires or two tires. We were on two tires with some pretty old lefts, so I don’t know if that was the difference or not. I’m just really proud, and really proud of this team. I wanted that one so bad. I got my family here. My grandparents here that helped me get my start in racing. I wanted so bad to celebrate with my family in victory lane.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang   “Overall, it was a good day. We were right inside the top-five for a large majority of the day and that’s what we need to do. We need to consistently be running up front. We definitely have a good package every time we come here and we just need to get it a little better. I feel if we do that, we’ll be right there with a chance for the win. This was a definite step forward.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang   “We had a really strong day for our 41 team. We qualified in the top-10, which was great because track position just means everything here. When the race started, it felt like all the drive we had in practice yesterday was gone. Our car was free, but still really good so I only wanted minor adjustments and we were able to finish eighth in Stage 1. We got more dialed in during Stage 2 and before the conclusion of the stage, we were the best we had been and finished seventh there. Everyone had a different strategy there in the final stage. We took four tires on pit road and had to restart deeper than we would’ve liked. Just couldn’t rally back to the top-10 after that, and the traffic made it even worse. We had a good car capable of being in the top-10. Wish it shook out that way at the end, but we’ll head to Phoenix looking to end the season on a high note.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang   Next Up: The NASCAR Cup Series season finale is Sunday, Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway. The championship race starts at 3 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Aric Almirola is 30/1 to win at Martinsville

 

ARIC ALMIROLA Martinsville Advance No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas 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

●  History at Martinsville: In 29 starts, Aric Almirola has earned eight top-10 finishes, one top-five and has led 75 laps on the .526-mile, paperclip-shaped Martinsville (Va.) Speedway oval. He has earned a top-five starting spot on eight occasions. Almirola has five starts there in the NASCAR Truck Series with a best finish of fifth.   ●  In April, Almirola and all of Stewart-Haas Racing executed their best Cup Series race as a team at Martinsville. After Ryan Preece earned the pole in the No. 41 Ford, Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick ran inside the top-five during the race and three of the four cars led laps. Almirola started third and crossed the finish line sixth – his second-best finish of the year.    ●  Martinsville marks the penultimate race of the 2023 season. While the year was filled with ups and downs, Almirola managed to lead more laps this season than the previous two seasons while also earning two poles – the most he’s earned in a single season. His average start of 18.3 also bettered that of his previous two seasons – of 19.1 in 2021 and 19.4 in 2022.    ●  In Almirola’s last 10 races at venues less than a mile in length, he has captured four top-10 finishes and one pole, and led 36 laps.   ●  In July of 2021, the No. 10 driver brought home the win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, which has similar characteristics to Martinsville’s paperclip shaped oval.    ●  Driver Standings: Almirola arrives at Martinsville 22nd in the driver standings.   ●  Last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Almirola drove his Smithfield Ford Mustang from 30th to a ninth-place finish. It was his fourth top-10 of the season and fifth at Homestead.    ●  Almirola’s career: In 459 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 93 top-10s, five poles, and has led 1,068 laps.    ●  Smithfield has been a sponsor of Almirola’s for the entirety of his fulltime NASCAR Cup Series career – making it one of the longest-lasting partnerships in NASCAR. Smithfield is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 63,000 team members are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly.®” Smithfield is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies. The company has pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including its industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30 percent across its entire U.S. value chain by 2030. Smithfield believes in the power of protein to end food insecurity and has donated hundreds of millions of food servings to local communities.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You drove from 30th to ninth last weekend. How good did it feel to have something go your way after such an up-and-down season?   “It’s exactly what we needed. We missed it big in qualifying. I made a mistake on pit road and got us behind, but a caution came out and finally went in our favor for once. All year, I feel like we have been on the bad side of luck, so that caution kind of got us back in the game where I could restart 12th and pass some cars. I love Homestead, running up on the wall and just having options to pass cars. Track position was definitely important, but we made an air-pressure adjustment at the end that was exactly what we needed.”   You claim Martinsville earlier this year was the one that got away. Why is that?   “Well, we ran up front all day and had arguably the fastest car in the field for most of the day. The balance kind of shifted on us toward the middle of the race and got us a few spots back, but we stayed up in the top-five all day. I made the call to restart on the outside, hoping I could clear the inside car and sail off to a win, but we couldn’t clear him and we faded back a few spots before I could get back in line. I feel like it was one that got away, one that could have put us in the playoffs early and set us up for a successful season. We always have a good car at Martinsville as an organization. I enjoy this style of racing because it puts it in the driver’s hands. You get aggressive and have to muscle your way up there. Qualifying will always be extremely important at Martinsville, too, and running a clean race with no penalties to put you behind is key. Track position was so important in the spring and it’s going to be important again. I enjoy going to Martinsville this time of the year, when it’s cold and you’re up in the mountains. It’s just a fun time of the year with two races to go.”

