2 weeks agoCorey LaJoie first attracted serious attention when he feuded with Denny Hamlin in the spring of 2020 and argued that he would outrun Hamlin in his No. 11 car before proceeding to outrun him in the next race at Martinsville, widely regarded to be Hamlin's best track. Now that the entire fanbase has turned against LaJoie four years later, he now looks to restore his cred. Because of his poor finish last week at Las Vegas, he drew a bad qualifying draw, which resulted in a 34th-place starting position but he was unexpectedly very fast in practice, posting the second-fastest time and having the fourth fastest average lap time in practice. Although he has never bettered his 18th place finish on that day in 2020, his speed suggests he may deliver his best finish at the track - if he stays out of trouble.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoErik Jones has had a season to forget with only two top-10 finishes in drafting races where he only finished well because he avoided big crashes. Nonetheless, the spring Martinsville race was arguably his best run of the season, as he finished 12th (better than on any non-drafting oval this season) and also had his second-best average running position and third-best driver rating in that race. However, the track still isn't one of his best, as he has only had a single top-10 finish and never led a lap. Jones' only memorable moment at Martinsville came when he was ordered not to pass Denny Hamlin in the 2020 fall race as a lame-duck Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Although his 21st-place starting position is actually better than usual, his poor record and his team's slow cars suggest another mediocre run is most likely.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAs Daniel Hemric acclimates himself more to the Next Gen chassis, he does seem to be qualifying better in the second half of the season than he did in the first, but it hasn't led to much better race performance. Martinsville marks a good example, as he qualified 15th for today's race, which is better than he has ever finished at the track in three previous starts as well as better than any of his average running positions this year. Considering he has finished between 28th and 30th in four of the previous five short track races this year and has the second-slowest speed of any NASCAR Cup Series full-timer, he will almost certainly finish worse than he starts, but the improved qualifying suggests maybe he will finish a few positions better.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoJustin Haley starts 30th at Martinsville, which is definitely not one of his better tracks. In seven previous races, he has never finished 27th and has never finished fewer than two laps down. Although Spire Motorsports is admittedly a lot faster now than it was in 2021 when he previously drove for the team, Spire doesn't particularly have a good record there either as Corey LaJoie actually had a better run at Martinsville in the Archie St. Hilaire car than he ever did at Spire. When considering both these factors along with his sloppier driving ever since he took over the Spire car, it seems unlikely that he'll run very well in today's event.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAlthough Noah Gragson looked like he was building to something in the first half of the season, he has almost been entirely invisible in the second half, particularly after it became clear that Stewart-Haas Racing would not be returning in its current form in 2025. Since he has already signed with Front Row Motorsports for 2025, he has little incentive to seriously fight. Although the SHR cars tend to struggle for speed everywhere, they do still have some speed on short tracks and Gragson has earned top 20 finishes in four of the five short track races, including a 20th at Martinsville in the spring, where he starts 25th today. Considering that trend as well as his trend of five top tens in the last seven races, he'll likely collect another finish in the back half of the top 20 while never contending at any point.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAlthough Austin Dillon utilized the dirtiest move of the year to win at Richmond, he has had some solid runs at Martinsville in the past and is starting 10th. Don't count on him seriously contending in Sunday's race, though. While he did finish third in the 2022 spring race with the Next Gen chassis and battled William Byron for the lead very briefly, that seems like an outlier, as it marked his only top-10 finish since 2017 and he has only led six laps at the track in history, not to mention that Richard Childress Racing has been slow on short tracks lately other than Richmond. While Dillon is always better with crew chief Justin Alexander, Alexander returned as his crew chief in the spring event and he only finished 34th and was no contender. He'll probably do better Sunday, but don't expect him to seriously contend.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoRoss Chastain became one of the closest things to a household name among millennial NASCAR drivers when his wall ride on the last lap at Martinsville two years ago unexpectedly locked himself into the Championship 4. After having missed the playoffs this year, he has much lower stakes this time. However, Trackhouse Racing has had significantly less speed this year than in 2022 and they are rarely fast on short tracks (with the notable exception of Richmond where Daniel Suarez got to benefit from a wild optional tire strategy). Chastain's only top tens at Martinsville both came in 2022 when Trackhouse was faster, but since he is starting 22nd and has finished 13th or 14th in the last three races, a relatively mediocre run between 10th-15th seems the most likely outcome for Chastain.