Sprint Cup Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville: Preview and prediction

NASCAR heads to Martinsville, their smallest track for the second time this year, only this time around one driver could punch his ticket into the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 20.

And then there were four. Races, that is.

This Sunday the Sprint Cup Series moves into Martinsville Speedway to kick off the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. With eight drivers still alive, the next three NASCAR events will whittle down the eight remaining championship hopefuls to four for the season ending event in late November.

Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano will tackle the 0.526 mile oval known as the “Paperclip” which, if you like short track racing, is must see viewing. To say there will be a lot of bumping and banging would be an understatement, but Martinsville is also a place where tempers can flare even before one mile is completed.

The eight finalists have three races to make their case for the finale at Homestead-Miami. After Martinsville they will tackle Texas and Phoenix and here are the combined wins, average finish and driver ratings for each at that those venues:

In the spring race, Joey Logano took the pole and Kyle Busch took the checkered flag. Logano also took the pole for this race a year ago with Jeff Gordon being the defending champion. Gordon, who retired after the 2015 season, will be in the No. 88 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports as he fills in for the last time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is out with concussion-like symptoms. This could very well be the end of his illustrious career.

Martinsville was opened in 1947 as a dirt track and is one of the oldest continuously-operating race tracks in the country. The first races sanctioned by NASCAR came a year later on July 4 and in 1949 it hosted the first Cup race.

Over its history, 612 drivers have started at least one race at Martinsville with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty holding the all-time mark of 67. Gordon leads all active drivers with 46. Gordon has the best starting average at 7.196. Petty has taken the most checkered flags with 15.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:
With three consecutive poles under his belt, Joey Logano looks to make Martinsville history if he adds a fourth on Friday.

TRACK INFO:
Location – Martinsville, Virginia
Capacity: 55,000
Statistics – 0.526 mile pave oval
Track Record: Joey Logano, 100.201 mph (18.898 seconds) 2014

CHASE BREAKDOWN:
Segment 1 – Chicagoland (COMPLETED), New Hampshire (COMPLETED), Dover (COMPLETED)
Segment 2 – Charlotte (COMPLETED), Kansas (COMPLETED), Talladega (COMPLETED)
Segment 3 – Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix
Segment 4 – Homestand-Miami Speedway

PREDICTION:
One of the toughest things to do is predict a winner at a track that will have 40 cars crammed into a little more than a half-mile so with the inevitable wrecks that will happen, pit crews could very well impact the outcome. The edge has to go with one of the 16 drivers that made the original Chase field. One driver that is on a mission after his title chance blew up, literally, a week ago gives him a solid chance to take this one and be a spoiler: Brad Keselowski.

LONGSHOT:
It may be hard to think of him as a longshot with his history at Martinsville. He has not had a lot of success in a part-time role after coming out of retirement to help out his old boss, Rick Hendrick, after Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sidelined and this may very well be his swan song in NASCAR so his entire team will be doing their best to punch him across the finish line first: Jeff Gordon.