Chase Briscoe is 30/1 to win at Martinsville

CHASE BRISCOE Martinsville Advance No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas 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

● With just two races remaining on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Chase Briscoe is looking to find his way back to victory lane where the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors team has been the strongest – the short tracks. The mission begins this weekend with the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where Briscoe’s performance has been strong since the introduction of the NextGen car at the start of the 2022 season. A fourth-consecutive top-10 finish at the half-mile oval tucked in the hills of Ridgeway, Virginia, would add to the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s momentum headed to the final race of the season at Phoenix Raceway, where the 28-year-old driver earned his first victory behind the wheel of the No. 14 Ford Mustang.   ● Briscoe has earned three straight top-10 finishes at Martinsville dating back to the March 2022 race. He scored ninth-place results in both 2022 events, the second one in the October race, the third and final race of the Round of 8 of the Cup Series Playoffs in which he was eliminated from championship contention. This past April at Martinsville, Briscoe finished fifth in the first stage and second in the second stage, and led twice for a total of 109 laps en route to a fifth-place result.   ● In the fall of 2020, when the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to Martinsville after a 13-year hiatus, Briscoe drove to a seventh-place finish. The 27-year-old racer also owns two NASCAR Truck Series starts at Martinsville. His best result came in April 2017, when he started eighth and finished 11th. He returned that October to start on the pole and lead the first 39 laps before a late-race accident relegated him to a 19th-place finish.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Since the introduction of the NextGen, you have never finished outside of the top-10 at Martinsville. Is that coincidence and good timing after a year of experience in the Cup Series, or is this car more suited to your driving style on a short track? “I don’t know. I’ve always enjoyed going to Martinsville. I felt like I’ve always had speed there, I just didn’t really race that well. So, I don’t know if the NextGen just kind of fits me a little bit better there or if it’s the experience. Martinsville has definitely been a place where we’ve been really good every time we’ve been, we just haven’t been able to capitalize on how good we are. We’ve led quite a few laps there but just haven’t been able to put it all together. It’s a place we always look forward to going to because we are always so fast, so hopefully this time will be different.”   There are a lot of guys who grew up racing asphalt Late Models and who had a goal of racing on tracks like Martinsville. As a dirt racer, is a win at Martinsville as coveted to you as it would be to them? “Martinsville is a very iconic track. The trophy is probably the one that everybody wants. So, from that standpoint, yeah, it definitely is. I feel like if you win at Martinsville, you’re respected as a really good short-track driver and, as a guy who didn’t do any of that growing up, it’d be cool for me to be able to win there. There is a list of guys who are just incredible short-track racers, and that’s not something that I grew up doing, so if I could add my name to that, it would be really cool.”   You didn’t do much Late Model racing growing up, but you did get behind the wheel of a pavement Late Model this year and won in just your second start. Have you learned anything from that limited amount of time on track? “It’s a completely different kind of racing, but I do feel like I’ve learned some things as far as technique that could really help. The reason Denny Hamlin and William Byron are so good at short tracks is because they do have that foundation in Late Model racing. It definitely doesn’t hurt to get that experience.”

