NASCAR at Martinsville 2017: Start Time, Ticket Info, Lineup, TV Schedule, More
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series couldn't have asked for a better start this year with five different drivers boasting checkered flags heading into Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Kyle Larson took the top slot a week ago in California, joining surprises like Ryan Newman and usual suspects such as Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski with wins in the early throes of the season.
Given NASCAR boldly went into this year with further rule changes and a new stage-based format, the parity thus far—not to mention young guys like Chase Elliott hanging around the top 10—has the sport off to a better start than most would have dared predict.
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Martinsville normally sees the expected names dominate the event. This year feels different, though, and for good reason. Here's everything to know about one of the series' most hyped events.
Viewing Details
Where: Martinsville Speedway
When: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET
Watch: Fox Sports 1
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
STP 500
| 1 | Kyle Larson |
| 2 | Chase Elliott |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski |
| 5 | Joey Logano |
| 6 | Jamie McMurray |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer |
| 9 | Kevin Harvick |
| 10 | Kyle Busch |
| 11 | Ryan Newman |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin |
| 13 | Kasey Kahne |
| 14 | Kurt Busch |
| 15 | Erik Jones |
| 16 | Trevor Bayne |
| 17 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 18 | Aric Almirola |
| 19 | Daniel Suarez |
| 20 | Austin Dillon |
| 21 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 22 | Paul Menard |
| 23 | Ty Dillon |
| 24 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 25 | Matt Kenseth |
| 26 | Michael McDowell |
| 27 | Landon Cassill |
| 28 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| 29 | Danica Patrick |
| 30 | A.J. Allmendinger |
| 31 | Cole Whitt |
| 32 | Reed Sorenson |
| 33 | Chris Buescher |
| 34 | David Ragan |
| 35 | Corey LaJoie |
| 36 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |
| 37 | Gray Gaulding |
| 38 | Timmy Hill |
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Standings
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 243 | 1 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 205 | 1 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | 179 | 1 |
| 4 | Ryan Newman | 123 | 1 |
| 5 | Kurt Busch | 118 | 1 |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 214 | 0 |
| 7 | Joey Logano | 174 | 0 |
| 8 | Jamie McMurray | 162 | 0 |
| 9 | Ryan Blaney | 157 | 0 |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 143 | 0 |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | 137 | 0 |
| 12 | Kyle Busch | 136 | 0 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 123 | 0 |
| 14 | Kasey Kahne | 122 | 0 |
| 15 | Erik Jones | 116 | 0 |
| 16 | Trevor Bayne | 114 | 0 |
Drivers to Watch
Fitting with the unpredictable theme of the season so far, Kyle Busch has yet to win a race.
Go figure.
Busch dominated this event last year, leading 352 laps on the way to a checkered flag, which he then turned into another a week later before cooling slightly.
Now Busch would just like to get his first win of the year. He's hardly hanging around in the playoff hunt, having started the year without a top-10 finish over the first three events. This wasn't too hard to see coming after a 38th slot in the Daytona 500.
To be fair, Busch seems to be working his way through adapting to the new format and finished third in Phoenix before eighth in California a week ago, leading 114 laps at the former.
Busch has gone from an odd physical confrontation with Joey Logano to putting together a nice little run as the season turns to short-track events. He's one of a few kings in this area, meaning now would be a good time for fans to brace for a major push.
If Busch can get comfortable at one of his better locales, the sport gets another major win if he throws his name onto the list of winners.
Kyle Larson
Say hello to the hottest driver on the planet right now.
Larson is tops in the standings when sorted by points, which speaks to how well he's handling this new season. He's grabbed a minimum of 36 points in every race thus far, finishing 12th at Dayton, then hit runner-up status three events in a row.
Until last weekend.
In California, Larson made the event almost boring while leading 110 laps. Compare it to last year in California, where he finished 39th, and it's safe to say Larson enjoys the changes this year.
That said, Larson is quite the interesting winner heading into this weekend, because any momentum he might have established could be dashed thanks to off-track issues, as he pointed out on Twitter:
With any luck, Larson will shake off the odd happenings up to Sunday's event and remain in form.
If so, it doesn't look like any driver in the series can hang with him right now.
This isn't what his diehard fans will want to hear, but Jimmie Johnson shows up on here for all the wrong reasons.
Johnson is probably the last person most expected to have a hard time to start the year, but here he is not even in the playoff hunt on the leaderboard after finishing 34th, 19th, 11th, ninth and 21st.
To make matters worse, Johnson hasn't even qualified well, starting no better than 14th over the season's first five events.
As Chris Knight of Catchfence captured, he has a rather simple way of looking at his team's situation right now:
A six-time winner at Auto Club Speedway, Johnson talked about issues he suffered last week at one of his favorite venues after falling out of the running after the halfway mark.
“We definitely didn’t have the fastest car out there today. I think we used up all the good luck in the season finale last season. We battled all day long to get back on the lead lap, but we have got some work to do,” according to the Los Angeles Times' James F. Peltz.
Johnson last won Sunday's event in 2013 and posted a top-10 finish last year, so it's not like he doesn't know how to make a run at a checkered flag.
The sooner Johnson gets back in the playoff picture, the better.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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