Martinsville: Hamlin hopes to lock up Championship 4 berth
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[October 28, 2016]
The Sports Xchange
Staff Report, NASCAR Wire Service
Disributed by The Sports Xchange
Denny Hamlin's championship aspirations
came .006 seconds away from evaporating at Talladega last Sunday.
Fortunately for the No. 11 Toyota driver, he beat Kurt Busch to the
finish line by .006 seconds (approximately two feet) for a
third-place result that earned him the final spot in the Chase for
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Round of 8 over Austin Dillon.
Now holding the same number of points as the remaining eight
Chase-eligible drivers, Hamlin is back at square one heading into
Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 at his hometown track -- and also
one of his best tracks -- Martinsville Speedway (1 p.m. ET on
NBCSN).
In 21 career starts at Martinsville, the Chesterfield, Virginian
boasts five wins (third-most among active drivers), 11 top-five and
16 top-10 finishes. A visit to Victory Lane on Sunday would earn him
a berth in the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway next
month.
"We have some of our best tracks still coming up, and obviously that
starts with Martinsville this weekend," Hamlin said. "I have always
maintained that if we can get to this Round of 8 in the Chase, we're
going to be tough to beat."
In addition to Martinsville, Hamlin runs strong at the other two
Round of 8 tracks as well - Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix
International Raceway. Among the remaining eight Chase drivers,
Hamlin's 10.9 average finish at the three Round of 8 tracks trails
only Jimmie Johnson's 7.9 average showing. His eight combined wins
at the three ovals - five at Martinsville, two at Texas and one at
Phoenix - rank third behind Johnson's 18 and Kevin Harvick's nine.
Despite his past success, Hamlin understands future results aren't
guaranteed.
"The competition is certainly really good at this level, so it will
be up to us to perform when it counts," he said. "We have confidence
every time we go to Martinsville, and our focus this week will be to
go there and get the victory."
Byron ready for next step at title hunt
Because he won the first race of the inaugural NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series Chase, the last two events of the Round of 8 had little
to no impact on William Byron's title chances.
The heat is back on Byron now as the NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series Chase Round of 6 kicks off with Saturday's Texas Roadhouse
200 at Martinsville Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1).
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"It's a little bit hard to remember what that pressure was like in
the first round since we only had one race before we won," he said.
"Now we get to go back and really focus again, which I think is
probably more fun and more productive than what we've had to do the
last two races. I'm looking forward to that intensity being back,
having our backs against the wall and needing to perform well again.
It's kind of an adrenaline rush to perform well in those
situations."
Celebrating in Victory Lane has become commonplace for Byron, who
leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with a rookie-record six
wins this season. The 18-year-old phenom also paces the series in
top fives (10), average running position (8.0), laps led (572) and
driver rating (105.8).
Byron's lone prior start at Martinsville came in April. He finished
third for his first career top-five showing.
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"It's such a difficult place compared to many of the other tracks,
but it also trends toward the things I learned in short track racing
with late models," Byron said. "I think we're going to have a great
Liberty University Tundra, continue the upward trend we've had at
the short tracks this year and improve on our third-place finish at
Martinsville in the spring to hopefully get a win there this
weekend."
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Race: Goody's Fast Relief 500
Place: Martinsville Speedway
Date and Time: Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. ET
Tune-in: NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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Distance: 263 miles (500 laps)
What to Watch For: Jimmie Johnson tries to register his ninth
Martinsville win as he chases his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
championship. ... Spring Martinsville winner Kyle Busch continues
his title defense by attempting to sweep "The Paperclip." ... Jeff
Gordon hopes to defend his Martinsville victory from last fall in
what is likely his final NASCAR race. If Gordon leads 64 laps he
will become only the sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver all-time
to lead 25,000 or more laps, joining NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard
Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and David
Pearson. ... Only seven of the 135 races (5.2%) at Martinsville have
been won from a starting position outside the top 20 - two of these
occurred in 2015 (Denny Hamlin, spring; Jeff Gordon, fall).
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: Texas Roadhouse 200
Place: Martinsville Speedway
Date and Time: Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 105.2 miles (200 laps)
What to Watch For: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicks of
its Round of 6 with drivers William Byron, Christopher Bell, Matt
Crafton, Ben Kennedy, Timothy Peters and Johnny Sauter. Crafton
(twice), Sauter (twice) and Peters (once) have all won at
Martinsville. ... NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year
frontrunner Chase Elliott, 20, will pilot a NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series truck for the first time since 2013. In nine NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series starts - all in 2013 - Elliott boasts one
win, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes. ... NASCAR Next member
Harrison Burton - son of 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner and
NBC Sports NASCAR analyst Jeff Burton - will make his NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series debut.
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