Ryan Preece is 40/1 to win 2023 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville

 

RYAN PREECE Martinsville Advance  No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas 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

● Virginia is for Racing: With only two races left in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, Ryan Preece and the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are returning to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the second time this season for Sunday’s Xfinity 500. The 263-mile, 500-lap event will begin at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.   ● By the Numbers: Sunday’s race will mark Preece’s eighth Cup Series career start on the .526-mile, paperclip-shaped oval. When the series last visited Martinsville in April, Preece had a career-best weekend. He won his first career Cup Series pole and led a race-high and career-high 135 laps. A mishap on pit road forced Preece and his No. 41 Ford Mustang to restart from the rear and he ultimately finished 15th. Aside from Preece’s experience at the track in the Cup Series, he also has quite the resume there in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Preece has six Modified Tour starts at the track, the first coming in 2007. He has one win (2008), two top-fives, two top-10s, 423 total laps led, an average start of 7.8 and an average finish of 13.5 in those six races.   ● Back to His Modified Roots: Preece, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday on Wednesday, will return to his roots this week at Martinsville in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s season finale, the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200. The race is set for 8 p.m. EDT Thursday and kicks off the weekend’s festivities at the track. The Modified Tour is NASCAR’s oldest division and is the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Compared to a Cup Series car, a Modified Tour car is 11 inches shorter in height and approximately 23 inches wider, weighing nearly 800 pounds less. Preece is the 2013 Modified Tour champion and the series is where he made a name for himself. The first win of his Modified career came at Martinsville on Sept. 20, 2008, when he led 265 of the race’s 300 laps. Preece built his No. 40 Modified in his personal race shop based out of Kannapolis, North Carolina with the help of his father, Jeff Preece, who will take on the role of crew chief Thursday. The Preeces and members of the No. 41 SHR team will be assisting him on race day in various crew member roles, including the pit crew. The 200-lap, 105.2-mile race will be streamed live on FloRacing beginning at 8 p.m. EDT.   ● About United Rentals: United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI), the largest equipment rental company in the world, is back on the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang, serving as the primary sponsor for the remainder of the 2023 season. The partnership began with the non-points Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, Feb. 4-5 in Los Angeles. United Rentals has an integrated network of 1,449 rental locations in North America, 13 in Europe, 27 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 24,700 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers approximately 4,700 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $19.3 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index®. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Additional information about United Rentals is available at UnitedRentals.com.    ● Turns for Troops – Making Every Lap a Lap of Honor: Join United Rentals in supporting military veterans and families through the Turns for Troops program. United Rentals will donate $50 for each lap that one of its three sponsored drivers completes for specific races throughout the season. So far this season, Preece has completed all 869 laps possible during the campaign in 2023, raising $43,450. This weekend, Preece has the opportunity to raise $25,000 if he completes every lap of the 500-lap race at Martinsville. This weekend’s race and Championship 4 weekend at Phoenix Raceway are both Turns for Troops events. Funds from the Turns for Troops program go to SoldierStrong and Operation Homefront. Click here to learn more.   ● Last Weekend: The Cup Series competed for 400.5 miles on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval, where Preece and the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang rallied for a 13th-place finish from their 29th spot on the starting grid. It was his 11th top-15 finish this season.   ● Where He Stands: Preece heads to Martinsville 24th in the driver standings with 590 points.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’re back at Martinsville Speedway this weekend for some short-track action. You won the pole there in April. What will it take to do that again? “We’re once again putting a huge emphasis on qualifying this weekend. The focus will be on practice and seeing where our car stacks up. I think we’re going to be fast right out the gate and, from there, we’ve got to be strong in qualifying so we can start up front again. At a track like Martinsville – we’ve seen it at the other similar tracks this season – you don’t want to start in the back. That’s obvious from what happened to us in April. We started on the pole, led a ton of laps but when we had to restart at the rear, it was just so hard to get back to the front. It’s so hard to pass and move up front when you’re back there at these smaller tracks. So, we just want to qualify up front and stay there for the entire race this time. I like Martinsville a lot and I’ve got a Grandfather clock from a Modified race, so I’m looking forward to adding another one on Sunday.”   