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoSince Kyle Busch is 114 points behind Ross Chastain for 19th and 86 points ahead of Carson Hocevar for 20th in points, he essentially has nothing at stake besides winning, but he will definitely want to salvage his season by extending his record streak of consecutive winning seasons to 20. Busch has won twice at Martinsville in 2016 and 2017, but he has only led five laps and posted one finish better than 9th in the last five years. Austin Dillon's Richmond fluke aside, Richard Childress Racing has seemed to be very slow on paved short tracks in recent years even dating back to the Tyler Reddick era. Busch has only finished better than 12th once at RCR on a short track and only starts 23rd today. The win streak almost certainly looks to be over.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoChristopher Bell, the only driver to make the Championship 4 round of the NASCAR Playoffs in both 2022 and 2023, looks to become the first driver since Chase Elliott in 2020-2022 to make the Championship 4 three consecutive years. He is probably going to do it since he is 29 points above Kyle Larson for the playoff cutline. Bell won his way into the Championship 4 at Martinsville in 2022 where he led 150 laps, but the race was entirely overshadowed by Ross Chastain's wall ride on the final lap. Outside of that race, however, Bell has only led 9 laps at Martinsville and finished no better than 7th. He is starting 16th, so it's possible he might not score stage points but considering he's been the most consistent driver in recent months and the Toyotas are consistently fast on short tracks, he should still be fine.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
3 weeks agoChase Elliott had one of the best cars at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday afternoon, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver wasn't able to get into victory lane and instead ended up with a fifth-place finish when it was all said and done. Chase led 81 of the 267 laps and collected 49 points along the way. However, after his wreck at Las Vegas last weekend, Elliott is still way behind the cut line (43 points) with one race remaining before the finale. Therefore, he's likely in a must-win situation at Homestead next weekend if the 2020 Cup Series Champion wants to compete for another series title. "It was a really solid couple of weeks for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy team, from a pace perspective. That's encouraging as you move along in the playoffs," Elliott stated.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: RACER
3 weeks agoDespite having a poor qualifying effort at Homestead-Miami Speedway this past weekend, William Byron was able to pilot his No. 24 Chevrolet to a sixth-place finish by the time the checkered flag waved on the Straight Talk Wireless 400. Byron earned 39 points on the day and now has a seven-point cushion on the cut line heading into Martinsville next weekend, which is the final cutoff race before the Championship finale at Phoenix. When interviewed after race at Homestead on Sunday, Byron stated, "We kind of had what we had. We weren't good enough, and we were just trying to get all we could. I feel like a sixth-place finish is good. If it had gone green there, we were going to end up top-five. I don't know how that changes the points, but we just have to go to Martinsville Speedway and compete for a win."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
3 weeks agoFor the second week in a row in the Round of 8, Kyle Larson had issues on the track. This time, during the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larson's No. 5 Chevrolet blew a tire and sent the Hendrick Motorsports car into the wall. Larson was able to rally for a 13th-place finish at the end of the day, but earned just 24 points and now sits seven points below the cut line heading into Martinsville next weekend. Larson will likely be battling against his teammate, William Byron, for one of the last two remaining Championship Four spots at Phoenix. Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano are already locked in to the Championship race.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR.com
3
weeks
agoTyler
Reddick
won
Sunday's
Straight
Talk
Wireless
400
at
Homestead-Miami
Speedway
in
thrilling
fashion.
Starting
from
the
pole
position
in
first,
Reddick
would
lead
the
opening
33
laps
until
his
first
pit
stop
in
the
first
stage.
Despite
losing
the
lead
due
to
a
slower
pit
stop,
Reddick
read more...
3
weeks
agoTeam
Penske's
Ryan
Blaney
almost
won
Sunday's
Straight
Talk
Wireless
400
at
Homestead-Miami
Speedway
but
had
to
settle
for
second
at
the
end
of
the
race.
Beginning
the
event
from
the
20th
position,
Blaney
steadily
made
his
way
through
the
pack
with
one
of
the
best
cars
of
read more...
3
weeks
ago
Christopher
Bell
of
Joe
Gibbs
Racing
finished
fourth
in
Sunday's
Straight
Talk
Wireless
400
at
Homestead-Miami
Speedway.
Starting
the
race
from
the
third
position,
Bell
had
one
of
the
better
cars
of
the
race
right
from
the
beginning,
as
he
ran
in
the
top
5
and
even
read more...
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