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  • Kyle Busch finishes runner-up after leading most laps

    Kyle Busch finishes runner-up after leading most laps

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Leading more than half of the 500 laps didn’t translate into a second grandfather clock for Kyle Busch in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    He took the lead for the first time under the first stage caution break and, other than seven laps in which Chase Elliott led, dominated most of the second stage. In the closing laps of the stage, he found trouble with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He drove to Stenhouse’s outside in Turn 3 with three laps to go in the stage, but Stenhouse made slight contact with him trying to stay on the lead lap. On the final lap of the stage, Stenhouse bumped Busch and sent his car up the track. This allowed Elliott to pass him for the lead and win the stage.

    “I actually was rolling into Turn 3 and was kind of going higher out of my way in order to let the 17 back by and give him the lap. That was my intent, and then he just drove through me,” Busch said. “It cost me my spot to the 24, so I was hoping that I could run off the corner side by side with the 17 and keep the 24 at bay and just keep my nose in front of his and be able to score the segment, and I was trying to be a nice guy, but nice guys don’t finish first.”

    He regained the lead on the ensuing restart and held it, minus three laps led by teammate Denny Hamlin during a caution period, until Brad Keselowski made it to the front with 94 laps to go.

    For the next 60 laps, he and Keselowski swapped the lead back and forth five times. The most intense battle came when Busch took the lead with 56 to go. For the next 14 laps, Keselowski kept within inches of his bumper.

    Going into Turn 1 with 42 to go, Keselowski drove to Busch’s inside to take the lead for the final time and scored the victory, while Busch settled for second.

    “It’s just frustrating when you come down pit road and you don’t make any changes and you bolt a set of tires on it and it goes to junk,” Busch said. “I hate that that happened. We still haven’t finished where we should have this year. We haven’t gotten any finishes that are indicative of where this team’s been running or where we’re capable of running or finishing and that’s just frustrating. So we’ll continue on.”

  • Keselowski out-duels Kyle Busch to win at Martinsville

    Keselowski out-duels Kyle Busch to win at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch for the race lead in the closing stages to win at Martinsville Speedway.

    Busch led the field to the final restart with 64 to go, but Keselowski took the lead the following lap. Busch regained it with 56 to go, and the battle was on. From that lap until 42 to go, Keselowski kept the pressure on the rear bumper of the 18 car, barely leaving room to breathe. He finally got under Busch going into Turn 1, took the lead with 42 to go and drove on to score the victory.

    “This is awesome,” Keselowski said in victory lane. “We’ve ran so good here with the Miller Lite Ford, but something always happens and we haven’t been able to bring it home. Martinsville is just one of those champion’s tracks. The guys that run well everywhere run well here, and it’s really just an honor to win here and get to compete here. This track is 70 years old and a lot of legends have won here. It feels great to be able to join them and bring home a clock.”

    It’s his 23rd career victory in 275 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    Busch finished second after leading 274 laps.

    “I was just grasping for straws,” Busch said in his post-race media availability. “(Keselowski) was way better than we were at that time. Just wasn’t the same. Our car definitely changed there for the last run of the race, and we just didn’t have what we needed in order to have the speed that we had all the rest of the day. We were able to drive away from the field. We led a lot of laps. We really had no contention there from a lot of people, just passed halfway the rest of the way to the end, and then you put a set of tires on and you lose three‑tenths. That was pretty shameful, but we come home P2. So that’s all we had.”

    Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon round out the top-five finishers.

    Kyle Larson led the first 24 laps before Keselowski passed him on the backstretch to take the lead on lap 25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out in Turn 3 and brought out the first caution of the race on lap 69. Keselowski, and teammate Logano, restarted from the tail end of the field for speeding on pit road, giving the lead to Martin Truex Jr.

    He lost the lead to Denny Hamlin on lap 89, regained it on pit road — following a caution that stemmed from Jamie McMurray blowing a heavily-rubbing left-rear tire and spinning into the wall in Turn 3 — and won the first stage.

