March 31, 2025
Denny Hamlin won Sunday's Cook Out 400 to take his first win at Martinsville Speedway since 2015. His 274 laps led marked the third-most he has ever led at Martinsville, and the most he has led in a win. The race removed all doubts about his ability to win without crew chief Chris Gabehart, as his current crew chief Chris Gayle had never had a top-10 finish at Martinsville before. Although Hamlin first took the lead by staying out of the pits on the fourth caution on Lap 126, he led all but one lap after that when his teammate Christopher Bell passed him on the final restart before Hamlin took the lead on the next lap, eventually winning by 4.617 seconds. With the win, he improved from eighth to sixth in points and probably locked himself into the playoffs.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 31, 2025
Ty Gibbs had his most competitive run of the season on Sunday at Martinsville when he both started and finished 13th despite the discomfort of a malfunctioning cool suit. Surprisingly, this was Gibbs' best result since he also finished 13th 12 races ago at Talladega, and it was one of his grittiest performances nonetheless. Gibbs entered the top 10 after the Stage 1 pit stop and ran in the top five for most of Stage 2 (where he ultimately finished fourth), but he was spun out by the similarly-named, similarly-sponsored Tyler Reddick for 11th and fell to 24th before later confronting him after the race. Nonetheless, the Toyotas in general and Joe Gibbs Racing cars in particular had great speed, and he was able to make up most of the ground that he had lost in what was clearly his best run since Tyler Allen took over as crew chief.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 31, 2025
Ross Chastain had an uncharacteristically quiet run at Martinsville, finishing sixth at a track that is normally not one of his best. Although the Hail Melon from 2022 will always define his Martinsville career, this was probably his best run here as he matched his best average running position from that race but had a much higher pass differential, which probably mostly explains why he had his highest career driver rating, breaking 100 for the first time in yesterday's event. After breaking in the top ten during the pit stops on the fourth caution, he spent most of the remainder of the race in the back half of the top five, getting as high as fourth without really contending. For a driver who is such a lightning rod for controversy, these are the sorts of runs he needs if he is going to return to serious championship contention.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 31, 2025
Chase Briscoe had a fairly generic run at Martinsville even though the Joe Gibbs Racing cars and the Toyotas in general seemed to have the most speed. He started 11th but didn't really settle into the top ten until Stage 2, a stage where he spent much of the time in the top five and got as high as fourth before eventually fading to ninth in a race his teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell finished 1-2. Although all his JGR teammates probably had more impressive runs, he was still solid. His one blemish came on Lap 317 when he lost control and spun out Joey Logano for sixth, but Logano got him back by passing him for eighth on the last lap with his much fresher tires. Briscoe advanced one position from 13th to 12th in points and now sits 19 points above the playoff cutline.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 31, 2025
Erik Jones has never been very successful at Martinsville, and Sunday might have been one of the lowest moments of his career. Not only did he start 31st and finish 24th in a race where his former crew chief Chris Gayle won his first race for Denny Hamlin -- a driver he was ordered not to pass in the 2020 fall event -- but he was disqualified for violating NASCAR's minimum weight rule, even though he didn't seem to gain any speed from it and he was much slower than the other Toyotas were. It's especially painful to get nabbed for a technical infraction without being fast to begin with. The disqualification dropped him to 38th. Although Jones picked up some stage points on strategy at the end of Stage 1, he was also stripped of those, which dropped him from 24th to 29th in points. Unless he wins a drafting-track race, his playoff hopes are likely over.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 30, 2025
Josh Berry is poised for a strong run at Martinsville Speedway this weekend in his No. 21 Ford. Remember, Martinsville is the track that kind of started Berry's rise to Cup competition, as he went to victory lane here in the Xfinity Series. Now he is in a quasi-Penske Ford with the Wood Brothers, and Penske itself has been great here at "The Paperclip" over the years. Berry qualified 14th for this weekend's Cook Out 400 race and showed pretty good speed on the long run in practice, ranking 10th-best when it came to 30-lap average during the session. He also finished fourth at Phoenix earlier this month, and while that track is quite different than Martinsville, they're both short, flat tracks, so there is some comparison there. At $8,100 on DraftKings this weekend, Josh Berry is a playable driver in the 38-car field. He has top-10 upside and could sneak in to the top five, which would likely put him into the optimal DFS lineup.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March
30,
2025
We're
six
races
into
the
2025
NASCAR
Cup
Series
season
and
the
defending
series
Champion
doesn't
have
a
single
top-10
finish.
That
could
definitely
change
this
weekend
in
the
Cook
Out
400
at
Martinsville
Speedway.
Joey
Logano
is
one
of
the
read more...
