NASCAR Martinsville Sunday, March 17, 2019

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES MARTINSVILLE STATS HIGHLIGHTS

2018 Martinsville Playoff race

• Joey Logano moved Martin Truex Jr. exiting final turn on final lap to take the win & earn a trip to Miami
• Logano & Truex finished 1-2 in Miami
• Logano, “Just thinking about Miami, man. Some are going to like it, and haters are going to hate a little bit, but I’m a hard racer.
• I don’t think that’s a secret to anyone. We’re here to win a championship this year.”
• Truex, “He may have won the battle, but he ain’t winning the damn war.
• That’s it. I’m not letting him – I’m going to win the championship.”
• On this date:
• 3/24/96 – Jeff Gordon won Darlington, Bobby Labonte finished 2nd & Ricky Craven finished 3rd
• 2nd of 3 straight wins for Jeff Gordon at Darlington
• 3/24/02 – Kurt Busch won first career Cup race after moving Jimmy Spencer
• 3/24/13 – Kyle Busch won after running 3rd on final lap at Auto Club Speedway with pass of
• crashing Denny Hamlin & Joey Logano followed by Tony Stewart fight with Logano
• Most short track wins last season: 3 Kyle Busch (Only driver to win more than once)
• Most short track top 3 finishes last season: 4 in 6 races Kyle Busch
• Most short track top 5 finishes last season: 5 in 6 races Kyle Busch
• Kevin Harvick only driver to finish top 10 all 6 short track races last season
• Best short track average finish last season: 4.8 Kyle Busch
• Most short track laps led last season: 497 Joey Logano
• Most short track race led last season: 5 of 6 races Kyle Busch
• Most Martinsville wins of active drivers: 9 Jimmie Johnson
• Johnson also leads active drivers in top 5s: 19, top 10s: 24, laps led: 2862, avg. finish: 8.0 & lead lap finishes: 30
• Most Martinsville poles of active drivers: 4 Joey Logano
• Ryan Blaney leads active drivers with 7.8 Martinsville average start
• Martinsville 10/17:
• Denny Hamlin spun Chase Elliott out of the lead with 3 laps of scheduled distance to go
• Kyle Busch passed Denny Hamlin for win on final lap followed by Chase Elliott-Denny Hamlin confrontation
• Martinsville 3/18:
• Clint Bowyer ended career-long 190-race winless streak winning Martinsville for first time in 25th try
• All 3 Team Penske drivers finished top 10
• Kyle Busch: 6 Career win streaks (Back-to-back wins) – Won last 2 races
• Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr. only drivers to finish top 5 both Martinsville races last season
• Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano & Martin Truex Jr. only drivers to finish top 10 both Martinsville races last season
• Kyle Busch: 7 Straight Martinsville top 5 finishes – 4 Top 2 finishes (2 Wins & 2 2nd-place finishes)
• Kyle Busch: Started front row both Martinsville races last season – Finished 2nd & 4th
• Martin Truex Jr.: 0 for 78 on short tracks – 1215 Laps led
• Martin Truex Jr.: 0 for 26 at Martinsville – 262 Laps led
• Martin Truex Jr.: 5 Martinsville top 5 finishes – 3 Straight top 5 finishes
• Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Straight Martinsville top 5 finishes – No top 5 finishes previous 10 races
• Kevin Harvick: 1 Martinsville win (4/11) – Winless last 15 Martinsville races
• Kevin Harvick: 3 Straight Martinsville top 10 finishes – Finished 5th twice
• Jimmie Johnson: Finished 12th or better last 5 short track races (Avg. finish: 7.6) – 4 Top 10 finishes
• Jimmie Johnson: Average last season – Short tracks: 8.8 / All others: 18.3
• Brad Keselowski: 6 Straight Martinsville top 10 finishes – 1 Win (4/17)
• Brad Keselowski: 4 Straight Martinsville races led – 266 Laps led
• Joey Logano: 1 Top 5 finish last 7 Martinsville races – 2018 Martinsville Playoff race winner
• Joey Logano: 309 Laps led 2018 Martinsville Playoff race – 309 Laps led previous 6 Martinsville races
• Martinsville MENCS race ended under lights for first time 10/17
• 2018 Pit road speeding penalties – March: 8 by 6 drivers / October: 4 by 4 drivers
• 52 Different winners in 140 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville races
• 21 NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers won Martinsville races
• 5 Different winners last 5 Martinsville races – First Martinsville win for 3 drivers
• 24 of the 33 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Martinsville (89 Total wins)
• 9 Champions with no Martinsville wins including Martin Truex Jr.
• Kyle Busch only repeat winner last 10 Martinsville races (2 Wins) – 8 Others 1 win each
• Kyle Busch won Martinsville for first time in 22nd try (4/16) – Won 2 of last 6 Martinsville races (4/16 & 10/17)
• Kyle Busch is only repeat winner last 6 Virginia races (3 Wins) – 3 Others 1 win each
• Kyle Busch led 352 laps winning Martinsville 4/16
• Kyle Busch led most laps 3 of last 6 Martinsville races – 2 Wins & 1 2nd-place finish