    Busch exited pit road the race leader.

    After the restart on lap 141, he lost the lead four laps later to Chase Elliott, then regained it seven laps later (lap 152) passing Elliott in Turn 2.

    Unlike the first stage, the second stage was mostly tame and orderly. It changed at the end of the stage when race leader Busch came up on the lapped car of Stenhouse. He made contact with the 17 with three to go in the stage and Stenhouse put his bumper to Busch’s rear in Turn 3. As a result of getting loose, Busch lost the lead to Elliott and Elliott won the second stage.

    During the third stage was when the race turned caution-heavy, with 10 of the 14 cautions coming in the final stage. One flew for debris and nine flew for cars spinning and/or wrecking.

    Eight of the race’s 18 lead changes took place in the final stage.

    The race lasted three hours, 44 minutes and 59 seconds at an average speed of 70.142 mph.

    Larson leaves Martinsville with a four-point lead over Elliott.

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  • Bowyer Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    Bowyer Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Clint Bowyer topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 20.174 and a speed of 93.863 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 20.238 and a speed of 93.567 mph. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.246 and a speed of 93.530 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 20.247 and a speed of 93.525 mph. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.250 and a speed of 93.511 mph.

    Nobody drove a run of 10 or more consecutive laps.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1706_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Keselowski Fastest in Second Martinsville Practice

    Keselowski Fastest in Second Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 20.058 and a speed of 94.406 mph. Ryan Newman was second in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.144 and a speed of 94.002 mph. Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano finished tied for third with a time of 20.180 and a speed of 93.835 mph.

    AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota with a time of 20.203 and a speed of 93.729 mph.

    Ryan Blaney, who ran the 13th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 92.533 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1706_PRAC2.pdf”]

  • Why some drivers take longer to discover Martinsville rhythm

    Why some drivers take longer to discover Martinsville rhythm

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martinsville Speedway best suits drivers who figure out the rhythm to racing around the .526 mile paperclip short track. Unsurprisingly, this heavily favors experienced drivers over rookies at Martinsville.

    The textbook example is Jeff Gordon. He once said that of all the tracks he raced at in his 23-year career, Martinsville was the one that changed the least. And the stats back that up. While he didn’t have the most all-time wins at Martinsville when he retired, he finished outside the top-10 only nine times in 47 career starts.

    Teammate Jimmie Johnson has also found similar success at Martinsville with nine wins, a better top-five finishing average and only a slightly smaller top-10 finishing average than Gordon.

    But Johnson admits it wasn’t smooth from the start.

    “For me it took being lapped by Tony Stewart to figure it out and then I followed him and got myself back on the lead lap and had a decent finish,” he said.

    Martinsville is no stranger to periods of dominance by one or more drivers. Richard Petty won 15 races at the tiny paperclip in his career, Darrell Waltrip won 11, Gordon won nine — including his final career victory in 2015 — and Johnson with nine. But the last six trips to Martinsville have produced six different winners: Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Gordon, Kyle Busch and Johnson.

    So at a track that rewards drivers who best understand its rhythm and is known for dominance by select drivers, what’s produced such parity? Hamlin says it’s data sharing.

    “Data sharing has changed the game in which drivers learn how to be fast and how to be good at certain racetracks,” Hamlin said. “That really was kind of a turning point, I think, for myself, and really circumstances ‑‑ every time the field ‑‑ if the field gets closer to you, you have room for error to get a race win….So when the field gets close like that, that just makes you have to be on your game every single time, where before I feel like I could have kind of overcome anything that kind of threw our way at any point in the race. There’s just ‑‑ you can’t do that now.”

    However, some drivers, even top level drivers, in NASCAR go their entire careers without deciphering it. NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bobby Allison, who won 31 of his 84 career races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on short tracks, went his entire career without winning a single race at Martinsville.

    Even when a driver knows the method of racing around Martinsville, it’s not simply something that can be duplicated and passed down to another driver. As Johnson explains, it’s something a driver must figure out on his/her own.

