---

STP 500

Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA
Sunday March 25, 2:00 p.m. EST on FS1
1/2 Mile Flat Oval
Weather: Afternoon clearing skies, 43°F

Previous Five Winners and Pole Sitters

Race	Race Winner	Pole Sitter
Fall 2017	Kyle Busch	Joey Logano
Spring 2017	Brad Keselowski	Kyle Larson
Fall 2016	Jimmie Johnson	Martin Truex Jr.
Spring 2016	Kyle Busch	Joey Logano
Fall 2015	Jeff Gordon	Joey Logano

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series returns to Virginia this Sunday with the STP 500 at the "Half-Mile of Mayhem", Martinsville Speedway. A total of 38 cars are scheduled to enter the event and it's supposed to be a wet and chilly weekend so let's hope the weather doesn't affect the race. Who will take the checkered flag at the shortest track on the NASCAR circuit?

The Favorite

For the first time in several weeks, a new driver has been recognized as the favorite. Kyle Busch is a proven master of Martinsville, claiming a top-five finish in each of his last five appearances. Busch's Martinsville success story includes victories last Fall along with a Spring 2016 victory. Busch has been one of the hottest drivers (not named Harvick) so far this season, comfortably riding a streak of three consecutive top-three finishes.

Will this be the week Busch finally makes it to victory lane in 2018? The No. 18 pit crew will need to step it up for that to happen. Busch had the strongest car at Phoenix but his team dropped a jack during his last pit stop allowing Kevin Harvick to build a lead Kyle was simply unable to overcome. Last week Busch was once again one of the leaders going in for his last pit stop but his crew made the wrong wedge adjustment to his car. Martin Truex Jr. ended up driving away from him once the race restarted. If Busch is going to claim his first checkered flag for the year, mistakes like this will need to be avoided.

Other Drivers to Watch

Busch's Joe Gibbs' Racing teammate Denny Hamlin is another driver who excels at Martinsville. The Virginia native has seven career wins on his "home" track, five cup-series and two trucks. In 24 career cup series starts, Hamlin has 12 top-five and 18 top-ten finishes. The No. 11 car is off to a strong start this season placing sixth or better in four-out-of-five starts.

Brad Keselowski won the Spring race at Martinsville last season and followed it up with a gritty fourth-place finish in the Fall. All told, Keselowski has five top-five finishes in his last six starts on this track. Running 500 laps is as taxing mentally as physically and Keselowski possesses the bulldog-type attitude to be in the mix for a win at the end.

Jimmie Johnson nabbed his first top-ten finish this season last week at Fontana. A return to Martinsville is just what he needs to build upon this momentum. Johnson's nine career Martinsville victories currently leads all active drivers. In 32 career cup series starts at Martinsville, Johnson has recorded an impressive 19 top-five finishes.

Nobody can touch Joey Logano when it comes to qualifying at Martinsville. No. 22 has been the pole-sitter in four of the past six races here, finishing the race is a different story. Despite his speed, Logano still has a mediocre average finish of 14th in all 18 career starts. Sooner or later Logano will figure out how to translate his speed into race day success.

No. 3 of Austin Dillon is a sneaky pick to win this week, in my opinion. The reigning Daytona 500 champion has struggled here during Fall races but has finished in the top five the past two Spring events. Clint Bowyer, who finished seventh and third last year at Martinsville, is another surprise contender this year. His career has been rejuvenated since joining Stewart-Haas Racing last year.

News Around the Track

For the third week in a row, one of the top finishing cars failed a post race inspection, this time it was for a minor infraction. NASCAR issued a safety violation to the No. 18 car of Kyle Busch following the Auto Club 400 because one of Busch's lug nuts was not properly secured. The No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens received a $10,000 fine as a result.

StarCom Racing released Jeffrey Earnhardt this past week. 2018 is StarCom's first season running a full schedule. When the team hired Earnhardt earlier this year they announced he would drive the full season. The partnership lasted all of five races. The StarCom No. 00 has only one top thirty finish to its credit this year. It's easy to believe Earnhardt was hired for the value of his last name. Landon Cassill will drive the car at Martinsville and the following race in Texas.

Talladega Superspeedway picked up a new sponsor this week. The track announced their Fall race will be titled the 1000Bulbs.com 500. 1000Bulbs.com is already sponsoring four races for David Ragan's No. 38 car. I'm not sure how many NASCAR fans are buying light bulbs online, but it's always a good sign when businesses are signing up for sponsorships.

Enjoy The Race!

---

_{Author: @chops316
Editor: @liberty-minded}

---

Are you interested in writing for the BRO Sports™ team? Do you like talking about sports all day, every day?

Join us on Discord!

---

_{© 2018 BRO Sports™ Network}