Fantasy Fastlane: Opportunity shines bright for Team Penske in Martinsville

Before we get started here, it's time for a quick humble brag. The six drivers that I had available in my lineup for Richmond last weekend finished first through sixth in the race. I also had a clean sweep of the featured matchups. I'm jotting this down because it may never happen again with how unpredictable racing can be. As for Martinsville Speedway, it seems like a prime moment for Team Penske to snag its first victory of the season, as Ford is winless through seven races. However, historically, this is a Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports track, as those powerhouses have combined to win eight of the last nine events at Martinsville.

Fantasy players will earn 10 Fan Rewards points each time they set their lineup in NASCAR Fantasy Live. Fan Rewards is a way for registered users on NASCAR.com to earn points toward things like NASCAR tickets, NASCAR merchandise and more. Learn more about Fan Rewards

MUST START: 

Ryan Blaney | View stats

Team Penske, No. 12 Ford

Odds: 8-1

Since clicking off three straight top fives and leading the championship standings following Phoenix, Blaney has three straight finishes outside the top 10. It's hard to believe Blaney will continue that trend at Martinsville. He is one of three drivers to have top-10 efforts in all four Martinsville races in the Next Gen car. The No. 12 car dominated the final stage in the penultimate race of the 2023 season, catapulting him into the Championship 4, where he hoisted the Cup title one week later. In 16 Martinsville starts, Blaney has finished in the top five half of the time.

MUST START: 

Joey Logano | View stats

Team Penske, No. 22 Ford

Odds: 12-1

Logano enters the race with nine consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville, though he hasn't won at the track since the fall of 2018. He placed runner-up to Kyle Larson last spring and finished fifth in the fall. The No. 22 team is looking to keep its momentum rolling as Logano earned his best finish of the season at Richmond, jumping three spots in the regular season championship standings.

MUST START: 

Denny Hamlin | View stats

Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota

Odds: 9-2

The local short-tracker that still lives inside Hamlin has come alive to start the 2024 season. He started the season by winning the Busch Light Clash, followed by saving tires at Bristol for his first points-paying win of 2024 and most recently, he executed the overtime finish to perfection at Richmond to tally an additional five playoff points. By the way, Hamlin is among Martinsville aces with five wins and 25 top 10s in 36 starts.

MUST START: 

Chase Elliott | View stats

Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet

Odds: 18-1

It wouldn't feel right to not have a Hendrick car in my starting lineup during a weekend the team is celebrating its 40th anniversary with ruby-colored paint schemes. And while Kyle Larson has refined his skills at Martinsville and has three straight top-10 finishes, he will be the first to tell you that it's the track he struggles with the most on the schedule. Elliott has three 10th-place finishes in the last four Martinsville races but has led at least 50 laps in five of the past seven. His lone victory came in 2020.

SLEEPER PICK: 

Chase Briscoe | View stats

Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 14 Ford

Odds: 22-1

In quiet fashion, Briscoe is the final driver to have top 10s in all four Next Gen races at Martinsville. That includes a pair of top-five finishes in 2023, where SHR struggled for the duration of the season. It could boil down to qualifying, however, as Briscoe led a career-high 109 laps from his fourth-place starting spot last year. All four SHR cars cracked the top seven in qualifying, including Ryan Preece's surprise pole run.

SLEEPER PICK: 

Noah Gragson | View stats

Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 10 Ford

Odds: 50-1

Choo-choo, we're still on the SHR train. The No. 10 team finished runner-up to Blaney last fall at Martinsville with Aric Almirola behind the wheel. It also has a trio of top-10 finishes in the four Next Gen races here. Gragson knows how to get around the Virginia short track, producing victories in the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series. The championship standings might say otherwise, but Gragson is having an admirable first season with SHR, with four finishes of 12th or better in the opening seven races.

SLEEPER PICK: 

Todd Gilliland | View stats

Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford

Odds: 200-1

The third-year Cup driver has a pair of top-15 finishes in four Martinsville starts, including a 10th-place finish last fall. Gilliland's average finish has dipped three positions from last season, but the No. 38 team has shown more raw speed and ability. Take last weekend at Richmond for instance, he qualified sixth -- his best at a non-drafting track -- and hovered around the top 10 for a bulk of the race. It wouldn't be all that surprising if he earned another top 10 this weekend.

STAY AWAY FROM: 

William Byron | View stats

Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet

Odds: 12-1

Remember the last Martinsville race? Byron sure wouldn't enjoy reliving that this weekend. For the majority of the 500 laps, the No. 24 car ranked outside the top 20 and a spirited charge to 13th in the waning laps propelled Byron to the Championship 4. Martinsville has been a hit-or-miss track for Byron, as he does have a victory (2022) and four top-five finishes. On the contrary, he has five finishes of 20th or worse.

STAY AWAY FROM: 

Tyler Reddick | View stats

23XI Racing, No. 45 Toyota

Odds: 22-1

Reddick has yet to get a handle on Martinsville. Outside of an eighth-place finish in the spring race in 2021, Reddick has finished outside the top 15 in his remaining seven starts at the track. The last three results have all been south of 20th.

STAY AWAY FROM: 

Kyle Busch | View stats

Richard Childress Racing, No. 8 Chevrolet

Odds: 30-1

Busch was once regarded as the best short-track competitor in the Cup field, with an astonishing 16 checkered flags at the three current short tracks on the Cup schedule. Yet some of the same issues that hindered the No. 8 team on short tracks in 2023 have continued into 2024. Busch has been a nonfactor at similar tracks, such as Phoenix and Richmond, bringing out cautions in both events. In his first season with RCR, he had an average finish of 24th at the short track. It’s hard to imagine seeing an improvement this weekend.

FEATURED MATCHUP: 

Denny Hamlin vs. Martin Truex Jr.

Not long ago, the running joke was that it was a given that Truex would dominate at Martinsville, given his first name. There was a four-race stretch in which he won three times and led a whopping 464 of 500 laps in 2019. But the No. 19 team hasn't won at Martinsville in three seasons and some of that luster has gone away. Meanwhile, Hamlin hasn't won here in nearly a decade. He is undefeated on short tracks in 2024, even at the demise of Truex in Richmond. I'm sticking with Hamlin, who has three straight top 10s at Martinsville.

FEATURED MATCHUP: 

Ryan Blaney vs. William Byron 

Martinsville needs to be a bounce-back week for Blaney. The No. 12 car unloaded atop the leaderboard at Richmond on long runs, but none of that speed translated to race conditions. Byron went unnoticed at Richmond, and still netted out a top 10. Martinsville is a different animal and Blaney has figured it out.

FEATURED MATCHUP: 

Chase Briscoe vs. Noah Gragson

Briscoe once struggled at getting around flat race tracks. But since joining the Cup Series, that has been Stewart-Haas Racing's primary strength. Gragson is still settling in and is off to a pleasant start as the driver of the No. 10 car. While it's entirely possible that Gragson surprises this weekend, the advantage must be with Briscoe having yet to finish worse than ninth in four Next Gen races here.

FEATURED MATCHUP: 

Joey Logano vs. Kyle Busch

While Ford teams are still figuring out the new Mustang Dark Horse body, aerodynamics don't matter as much at Martinsville. Logano was strong at Richmond and that should start a stretch of races where the No. 22 car could be a factor. The No. 8 team needs to figure out its short-track program before selecting him in a matchup on a short track.

MY LINEUP: Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe 

GARAGE: Bubba Wallace