• Kyle Busch led 937 laps total last 6 Martinsville races
• Kyle Busch passed for final lead change 2 of last 4 Martinsville races – 1 Win last 4 races
• 3 of 140 Martinsville races settled by last lap pass (9/87, 10/17 & 10/18)
• Clint Bowyer led 215 laps winning Martinsville 3/18 including final 114
• Clint Bowyer ended career-long 190-race winless streak at Martinsville 3/18 – First Martinsville win in 25th try
• Last to win back-to-back spring races: Rusty Wallace 1993-’96 (Clint Bowyer won last spring)
• Martinsville 3/18 winner Clint Bowyer pitted in stall 31
• Martinsville 3/18: Most laps led to end of race last season – 114 Clint Bowyer
• Joey Logano led 309 laps including 227 straight in 2018 Martinsville Playoff race – Led 309 of final 368 laps (84%)
• Joey Logano started top 10 last 12 Martinsville races – Front row 6 races
• 2018 Martinsville Playoff race winner Joey Logano pitted in stall 4
• Last to win from pit stall 1: Jimmie Johnson 10/12 & 4/13
• Driver pitted in stall 1 winless last 11 Martinsville races
• Denny Hamlin passed for final lead change last 2 Martinsville Playoff races
• Denny Hamlin won Stage 1 last 2 Martinsville races – Finished 12th (3/18) & 2nd (10/18)
• 10/22/06: Denny Hamlin finished 2nd at Martinsville in Rookie season
• Both Martinsville races swept 12 times – Last: Denny Hamlin in 2010
• Last Rookie of the Year contender to finish top 10 at Martinsville: Juan Pablo Montoya finished 8th 10/21/07
• Joe Gibbs Racing driver passed for final lead change 5 of last 6 Martinsville races
• Joe Gibbs Racing won 12 of last 24 short track races
• Fred Lorenzen only driver to win 4 straight Martinsville races
• 18 Martinsville win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races
• Jimmie Johnson last to win back-to-back Martinsville races (10/12 & 4/13)
• Winner of a Martinsville race went on to win championship 8 of last 13 seasons – Jimmie Johnson 6 times
• Drivers swept both Martinsville races and won MENCS championship 4 times – Last: 2007 Jimmie Johnson
• Jimmie Johnson leads all winning 3 Martinsville races from 1st starting position
• Driver starting first failed to win last 11 Martinsville races – Last to win from pole: Jimmie Johnson 4/13
• Driver starting 1st won 21 of 140 Martinsville Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races
• 13 Won first career pole at Martinsville
• 12 Won first career race at Martinsville – Last: Ricky Craven (10/15/01)
• Morgan Shepherd scored first career win in 15th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race (4/81)
• Harry Gant finished 2nd in 10 races before first career win at Martinsville (4/82)
• Harry Gant won Martinsville 9/91 at age of 51 years, 8 months, 12 days (The final of 4 straight wins)
• Geoff Bodine won first career race & first race for Hendrick Motorsports (4/84)
• Earl Ross was 2nd driver to win a race born outside United States – Martinsville 9/29/74
• 2 Rookie of the Year candidates won Martinsville – Earl Ross (9/74) & Morgan Shepherd (4/81)
• 122 Lap green flag run in 2018 Martinsville Playoff race
• 11 Different car makes won Martinsville races
• Chevrolet leads all with 56 Martinsville wins
• Ford: 3 Wins last 4 Martinsville races – Winless previous 28 races
• 7 Toyota wins at Martinsville – 5 by Denny Hamlin
• 4/26/81: First Pontiac to win a race since 10/27/63
• 6 Martinsville Overtime finishes – Jeff Gordon lost last 2 after leading at scheduled distance (3/10 & 4/12)
• Leader at scheduled distance lost 3 Martinsville Overtime races
• Longest Martinsville race: 515 laps (4/12)
• Most tries before first Martinsville win: 30 – Dale Jarrett (4/01) & Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10/14)
• 4 Won Martinsville in first try – Red Byron (9/49), Dick Rathmann (4/52), Earl Ross (9/74) & Morgan Shepherd (4/81)
• Kyle Busch only driver to win Martinsville NGOTS & MENCS races in same weekend (4/16)
• #11 Won 16 Martinsville Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races
• 2 Drivers didn’t compete in the Martinsville race for which they won the pole
• Donnie Allison (5/31/70) & Jimmy Hensley (9/24/89)
• 5/19/57: Buck Baker won Martinsville, but did not lead final lap
• Hendrick Motorsports: 24 Martinsville wins – 6 Wins last 13 races
• Joe Gibbs Racing: 10 Martinsville wins – 3 Wins last 8 races
• 24 Martinsville wins by Hendrick Motorsports – First win by Hendrick Motorsports: Martinsville 4/84
• 24 Martinsville wins by Hendrick Motorsports – Most of all tracks & most of all teams
• 10 Martinsville MENCS wins by Joe Gibbs Racing
• 7 Martinsville MENCS wins by Richard Childress Racing
• 8 Martinsville MENCS wins by Team Penske – 6 by Rusty Wallace, 1 by Brad Keselowski & 1 by Joey Logano
• 4 Martinsville MENCS wins by Roush – Last win: 10/02 (Kurt Busch)
• 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Martinsville wins with 4 different drivers