Who Can Make a Martinsville Statement in the Xfinity 500?

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NASCAR

Stratta’s Six: Who Can Put an Exclamation Point on The Chase with a Winning Martinsville March?

From the biggest track on the circuit to the smallest, NASCAR now heads to Martinsville Speedway. Sunday’s Xfinity 500 will be the next-to-last stop on the championship trail. One man could clinch the Bill France Cup at the historic Virginia venue, but many others hope to stop that march. Here are a few drivers who hope to put Martinsville mastery on display and leave Sunday with the iconic Grandfather Clock trophy.

Denny Hamlin

Few across Martinsville Speedway’s illustrious history have shown the deftness of Virginia’s own Denny Hamlin. The Chesterfield native owns a six-pack of Grandfather Clocks, most recently from last year’s spring race. That ended a decade-long losing drought for the No. 11 at The Half-Mile of Mayhem, with Hamlin staying elite here throughout his career. This year’s spring race alone saw Hamlin lead 292 laps, before losing control on a late restart.

In 41 career starts at The Paperclip, Hamlin owns the six wins, in addition to 22 top-fives, 28 top-10s, 3,014 laps led, and an average finish of 10th. Hamlin is likely in need of a seventh victory in order to keep his slim title chances alive. After finishing eighth at Talladega, Hamlin now trails Kyle Larson by 73 points. Perhaps no track anywhere is better suited for Hamlin to produce a clutch maximum points afternoon than Martinsville. At similar tracks in 2026, Hamlin has a series-best average finish of 7.8. The 11 will try everything in his power to keep the 5 away from the Cup.

Ryan Blaney

Nobody in the Next Gen era has been more clutch in the fall Martinsville race than Ryan Blaney. Third, first, first, and second are the No. 12’s last four Xfinity 500 finishes, with 354 laps led in that span. Blaney was a bump away from three-peating this race a year ago, having to settle as runner-up. Following a Stage 2 crash at Talladega, the Penske No. 12 trails the championship leader by 107 points. As a result, Blaney can only control his destiny by taking another Martinsville triumph and hoping for others to struggle.

Prior to Talladega, Blaney had strung together an impressive four-straight top-fives, capped off with second at Phoenix. Penske short track prowess is never in question, as proven by Blaney taming New Hampshire a few months ago. Title aspirations may be fleeting for team 12, but they do head into one of their best tracks as a co-favorite alongside Hamlin.

Kyle Larson

All eyes will be on Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet all weekend, as he tries to clinch the Cup Series championship. Thanks to winning Talladega last week, the 5 only needs 59 points to pull off this feat at Martinsville. Larson looks to be the first man to win a Cup title early since Matt Kenseth in 2003. Despite this reality, Larson is still very grounded in what could lie ahead from Martinsville.

“I still feel a lot of pressure,” Larson said. “It’s so easy for the points to swing, and you’ve seen that throughout The Chase. A team or driver can have a great day and score maximum points, and we could have a day like we had at Phoenix, and boom, they’re right back in it. So, I do feel a lot of pressure.”

“Ultimately, I’d love to go to Martinsville and gain the points I need to lock it up, but if we can’t do that, I still want to have a solid day and give ourselves as much of a cushion as possible into Homestead. We’ve done a super good job of staying focused over the past couple of months of The Chase, and we can’t let those things creep into our minds. My goal is to stay locked in and stay on offense.”

“I feel good, yeah. But I don’t know, it would be great to gain a handful of points next week and I guess we would have it locked up. I also don’t want to let that be clouded in my thoughts as we prepare this week and run in the race at Martinsville. Because [we could] really have a good day and give ourselves a good shot at Homestead. Never in a million years would I have imagined leaving [Talladega] plus 73, though. I was shocked when I saw that on the screen. Even more pumped. That makes the win feel even way cooler.”

“There’s still two races. Like, it’s so easy to look at it and be like, ‘Oh, the 5’s got it.’ We could go to Martinsville, and there’s a stack up in turn three on the first lap. I could cave in the radiator and be done. I’m just saying there’s still a lot of racing left. So much in the Chase. All you guys in here are like, ‘this person is out, this person has it locked up.’ They win or something happens, boom, the picture completely changes. I’m not getting ahead of myself at all. I’m not going to let you guys get me ahead of myself either.”

Larson needs 59 points to lock up the Cup title on Sunday. Larson has equaled this feat three times so far in this Chase – in his three wins. Driver 5 does own one Martinsville win from 2023, in addition to eight-straight top-10s. Larson has not led a single lap around The Paperclip since 2024, however, so he is a bit vulnerable here. No racetrack has produced more highs and lows for Hendrick Motorsports than Martinsville. As a result, it would be a very fitting backdrop for winning their record 16th Cup title.

Joey Logano

16 of the last 17 Martinsville races have ended with Joey Logano in the top-10. This incredible consistency comes despite eight years passing since his lone win here en route to title number one. Now chasing a fourth Bill France Cup, Logano enters the weekend 100 points in the hole and needing a small miracle.

Logano may be winless in the last 15 Martinsville races, but he has finished second twice in that span. Additionally, Logano was third in March’s race here. Already owning wins this season at North Wilkesboro, Richmond, and Bristol, Logano looks to end 2026 with another short track checkered flag.

William Byron

As hard as it is to believe, Sunday marks one calendar year since William Byron’s last win. 12 months ago, the Hendrick No. 24 nudged Ryan Blaney out of the way for a third Martinsville triumph and a Championship 4 bid. Now no longer a title contender, Byron hopes to keep his streak of winning seasons alive at one of his best racetracks. Finishing runner-up to Larson last week at Talladega, the 24 team does have some mojo on their side for Martinsville.

“As much as I wanted the win last week, that was exactly the momentum we needed,” Byron said. “We’re now headed to Martinsville where we know how to get it done. We’ve had success there and we pulled out the win last fall. Even in the spring this year, and the unknowns of the new Chevy body, we still finished fifth. I think this weekend gives us a chance to finally get a win.”

Talladega did set a new season-best result for Byron, rounding out a Hendrick 1-2 and a Chevrolet top-six sweep. A Championship 4 finalist the last three years and a winner for six straight seasons, the 24 eyes a return trip to a very familiar victory lane this weekend.

Christopher Bell

The lone Next Gen fall Martinsville winner not already mentioned, Christopher Bell was clutch here under a do-or-die scenario in 2022. Four years removed from that breakthrough win, another Grandfather Clock trophy would keep Bell within striking distance of the Cup title. In the seven races since his Martinsville win, Bell has four top-10s. This includes Bell finishing seventh in the last two races here. The No. 20 Toyota will have to fight for every point possible, however, if they are to narrow a 74-point gap to Larson.

Bell said in March that he can’t wait to race here without the must-win Playoff pressure. Alas, that is all but his situation ahead for Sunday. Bell is still mathematically alive in the Cup Series championship, with Martinsville possibly being his ticket to a Homestead title throwdown.

A can’t-miss piece of every year’s championship path, some drivers may see their seasons made or broken at Martinsville. The Xfinity 500 has seen dominant performances and chaos alike reign supreme in recent years. In short, this is one of the craziest Chase races year in and year out. 2026 could be either extreme, with a championship clinching scenario and plenty of hungry suitors trying to stay alive. The Virginia green flag will fly Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The top six contenders are all past Martinsville masters. This leads to a very evenly matched field gunning for the Grandfather Clock.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images