NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Hot dogs, playoff desperados, and spoilers abound at Martinsville

 

Tyler Reddick sure wowed everyone last week at Homestead in a move that showed what an incredible wheelman he really is. The victory was Reddick's third of the season, and more importantly, earned him a spot in the Championship Race at Phoenix. 

 

The precarious, desperado drivers just below the cutline this week are some big names: Kyle Larson, who won six races this season; Denny Hamlin who has had a dismal Playoff run; Ryan Blaney, last year's champion; and Chase Elliott, who has been consistent, but not great. Each of these drivers have won at Martinsville. While Denny earned impressive career statistics here at Martinsville, we haven't seen the team pull everything together to finish a race. Can the No. 11 team do it this week? Stay tuned.

This Week's Pick Strategy: While all eyes will be on Playoff drivers, we just may see a spoiler steal the spotlight this weekend. I will build my roster going heavy with Playoff Paperclip standouts and fill in with tried and true Martinsville elites AKA my spoiler squad. After qualifying, I will do my final picks based on who is starting toward the front.

 

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):
By Race 

Joey Logano - 5
Both with 4 - Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski
All with 3 -  Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron

By Track
Joey Logano - 9
Ryan Blaney - 8  

All with 6 - Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Brad Keselowski

Both with 5 -Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch
Chase Briscoe - 4 

Last Year's Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr.

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Ryan Blaney

 

The Likely Suspects: My Martinsville elite drivers include Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Larson.

My Two Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. My next picks are Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, and Ross Chastain. I will round out my roster with Chase Briscoe and Todd Gilliland.

My Final Four: Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Briscoe

Second-Look Driver: My second-look driver is Chase Briscoe. In the last five races at Martinsville, Chase has earned two Top 5s and five Top 10s for an average finish of 7.6, the fourth best average finish among active Cup drivers, and just one spot behind Kyle Larson with 6.0 average finish. Last year, Chase finished fourth in this race, and in 2022, he finished ninth. As his career with Stewart-Haas Racing comes to a close, Chase would love to get one more win for the organization before they close their doors for good.

Points to Ponder:

• Joey Logano leads the NASCAR Cup Series among active drivers with the most poles at Martinsville Speedway with five (2015 sweep, spring 2016, fall 2017, spring 2019).
• 36.05% of NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway (53 races) have been won from the first three starting positions. 24.49% of the wins (36 races) have come from the front row.
  
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Martinsville Speedway with 29 victories. Joe Gibbs Racing ranks second with 14.
• Eleven of the 59 NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville Speedway race winners are active this weekend: Denny Hamlin (5 wins), Martin Truex Jr. (3 wins), William Byron, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch (2 wins), and Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano (each with one win).
  
• Martin Truex Jr. is the most recent driver to win consecutive races at Martinsville (2019 Playoff race / spring of 2020). 
• Kyle Busch leads all active Cup drivers in runner-up finishes here with four; followed by Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano with three each.
• Denny Hamlin leads all active Cup drivers in Top 5s with19 finishes at Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin also leads all active Cup drivers in Top 10s at Martinsville with 25, followed by Kyle Busch with 21 and Joey Logano with 19.
• Ryan Blaney (17 starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series among active drivers in average finishing positions at Martinsville Speedway with an 8.765, followed by Denny Hamlin with a 10.162 (37 starts).
•  Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Martinsville Speedway with 2,448 laps led in 37 starts (14% of his laps completed at the track.)

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 2nd and your final picks by 2 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, November 3rd.

 

Enjoy the race!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 17 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.