Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour stays down south for race two of the season on Saturday, before heading back to New England.

The South Boston 150 at South Boston Speedway will see Whelen Modified Tour drivers return to the Virginia oval for the first time since in 18 years. South Boston is one of two new tracks on the 2019 series schedule that will see teams test their equipment in another short-track environment.

SOUTH BOSTON 150 AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Doug Coby is back at the top. At least for now.

The five-time series champion opened the season with a victory at Myrtle Beach Speedway, and he leads a long list of drivers looking to keep momentum rolling into South Boston. But, prior to two weeks ago, Coby didn’t have laps at the Virginia track under his belt. During an organizational test, Coby and his No. 2 Mayhew Tools Chevrolet team earned crucial experience just two days before Myrtle Beach, building a notebook they will need for Saturday’s afternoon showdown.

But, over his 18-year career, Coby hasn’t quite found the knack for this style track. In his 25 career wins, he has just three at tracks that are under a half-mile — Seekonk Speedway, Monadnock Speedway and New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Instead, Coby’s success has come at tracks like Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park — which combine for 16 of his victories, and are tracks that have long straightaways and high-speed action.

WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR: 2019 Schedule | Race Center

South Boston is a short, .4-mile, paved oval that Coby will be hoping to quickly knock of his bucket list in his first start. With Phil Moran in control, and Coby sitting behind the wheel of an LFR Chassis — a department that does have previous experience at the track in the past — it could be the perfect place for him to put his struggles at bullrings officially behind him.

The real advantage, though, may rest with the drivers who have previous experience at the Virginia oval in Whelen Southern Modified Tour action from 2009-2016. Burt Myers, who also tested at South Boston, has 10 starts at the track nicknamed ‘SoBo’ but has come up just short of winning. The Walnut Cove, North Carolina, driver finished eighth or better in all of those starts, and as one of the only with experience, they could pay off for him in a big way.

Kyle Bonsignore, who picked up his first career Whelen Modified Tour win last year, finished second in his most recent South Boston stop. Kyle Ebersole, who led 12 laps in the Myrtle Beach opener, won at the Virginia oval in 2014. Jeremy Gerstner and Gary Putnam also have previous starts at the track. The Hill family returns to action with veteran James Civali behind the wheel — another driver who has previous experience and two wins at South Boston.

From up north, Chase Dowling, who finished in the runner-up spot in the championship standings last season, will make his first start driving for Jamie Tomaino.

RACE FACTS

RACE South Boston 150
PLACE South Boston Speedway, South Boston, Virginia
DATE Saturday, March 30
TIME 2:45 p.m. (approx.)
TELEVISION FansChoice.TV, 2:45 p.m. (live broadcast); NBCSN — Wednesday, April 3, 4 p.m.
TRACK LAYOUT .4-mile paved oval
2018 WINNER N/A
2018 POLE N/A
EVENT SCHEDULE Saturday: Garage Opens: 7:30 a.m., Practice: 9:45-11 a.m., Group Qualifying: 12:10 p.m., South Boston 150: 2:45 p.m. (approx.)
TWITTER @SoBoSpeedway57, @NASCARHomeTrack
HASHTAG #NWMT, #SouthBoston150

RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST | SCHEDULE

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: 

The starting field for the South Boston 150 is limited to 28 starters, including provisional positions. The first 22 drivers will secure starting positions based on the group qualifying process. The remaining six positions will be awarded through the provisional process.

NASCAR group qualifying is in place for this event. The number of groups for qualifying will be determined by NASCAR. Each group qualifying session will be five (5) minutes in duration and the fastest single lap speed of each vehicle will determine the first 22 starting positions. Vehicles may not return to the track or make any further qualifying laps unless directed to do so by a NASCAR Official or in the event of a caution. If a vehicle returns to pit road, the vehicle’s qualifying attempt is complete. Once a vehicle’s attempt is complete, the vehicle must proceed directly to the designated impound area once it enters pit road. Vehicles will proceed immediately to impound after making their qualifying attempt. Vehicles will be impounded after qualifying/inspection. Vehicle must qualify on race set up.

The South Boston 150 is 150 laps (60 miles). The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. Four tires (4) must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.

