FYI WIRZ: NASCAR Contenders Familiar and New Go East to Martinsville

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has had a fast, five-race start that swung west for action and benefitted frequent achievers Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. This week, leaders and optimistic teams take their efforts back east to the challenging short track shaped like a paperclip at Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

The .526-mile oval track with 12-degree banking in Virginia might benefit some MS veterans and a few drivers who aren’t regular visitors to Victory Lane.

It’s notable that drivers like Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola, Paul Menard and A.J. Allmendinger, historically infrequent NSCS winners, have secured spots in upper levels consistently this season.

Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have repeat top finishes that have placed them high in early standings. They are eager for this weekend. All six drivers with recent performing teams shared their thoughts about Martinsville, which may help fans enjoy action that will likely result in many crumpled fenders.

Johnson, a six-time champion, tried to take a humorous tack heading into a serious racetrack.

“I joke about NASCAR needing to adjust the schedule and have at least six stops to Martinsville and six stops to Dover to make up the calendar year,” he said. “I love that Martinsville track. I think it's so entertaining; the history there is amazing.”

Earnhardt seemed to agree with Johnson, although their quotes were no doubt obtained separately.

“Short-track racing is something I love,” he said. “It's not a lost art, but it's definitely something we don’t get a lot of and don’t get to do very often. Martinsville is a great ticket, and it's a great racetrack. It's a great place to go see a race.”

Aric Almirola has taken the King’s banner to upper-level results. Another win for Richard Petty Motorsports would help shine that iconic crown a bit. He commented on the track.

"Martinsville is a very unique and tough track,” he said. “It is very tough on the equipment, which plays into our hands. I think we do a good job of saving our stuff until the end. Hopefully, we'll score a good finish and add to the Petty history at Martinsville."

Truex was honest about his take on the upcoming contest.

“They call Martinsville the paper-clip track; I call it the puzzle,” he said. “It's not one of my favorite tracks. After nearly 20 races, the track is still perplexing to me. We might have similar first names—Martin and Martinsville—but we just don't see eye to eye.”

Truex did add a note of confidence.

“I hope we can change that this weekend,” he said.

Paul Menard would be a great guy to follow through speed traps on highways. He keeps slipping under the radar and running up positions in the NSCS Top 10. Menard’s description of the perplexities at MS stood out.

"Martinsville is a cool track. It's like a big game of bumper cars,” he said. “Track position is very important, but fast cars tend to go to the front, too. There's a lot of strategy to get track position, and you obviously need a good car to maintain the position."

Credit: Dwight Drum

Allmendinger defined the adversity all NSCS drivers will face this Sunday.

"Mentally, you prepare for 500 laps around Martinsville and you can do 490 laps perfect and get taken out with 10 laps to go and just ruin your day,” he said. “We do our job, give ourselves the best opportunity to win that we can. We've got to keep doing that."

It’s not likely all these steady producers who have shared their pre-race thoughts will have a good day at this next race, but a few can stand out while one might roar to the checkered flag.

Fans not in the close Martinsville stands can catch the bumping action at 1 p.m. ET on Fox.

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com. Unless otherwise noted, information and all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official release materials provided by sanction and team representatives.