NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hosts the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, March 3rd. The much anticipated event will take place on NASCAR’s smallest track at Martinsville Speedway in the rolling hills outside of Martinsville, Virginia.
The last time thunder rolled at the famed Martinsville Speedway, Jeff Gordon took home the glory in his last NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of his illustrious career.
Joey Logano‘s 22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion sits on the pole for the second time in the last two spring races. He will look to hold off last year’s STP 500 winner Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has shown considerable speed all throughout the weekend practices and will be starting in the eighth spot, next to teammate and reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Busch.
Starting next to pole sitter Joey Logano is Kasey Kahne’s #5 Great Clips Chevrolet. Kahne was the fastest to turn laps in the second practice of the weekend and also has shown consistency throughout the racing weekend. This is a great chance for Kahne to turn around what has been an otherwise uneventful start to the 2016 season. Expectations are high as the Hendrick Motorsport’s driver shows off his best stuff on the shorter tracks that the series has to offer.
The third through the sixth spots are filled with some drivers that usually don’t find themselves at the front to start a NASCAR-sanctioned race. Brian Vickers is in the third spot and will look to improve on his 13th place finish at Phoenix Raceway. Vickers currently is driving the #14 Stewart Hass Chevrolet of Tony Stewart. Stewart, the soon to be Hall of Famer, is out with injuries suffered in other racing ventures before the 2016 season even got underway.
Paul Menard will start next to Vickers in fourth. Menard is also looking to turn a rather ordinary season start around. NASCAR’s 2007 Rookie of the Year has never cracked the top five at Martinsville Speedway in eleven tries and will look to improve upon his 22nd place average finish. The #31 Granger Chevrolet of Ryan Newman will open in the fifth spot. Newman has had his share of impressive qualifying performances, but has no top fives and has led only three laps through the first five races of the season.
Road course specialist A.J. Allmendinger sits in the sixth spot and will look to carry some momentum from his impressive eighth place finish at California’s Auto Club Speedway on March 20th. Allmindinger has been improving on oval tracks, but has yet to register a top five performance this year and is averaging a 17.4 place finish in the last five races.
Kyle Busch starts in the seventh spot just ahead of teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. The #18 M&M’s Toyota has yet to find victory lane at Martinsville Speedway but has recorded seven top five finishes in sixteen races here. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth will start in ninth and looks to start a string of consistent finishes. The #20 dollar General driver has struggled to finish well here, only recording three top five finishes in 26 races.
Rookie phenom Chase Elliott again finds himself in the top ten. Elliott will start tenth for Hendrick Motorsports and hopes to keep surprising the field with another impressive performance. The #24 3M Chevrolet’s team is no stranger to victory lane at Martinsville Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the last race held here with Elliott’s racing team.
Eight-time Martinsville speedway winner Jimmie Johnson and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled to find consistent speed throughout the weekend. Both Hendrick Motorsport’s veterans will be starting in the middle of the field. Johnson is starting in the 24th spot and Earnhardt Jr. is a little bit better in 21st. Stewart Hass’ teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch also struggled to qualify well. I wouldn’t count either speedster out of it though. Busch won the spring race here in 2014 and Harvick drove his way to victory at Martinsville Speedway in the spring of 2011.
Erik the Hun’s NASCAR Fantasy Line-Up:
A: Joey Logano
B: Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman
C: Brian Vickers
Martinsville Speedway’s STP 500 Starting Grid:
1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 97.043 mph.
2. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 97.033.
3. (14) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 96.864.
4. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 96.854.
5. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 96.736.
6. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 96.676.
7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 96.657.
8. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 96.642.
9. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 96.44.
10. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 96.224.
11. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 96.205.
12. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 96.171.
13. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 96.637.
14. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 96.622.
15. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 96.617.
16. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 96.568.
17. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 96.474.
18. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 96.47.
19. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 96.362.
20. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 96.244.
21. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 96.049.
22. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 95.981.
23. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 95.796.
24. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 95.714.
25. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 96.083.
26. (44) Brian Scott, Ford, 95.917.
27. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 95.912.
28. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 95.888.
29. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 95.874.
30. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 95.84.
31. (98) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 95.757.
32. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 95.612.
33. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 95.593.
34. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 95.545.
35. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 95.295.
36. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 95.252.
37. (32) Joey Gase, Ford, 94.817.
38. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 94.246.
39. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 94.218.
40. (55) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet.
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