You’re going back to your roots this week and running in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Martinsville on Thursday. When you go back to that series, do you feel like you’re back home? “To be honest with you, it is well-received. They want me to come back and race with them. They enjoy it, I enjoy it. I’m really good friends with Doug Coby and Justin Bonsignore and many of the other racers that compete in that series. Even though we’re competitors, we’re really good friends. They’ve known me since I was a little kid and we’ve grown up over the past 15-plus years racing together. When they saw that I was going to race at Martinsville, I got a few text messages from them and they told me not to screw up their championship chase and I’ll do my best not to. But, I’m definitely looking forward to it. This will be my first Modified race since the beginning of the Cup Series season and it’s also extra track time for Sunday’s race.”   What is the racing like at Martinsville? “To me, Martinsville is a big Coliseum and there are things we can take from that race and the other short-track races we’ve had this season. These short tracks have been our sweet spot this season. We showed speed earlier at Martinsville, same thing with Richmond and Bristol, too. I feel like our short-track stuff has been really good and we’ve shown a lot of promise, so I’m excited to get another shot at it this weeend. The racing at Martinsville is always very aggressive, you have to be aggressive to stay in it. You also have to be smart so you don’t get wrecked in the corners. I’m feeling confident heading into the race and I’ve got a lot of momentum on my side right now. I’m ready to get out there and get the finishes this 41 team deserves.”   Why do you continue to go back to the Modified Tour and run races? "My passion for open-wheel racing and for Modifieds, when you go into that pit area, everybody there is pretty much a volunteer, we all have a passion for it and love it. It’s not like some of the other racing deals where it’s their source of income and living. They do this because it’s fun to them, so I would say the passion that the series has and that the people in it have, that’s the reason why I continue wanting to do it. I enjoy working on those racecars, I grew up doing it and I love it. Any time that there’s an opportunity to go do that, I’m going to. With the Cup Series season coming to a close, this was a good time to come back.”   You’re a guy who builds and works on your own racecars, and you built your Modified for Thursday in your own shop. Was there someone specific in your life who taught you how to do it and motivated you to keep at it? “I think I have a whole lot of role models and not just national stars. You know, as a kid, my era was your Kevin Harvicks, your Tony Stewarts, your Mark Martins, Rusty Wallaces. I gravitated toward those guys. From a racing standpoint, throughout the years, I’ve had many different role models. There’s one guy named Dave Steele – and I’ll never forget this – he was a USAC racer and I was out in Indianapolis racing and he showed up. It was pretty much just him, and he went out and won that night. He was doing everything himself. I watched him that whole time do it all himself and it was impactful for me. In that moment, remembering that and seeing that, it helped me as I got older to realize that no matter how good you may be, if your car is not fast, you’re only going to go so fast. That was when I really figured things out and started to take a more hands-on approach in racing for myself. If I wasn’t getting what I needed, I felt that I could start taking more control and giving myself what I needed at the Modified level. And, there’s my father. There were times where if I was sitting at the end of the trailer doing nothing – kind of like many young kids do, right? – you’re just there, you’re the driver and you hold the steering wheel. My father would make me do things, and if there wasn’t anything to do, he’d make me pick up trash. He wouldn’t let me sit around. That’s a true story and that’s part of why I am where I am. I am always doing something and that’s who I am. Most people would have given up, they probably wouldn’t have chased sponsors, they wouldn’t have chased opportunities. A lot of those moments in life have made me who I am. Like, if you want something bad enough and you love something enough, you’ve got to just go make it happen. You can’t wait around for it to happen. That’s how racing is for me.”   What’s your favorite track to run at in the Modified Tour? “New Smyrna. It’s the beginning of the year in Feburary during Speedweeks, it’s just a whole different level of racing. You’re with your guys and, most of the time when I go Modified racing, my team is my friends. You’re with each other, whether it’s 10 days or two weeks, we’re having fun. Even if it’s going out after the races for a few beers or getting up early to get the car ready, every day is another chance to get out there and win a race together. So not only is the racetrack really fun to race at because it’s really fast, but as a driver it’s also a good time to be with all your people. It’s what we all kind of live for. The reason our fans come out to the race is for that experience and to camp out.”

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.”