FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: MARTINSVILLE
All three major NASCAR series will be holding elimination races this weekend at Martinsville Speedway as the NASCAR Cup, NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series set their respective Championship 4 fields.
This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, Oct. 30 – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 1 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, Oct. 30 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 6 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Sunday, Oct. 31 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT MARTINSVILLE
· Ford has 30 series wins at Martinsville Speedway.
· Ford has won four of the last nine series events at Martinsville.
· Brad Keselowski has two of those wins while Joey Logano has one.
ROUND OF 8 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Martinsville)
5th — Ryan Blaney (-1 below final transfer spot)
7th – Brad Keselowski (-6)
8th — Joey Logano (-26)
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT MARTINSVILLE
· Ford has 1 series win at Martinsville Speedway.
· Kenny Wallace has that lone series win (1994).
· Austin Cindric has finished in the top 10 in both of his series starts.
ROUND OF 8 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Martinsville)
1st — Austin Cindric (+47 above final transfer spot)
FORD IN THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES AT MARTINSVILLE
· Ford has five all-time NCWTS wins at Martinsville Speedway.
· Todd Gilliland recorded his first series victory at Martinsville Speedway.
· Hailie Deegan will be making her Martinsville Speedway debut this weekend.
BLANEY ON THE BUBBLE
Ryan Blaney goes into this weekend’s elimination race at Martinsville one point behind Kyle Busch for the final Championship 4 spot. He figures to be a contender at the half-mile track based on recent performances that included four straight finishes of fifth or better until an 11th-place run earlier this year ended that streak. Overall, Blaney has five top-5 finishes at Martinsville in 11 career Cup starts and an average finish of 10.7, which ranks second personally among all tracks in which he has 10 or more starts. The only track where he has a better average finish is Las Vegas (8.8 in 11 starts).
KESELOWSKI STILL IN CONTENTION
Brad Keselowski is six points behind Kyle Busch for the final position in the Championship 4, but Martinsville Speedway has been a good place for the Rochester, Michigan native. He comes into Sunday’s scheduled race with two career Cup wins and finishes of fifth or better in 9 of the last 11 races at the track known as the paper clip. Martinsville also ranks fifth in terms of Keselowski’s best average finish, which is 11.2 in 23 starts. His streak of 10 straight top 10 Cup finishes at the track came to an end earlier this year when he was involved in a 12-car accident in the final stage and finished 33rd.
LOGANO LOOKING FOR WIN TO ADVANCE
Joey Logano enters Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination race 26 points below the cutline and in need of a win to make the Championship 4 for a second consecutive season. Logano has also had his share of success at Martinsville Speedway, sitting on the pole three straight times (2015-16) and winning the playoff race in 2018. He has a streak of four straight top 10 Cup finishes at the track, including a sixth place run earlier this season. Logano’s average finish of 12.1 in 24 starts is his fourth best among all active tracks in which he’s had at least 10 starts with only Las Vegas (8.6), Richmond (10.2) and Indianapolis (10.8) being better.
CINDRIC IN GOOD POSITION TO ADVANCE
Austin Cindric finds himself in the best place possible going into Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series elimination race, sitting first in the playoff standings and holding a 47-point cushion over fifth-place Justin Haley. Cindric has been a model of consistency in the postseason as he goes for his second straight championship. He has started first or second in all five races to date and has an average finish of 4.2. As noted above, Cindric has two NXS starts at Martinsville and has finished 10th or better on both occasions. He was 10th in his track debut last season and followed that up with a sixth place run earlier this year.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1961 – Fred Lorenzen (1)
1962 – Nelson Stacy (2)
1963 – Fred Lorenzen (2)
1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)
1965 – Fred Lorenzen and Junior Johnson
1966 – Fred Lorenzen (2)
1969 – Richard Petty (Sweep)
1986 – Ricky Rudd (1)
1990 – Geoffrey Bodine (Sweep)
1992 – Mark Martin and Geoffrey Bodine
1993 – Ernie Irvan (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
1995 – Rusty Wallace (1)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (1)
1997 – Jeff Burton (1)
1998 – Ricky Rudd (2)
2000 – Mark Martin (1)
2001 – Dale Jarrett and Ricky Craven
2002 – Kurt Busch (2)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2018 – Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano
2019 – Brad Keselowski (1)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1994 – Kenny Wallace
FORD NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1995 – Joe Ruttman
2003 – Jon Wood
2004 – Rick Crawford
2005 – Ricky Craven (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2020 – Grant Enfinger