MEDIA CENTER

RaceDayCT.com: Thompson Speedway Test & Tune Postponed To March 30 | Wayne Burroughs Jr. Ready For New Venture at Thompson Speedway

RacingVirginia.com: Five-Time NASCAR Whelen Modified Champion Doug Coby Expects Speed, Excitement For South Boston Race

Short Track Scene: The Doug Coby Show Returned on Saturday at Myrtle Beach

NASCAR.com: Jimmy Blewett Having Early Success With Gershow Motorsports | Rapid Rewind: Doug Coby Fights Through Adversity at Myrtle Beach

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 25, 2019) — NASCAR and GEICO announced today a multiyear agreement designating the blue-chip brand as the “Official Insurance Partner of NASCAR®” and expanding its presence across the sport.

GEICO’s involvement in NASCAR spans more than a decade through a partnership with International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which includes highly visible assets such as the GEICO Restart Zone, race entitlements and campgrounds sponsorships. Additionally, GEICO has a team relationship with Germain Racing, sponsoring the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet driven by Ty Dillon in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™.

“Our affiliation with NASCAR has been successful over the past decade, and expanding our partnership to include rights with the sanctioning body was the next logical step,” said Bill Brower, assistant vice president of marketing for GEICO. “Our expanded presence will allow us to further engage the most brand loyal fans in sports and bolster our effective marketing platform.”

The official partnership with NASCAR provides GEICO exclusive status and promotional rights in the insurance category across the country and U.S. military bases abroad. Through the agreement, GEICO will be present at key NASCAR races throughout the season, building further upon its at-track activation plans. Additionally, the GEICO Restart Zone will expand to select race tracks this season, with the potential to increase the number of tracks in 2020.

“Building on the collaboration taking place across the industry, we continue to pursue opportunities that will further integrate brands throughout the sport,” said Jon Tuck, vice president and chief revenue officer, NASCAR. “Our partnership with GEICO deepens their presence in the sport and provides them even more opportunities to engage our brand loyal fans to maximize their marketing objectives.”

GEICO, the nation’s second largest auto insurance company and a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, is the latest brand to expand its partnership in the sport. GEICO now joins the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council, providing the company access to an exclusive group of more than 50 Official NASCAR Partners to create business-to-business opportunities and co-marketing programs.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues at Texas Motor Speedway with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, March 31 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, SiriusXM and PRN.

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Busch’s bid for a three-race winning streak in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ended Sunday, foiled at the hands of the last driver to accomplish the feat.

Busch had a glimmer of a chance at upending Brad Keselowski’s dominant day at Martinsville Speedway, lining up alongside him for the final restart, but contact and a brief slip behind eventual runner-up Chase Elliott left Busch with a third-place result in the STP 500.

“I had a nose underneath the 2 (of Keselowski) there in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4 and he just chopped my nose off,” Busch said on pit road after his eighth straight top-five finish at the historic .526-mile track. “Normally when you hit a guy, they move out of the way. Instead it seemed like my car had to move out of the way and then the 9 (of Elliott) got by me so we ended up finishing third. That was a lot better day then we probably should have had, and we made the most of our opportunity with our M&M’s Camry.”

RELATED: Busch hits 1,000th NASCAR start mark

Busch was a bit of a late bloomer in Sunday’s 500-lapper, making methodical gains from a 13th-place starting spot on the grid. When Stage 2 ended just past the halfway point, his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota was scored 12th — outside the top-10 window for stage points.

Some of the gained ground came from speedy service on pit road. Busch picked up one spot in each of the first two pit-stop exchanges of the final stage, capped by a significant two-position upswing in the final round of stops.

“We had so much trouble passing cars in the first half of the race because we weren’t any good, and we started to make it a little bit better,” No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens told NASCAR.com. “It’s still really hard to pass, so thankfully our pit crew gained us most of our track position and then later in the race we were able to be a little more competitive. But they kept us in the ballgame, for sure.”

MORE: Full Martinsville results

Busch emerged from Martinsville with one streak ending, but a stellar start to the season well intact. With six races in the books this year, Busch has top-three finishes in all but one of them. The lone outlier was a still-solid sixth-place result at Atlanta in the second event on the calendar.

Sunday, the No. 18 team’s ability to make timely adjustments and remain steady on pit road helped keep that performance bar set high.

