Posted on by Staff Report

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson told reporters at Martinsville Speedway that he’s racing with a broken rib suffered during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

The 27-year-old said he went for X-rays following a painful race at Kansas Speedway, which confirmed the lower rib fracture.

“It still hurts,” Larson said. “I modified my seat quite a bit this week. I feel good in the car this week because the G forces, you don’t really have any (at Martinsville). My ribs feel fine in there.

” … Just something I’m kind of going to have to deal with the rest of the season. Stinks but we’ll get through.”

RELATED: Key story lines to watch

“It’s just going to be a little painful at times,” Larson added.

Larson qualified for the Round of 8 for the first time in his career. He enters Sunday’s race in seventh place among the eight remaining playoff drivers, 19 points behind the cutline.

Larson lines up 14th for today’s race (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by PJ Walsh

Martinsville Speedway is no stranger to drama, especially during NASCAR’s fall event. Martinsville is a tight .526-mile track that results in plenty of beating and banging while not allowing drivers to truly find clear track.

Throw in the added intensity of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and you have a recipe for excitement, tempers and hurt feelings.

Remember, a win this afternoon locks any of the eight remaining playoff teams into the series finale at Homestead with a shot at the championship, so those drivers will be as aggressive as possible to secure the checkered flag.

After analyzing historical Martinsville races, performances at similar tracks with the current aero package and this weekend’s on-track activity, here are my favorite bets for today’s First Data 500.

Five drivers — Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and Chase Elliott — currently have odds of 6-1 or shorter at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas to win today’s race.

However, there’s one past Martinsville winner I’m eyeing as a nice value bet.

Clint Bowyer (25-1) to Win

Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing before the 2017 season, Bowyer has been incredibly fast at Martinsville, posting the fourth-best average finish (7.8). He is tied for the sixth-best average running position (8.4), while leading the fourth-most laps (216) — including a win in the spring of 2018 — over those five races.

Bowyer was solid at “The Paperclip” earlier this year as well, which is important because it’s the only race run at this track with the current aero package. In that event, Clint ran the fifth-most laps en route to a seventh-place result.

The driver of the No. 14 Ford has brought that speed again with him so far this weekend, securing the seventh starting position while posting the fastest five-lap, 10-lap, 15-lap and 20-lap averages in final practice.

Brett Griffin, Bowyer’s spotter, even took time to tweet just how good the team’s car is:


Like I said, fast.

While I don’t put Bowyer among the top tier of favorites, he’s not priced like one, either.

Betting odds of 25-1 are a really nice value for a driver who has performed very well at this track in recent years, especially considering the speed he’s shown in practice and qualifying this weekend.

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Denny Hamlin is on the pole for Sunday’s First Data 500 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Is the five-time Martinsville winner worthy of a spot on your roster? How should you navigate the playoff game format? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

A reminder that inspection will be Sunday morning and the lineup is not official until inspection is completed. (UPDATE: The lineup is now official.)

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Martinsville
Playoff driver 1: Denny Hamlin
Playoff driver 2: Martin Truex Jr.
Non-playoff driver 1: Clint Bowyer
Non-playoff driver 2: Aric Almirola
Garage: Kyle Busch

Alternates for playoff drivers (if one above fails inspection): Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano
Alternates for non-playoff drivers (if one above fails inspection): Brad Keselowski, William Byron

RELATED: Odds for Martinsville | Lap averages | Weekend preview

Analysis: My roster is consisting of two teams — Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. Hamlin and Busch are two of the best here and have posted solid averages all weekend. Truex’s recent history at Martinsville is extremely favorable as well and his 15- and 20-lap averages were better than his playoff JGR teammates. I gave real consideration to Blaney over Busch for the garage, and if you are looking to zag toward a different play, he’s a great option when you combine sneaky good averages and a solid Martinsville body of work. Elliott was another consideration, but I feel like dropping to the rear for an engine change is basically punting on Stage 1 points. Could be wrong in the estimation, but I’d rather not take the chance.

Bowyer is not only the best non-playoff car, but he is also one of the best cars this weekend as he topped the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-lap average board in final practice. He also scored a win here in the spring of 2018. It feels weird keeping Keselowski out of my lineup after he dominated the spring race, but the 2 camp seemed off a bit in both practices on Saturday. I was initially all-in on him as part of my lineup, but instead I will go with Almirola because I like the minimal fall off across his lap averages in final practice as well as a top-five starting spot.

