NASCAR playoffs
Jimmie Johnson returns to Martinsville, where he has won nine times
This weekend will present a different sort of racing experience for both fans and drivers as the NASCAR playoffs continue at Martinsville Speedway in south central Virginia.
In scheduling atypical of the norm, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers will practice Saturday and qualify and race Sunday.
The racetrack will be open Friday but will be reserved for practice for Camping World Truck Series drivers, who will compete in the Texas Roadhouse 200 Saturday.
Additionally, a new landscape will greet teams as they arrive at the oldest track on the Cup schedule.
The speedway has installed a
$5 million lighting system, and it could be used for the first time for a Cup event Sunday. The First Data 500 is scheduled to start at
3 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Network), but a later start is possible with forecasts calling for rain.
Weather could play a role in the race from another angle. Forecasters call for a chilly Sunday with a high of 50 degrees, almost 20 degrees colder than Saturday’s forecast high, meaning some of the information gathered in practices will be discolored by Sunday’s colder temperatures.
None of this is likely to worry playoff driver Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, who treat Martinsville as a second home. Johnson owns nine wins at the track, tied for third all time with former teammate Jeff Gordon.
The nine wins easily leads active drivers. Denny Hamlin, also a playoff participant, is second with five wins.
Johnson won last fall’s playoff race at the paper clip-shaped track to advance to the Final Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he secured his seventh championship. He advanced through the second round despite spinning twice in last weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway.
“Martinsville is not a bad track for us,” Johnson understated. “Hopefully we can repeat last year’s performance there. It’s pretty simple from here on out. We’ve got to get some speed in our cars, and we’ve got to win a race.”
Johnson and Co. are pursuing what would be a series-record eighth championship.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver doesn’t have to win to advance, but it’s a good plan. He sits fifth in the eight-driver playoff standings, three points in front of Joe Gibbs Racing ’s Hamlin. He’s nine points behind third-place Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski’s Penske team has targeted Martinsville for a win because it views the half-mile track as a bigger opportunity than next weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway and the penultimate race at Phoenix Race- way, the other tracks in the third round.
Playoff drivers who win at Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix will advance to Homestead. Remaining spots in the final four will be filled based on point totals if non-playoff drivers win at the three tracks.
Martin Truex Jr. leads the point parade and is 27 ahead of second-place Kyle Busch, who overcame two nearly disastrous races in the second round to keep his hopes for a second title alive. Busch has scored four consecutive top-fives at Martinsville, including a win in 2016.
“We’ve run well the last couple of times at Martinsville, and we’re definitely pumped about getting back there,” the 2015 series champion said. “We led a lot of laps and we were really fast and came home second there in the spring.”
Although Truex has never won at Martinsville (or at the next two playoff tracks), he’s a good bet to advance to Homestead because of his points success. Among the most impressive statistics Truex has logged this year — he has led 22% of the laps run.