NASCAR Martinsville 2017: Schedule, results, and news

The first of three races in the semifinal round of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs takes the green flag on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The First Data 500 begins at 3 p.m. ET, with NBCSN providing broadcast coverage.

A victory by any of the eight title-eligible drivers would automatically advance him to the one-race championship Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Those still vying for the championship are: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott.

Johnson is both the defending Martinsville race winner and series champion. Keselowski won at the half-mile Virginia track in the spring, while Busch, Harvick, and Hamlin have won races here previously.

Truex enters the semifinal round as the No. 1 seed, holding a 27-point advantage over the No. 2 seed Busch and coming off a come-from-behind victory last week at Kansas Speedway. The win was Truex’s series-best seventh of the season overall and third in the postseason.

Session 1: Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Session 2: Saturday, 4:00 p.m. - 4:55 p.m.
TV/streaming: NBCSN (session 1 stream) (session 2 stream)

Time: Sunday, 12:05 p.m.
TV/streaming: NBCSN (live stream)

Time/green flag: 3 p.m/3:13 p.m.
Distance/laps: 263 miles/500 laps
TV/streaming: NBCSN (live stream)

And those still in title contention comprise a stacked field featuring a who’s who of NASCAR’s best. The participants are: every series champion since 2012 (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski); two young talents regarded as future superstars (Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott); the best active driver yet to win a championship (Denny Hamlin); and the 2017 regular-season points champion (Martin Truex Jr.), whose superiority has often been overwhelming.

“They all say I’m a lock because I got so many playoff points,” Truex said. “I’m telling you, it’s not that simple. We got to go out and perform, can’t have an engine failure, can’t get in a crash five laps into Martinsville. We got to focus on one race at a time and do the best job we can do, try to keep the momentum going.”

While the question may be outlandish, it is not wrong to suggest that the reigning champ is facing a must-win at Martinsville. For the majority of the regular season, Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team struggled. Conventional wisdom suggested Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus would turn on the performance come the playoffs, much like they had in so many years — including last year when Johnson won his record-tying seventh title despite not consistently having the fastest car.

But this postseason, the No. 48 team is still largely lagging behind the Toyotas of Truex and Busch and the Fords of Keselowski and Harvick. Johnson’s best path to an eighth championship is by winning, and there is no better track for him to do so than Martinsville. Unlike Texas and Phoenix where aerodynamics and horsepower factor significantly into the outcome, Martinsville is regarded as a track where the driver is the primary difference-maker.

Non-playoff driver Joey Logano was fastest in qualifying, earning his second pole of the season. Truex qualified second, followed by Elliott, Blaney and Clint Bowyer. Hamlin, Keselowski, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola completed the top 10.

Harvick (13th), Busch (14th) and Johnson (24th) were the only three playoff drivers who failed to advance to the third and final qualifying.

Johnson, the defending race winner and Cup Series champion, spun on his qualifying lap in the second session and did not post a time. Because Hendrick Motorsports elected to change the tires on the No. 48 Chevrolet car, Johnson will have to relinquish his starting position and fall to the rear of the 40-car field.

Kyle Busch won a wild and chaotic semifinal playoff race Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, clinching a spot in NASCAR’s championship final.

Busch nudged teammate Denny Hamlin out of the lead on the final lap, then held off Martin Truex Jr. to score the win in a race that saw a multi-car pileup at the finish line. The victory automatically qualifies Busch for the four-driver finale that will determine the Monster Energy Cup Series championship.

The topsy-turvy finish also included Chase Elliott pushing his way by leader Brad Keselowski with four laps remaining, only for Hamlin to intentionally wreck Elliott two laps later as they battled for the win. When the race concluded, Hamlin and Elliott got out of their cars and had a heated verbal exchange on the track.

Hamlin, who slid to finish after the contact with Busch, would later post an apology on social media for crashing Elliott.

Clint Bowyer, not playoff eligible, finished third, followed by Keselowski and Kevin Harvick, who had some terse words on pit road for seven-place finisher Ryan Blaney. Harvick was upset over after repeated run-ins between him and Blaney throughout the afternoon, the first of three races within the semifinals.