On the bonus picks, I’m taking Hamlin to win Stage 1 and Stage 2 with Truex winning the race and Toyota as the winning manufacturer.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U 3.5 playoff drivers finish in the top five. I’m taking the OVER here as I expect there to be four and I count Hamlin, Truex, Blaney, Busch and Elliott as the five playoff drivers I could see finishing up there when the day is over — and it’s not a stretch to see Logano there as well. In two of the past three playoff races at Martinsville, four playoff drivers have finished in the top five. The cream tends to rise to the top here, and I expect the same on Sunday. Given that I expect the playoff drivers to be all over the top five, I also expect playoff drivers to lead more laps than non-playoff drivers in this race.

2. Which Team Penske driver finishes higher: Ryan Blaney or Joey Logano? I am taking BLANEY on this one. I like his longer run lap averages and Logano has seemed better suited toward a short run here in the past. I realize Logano is the defending race winner, but I just think Blaney has been a tick better so far this weekend.

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Saturday afternoon’s chaos at Martinsville Speedway was unrelenting and spared no favorites in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoffs. 

With sheet metal askew, all six remaining Gander Trucks title hopefuls ran into varying degrees of trouble in Saturday’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at the .526-mile track. The results sheet resembled a haphazard dartboard, with four playoff drivers collecting at the bottom of the pile — an outcome that sixth-place Stewart Friesen summed up best.

RELATED: Race results | Gilliland wins at Martinsville

“I’m glad we’re out of this place,” said Friesen, who held onto second in the truck standings. “It’s just brutal racing. Zero respect. Just brutal, absolutely brutal. I’m happy to be out of here and we salvaged the day.”

“Salvage” seemed to be the right word as most of the 32 trucks were ready for the salvage yard at the end of 201 laps. The net effect of the carnage was a virtual push in the points standings, with only two drivers able to gain ground with just two races remaining in the season — the Round of 6 eliminator in two weeks at ISM Raceway near Phoenix and the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 15.

Ross Chastain’s chance for a spot in next month’s title race evaporated when eventual winner Todd Gilliland muscled past on the next-to-last restart, the clinching bump out of a tag-team effort from him and Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Harrison Burton. The outcome meant the first two races of the Round of 6 went to non-playoff drivers, leaving no automatic berths claimed.

“It was just tough whenever the two teammates there took their turns knocking my back bumper off,” said Chastain, who escaped with second place and a 20-point cushion above the cut line. “I want to go blow for blow. I don’t want two against one.”

Friesen wound up as the only other playoff driver to finish on the lead lap, scrapping for a top 10. Matt Crafton’s No. 88 was the final truck running at the finish, placing eight laps down in 23rd after a mechanical glitch stalled him near the end of Stage 2. But his fate was only slightly better than Tyler Ankrum’s wreck-afflicted 25th, Austin Hill’s crumpled-up 26th and Brett Moffitt’s fender-frayed 29th.

The only saving grace, Hill said, was that no title-eligible drivers were immune.

“I haven’t seen the points or anything, but the good news is a lot of other playoff guys are having issues,” said Hill, just nine points on the plus side of elimination. “It doesn’t make it too bad, but I want to be out there competing. It’s a tough deal. We’ll go on to Phoenix and see what we can do.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Fresh from last Sunday’s victory at Kansas, Denny Hamlin reasserted his mastery of Martinsville Speedway on Saturday afternoon, edging Chase Elliott for the pole position for Sunday’s First Data 500 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin’s pole win was confirmed Sunday morning when the No. 11 Toyota passed inspection.

Covering the .526-mile distance in 19.354 seconds (97.840 mph), Hamlin beat Elliott (97.694 mph) by .029 seconds to secure his third Busch Pole Award of the season, his fourth at Martinsville and the 33rd of his career.

Despite his strong performance, Elliott won’t start on the front row. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet blew an engine early in opening practice on Saturday, and because of the necessary change in power plants, Elliott will drop to the rear for the start of the opening race in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

A five-time winner this season and a five-time winner at Martinsville, Hamlin won his first pole at the paper-clip-shaped track since the fall race of 2013.

RELATED: Unofficial lineup | Martinsville schedule

“I did an OK job, but this car has been good all weekend so far,” Hamlin said. “It was pretty fast in practice.

