March 26, 2018
Monday Martinsville Notebook:Hamlin and Harvick tangle at Martinsville – to Hamlin’s detriment; Bowman leads Chevy brigade with seventh-place finish; Allmendinger gets season-best finish at one of his best tracks.[More](3-26-2018)
Clint Bowyer breaks 190-race drought with Martinsville win: Clint Bowyer was so excited he started his celebratory burnout at the entrance to Turn 3 at Martinsville Speedway, flirting perilously with the outside wall. Bowyer had ample reason to start the party early, before he got to the frontstretch for a traditional smoke show. With his victory in Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500, he had just ended a winless streak in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that had reached 190 races, dating to the fall race at Charlotte in 2012.[More](3-26-2018)
#14-Bowyer won the STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The win is his first win of 2018, first win at Martinsville and ninth career win.
#18-Busch finished 2nd followed by #12-Blaney, #78-Truex, #4-Harvick, #22-Logano, #88-Bowman, #47-Allmendinger, #9-Elliott, and #2-Keseloski.
Truex earned the pole on Saturday after weather moved into the area. It eventually forced NASCAR to postpone the race until Monday. He had a quiet day, led four laps, and finished in the top-five.
Stage 1 was won by #11-Hamlin, finished 12th.
Stage 2 was won by #12-Blaney, finished 3rd.
There were 11 lead changes among 6 drivers and 4 cautions for 33 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 81.663 mph.
See unofficial race results, awards, laps led, cautions and more at:
Unofficial Race Results (pdf)
Cumulative Report (pdf)
Penalty Report (pdf)
Race Fast Facts – Martinsville
Clint Bowyer won the 69th Annual STP 500, his ninth victory in 439 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Series races.This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2018.This is his first victory and 15th top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville Speedway.Kyle Busch (second) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 26 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his fifth
top-10 finish in 2018.Ryan Blaney (third) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Martinsville Speedway.William Byron (20th) was the highest finishing rookie.Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 8 points over Martin Truex Jr.
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(3-25-2018)
2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Driver Chase Standings:
[after Martinsville, race 6 of 36]
#4-Kevin Harvick [3 wins – 2 can be used for playoffs], 212
#78-Martin Truex Jr. [1 win], 249
#14-Clint Bowyer [1 win], 210
#3-Austin Dillon [1 win], 148
#18-Kyle Busch, 257
#12-Ryan Blaney, 233, -24
#22-Joey Logano, 232, -25
#2-Brad Keselowski, 226, -31
#11-Denny Hamlin, 217, -40
#42-Kyle Larson, 195, -62
#41-Kurt Busch, 177, -80
#10-Aric Almirola, 171, -86
#20-Erik Jones, 152, -105
#88-Alex Bowman, 145, -112
#21-Paul Menard, 139, -118
#31-Ryan Newman, 135, -122
See the Unofficial Drivers Points Standings page (pdf) and Unofficial Owners Points Standings page (pdf)
Top-Ten Stage 2 Results (lap 260) of the STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway (lap 260/500):
#12-Blaney, 10pts, 1 playoff point
#14-Bowyer, 9pts
#18-Busch, 8pts
#2-Keselowski, 7pts
#11-Hamlin, 6pts
#4-Harvick, 5pts
#41-Busch, 4pts
#47-Allmendinger, 3pts
#22-Logano, 2pts
#48-Johnson, 1pt
Lucky Dogs, drivers that got a lap back during the cautions (and their finish):
Caution 1: #55-Yeley, 31st
Caution 2: #1-McMurray, 26th
Caution 3: #9-Elliott, 9th
Caution 4: #9-Elliott, 9th
John Hunter Nemechek charges to Camping World Truck Series win at Martinsville: In a race delayed for two days by a freak snowstorm in southern Virginia, John Hunter Nemechek charged to the front on a restart with 31 laps left on Monday and held off Kyle Benjamin to win the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race by a mere .106 seconds.The victory was the first at Martinsville for Nemechek, who had two previous runner-up finishes at the .526-mile short track. This time, despite Benjamin pounding his rear bumper in the final corner, Nemechek earned the grandfather clock trophy that goes to the race winner.[More](3-26-2018)
Nemechek wins postponed Martinsville Truck race: #8-John Hunter Nemechek won the weather-delayed Alpha Energy Solutions 250 Camping World Truck Series race on Monday after taking the lead with a brave three-wide move 31 laps from the finish at Martinsville Speedway. In his series debut, #54-Kyle Benjamin finished second. #16-Brett Moffitt, #98-Grant Enfinger, #18-Noah Gragson, #13-Myatt Snider, #92-Timothy Peters, #51-Harrison Burton, #02-Austin Hill, and #24-Justin Haley followed in the top-10.
On Saturday, #27-Ben Rhodes started from the pole and led the first 23 laps before snow forced NASCAR to postpone the race to Sunday. The race was pushed back again to Monday more snow fell overnight on Saturday and into early Sunday morning.
Rhodes led a race-high 134 laps, but troubles in the pits late in the running lost him precious track position he was unable to regain.
There were 10 caution flags for 68 laps and 10 lead changes among six leaders.
See results on the Martinsville race results page(3-26-2018)
Martinsville Truck Series Race Fast Facts:
John H. Nemechek(i) won the 20th Annual Alpha Energy Solutions 250, his sixth victory in 79 NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2018.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in ten races at Martinsville Speedway.
Kyle Benjamin(i) (second) posted his first top-10 finish in one race at Martinsville Speedway. It is his
first top-10 finish in 2018.
Brett Moffitt (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Martinsville Speedway.
Myatt Snider (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Johnny Sauter leads the point standings by 29 points over Grant Enfinger.
(NASCAR Statistics) (3-26-2018)
Stage Information:
Stage 1 – 40, winner, #27-Ben Rhodes
Stage 2 – 80, winner, #27-Ben Rhodes
Stage 3 – 134, race winner, #8-John Hunter Nemechek
Camping World Truck standings following Martinsville:
1) #21-Johnny Sauter, 181 [1 win]
2) #98-Grant Enfinger, 152, -29
3) #16-Brett Moffitt, 150, -31, [1 win]
4) #41-Ben Rhodes, 148, -33
5) #18-Noah Gragson, 146, -35
6) #52-Stewart Friesen, 122, -59
7) #88-Matt Crafton, 122, -59
8) #13-Myatt Snider, 118, -63
9) #25-Dalton Sagreant, 118, -63
10) #02-Austin Hill, 100, – 81
See complete standings on Driver points standings page and the owner’s standings are posted on the Owner points standings page. (3-26-2018)
Free Pass – Who got a lap back on each caution at Las Vegas: (and their finish)
Caution 1: #63-Donahue, 30th
Caution 2: #83-Donahue, 23rd
Caution 3: #45-Fontaine, 28th
Caution 4: #49-Chavous, 18th
Caution 5: #2-Coughlin, 26th
Caution 6: #50-Cram, 17th
Caution 7: #50-Cram, 17th
Caution 8: #20-Wilson, 16th
Caution 9: #49-Chavous, 18th
Caution 10: #21-Sauter, 19th
(3-26-2018)
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