MARTINSVILE, VA. – For a number of NASCAR Cup Series drivers, the introduction of the Gen 7 car in 2022 changed their fortunes at Martinsville Speedway.
Brad Keselowski, a consistent contender and two-time winner in the Gen 6 car at Martinsville, has posted an average finish of 23.83 in the six races since the car change.
Martin Truex Jr. who won three of four races at the 0.526-mile short track from the fall of 2019 through the spring of 2021 never got a handle on Martinsville in the new car. Even with a third-place run in 2023, his average result in the Gen 7 era was 16.5.
Kyle Larson, on the other hand, found magic in the new car. From an average finish of 20.57 in the Gen 6 era, Larson has improved to an average of 2.8 in his last five Martinsville races, with a victory, two runner-up results, a third and a sixth.
Ryan Blaney is the exception that proves the rule. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has been strong at the vaunted short track throughout his career, despite adjustments he had to make with the change to the Gen 7 car.
“I think everyone had to change their style up a little bit,” Blaney said. “I don’t know which one I prefer here. I feel like this place has gotten better with this (Gen 7) car with the soft tire. You’re able to move around more.
“I didn’t think with the old car the second lane was there as much as it is with this car. I think that’s more on Goodyear getting softer and softer and laying rubber down where you can move around, but I also think the other car was better in dirty air, where you didn’t have to have that second lane. So it’s trade-offs.
“I know you’re shifting a lot—you shift four times a lap here, so that’s changed the way you got into the corner and approached the center speed of it. So, yeah, I definitely had to change up, but I just got fortunate that what I came here with my mind-set worked with this car with how I changed up from the Gen 6 car.”
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