“The feel hasn’t always been great, but it’s had pretty decent speed. I’m pretty happy with it and look forward to 500 more laps of this on Sunday.”

Martin Truex Jr. qualified third at 97.694 mph, as playoff drivers posted the three fastest laps in time trials. Ford drivers Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell were fourth and fifth fastest, respectively. Playoff driver Ryan Blaney, who is eighth in the standings, will start sixth on Sunday.

Other playoff drivers will start the Round of 8 as follows: Joey Logano 10th, Kyle Busch 13th, Kyle Larson 14th and Kevin Harvick 22nd.

Elliott retained the benefit of a good pit stall pick, and he doesn’t think starting from the rear is a race-killer.

“I think if your car is driving good, and you make good decisions and execute the day like it needs to be done, I don’t think starting last isn’t something that you can’t overcome,” Elliott said. “Certainly, it’s not how you want to start your day, and it puts you in a bit of a hole, but at the same time, if your car is driving good and you do a good job fighting your way up to the front, you still have a shot.

“That’s why a good qualifying effort is still important. If you do get yourself in a position towards the front at the end of this thing tomorrow, a good pit stop could decide it for you. So I think we have to continue to push in all areas and just hope it goes our way.” 

Posted on by Staff Report

Todd Gilliland took a verbal shot at team owner Kyle Busch in the moments after Gilliland’s first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Gilliland yelled over the team radio that Busch could “stay in his (expletive) motor home.”

When asked about the comments afterward, Gilliland said, “It was just kind of heat of the moment really. Everyone has heard what he said. It’s true, we should have been running better. I probably wish I didn’t say it now. It is what it is. He said some stuff about me.”

He later tweeted:

RELATED: Gilliland wins at Martinsville

Gilliland’s apparent frustration likely stemmed from comments earlier in the season when Busch called out Gilliland and teammate Harrison Burton, saying that if they couldn’t get the job done in Kyle Busch Motorsports equipment, that there wouldn’t be much left for them.

An attempt to reach Kyle Busch for comment was unsuccessful.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In an extraordinarily wild NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race that saw four of six playoff drivers have major issues, 19-year-old Todd Gilliland muscled his way past Ross Chastain on Lap 191 and held on to win for the first time in 446 career starts.

Just as extraordinarily, a series of wild wrecks that produced 12 cautions for 80 laps did little to affect the playoff standings, with the Championship 4 drivers still to be settled two weekends hence at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

RELATED: Race results | Gilliland grills Kyle Busch

After the 11th caution, Gilliland drove underneath Chastain on the restart lap, with Gilliland’s No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota clearing Chastain’s No. 45 Chevrolet for the top spot. Gilliland led the final 11 laps, through the final caution and into an overtime that took the race one circuit past its scheduled distance of 200 laps.

Before reveling in the win, Gilliland had a bittersweet moment because the expected victory in KBM equipment had been such a long time coming.

“I wish we had won two years ago, just like everyone else thought we would,” Gilliland said. “I thought we would, too. We went through some growing pains. (Marcus) Richmond was my crew chief, and we got rid of him, and then he came back and was helping us again. He’s really great here at Martinsville.

“I’m just so proud of these guys. Man, this is a long time coming. Hopefully, this will get some momentum rolling and open up some doors for next year.”

In his post-race press conference, Gilliland acknowledged he had no plans set for the 2020 season.

Chastain, who trailed Gilliland at the finish by .879 seconds, leaves the .526-mile short track third in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series standings, 20 points ahead of fifth-place Matt Crafton, who ran 23rd after stalling out and having to change a battery and computer system 81 laps into the race.

On the final two restarts, Chastain had to deal with both Gilliland and his KBM teammate Harrison Burton, who spun on the final lap and finished 18th.

“If I can go head-to-head with that team, I can fight them one at a time, but I can’t take two of them,” Chastain said. “They took turns beating my back bumper off, which is fine. I’m good with it.”

Johnny Sauter ran third, followed by Grant Enfinger and Timmy Hill, who scored his first top five in any of NASCAR’s top three series. Playoff driver Stewart Friesen ran sixth after recovering from a spin off Sauter’s nose on Lap 148.

Series leader and defending champion Brett Moffitt wasn’t as fortunate. His No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet suffered damage in a four-car incident on Lap 115 and retired from the race in 29th place after completing 122 laps.

