NASCAR Cup Series

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to the final short track race of the season, Martinsville Speedway. The .533-mile track typically produces plenty of beating and banging with the winner getting one of the most coveted trophies on the circuit– a seven-feet tall grandfather clock.

1. Joey Logano: Logano finished 11th at Talladega as Penske teammate Brad Keselowski won, joining Logano and six others with a chance to win the Sprint Cup.

Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford team have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)-leading six victories, thus far, this season. The team produced a dramatic win last Sunday at Talladega to keep their championship quest alive and advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase, which begins this weekend at Martinsville.

Eight drivers enter the Goody’s® Headache Relief Shot® 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday afternoon with a shot at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

The half-mile, concrete track in southern Virginia is one of the places where a young Vickers fell in love with NASCAR. Just 60 miles from his Thomasville, N.C. boyhood home, the Vickers family often made the trip to Martinsville Speedway.

After a barrage of late race cautions and two attempts at a green-white-checker finish and when the dust settled, Edwards finished 21stand had survived the 194-lap race on the Superspeedway and advanced to the Eliminator round for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The points reset and all eight drivers are tied traveling to Martinsville.

David Ragan, driver of the No. 34 Wendell Scott Hall of Fame Tribute Ford, comments on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

Gilliland has 16 Sprint Cup career starts at Martinsville Speedway ... His top finish at the .526-mile oval is 19th (2010) .. A&W All American Food returns as primary sponsor of the No. 38 Ford.

Stenhouse Jr. has three Sprint Cup starts at the paper-clip shaped track with an average starting position of 23.3 and average finishing position of 32.0.

Greg Biffle was a strong contender in the first half of the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Biffle led a total of 18 laps and was a regular inside the top 10. As the laps dwindled down, the No. 16 3M Ford continued to get tighter which cost valuable track position on restarts as Biffle was stuck in the outside lane. The tight handling condition, coupled with tire wear, culminated in an 18th-place finish.