Fantasy Fastlane: Hendrick Motorsports, Martinsville spring-race dominator

Hendrick Motorsports is synonymous with Martinsville Speedway. The Chevrolet team has experienced triumph and tragedy at the half-mile track. Hendrick’s 29 victories here – starting with the team’s first in April 1984 with Geoff Bodine – are the most for any team at one particular track. Team Penske can throw haymakers at NASCAR’s version of the New York Yankees at Martinsville, with Ryan Blaney winning the past two Playoff races. Spoiler: both teams should be heavily featured in your lineup this weekend. 

New to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced last year in which strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2025 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season. 

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MUST START:

William Byron | View stats

Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet

Odds: 7-1

Byron is Jeff Gordon-esque at Martinsville. The Rudy Fugle-led team has won two of the last three spring races, even after starting midpack last year. If you throw away his first three starts here, he has eight top-10 finishes in the last 11 races, with five top fives. Speeding on pit road dropped Byron to 12th in the final rundown last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he extended his points lead. 

MUST START:

Ryan Blaney | View stats

Team Penske, No. 12 Ford

Odds: 4-1

With engine failures in the final stage at both Phoenix Raceway and Homestead, two of my starts with Blaney have gone up in smoke – literally. But man, he was in another zip code at Homestead. The No. 12 car is lightning fast this season with little results to show for it. The good news for Blaney is he’s turned into one of the best competitors at Martinsville, wrapping the inside curb like no other driver. Ten of his last 14 starts here have resulted in top-five finishes. 

MUST START:

Chase Elliott | View stats

Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet

Odds: 13-2

If Elliott could just have an entire race that was mistake free, the No. 9 team’s season could look a lot different. The good news is Martinsville could be the reset he needs, having led 50-plus laps in seven of the last nine races, including 129 in the fall. Many drivers said after the season-opening exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium that “The Madhouse” raced similarly to Martinsville. Elliott dominated that event.

MUST START:

Joey Logano | View stats

Team Penske, No. 22 Ford

Odds: 9-1

Logano leads the series through six races with 247 laps led, but he still hasn’t earned a top-10 finish. Like Elliott’s No. 9 bunch, the No. 22 team hasn’t executed a full race yet in 2025. Short tracks are Penske’s wheelhouse, though, with Logano having 11 consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville. 

SLEEPER PICK:

Chase Briscoe | View stats

Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota

Odds: 12-1

With a fourth-place finish at Homestead, Briscoe finally put his 2025 season into gear. Before the fall Martinsville race, he had top 10s in all five Next Gen races here. Now, he’s with the No. 19 team, which Martin Truex Jr. guided to three victories at the track from 2019 through 2024. This could be Briscoe’s breakout race. 

SLEEPER PICK:

Josh Berry | View stats

Wood Brothers Racing, No. 21 Ford

Odds: 28-1

If you’ve learned anything about Berry since he burst onto the NASCAR scene more regularly in 2021, he’s a short-track racer at heart. It’s what he thought he would do for the rest of his career until Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave him an opportunity at the next level. Berry scored his first Xfinity Series victory at Martinsville four years ago. The Wood Brothers have a strong alliance with Penske, which could boost his performance again this weekend. 

SLEEPER PICK:

Ryan Preece | View stats

RFK Racing, No. 60 Ford

Odds: 30-1

For just the third time in Preece’s Cup career, he enters a race weekend with consecutive top 10s. Martinsville was among his best tracks while competing for Stewart-Haas Racing, leading 135 laps from the pole in the spring 2023 race. In the two races last season, he had an average finish of 12.5.

STAY AWAY FROM:

Tyler Reddick | View stats

23XI Racing, No. 45 Toyota

Odds: 35-1

Across 10 Martinsville starts, Reddick has little to gloat about, earning only a pair of top 10s. His average finish is 20.8, and he has yet to lead a single lap. Until he strings together solid performances at Martinsville, I’ll plan on using the No. 45 car elsewhere in 2025.

STAY AWAY FROM:

Kyle Busch | View stats

Richard Childress Racing, No. 8 Chevrolet

Odds: 22-1

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Busch was constantly in the mix at Martinsville, always having a shot to secure the victory. But in his two-year stint with RCR, it’s been a trying track for the team. In those four races, he has a best finish of 16th with the rest being outside the top 20. The last two races at Homestead and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have also been frustrating for Busch, dropping him to the playoff bubble. 

STAY AWAY FROM:

Chris Buescher | View stats

RFK Racing, No. 17 Ford

Odds: 35-1

Quietly, Buescher has gotten off to the best start of his Cup career with four top-10 finishes through the opening six races. However, Martinsville has been a hindrance for the Texan, with a pair of top 10s in 10 starts with RFK. In 19 overall starts here, he has an average finish of 19.2. Going to save a start on Buescher for at least one week.

FEATURED MATCHUP:

Kyle Larson vs. William Byron

During his tenure with Hendrick, Larson is among the series’ best at Martinsville, entering this weekend with five straight top 10s. These two drivers have combined to win the last three spring Martinsville races, with Byron having the advantage with two victories. The gap has surely tightened between these two here, but my vote goes to Byron in a heads-up battle. 

FEATURED MATCHUP:

Chase Elliott vs. Ryan Blaney

While the above matchup was tough, this one rings even more of a challenge. Blaney has aced Martinsville and seemingly has brought the most speed to the race track in 2025. Meanwhile, Elliott cruised to victory at The Clash, though it was the No. 12 car chasing him down in the waning laps. I’ll take Blaney here, though Elliott desperately needs a full, clean race. 

FEATURED MATCHUP:

Bubba Wallace vs. Alex Bowman

Both drivers have gotten off to fast starts in 2025, cracking the top seven in the championship standings through six races. Martinsville is among Wallace’s favorite tracks on the schedule, winning a pair of Craftsman Truck Series races, and he has three top 10s in the last five Cup races. Bowman is a previous winner here, though has just one top 10 in the five races since. While this is a Hendrick track, Wallace gets the nod this weekend. 

FEATURED MATCHUP:

Chase Briscoe vs. Ross Chastain

Chastain went viral at Martinsville in 2022 with the “Hail Melon,” but it’s been an average track for the No. 1 team during the last two seasons. Meanwhile, Briscoe, who was solid here with SHR, joins one of the best teams in the garage at this track and that seems like a recipe for success. 

MY LINEUP: William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe

GARAGE: Josh Berry

36 for 36: Striking while the iron is hot is key for teams in NASCAR, particularly at the beginning of the season. Berry is off to a strong start in his tenure with the Wood Brothers, scoring consecutive top fives earlier this month and winning his first Cup race. Martinsville is a track where he has thousands of laps in other types of race cars, and it’s a venue where Team Penske excels.