MARTINSVILLE, Va. – It’s no surprise that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers made three of the first five starting spots for Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
In fact, Playoff drivers made up six of the final 12 sports that raced to the pole in the final short track race of the season.
Yes, Kyle Busch won the pole edging Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer – but the mix of veterans and young-guns have an opportunity to shake up the Playoff treat with just four Cup races remaining.
Although being eliminated from the championship picture last weekend at Kansas Speedway, Ryan Blaney will start fourth on Sunday and look for his second win of 2018.
With his future cloudy in Cup Series competition, Daniel Suarez has been fast all weekend at the historic paperclip. Carrying the speed from both practice sessions to qualifying, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion will start inside the top-10 for the second consecutive weekend and look for his ninth top-10 finish of 2018.
In his three prior starts at Martinsville, Suarez hasn’t finished better than 15th in 2017.
On the heels of a podium finish at Kansas Speedway, a finish that ultimately proved not to be enough to propel him into the Round of 8, Larson qualified 10th on Saturday and eyes his 18th top-10 finish on Sunday.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, however, doesn’t have the results to back-up a solid string of starting spots, four consecutive in the top-10. Larson’s best finish came two years ago when he finished third in the spring race after starting 17th.
“We made it to the final round, so that is good,” sounded Larson. “I just had a little wheel hop in that last round, otherwise we could have gone a little bit faster. This starting spot helps with pit selection. We were just so-so in practice, but that is what we typically are in practice.
“It’s a long race. I just have to make sure I stay calm, and we will be okay. Hopefully, I can maintain good track position throughout the day and we can have a solid day.”
Cup Series rookie William Byron has his second top-12 starting spot in the last three races, bettering a 20th place qualifying run in his first Cup attempt at Martinsville in March.
The reigning Xfinity Series champion hasn’t finished inside the top-10 since Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August and after a frustrating freshman season with just three top-10 finishes, the 20-year-old eyes to better a season-high sixth place finish earned at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
“I think we just kind of nailed our laps in the second round and that kind of led to some more speed there,” Byron said. “It was still kind of a struggle in that last round, but overall pretty happy to start in the top 12 is good a lot better than we were the last time here, so still got a little bit of work to do for me to get this place figured out a little more, but it’s definitely coming to me more. Hopefully, it trends that direction in the race.”
On the flip side, Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson are looking for more speed on Sunday. Elliott, who qualified 21s is the deepest of the
Playoff drivers hoping to advance to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway next month.
Elliott was mum for words following time trials.
Elliott said the goal Sunday is “to go a lot faster. It just wasn’t… didn’t do a real good job, just a lot of work to do.”
And probably most importantly, “not getting lapped.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
