Martinsville preview

This week in the NASCAR cup series brings us to Martinsville. This time we prepare for 400 laps around the paper clip and with a softer tire, I expect the racing to be similar to the fall race that saw tire wear and falloff. Last year in the spring race we saw William Byron win after a late race restart. The fall race while we saw controversy saw a Ryan Blaney win. Byron is coming into the weekend off a 12th place finish at Homestead which saw him have to overcome a costly penalty. Ryan Blaney comes into the weekend off of back to back dnfs due to blown engines so he’s definitely looking to turn things around this weekend. Let’s get into this preview.

This tire is the same tire that was ran in the fall of last year, and this will be the only tire as there is no option tire in play this weekend. However as of this moment as I type this there is a chance of rain this Sunday which could lead to the wet weather tires being used. This would be the first time that the Cup series would run the wet tires at martinsville. The softer tire itself was designed to bring in more tire wear and help improve the racing product as the current next gen product on short tracks has left a lot to be desired. The tire helped aid the racing in the fall but I believe that there is still work to do. Maybe a little bit of extra horsepower could help even more.

As for drivers to look out for I would have to go with one of the Hendrick cars. Kyle Larson is fresh off of his win at Homestead and is riding momentum into a track that he is good at. A track that he ran well and almost won at last year. Also having a win in the past here shows he knows his way around. William Byron has won a few times and has had a solid start to the season. A penalty last week too him out of contention and I’m sure he’s looking to avenge that. Chase Elliot ran well and led laps last year at this track and was close to a win even. Alex Bowman also is a guy to look out for after coming off a heartbreaking loss at the hands of his teammate Kyle Larson. HMS has had this place figured out for as long as I can remember and Sunday shouldn’t be any different.

A few dark horse picks would be Bubba Wallace as he continues to run better and better at Martinsville. He also was in the running to win last week before being passed late. Off to the best start of his career I expect Wallace to be a factor all race. Ryan Blaney having won the last two fall races should have something to say this race as well as he looks to shake off the bad energy. Denny Hamlin is also a guy to watch out for and after strategy combined with adjustments got him a top 5, he’s also riding momentum going to a track that he runs well at.

Coverage begins 1:30 ET with NASCAR RACEDAY on fs1, with the race following at 3:00 ET on fs1.

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