“We’ll just go on and try to win at Phoenix and Homestead,” said Moffitt, who retained the series lead and holds a 45-point margin over Crafton, with the playoff field to be trimmed to four drivers at Phoenix.

A nine-truck wreck on Lap 123 KO’d playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum and Austin Hill, who finished 25th and 26th, respectively. Ankrum goes to Phoenix in sixth place, 15 points below the current cutline for the Championship 4. Hill is fourth in the standings, nine points ahead of Crafton, a two-time series champion.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Joey Logano and his No. 22 Team Penske team are putting the old band back together.

And why not? It worked well in last year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship run.

In the fall race at Martinsville in 2018, jackman Graham Stoddard moved to Logano’s car to bolster the title run after teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney had been eliminated from the playoffs.

This year, Stoddard, who has been jacking Blaney’s No. 12 Ford, once again shifts to Logano’s team at Martinsville, along with tire carrier Wade Moore, also from Blaney’s over-the-wall crew. The difference?

Blaney is still alive in the playoffs, so the adjustments went further. Blaney inherits Keselowski’s entire No. 2 crew, after Keselowski was eliminated from title contention last Sunday at Kansas.

That leaves three members of Blaney’s former crew and the two replaced members of Logano’s to service Keselowski’s car for the rest of the season.

Though Logano is fourth in the playoff standings and a mere two points clear of Kevin Harvick in fifth, the reigning Cup champion seemed more excited than concerned by the personnel changes.

“No, it doesn’t concern me,” Logano said on Saturday after opening practice at Martinsville. “We had a rookie jackman this year (Nathan Ricketts) who has made a lot of good gains over this season, but I feel the opportunity to put basically the same team together that won the championship last year for the next few races I think was a smart play.

“We definitely needed some speed from the pit crew side of things, and putting the band back together from where it was last year when we won the championship makes sense, so I was on board with that.”

Team Penske’s NASCAR competition director Travis Geisler explained the rationale for the switches.

“We’re always constantly evaluating who has the hot hand at the moment, what groups are going to be the best where,” Geisler said. “When the 2 car didn’t advance to this round, we all kind of had to look at things and decide what was there that could potentially help some of the other groups.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski topped the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session of the day at Martinsville Speedway. Keselowski is the most recent winner at the 0.526-mile with a dominating victory in the spring race. He posted a fast lap of 96.283 mph to lead the way.

Keselowski’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney was second in the session and the highest playoff driver on the speed chart with a fast lap of 95.762 mph. Non-playoff drivers Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece completed the top five. Chase Elliott was the only other playoff driver besides Blaney to finish practice in the top 10.

RELATED: Practice results | Lap averages

Among the playoff field: Kyle Busch placed 15th, Denny Hamlin finished 16th, Kevin Harvick was 17th, Joey Logano was 18th, Martin Truex Jr. was 20th and Kyle Larson was 21st.

Busch Pole Qualifying will take place later this afternoon at 4:35 p.m. ET with coverage on NBCSN/NBC Sports App

PRACTICE 1 RECAP

Joey Logano topped the opening 50-minute Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Martinsville Speedway by jumping ahead of Martin Truex Jr. late in the session. Logano posted a fast lap of 96.657 mph in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. The reigning champion won this race last year with a bump of Truex on the final lap.

Truex (96.176 mph) took second followed by Denny Hamlin (95.966 mph), Clint Bowyer (95.854 mph) and Kyle Busch (95.709 mph) completing the top five. That gives Joe Gibbs Racing three of the five fastest laps in the practice. Bowyer is the lone non-playoff driver among the top five.

RELATED: Practice results | Lap averages

Among the playoff field: Ryan Blaney placed seventh, Kevin Harvick was 12th, Kyle Larson was 13th and Chase Elliott was 14th.

Trouble came early in practice for Elliott though, who suffered a blown engine minutes into the session. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team will change engines in the car and as a result, Elliott will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s race.

Two playoff drivers had practice holds for the first practice. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Truex had a 15-minute hold for failing inspection twice at Kansas, while the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Harvick had a 30-minute hold for failing inspection three times at Kansas.

Matt Tifft was transported to a local hospital before Saturday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway, according to a NASCAR spokesman. Matt Crafton filled in for the Front Row Motorsports No. 36 team for practice and was expected to be in the seat for the rest of the day.