StatChat - Nascar Cup Series @ Martinsville

After the race weekend that refused to end in Texas, a non-playoff driver victory meant that the playoff picture was still very much up in the air heading into Martinsville this Sunday. A minimum of 2 drivers will now make the Final 4 on points alone. Who has the advantage heading into this weekend? Let’s take a closer look:

Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526 mile short-track oval – the shortest track currently on the NASCAR circuit. This weekend’s race will (confusingly) be called the Xfinity 500. Martinsville is the only current track that has been on the NASCAR schedule every year since its inception, having been built in 1947. Nicknamed “The Paperclip,” it is also unique in that it’s the only NASCAR track to have asphalt straightaways with concrete in the corners.

The race will be 500 laps long (for a total of 263 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 130 – 260 – 500. The fuel window is approximately 145-155 laps, though tire wear will likely result in drivers pitting sooner than that.

This year, the Cup Series has now raced a total of 12,938.83 miles.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:

Jimmie Johnson

9.32 over 37 races

Denny Hamlin

9.90 over 29 races

Brad Keselowski

10.48 over 21 races

Ryan Blaney

11.67 over 9 races

Kyle Busch

12.30 over 30 races

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:

Joey Gase

35.33 over 3 races

JJ Yeley

31.78 over 18 races

Ross Chastain

30.25 over 4 races

Michael McDowell

29.84 over 19 races

Matt DiBenedetto

27.91 over 11 races

Martinsville is classified as a short track. A short track is seen as anything under 1 mile in length.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks

Kyle Busch

11.63 over 150 races

Denny Hamlin