“It’s about communication,” Busch said. “I have a hand in that and being able to talk to my crew chief. I’m thankful to have Adam Stevens on the box and he made some smart changes for the second half of the race. It got us way better. The pit crew was awesome today, too. I think we picked up like 12 spots on pit road today so that was a huge help because you couldn’t pass on the race track.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 2 Team Penske Ford for driver Brad Keselowski has passed post-race inspection at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday with no issues.

The No. 2 Ford was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Sunday’s STP 500. With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official and Keselowski’s 29th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win is in the books.

RELATED: Brad Keselowski dominates Martinsville | Full race results

The only issues noted in post-race inspection were one lug nut each not safely secured on the Nos. 3, 36 and 47 of drivers Austin Dillon, Matt Tifft and Ryan Preece, respectively, after a post-race check. According to the guidelines in the rule book, the infraction should result in a fine this week for those team’s crew chiefs.

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutiny. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed to monitor trends, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Marissa Fuller

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Chase Elliott came within feet of passing Brad Keselowski in the final laps for the win in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, going bumper-to-bumper with the No. 2 Team Penske Ford around each corner for multiple laps.

But he wasn’t able to make the right move in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to take the lead in the final laps before the checkered flag waved.

“I tried to move up, tried to get some runs,” Elliott said. “Moved up with about five to go and was making a little time but obviously, not enough time and I was just trying to get back to his bumper. I thought maybe I could route him out of the way or something. It was going to be really hard to drive up next to him and pass him, so I was just going to have to get to his bumper and play some games and hope it went my way.”

RELATED: Race results | Keselowski holds off Elliott on final lap

Elliott, with eight starts at Martinsville in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career under his belt, finished runner-up and notched his best finish at the short track, as well as his best result this season.

“We had a really, really solid car and this is the best shot we had to win to date this season,” said Elliott. “When you have cars like that and performances like we did today, you really need to capitalize.”

” … What happened at Fontana, that was a real bummer. So, to come back and be able to run inside the top five all day long and be as competitive as the winner of the race was, I think, is an improvement.”

This was the refresh that the team needed and they are pleased with what they brought to the table, giving credit to their equipment and smart decisions on pit road.

“It’s solid; it’s what you want to do,” said crew chief Alan Gustafson. “You really want to win, and you can sit here and critique it for a lot of reasons but ultimately, having the pace in the car is the key and if we have good cars, we can have performances like that. We finally had a clean day with a fast car. We needed a good finish.”

The Cup Series heads back to Martinsville Speedway for the first race of the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 and a finish like this has Elliott eager to be one of the ones competing in October.

“Ultimately, this is an important race track, coming back here in the fall,” said Elliott. “Hopefully we can run like we did today, maybe a little better and hopefully we’re still a part of the deal to make it matter.”

Elliott led 49 laps of the race after getting by Keselowski and noted that his car was just as strong, if not stronger, than the No. 2. But, he just couldn’t make it happen in the final laps.

” … I thought my car was working a little bit better than his on the first five or 10 laps, I thought that was my best shot to get him,” Elliott said. “Then I felt like he was a little better than me, or we evened out kind of after that and then it was just a matter of how we hit our mark. It was really easy to mess up and it was really just about who strung together two corners lap after lap after lap.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Brad Keselowski led 446 of 500 laps in winning Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

An easy victory, right?

Well, not exactly. After Keselowski’s pit crew put him in the lead for a restart on Lap 380, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford spent the rest of the race fending off a determined charge from Chase Elliott.

Ultimately, Keselowski got to the finish line .594 seconds ahead of Elliott and 1.335 seconds in front of Kyle Busch, who was attempting to win his third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in his 1,000th national series start. But it wasn’t easy, as both Elliott and Busch were close enough to capitalize on even the smallest potential mistake.

RELATED: Race results 
SHOP: Keselowski gear

The victory was Keselowski’s second of the season, second at Martinsville and the 29th of his career. It was also Team Penske’s third triumph of the season in six races, equaling the total of Joe Gibbs Racing and the third Cup win for the Ford Mustang, which debuted in the series this year.

“The car was really good,” Keselowski said. “This Ford Mustang. … Ford worked really hard in the offseason to build these cars and make them real strong, and so far, so good. Just a great day for our team.

“Awesome execution on pit road, and big credit to (engine builder) Doug Yates and all the engine stuff. Those guys worked really hard. But just one of those days you dream of as a race car driver where you’ve got a great car.”