    “I came here and tested with the No. 24 and had Jeff working diligently with me to figure it out and it didn’t click, looking at the data he would hop in my car and go faster and it was just frustrating and then it finally clicked,” Johnson said. “It’s one thing to create short run speed, but there are some little things here in the rhythm that could just chew up tires and wear the tires out and make you drop back way too fast. It’s been great because I feel like once you understand how to get around here it’s something that you can keep for a long time, regardless of tire, generation of car, the test of time it really stands up here on this small track more than anywhere.”

  • Martinsville Cup Qualifying Canceled Due to Rain

    Martinsville Cup Qualifying Canceled Due to Rain

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the STP 500 was canceled due to persistent rain showers through the day and more showers expected to pass through the area prior to the start of the session.

    Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday by virtue of being first in owners points.

    “It definitely helps to start up front.  I think this will be my most difficult track probably to earn stage points each of the stages, just because it’s not a track that suits me that well.  This is the toughest track for me, so it’s cool to be the only guy that has made points every stage.  I think the stage points are a big deal to gain points and help point your way to the playoffs if need be.  So, yeah, it’s been nice to run so strong early in the year, especially all throughout the race because, like I said, those stage points have turned out to be really big and important.” Larson said.

    Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano will round out the top-five starters.

    “Anytime I can do anything good at Martinsville is great for me. It’s been a bit of a struggle here and we’ll definitely take it. I think more than anything, have a nice pit pick and hopefully we can get our car dialed in tomorrow to try to stay there. We definitely got a big help with that today.” Elliott said.

    Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch will round out the top-10 starters.

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  • Larson Talks About Car Wreck after Fontana Race

    Larson Talks About Car Wreck after Fontana Race

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For most drivers, the post-race routine — if it doesn’t include talking to the media — is getting into a vehicle and heading back to Charlotte via land vehicle or airplane and nothing more. For race winner Kyle Larson, however, his post-race departure involved a collision.

    He was heading to the airport when a driver ran a red light and hit him. He believes the person who hit him was one of the traffic coordinators.

    “I don’t think he realized that they picked the cones up from the side where we were coming from,” Larson said. “I don’t think he expected anybody to be coming from where we were and he just darted out in the intersection.”

    Larson made contact with him in his right-front, but was able to veer slightly before contact. So, as he put it, “it honestly didn’t even hurt that bad, or at all, really.”

    “Our Chevy Suburban was good. The hood was buckled and the left front was messed up. The tow was out of it quite a bit,” Larson added. “But, that guys truck, the right front was not a part of it anymore. So, it is a funny story. Just the irony of it, I guess, having a near perfect weekend and a quarter-mile from the track to get in a car accident.”

    Asked if the person who hit him knew who he was, Larson said he didn’t “think he did. But, once the cops showed up, I think he realized who I was. And it was pretty funny.” He was asked if the cops realized who he was, he said “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, that was cool. They were quick about it, too.”

  • Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Martinsville

    Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 19.879 and a speed of 95.256 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 19.920 and a speed of 95.060 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.939 and a speed of 94.970 mph. Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.952 and a speed of 94.908 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 19.956 and a speed of 94.889 mph.

    Joey Logano, who ran the eighth-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 94.749 mph.

    Daniel Suarez locked his brakes entering Turn 3 and backed his car into the wall, forcing his team to roll out their backup car.

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  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series travel to Martinsville Speedway this weekend. First up is the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 Truck race on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. The Cup Series STP 500 will be televised on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon.

    Kyle Busch is the defending race winner and enters the race with the third-best driver rating (99.9), 11 top fives, 12 top 10s and one pole. However, the clear favorite at the 0.526-mile track is Jimmie Johnson. Although he has struggled this year, Martinsville could provide the impetus that will re-energize his season. Johnson has the series-best driver rating (117.7) with nine wins, 19 top fives, 24 top 10s and three poles.

    Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.

