The first of four scheduled Excursions to Virginia is on Sunday, March 24th with the 71st running of the STP 500 at the Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.
The Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track in the Dragon Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The STP 500 is the first of two races with the next one being the First Data 500 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
Clint Bowyer won the race last year and this season, another affluent field is set to go into the race with various drivers who can really win the event. Let’s take a look at who the oddsmakers think are going to function as drivers to observe this weekend.
“Racing” The Notifications
Kyle Busch is the favorite to win the STP 500. After winning the Ticket Guardian 500 at Arizona last March 10th, Busch maintained the speed with another success in the Auto Club 400 at California. With back to back wins in the last two weekends, no question Kyle Busch deserves to be the +162 favorite here. Busch has finished no lower than 6th spot in six from the last seven races entire and when it comes to the STP 500, he won here in 2016, finished runner-up in the previous two decades and has placed at 5th in each of his last seven appearances here in the Martinsville Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. set 8th last week at the Automobile Club Speedway. The 2017 Dragon Energy NASCAR collection Cup winner has five Top 10 finishes in seven races this season including three in the Top 5. Heading for the weekend, Trues has finished no worse than fourth in his last three races at the Martinsville Speedway.
2017 winner Brad Keselowski has put at least 6th in four out of his last six appearances in the STP 500. Keselowski also loves racing at the Martinsville Speedway as he’s completed no lower than 5th in six out of his last eight races here.
Joey Logano ended next to Busch at California last weekend however while he came up short again, Logano has three Top 5 finishes already this season, including a win in the Pennzoil 400 last month in Las Vegas. It’s interesting that he’s won just once here in Martinsville Speedway but that success came in his final race , the First Data 500 last October 2018.
Denny Hamlin has not picked up a success because his triumph in the Daytona 500 last season but he’s definitely been consistent. Hamlin is averaging a 6.8 ending in his first five races this season and is doing a good job holding his own at the Drivers Championship. Hamlin has won here thrice, the last being in 2015, with only Richard Petty, Darren Waltrip, and Rusty Wallace winning more than him. In addition, he holds two successes in the Martinsville Speedway while hurrying in the Camping Truck World Series.
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