RELATED: Drivers with 400 laps led at Martinsville

Before Keselowski could claim the grandfather clock trophy that goes to the winner, he had to go to school. Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was a superior short-run car, enabling Elliott to pass Keselowski for the lead on Lap 325, five laps after a restart necessitated by a caution for William Byron’s spin in Turn 4.

Keselowski followed Elliott for 48 green-flag laps — until Matt Tifft spun in Turn 2 on Lap 372 — and learned a valuable lesson.

“I don’t know if we were as good as the 9 car, Chase Elliott,” Keselowski said. “He was really strong, but he passed me there with about 200 to go, and I watched him and studied him and kind of broke it down and knew what I had to do to hold him off with that fast of a car.

“And we were able to pull it off that last run.”

Busch was hounding Elliott as fiercely as Elliott was dogging Keselowski, but when Busch was held up in traffic in the late going, Elliott began experimenting with a higher line in the corners.

“I felt like we were about as even with him as we could be,” Elliott said. “I felt like when he did get the lead, there was a little advantage to being out front, being able to work traffic your way and kind of play off it and whatnot.

“But, yeah, I tried to move up there at the end, and I don’t know if I could have got to him. Maybe if I moved up a little sooner. But I tried to get to him there in (Turn) 3 (on the final lap). I was pretty well content on moving him out of the way. But maybe next time.”

Ryan Blaney finished fourth, followed by Denny Hamlin, who recovered from a penalty for an uncontrolled tire. Kevin Harvick was sixth, Clint Bowyer came home seventh, despite being sent to the rear twice for speeding on pit road. Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | How to find NBCSN

Monday, March 25
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
8 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
11 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, March 26
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
9 a.m., The Tough Trucks of NASCAR: Episode 6
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, March 27
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., NASCAR Coast to Coast
1 p.m., Crew Call

Thursday, March 28
3 a.m., NASCAR Presents: The Adventures of Janet Guthrie (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Martinsville (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: The Motorsports Hour, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., MRN Classic Race

Friday, March 29
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
4 a.m., NASCAR Presents: The Adventures of Janet Guthrie (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
4 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
5 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
7:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
8:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App
9 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vankor 350, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
8:30 p.m., Vankor 350

Saturday, March 30
5 a.m., NASCAR Presents: The Adventures of Janet Guthrie (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vankor 350 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
8 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying at Texas (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
9 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2) CANCELED
10 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
11 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
11:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN3, 4)
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-race Show, FS1/FOX Sports App

Sunday, March 31
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Texas, FS1/FOX Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FOX/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, FOX/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN1, 3)

Posted on by Staff Report

Brad Keselowski led all 130 laps of Stage 2 to capture his second stage win at Martinsville Speedway in Sunday’s STP 500.

Keselowski, who has one Martinsville win in his career, collected his second stage win of the season in winning his second stage of the day. He led 254 of the first 260 laps.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Ryan Blaney made a move around Chase Elliott late in the stage to finish second in the stage. Elliott dropped in the final laps to fourth as Denny Hamlin made a move around him for third.

The stage was punctuated by one early caution when the yellow flag came out on Lap 145 for debris on the track — an axle from the No. 15 of Ross Chastain.

The STP 500 is scheduled to end on Lap 500.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1  Brad Keselowski  Team Penske 10
2  Ryan Blaney  Team Penske 9
3  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4  Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 7
5  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7  Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8  Clint Bowyer  Stewart-Haas Racing 3
9  Daniel Suarez  Stewart-Haas Racing 2
10  Joey Logano   Team Penske 1

 

STAGE 1

Brad Keselowski took the lead from pole-sitter and Team Penske teammate Joey Logano six laps into the STP 500 and held on at Martinsville Speedway for his first stage win of the season.

Keselowski led 124 of the first 130 laps of Stage 1 on Sunday.

Chase Elliott was second in the stage in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, finishing just 0.113 seconds behind Keselowski as he closed the gap quickly in the waning laps of the stage.

Defending race winner Clint Bowyer was sixth in the stage, while pole-sitter Logano finished seventh.

