Drivers React To Lack of Martinsville Passing

Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images via NASCARMedia. 

NASCAR

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Each year fans flock to NASCAR’s shortest race track, Martinsville Speedway, for the intense racing we’ve come to love. However, Saturday night’s race at the tight half-mile looked very different. After two wild races full of bumping and high tempers in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series, the Cup Series was the complete opposite.

Race winner William Byron was one of just four drivers to lead laps in the race. The early stages were dominated by Chase Elliott, leading 185-straight laps. However, Chase Elliott would lose the lead on pit road to Byron, who never looked back, leading 212 of the remaining 218 laps. Ryan Blaney led for five laps during a pit road cycle and Austin Dillon led for one.

So what happened? Our last race here seven different leaders with 15 lead changes. Drivers chimed in with their thoughts post-race.

William Byron (Race Winner)

“The pace was certainly high,” Byron said in his post-race media conference. “I think it’s just really cold temps. Anytime it’s below 40 degrees, the tires don’t even lay rubber. So, that was definitely a factor all night but normal short-track stuff. Take care of your rear tires and all those things.”

Joey Logano (2nd place finish)

“It’s no secret this car is worse in dirty air if you’re directly behind them,” Logano said post-race. “It seems to be able to recover better if you’re not directly behind them. It seems the way the cars were into the corner, the way the track wasn’t taking rubber, it made the bottom be the dominant lane. (…) We really got stuck.”

Austin Dillon (3rd place finish)

“I didn’t mind it,” Austin Dillon said after finishing third. “I was able to come from 23rd, did a lot of passing. It’s freezing cold out here, track grip is super high. When we come back and it’s hot and slick it’ll be a totally different race.”

Ryan Blaney (4th place finish)

“If it was 90 degrees, it still would have been plowing tight behind somebody,” Blaney said. “It would have been more slick but that would have been for everybody. If you’re in dirty air, you’re in dirty air. You can’t even get into the corner and roll to a guy to put the bumper to him. You just can’t get there, so I don’t know if the hotter temperatures would have helped.”

Ross Chastain (5th place finish)

“It’s a combination of everything,” Ross Chastain said when asked about the colder temps and lack of rubber. “I do think we’re forgetting how hard it was to pass in the past with the old car. I think when they built the second car in the history of man, it was hard to pass. I really think we’re remembering things better than they were. It’s why people love this place, you have to move people.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr also chimed in on the difference in Saturday’s racing at Martinsville, detailing how the Next Gen car may change things:

Only time and more on-track activity with the new Next Gen car will really show if what we saw Saturday at Martinsville is something we’ll see more of going forward.

Written by Noah Lewis

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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images via NASCARMedia.