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Past and present unite when the Nascar Cup series goes to Martinsville Speedway this weekend.
Martinsville is the only cut that has offered a cup race every season. Since the next Gen Car debuted in 2022, William Byron and Ryan Blaney each won twice in Martinsville and Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson each won once there.
Here’s a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Martinsville.
23xi Racing – Good news: Bubba Wallace’s 61 stage points are most through six races in his cup career. … Wallace is third in the series in the stage points achieved this season. … Wallace’s third place on Homestead moved him to seventh place in the points, the highest he had six races in a season in his cup career. … Riley Herbst starts his first cup at Martinsville. He finishes in the top -10 in five of nine XFinity races on the track. Bad news: Tyler Reddick has two top 15 finishes in 10 Martinsville.
Bubba Wallace leaves Homestead-Miami Speedway seventh in the points.
Pre -drive Motorport – Good News: Noah Gragson won in the Xfinity and Truck series in Martinsville. … Zane Smith and Todd Gilliland each won a truck on Martinsville. … Gragson finishes 11th on Martinsville in the previous fall’s race, his best cup endpoint there. … Smith finished 11th or better this year in three of the first six races. Bad news: Gilliland has finished 29th and thirty and thirty over the past two races and dropped him from 17th to 26th.
Haas Factory Team – Good News: Cole Custer began his first cup at Martinsville since 2022 when he started the top in the top five for both of the race. Bad news: Custer’s average finish by the first six races of the season is 27.7, the worst of his cup career.
Hendrick Motorsports – Good News: Hendrick Carpsorts finished 1-2-3 in the Martinsville race in the past spring with William Byron winning, Kyle Larson second and Chase Elliott third. … Hendrick drivers won five of the last nine Martinsville races. All four active managers of the team won in that stretch at Martinsville. … Elliott was the only driver to end up in the top -10 last season in all the short track races. … Byron, which leads the points, is the only driver to lead in each of the first six races of the season. … Byron achieved a best 70 stage points this season. … Kyle Larson’s average endpoint in the last five Martinsville races is 2.8. … Larson has placed in the top -10 in eight of the last nine short track races. … Alex Bowman is the only manager to finish in the top -10 in five of the first six races this year. Bad news: Bowman started one top 10 in his last five Martinsville.
Chase Elliott enters the points on Sunday’s race at Martinsville, but his teammates of Hendrick Motorsports are 1-2-3 this season.
Hyak Motorsports – Good News: Organization is one of three full -time cups that do not have a DNF this season, and joins Hendrick Motorsports and Legacy Motor Club. Bad news: Ricky Stenhouse jr. Have one top 10 final in his last 14 Martinsville.
Joe Gibbs Racing – Good News: Chase Briscoe has five top -10s in Martinsville, its most on any track. … Briscoe recorded his first stage points of the season on Homestead this weekend. … Denny Hamlin has five Martinsville victories to lead active managers. Bad news: Hamlin last won in Martinsville in March 2015. … Ty Gibbs’ average endpoint in the first six races of the season is 25.7. His average finish at this time last year was 7.8. … Christopher Bell finished outside the Top 20 last year in both Martinsville races. … Bell has more finishes of the 20th or worse at Martinsville (four) than he ends up there (three).
Kaulig Racing – Good News: AJ All-Concerning had back-to-back 10s this past season. Bad news: All Controls have not yet finished in the top 20 in the last four Martinsville races. … Ty Dillon has not started better than the 13th in 12 Martinsville yet.
Legacy Motor Club – Good News: John Hunter Nemecheek finished on the front round in each of the first six races of the season, his longest line in the cup. … Nemechek won in Martinsville in the XFinity and Truck series. … Erik Jones qualified in the top five in three of the seasons first six races. Bad news: Nemechek has fallen into points from 13th to 18 over the past two races.
Richard Childress Racing – Good News: Austin Dillon placed seventh place on Martinsville this past fall. Bad news: Kyle Busch has not finished 16th in the last five Martinsville races. … Busch has 16 wins in the short lane, most among active drivers, but its most recent victory in the short track came to Bristol in April 2019.
Austin Hill’s first cup of the season is in Darlington on April 6.
Rick True Racing – Good News: The organization’s best endpoint in Martinsville is 22nd by James Davison in the April 2021 race. Bad news: Cody real has finished 34th or worse this season in each of the past two races.
RFK Racing – Good News: Chris Buescher has four top -10s in the first six races of the season. … Buescher’s average finish of 11.8 is his best through the first six races of the season. … Ryan Preece enters Martinsville of back-to-back top-10 finishes. … Preece started in the top -10, including winning a pole, in three of the last four Martinsville races. Bad news: Brad Keselowski placed outside the top 25 in four of the first six races of the season.
Spire Motorsports – Good News: Justin Haley recorded his first top -10 of the season on Homestead last weekend and finished 10th. Bad news: Carson Hcevar has finished 30th or worse in the last three races. He had two DNFs in those three races. … Michael McDowell has not yet started better than 14th place in 28 career at Martinsville.
Team Penske – Good News: Ryan Blaney has won two of the last three races in Martinsville. … Blaney has ten top five finishes in Martinsville, its most on any track. … Blaney led 554 rounds on Martinsville, most rounds he led on any track in the cup. … Joey Logano scored 11 consecutive top 10 ends in Martinsville, his longest line on any track and with Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson connected for sixth place on the track’s list of all time. … Logano, Austin Cindric and Blaney led 1-2-3 this season. … Logano runs at the end in all 32 Martinsville. … Austin Cindric finished fourth at Martinsville last fall, his best result on the track. Bad news: Blaney has not been able to complete the last three races, the first time in his career he had such a line. He was eliminated twice by a blown engine and an accident the other time.
Joey Logano commented on SiriusXM Nascar Radio this week after being involved in a Pit Road incident last weekend on Homestead.
Trackhouse Racing – Good News: Shane van Gisbergen finishes 12th in the previous fall’s play -off match in Martinsville, his first cup starts there. … Ross Chastain finished in the top 10 in the last three short track races. Bad news: The last top -10 on Martinsville for Daniel Suarez came in March 2019 … Chastain did not qualify better than 19th place this season.
Wood Brothers Racing – Good News: Josh Berry is responsible for two of Ford’s five top five finals this season, including his Las Vegas victory. … Berry achieved his first career XFinity victory in April 2021 in Martinsville. Bad news: Berry finished 17th or worse this year in four of the first six races.
