NASCAR Cup Series

His smile is infectious and his exuberance contagious. Nowhere was that more evident than in victory lane after Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally won at Martinsville Speedway. He’s an unexpected combination of vulnerability and a hidden strength born of tragedy that endears him to not only his fans but his fellow competitors as well. When Earnhardt wins it’s difficult not to get caught up in his joy.

Hosting the first Eliminator race in the Chase, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 66th annual Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Nationwide Series championship leader Chase Elliott will be looking to get a step closer to etching his name in the history books when he competes in Saturday's O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

This weekend, Marcos Ambrose will represent DEWALT for the final time. DEWALT will sponsor the No. 9 Ford of Ambrose at the fast, mile-and-a-half Texas Motor Speedway in Sunday's 500-mile race. It will be their last primary sponsorship of the season.

The No. 43 team worked hard on their mile-and-a-half program and showed significant improvement throughout the season. Aric Almirola's best intermediate track finish this year was an eighth-place finish at Kansas earlier in the year. The team also showed speed in the past few intermediate track races but don't have the finishes to show for it. This weekend, Almirola hopes to rebound with a good finish in the No. 43 Farmland Ford.

Ryan Blaney will return to the seat of the No. 12 Snap-on Ford Mustang this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The last time the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) raced, three weeks ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Blaney nearly pulled off a big upset with a car that was extremely tight.

In his 21 career Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, Biffle has two wins, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. His average starting position is 12.3 with an average finishing position of 14.7.

Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history at Texas Motor Speedway ... In 81 starts at Texas Motor Speedway dating back to 1997, RCR has recorded one win (Jeff Burton, April 2007), eight top-five and 30 top-10 finishes with drivers Burton, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Green and Paul Menard.

Stenhouse has three Sprint Cup career starts with an average starting position of 19.0 and average finishing position of 27.3.