    Friday, March 31:

    On Track:
    Noon-1 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1
    1:10-2 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FS1
    3-3:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1 (Canceled due to rain)

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    11 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10 a.m.: AJ Allmendinger
    10:30 a.m.: Kyle Larson
    10:45 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    11 a.m.: Timothy Peters, Harrison Burton
    1:15 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
    2 p.m.: Joey Logano
    2:30 p.m.: Kyle Busch
    2:45 p.m.: Daniel Suarez

    Saturday, April 1:

    On Track:
    11-11:55 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1
    12:05 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    1:30-2:20 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
    3 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 – (Stage 1: 70 laps, Stage 2: 70 laps, Final Stage: 110 laps = 250 total laps, 131.5 miles) – FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    5:45 p.m.: Post-Truck Series Race (time approx.)

    Sunday, April 2:

    On Track:
    1:20:00 p.m.: MENCS Driver Introductions w/ NASCAR Special Awards
    2:00:00 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Local Law Enforcement and Public Safety Honor Guard
    2:00:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Martinsville Speedway Track Chaplin, Mike Hatfield
    2:01:00 p.m.: National Anthem by: Martinsville, Bassett and Magna Vista High School Marching Bands
    2:02:30 p.m.: Flyover: The Bandit Flight Team (Turn 4 to Turn 1)
    2:07:30 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: From Hit FOX TV Show “Prison Break,” Rockmond Dunbar
    2:13 p.m.: Start of the Cup Series STP 500 (Stage 1: 130 laps, Stage 2: 130 laps, Final Stage: 240 laps = 500 total laps, 263 miles) – FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10:45 a.m.: Rockmond Dunbar
    11 a.m.: Edsel Ford
    11:15 a.m.: STP availability with Richard Petty, Aric Almirola, Steve Letarte and Katina Walker, STP Director of Marketing
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Race (time approx.)

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

    Odds to win NASCAR STP 500 by 
    Joey Logano +610
    Martin Truex Jr +630
    Kyle Busch +665
    Jimmie Johnson +750
    Brad Keselowski +755
    Denny Hamlin +855
    Kyle Larson +910
    Matt Kenseth +1010
    Kevin Harvick +1400
    Dale Earnhardt Jr +1520
    Chase Elliott +1730
    Clint Bowyer +2035
    Jamie McMurray +2555
    Ryan Newman +3075
    Kurt Busch +4000
    Kasey Kahne +4000
    AJ Allmendinger +4000
    Erik Jones +6000
    Austin Dillon +6000
    Ryan Blaney +6000
    Field (Any Other Driver) +3075

    Entry list for Alpha Energy Solutions 250

    STP 500 Entry List:

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/STP-500-Entry-List-Martinsville-Speedway-April-2017-C1706_PREENTNUM.pdf” title=”STP 500 Entry List Martinsville Speedway April 2017 C1706_PREENTNUM”]

     

  • Late Race Incidents Affect Outcome of Cup Race in Fontana

    Late Race Incidents Affect Outcome of Cup Race in Fontana

    A Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway that was light on the caution count for 90 percent of its running was altered by cars spinning and/or hitting a wall in the closing laps.

    In the first 180 laps, the caution flew only three times. It flew twice for the stage breaks and once on the third lap for Brad Keselowski spinning out on the frontstretch. Other than that, it was mostly clean.

    With 20 laps to go, however, Gray Gaulding suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1, bringing out the fourth caution of the race.

    On the ensuing restart, Martin Truex Jr. made contact with Matt Kenseth and sent him spinning down the track, where he slammed the inside wall driver-side.

    With nine to go, Corey LaJoie spun out in Turn 2 and brought out the race’s sixth caution.

    With three to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out in Turn 2, setting up the overtime finish.

    It’s the fourth straight race this season to have the final caution fly with 16 or fewer laps to go. The final caution flew with 16 to go at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Austin Dillon’s car stalled on the apron in Turn 2, 16 to go at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Danica Patrick’s engine expired on the frontstretch and six to go at Phoenix International Raceway when Joey Logano suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1.