The caution came out on Lap 64 when the right front tire of No. 34 Michael McDowell went down and he slammed into the wall coming out of Turn 4.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1  Brad Keselowski  Team Penske 10
2  Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 9
3  Aric Almirola  Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 7
5  Ryan Blaney  Team Penske 6
6  Clint Bowyer  Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7  Joey Logano  Team Penske 4
8  Martin Truex Jr.  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9  Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10  Austin Dillon  Richard Childress Racing 1

 

Posted on by

Martinsville’s most recent winner Joey Logano will start from the pole position for Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET,  FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does he merit a spot in your lineup? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions.

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

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Once the final stage starts, your roster is locked in.

Jessica Ruffin’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Martinsville
1. Joey Logano
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Aric Almirola
5. Denny Hamlin
Garage: Chase Elliott

RELATED: Odds for Auto Club | 10-lap averages from Auto Club | Podcast: Fantasy Fastlane

Analysis:

The majority of my lineup will remain the same. but I made two switches after watching practice and qualifying and looking at long-run speed; I’m taking out Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch and substituting Aric Almirola and Joey Logano. The Team Penske fleet, considered a favorable group for this weekend, has not put up the dominant speeds that I expected heading into the weekend. Because of its strength at other tracks on the circuit and early handle on the 2019 rules package, I’m opting to save the majority of their drivers this weekend. The exception is Logano, who won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s event. Logano’s Martinsville history is strong — he’s finished four of the last five races in the top 10, including a win last fall — but what swayed me was his pit stall selection and starting spot, as that No. 1 pit stall is a valuable asset that will aid him on a tricky pit road.

I put Logano in my lineup in place of Kyle Busch after Saturday’s qualifying session; while Busch was quick in practice and has a gleaming recent history at Martinsville, his struggles in qualifying that resulted in a 14th-place starting position worried me. With the race being impounded, crew chief Adam Stevens won’t be able to make any more changes on the No. 18 before Sunday’s race, leaving the slightest bit of risk that I’m not willing to take with a driver as strong week-to-week as Busch.

RELATED: Martinsville 10-lap averages

Aric Almirola was a surprise surge this weekend; the No. 10 driver was second-fastest on the 10-lap average chart (behind Kyle Busch) in opening practice and also posted the second-quickest lap in that session. While Almirola’s entire body of work at Martinsville hasn’t been his most impressive (he has an average finish of 21.4 at “The Paperclip”) his Martinsville finishes in Stewart-Haas Racing equipment are better — he notched 14th- and 11th-place finishes there in 2018. There’s something to be said for Almirola’s current streak, too; he’s finished the past four races in the top 10, leading multiple laps in three of four of them. His front row starting spot confirmed my early decision to slide the No. 10 in my lineup.

While he’s never won on a short track, Martin Truex Jr. has looked fast this weekend, topping the 10-lap average chart in final practice. He was feet away from his first short-track win last fall at Martinsville when Logano bumped him for the victory, leaving redemption on the table for the No. 19 this weekend. He earns a spot in my Fantasy Live lineup. I’m also taking last year’s spring winner at the 0.526-mile track, Clint Bowyer, who topped opening practice and has possessed good long-run speed this weekend.

Rounding out my lineup is the No. 9 of Elliott and the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin. Elliott led final practice at “The Paperclip” and boasts a solid starting spot (eighth) and has put up strong showing at Martinsville in the past. (Remember his run-in with Hamlin in 2017?) Speaking of which — five-time Martinsville winner Hamlin will also be in my lineup. The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver ranked sixth on the 10-lap average charts for both practice sessions and owns the second-best average running position at Martinsville. The 2019 Daytona 500 champ also paced the field in the opening two rounds of qualifying and looks like he could be a factor for the win Sunday.

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

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U 11.5 drivers score stage points on Sunday? While we only saw 10 drivers nab stage points in last year’s spring race, the chances of only 12 drivers earning stage points is unlikely. With 20 spots for points in Stages 1 and 2, only 12 drivers earning stage points implies that only two new drivers — ones who didn’t earn points in Stage 1 — will earn points in Stage 2. Too much of a risk for me, so I’m taking the OVER here.

2. O/U 4.5 Ford drivers finish in the top 10 at Martinsville. While I think Ford drivers like Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are definitely capable of running in the top 10 Sunday, I also think non-Fords like Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and even Jimmie Johnson or JTG Daugherty drivers could make it into the top 10 by the end of a chaotic Martinsville race. If the line was 3.5, I’d take the OVER. But it’s not, so I’m going UNDER as a safer bet.