RADIO
Another Wednesday, another race, as NASCAR takes to one of the most historic tracks on the circuit: Martinsville Speedway. The race will be the Cup Series’ seventh event in 24 days.
Like Bristol, Martinsville is a 500-lap on the edge of your seat event. Because of that, there will be 250 points on the line for fastest laps for DraftKing players. In addition, there will be a total of 125 points given out for laps led, with each lap being .25 points. On Monday evening, Ryan Blaney drew the pole via a random draw. Over the past few seasons, the driver of the No. 12 has been sneaky good at the paperclip, so this lineup will be focused on him.
With a mediocre (to say the least) short track aerodynamic package last season, Martin Truex Jr. (464) and Brad Keselowski (446) combined to lead 910 of 1,000 laps at the half-mile short track. With a revamped package this year, don’t expect that much dominance per race. Let’s find out who else should be on your team.
My Lineup for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
Ryan Blaney ($8,400)
Career at Martinsville: 8 starts, 0 wins, 3 top fives, 145 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 12.9
As mentioned above, Blaney is the focal point of this lineup since he’s starting from the pole. But he isn’t too shabby at Martinsville, himself.
In eight starts at the track, Blaney has finished inside the top 10 50% of the time. Aside from the dominance Truex and Keselowski showed last year, the No. 12 might have been the next best thing in southern Virginia, earning finishes of fourth and fifth.
For this pick to work, Blaney needs to lead laps. In the 2018 Spring race, he led 145 laps, the total amount he’s led at the track in eight starts. But like Wednesday, he found track position in that race. Expect the No. 12 Ford to lead a chunk of laps to start the race, giving you points in the bag.
Denny Hamlin ($11,900)
Career at Martinsville: 28 starts, 5 wins, 15 top fives, 1,566 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 9.4
Arguably, Hamlin is the best short track racer in the Cup Series. There’s no better track on the circuit for the Virginia native than Martinsville.
His five victories rank second most of active drivers, only behind Jimmie Johnson. There was a time where, it was nearly guaranteed the No. 11, Johnson or Jeff Gordon would claim victory at the paperclip. Throughout Hamlin’s career, that hasn’t changed, constantly running inside the top five.
Hamlin starts from 12th, drawing the last position in the first group of the random draw. He’s going to jump up the scoring pylon early, entering the race with three consecutive top-five finishes at the track. He’s also led laps in 75% of his starts at the track, so expect him to see time at the front.
Bubba Wallace ($7,800)
Career at Martinsville: 4 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 24.5
OK, Wallace’s stats at Martinsville might be a bit worrisome, but he’s a damn good short track racer, especially at the paperclip track.
Before Wallace got to the Cup Series, he won two Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races at Martinsville, leading nearly half the race both times. Last year, he earned finishes of 13th and 17th respectively, moving veterans like Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman out of the way late in the fall race.
All eyes will be on Wallace, going to one of his best tracks on the circuit. He starts the race in 23rd, with an average finish of 21st this season. He did, however, place 10th in the series’ last short track at Bristol.
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William Byron ($7,600)
Career at Martinsville: 4 starts, 0 wins, 1 top five, 0 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 20.8
The bad luck Byron has had in 2020 has got to turn around at some point, right?
Correct. Week in and week out, Hendrick Motorsports arguably has the most speed this season. While his three teammates have seen success (two have won), the No. 24 team has just two top-10 finishes through 10 races.
But here’s some good news: Byron starts 15th, not all that bad. If you take last fall into consideration, the No. 24 was the only driver to hang with Truex at the end of the event, finishing runner-up.
Ryan Newman ($6,800)
Career at Martinsville: 36 starts, 1 win, 8 top fives, 196 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 14.8
Newman will begin the 500-lap race from 16th position, and it’s likely the No. 6 team gains you points by finishing above that benchmark position.
Over Newman’s last 11 starts at the track, he has just three finishes worse than 16th. In that same time, he’s only led two laps. Though the No. 6 car might not spend time in the front leading laps on Wednesday, he, too, is a solid short track driver. And everyone knows, Newman is harder to pass than a kidney stone!
Expect Newman to get his best finish since the sport returned at Darlington in mid-May. With the price he’s worth, he’s a steal.
Ty Dillon ($6,200)
Career at Martinsville: 6 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 laps led
Average finish at Martinsville: 21.0
While I labeled Newman a steal at $6,800, Dillon is a definite steal at $6,200. After all, the No. 13 team drew 30th, meaning he has to come from deep in the field. That’s an opportunity for a multitude of points with one-point per improvement in the finishing order.
Sure, Dillon drives for Germain Racing, but he’s been fairly consistent at Martinsville, especially of late. He has top-15 finishes in two of the past three races, with the exception being last fall, where he was running inside the top 15 at times. The No. 13 may not lead laps, but will likely get you a solid finish, as Martinsville levels the playing field out for smaller teams.
Dillon needs a solid run, as he has finishes of 25th or worse in the last four Cup races this season.
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