March 30, 2025
Heading into the Cook Out 400 race weekend, Ryan Preece is on a bit of a hot streak, as the Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing driver has back-to-back top-10 finishes, coming home third at Las Vegas and then ninth at Homestead last week. Now we're the Martinsville Speedway where Preece is a legitimate dark horse every time the NASCAR Cup Series visits the track. Preece posted finishes of ninth and 14th in the two races at Martinsville last season while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, and Martinsville is the only track that he has led a significant number of laps at (135 in 11 career starts). This weekend, Preece looked pretty good in practice, posting the eighth-fastest time on Saturday afternoon. He qualified back in 21st for this weekend's race, and with his top-10 finishing upside, could be a very strong DFS pick, especially at his palatable price of just $7,500 on DraftKings. He's not a must-have on the slate, but he's a strong pick for sure.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Racing America
March 30, 2025
Chase Elliott has been one of the best at Martinsville Speedway in the Next Gen era, and he looks poised to continue that this weekend in the Cook Out 400. The No. 9 Chevrolet showed steady speed in practice on Saturday afternoon and ranked ninth-fastest in 30-lap average, and then in qualifying, Chase ended up second-fastest and will start on the outside pole alongside Christopher Bell. As mentioned before, Elliott has been strong at Martinsville over the last few years. He has led a combined 515 laps over the last six races, and has led for 54 or more laps in five of those six individual events. The only exception was the spring 2023 race, but that can be explained because he started mid-pack in 24th. This weekend, Elliott will start up front and could lead early and often. With his dominator potential as long as his race-winning upside, Chase is an excellent DFS pick on Sunday at $9,900 on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March
30,
2025
Christopher
Bell
will
lead
the
field
to
the
green
at
Martinsville
Speedway
on
Sunday
afternoon,
as
the
Joe
Gibbs
Racing
driver
posted
the
fastest
lap
in
qualifying
on
Saturday
with
a
speed
of
96.034
mph.
This
will
be
his
first-ever
top-five
read more...
March
30,
2025
Ryan
Blaney's
No.
12
Ford
was
one
of
the
fastest
cars
during
practice
at
Martinsville
Speedway
on
Saturday
afternoon,
but
you'd
have
no
idea
by
talking
to
him.
Blaney
was
the
fastest
when
it
came
to
30-lap
average,
but
the
Team
read more...
March 30, 2025
Denny Hamlin is one of the greats at Martinsville with five career wins and 2,448 laps led, but his last win here came a decade ago in this race. Nonetheless, even though he hasn't won since, he's been no slouch with ten top fives and 1,136 laps led since his last win. It's a rare race at Martinsville where he doesn't lead and his fifth-place starting position is his second-best at Martinsville with the Next Gen chassis, so he'll probably lead in this one. However, he certainly doesn't yet seem to have the killer speed with Chris Gayle that he had with Chris Gabehart and Gayle's record has been pretty dreadful with no top tens and 0 laps led in 12 starts with Erik Jones and Ty Gibbs, so it seems unlikely that Hamlin will have the setup to win. Since he is likely to perform worse than his expectation and his $10,700 DFS salary for this reason, he is probably overvalued.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 30, 2025
Austin Cindric qualified 20th for Sunday's Martinsville race. Although he seems to be starting to become something of a weekly threat, Martinsville will probably be an exception to that. He did actually finish fourth in last fall's race, but unlike his No. 2 car predecessors Rusty Wallace, Kurt Busch, and Brad Keselowski, short tracks have hardly been his best discipline. That race was his only top-five finish on a short track, although his other top-10 showing also came here in 2023. It's certainly possible that his uptick in speed that we have seen elsewhere will show up here, but his current statistical record at the track suggests it probably won't, therefore he isn't likely one of the best DFS options.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 30, 2025
It took Kyle Busch seemingly forever to finally win his two Martinsville races in 2016 and 2017, but although he managed a remarkable eight straight top-five finishes (including those wins), he hasn't been so hot lately, especially with the Next Gen chassis. In the last 12 races, Busch has only led five laps at Martinsville, with those coming in the 2020 fall race where Kevin Harvick's spinout of him backfired. In the last five races, he has finished 16th or worse, and he hasn't even had any speed -- even his average running positions have never been better than 16th. Busch seems to have recovered from last year, so one can expect some level of regression to the mean, but Austin Dillon's Richmond robbery aside, Richard Childress Racing hasn't seemed to have enough speed on short tracks to contend, and Busch is only starting 12th. He probably won't contend, but don't be shocked if he does.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March
30,
2025
Brad
Keselowski
sits
30th
in
points
and
right
now
stands
as
2025's
biggest
disappointment,
as
he
has
no
top-10
finishes
and
two
crashes
and
he
hasn't
even
seriously
contended
anywhere
with
a
best
average
running
position
this
year
of
20th
in
read more...
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