NASCAR's smallest track may produce its biggest excitement of 2019
NASCAR’s short track season is underway with the starting lineup set for Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It's the sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2019 and the first at a track less than a mile in length.
The sport's shortest track is also one of its most action-packed. Rubbing fenders comes early and often at the .526-mile paperclip; plenty of wins have been decided by a bump-and-run. Martinsville is also the lone original track on NASCAR’s Cup schedule; Red Byron won the first edition back when it was just a dirt track in 1949.
Only the 36 chartered teams attempted this race, leaving the field four spots short. NASCAR's top series hasn't had a full field since February's season-opening Daytona 500.
Joey Logano won the pole for Sunday's race; it's the fifth of his career at Martinsville, the most for him at any track on the circuit. Logano is the most recent winner here with his bump-and-run of Martin Truex Jr. securing him a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano would not have made the cut, let alone won the title without that last-lap pass.
1. Joey Logano
2. Aric Almirola
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Denny Hamlin
6. William Byron
7. Kyle Larson
8. Chase Elliott
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Daniel Suarez
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Chris Buescher
14. Kyle Busch
15. Paul Menard
16. Ryan Preece
17. Alex Bowman
18. Ryan Blaney
19. Erik Jones
20. Kurt Busch
21. Ryan Newman
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Ty Dillon
24. Michael McDowell
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
26. David Ragan
27. Bubba Wallace
28. Landon Cassill
29. Daniel Hemric
30. Austin Dillon
31. Ross Chastain (i)
32. Matt Tifft
33. Jeb Burton (i)
34. DJ Kennington (i)
35. Corey Lajoie
36. Cody Ware
(i) – Ineligible to collect Cup Series points
Failed To Qualify
None
QUALIFYING NOTES
- Corey Lajoie is headed to a backup car after a wreck in Saturday’s first practice. Lajoie’s Go FAS Racing Ford suffered heavy damage after brake failure sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall. He would qualify just 35th for Sunday’s race.
- Team Penske has now won two poles this season, tying them with Stewart-Haas Racing for the team lead among MENCS owners.
- Aric Almirola (2nd) has his second straight top-3 start. It’s the best Martinsville start of his career.
- Denny Hamlin (5th) has qualified inside the top 10 for every MENCS race this season.
- Ryan Preece (16th) was the top qualifying rookie.
- Last week’s pole-sitter Austin Dillon (30th) has never qualified better than 12th at Martinsville. But he does have two top-5 finishes in 10 starts, proof of how you can pass at this short track.
- Jeb Burton (33rd) is making his first MENCS start of the year running the No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet.
- DJ Kennington (34th) is behind the wheel of the Spire Motorsports No. 77 this week. Go-Parts is sponsoring the effort.
NASCAR RACE BREAKDOWN
Race: STP 500
Track: Martinsville Speedway
Date: Sunday, March 24
Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 laps (263 miles)
Stage 1: 130 Laps
Stage 2: 130 Laps
Final Stage: 240 Laps
PRE-RACE ANALYSIS
