Written by Gabriel Tsui, Ashleigh McGregor, & Sean McKean
The Final 4 will be decided this weekend, as the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series’ travel to Martinsville Speedway for the last race in the Round of 8.
Martinsville Speedway opened in late-1947 and first hosted Cup Series competition in 1949. In 1950, the Cup Series added a second date in the fall. Since then, this track has hosted two highly anticipated dates each season.
The track – also known as “The Paperclip” because of its appearance – is 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometres) in length. The banking in each corner is only 12 degrees with zero banking on the straights.
This fall date in particular for Martinsville has seen many memorable moments within the last decade, including but not limited to: Ross Chastain’s wall-ride in 2022, Joey Logano’s bump-and-run on Martin Truex in 2018, Chase Elliott v. Denny Hamlin in 2017, and Matt Kenseth’s payback crash on Logano in 2015.
The defending winners of each race are:
Trucks (2021): No. 21 - Zane Smith (GMS Racing)
Xfinity: No. 7 - Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports)
Cup: No. 12 - Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Trucks: Friday, 1 November, 18:00 local (23:00 UK) – 200 laps
Xfinity: Saturday, 2 November, 16:00 local (21:00 UK) – 250 laps
Cup: Sunday, 3 November, 14:00 local (19:00) – 500 laps
Cup Series: Xfinity 500 Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
Following an amazing finish to a spectacular race in Homestead Miami, we head to Martinsville for the penultimate race of the season, and the final race for the round of eight. With Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick holding down two of the spots for the championship round, who will take the final two spots for a trip to Phoenix?
The drivers will drive 500 laps around the half-mile track, with 130 laps each in the first two stages, and 240 laps in the final stage, totalling a distance of 263 miles (423 kilometres) run around the track.
The weather report indicates that there will be no rain during the weekend, with temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius (65 degrees Fahrenheit). The race will commence on the Sunday of 3 November at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT, 20:00 CET).
Race Predictions
Heading into the final race weekend of the round of eight, there are a few drivers who are in desperate need of a win to launch them into the next round. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott are 38 and 43 points behind the cut line respectively, and both of them are unlikely to make the next round of playoffs through points total, so they will be hunting for the win.
Same goes for Denny Hamlin, who is 18 points behind the cut line. Unless drivers in front such as William Byron and Kyle Larson crash out early into the race, he will also be looking for the win.
In recent years, the track has been relatively evenly split between the manufacturers, and it has been quite impossible to predict who will win this race. However, if we take into the early season trip to Martinsville, the favourite quite easily emerges.
Chevrolets has won four of the previous six trips to Martinsville, and have been relatively successful in short tracks this season. Therefore, my pick for the race win will be Kyle Larson. He has been a force to be reckoned with in these short tracks, winning in Bristol in the round of 16.
He also has multiple top-ten finishes in Martinsville throughout his career, and he also secured a win back in spring of 2023. He is currently seven points behind the cut line, but he won’t be there for long.
Three storylines to look out for:
Now or never for Blaney and Elliott
Both Blaney and Elliott had periods of time in Miami where they had a chance at the win, with Blaney on the receiving end of Tyler Reddick’s race-winning overtake. They have one last chance at returning to the championship race, and it won’t be easy for either of them. However, they both had wins at this track, and they have a good record in short tracks, so don’t be surprised if they pop out and force their way into victory lane.
Tempers will be blazing in short track racing
One of the inherently special features of short track racing is that drivers are door to door almost throughout the race, and it is an elbows out situation from start to finish. With that, it also brings out the anger and fight within the drivers, with iconic moments from short tracks created through said anger and fight. With added pressure from playoffs, get ready for some aggressive racing.
The Hendrick civil war
Hendrick Motorsport went from almost sending all four of their cars into the round of eight, to now in danger of having none of their drivers in the championship round. Even if neither of Hamlin or Blaney secure wins, they are likely to only have one driver in the final round of the playoffs. Currently, Byron is above the cutline by seven points while Larson trails by the same amount. The gloves will be off for both drivers if they want to advance, and quite unfortunately, one of them will be looking from the outside in after Sunday.
Xfinity Series: National Debt Relief 250 Preview
Written by Ashleigh McGregor
Martinsville Speedway will host the last race of the round of eight. Eight drivers remain but only four will move on to race in the Championship 4 on 9 November.
Austin Hill, having won the last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, is locked in with AJ Allmendinger for a place in the championship race. Hill should be delighted as he has yet to make it to the championship four.
On the bubble is:
5. Chandler Smith: -28
6. Jesse Love: -35
7. Sam Mayer: -47
8. Sammy Smith: -95
If Chandler Smith doesn’t make the final four it will mean Toyota is out of the constructors playoffs; leaving them with a last place finish. All four of these drivers will be racing their hearts out to try and clinch the two remaining seats in the playoff. Justin Allgaier currently in third place and Cole Custer; in fourth will be trying to remain in their positions.
Allgaier and Custer both have a lot to lose if they don’t move forward. Allgaier will be looking for redemption for his second place finish last year.
Custer; this year's Xfinity series regular season champion and last year's playoff champion, will be looking to add his name to the history books amongst the greats by getting back to back titles.
The drivers will be covering a distance of 131.5 miles (211.3 kilometres), going 250 laps around the Martinsville Speedway. Stages one and two will be 60 laps and stage three will cover the remaining 120 laps.
Friday's weather for qualifying looks to be overcast with some showers and storms with a high of 66 degrees Fahrenheit (18.8 Celsius). Saturday, the sun will return with some clouds but the temperature will stay the same as Friday's.
Tune in to see the last battle before the Championship 4 is set. Who will join Austin Hill and AJ Allmendinger in the championship?
Truck Series: Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 Preview
Written by Sean McKean
Seven unlocked drivers and three spots remaining: this is what’s at stake for playoff drivers as the Truck Series heads to Martinsville for the Round of 8 finale. After Grant Enfinger’s second consecutive win last weekend, three spots are still for the taking in the close-quarters track.
This will be the Truck Series’ first time at this track in the playoffs since 2021. In that race, a dramatic ending unfolded: Stewart Friesen hooked Todd Gilliland on the frontstretch and spun, then Friesen tried hooking Zane Smith but ultimately spun himself. Smith won the race and locked himself into the Championship 4; however, Ben Rhodes eventually took the title the very next week.
Race Predictions
As mentioned above, all it takes is a late-race restart for any and every dramatic event to unfold. So long as this doesn’t occur, however, Christian Eckes will undoubtedly be the favourite – having dominated the spring race.
Two storylines to look out for:
Conner Jones “on vacation”
Before Homestead, ThorSport’s Conner Jones had run under the radar for the most part – languishing in the low-20s in his partial campaign. However, Jones was put onto the radars of many for all the wrong reasons in Homestead.
Having been battling hard for Niece’s Matt Mills for a top-20 spot, Jones’ frustration got the best of him, hooking Mills into the outside wall. This resulted in an outburst of flames that hospitalised Mills for two days following smoke inhalation.
Subsequently, Jones was suspended for this race in Martinsville as a precedent for future drivers in NASCAR.
Can Majeski usurp the favourite?
Given his track record here, Christian Eckes may be the favourite for victory in Martinsville. But, Ty Majeski has consistently shown speed at this track – finishing second to Eckes in the spring. Could we see Majeski pull through and lock himself into the Championship 4?
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