Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup drivers ahead of Martinsville Round of 8 finale

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Sunday’s Cup race at Martinsville Speedway will set the final two spots in the Nov. 2 championship race.

The current playoff field has won all seven Next Gen races at Martinsville. Ryan Blaney and William Byron — who are both below the cutline — have combined to win four of those seven races.

A playoff driver ranked fourth or worse has won five of the last eight Martinsville playoff races.

Sunday’s race is on NBC and Peacock. Countdown to Green begins at 1:30 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET.

With help from Racing Insights, here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup drivers and teams heading to Sunday’s race at Martinsville.

23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace finished third at Martinsville in March, giving him four top 10s in the last six races at that track. … Wallace ranks first in passing and restarts at short tracks this season, according to Racing Insights data. … Tyler Reddick’s average finish in the eight playoff races this season is 10.4, ranking third best overall among all drivers. Bad news: Tyler Reddick has two top 10s in 11 Cup starts at Martinsville. … Reddick has finished 26th or worse in all three Martinsville playoff races with the Next Gen car. … Riley Herbst placed 31st at Martinsville in March in his only Cup start there.

Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland finished a career-high second last weekend at Talladega. … Gilliland was 10th at Martinsville earlier this season. … Gilliland has placed 13th or better in four of the last six Martinsville races. … Noah Gragson placed 11th in last year’s playoff race at Martinsville, his best finish at a short track in 17 Cup starts. … Zane Smith was third at Bristol in the most recent short track race. … Smith’s ninth-place finish at Talladega gives him five top 10s this year, his most in a season. Bad news: Gragson has three top-20 finishes in the last 21 races.

Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer is coming off a fifth-place finish at Talladega, his second top five of the year. Bad News: Custer finished 33rd at Martinsville in March, his worst finish in seven starts there.

Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have each finished in the top five in the last three Martinsville races. … Elliott has finished in the top 10 in six of the last seven Martinsville races. … Elliott has led 1,275 laps at Martinsville, his most at any Cup track. … Larson has six consecutive top-six finishes at Martinsville. … William Byron is a two-time Martinsville winner. … Alex Bowman has had three consecutive top-10 finishes on short tracks. Bad news: Elliott is in a must-win situation at Martinsville to reach the title race after he was collected in a crash at Talladega and finished 40th. … Larson is winless in 22 races, tied for his longest winless streak since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. … Byron has finished in the top 10 in only two of the last five Martinsville races.

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Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is set to make his 399th consecutive Cup start Sunday at Martinsville. Bad news: Stenhouse has one top 10 in the last 15 starts at Martinsville. … Stenhouse has finished 20th or worse in all five short track races this season.

Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe becomes the second JGR driver to secure a spot in the championship race with his Talladega win. … Briscoe and teammate Denny Hamlin have locked in spots in the Championship 4, marking the first time since 2021 than JGR has had multiple drivers racing in the Championship 4 and fourth time overall. … JGR has won five of the eight playoff races. … Briscoe has six top 10s at Martinsville, his most at all tracks. … Briscoe’s 15 top-five finishes are the most in the series this season. … Briscoe’s average finish in the playoffs this season is 5.6, best among all drivers. … Hamlin won at Martinsville in the spring, leading 274 of 400 laps. … Hamlin has six wins at Martinsville. … Christopher Bell, who holds one of the two remaining transfer spots to the title race, finished second at Martinsville earlier this year. … Bell has scored a career-best seven consecutive top 10s… Ty Gibbs is coming off a third-place result at Talladega. Bad news: Gibbs has not finished better than 13th in six Cup starts at Martinsville.

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Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon finished 15th at Martinsville in March, his best short track finish since 2019. … Two of AJ Allmendinger’s three career runner-up finishes have come at Martinsville. Bad news: Allmendinger has not finished better than 23rd at Martinsville in the Next Gen car.

Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek has had a career-high two top fives and eight top 10s this season. … Erik Jones’ four top-five finishes are his most in a season since 2020. Bad news: Nemechek has not finished better than 25th in five Cup starts at Martinsville. … Jones’ only top 10 at Martinsville was an eighth-place finish there in October 2021.

Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch led 26 laps at Talladega, snapping his streak of 21 consecutive races without leading a lap. … Busch’s 16 short track wins are the most among active drivers. Bad news: Busch’s last short track victory came in April 2019 at Bristol. … Austin Dillon has not had a top-10 finish since his Richmond victory in August.

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Rick Ware Racing — Good news: The 30 laps Cody Ware has led in the last nine races are more than he led in the prior 131 starts combined. Bad news: Ware has failed to finish 11 races, including three of the last four.

RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has scored three consecutive top-10 finishes at short tracks. … Keselowski ranks second in the series in points scored on short tracks with 170 (Ryan Blaney is first at 217). … Ryan Preece finished seventh at Martinsville in March for his best finish there in 12 starts. … Preece has a career-high three top fives and 12 top 10s this season. Bad news: Keselowski has finished 24th or worse in five of the last six Martinsville races. … Chris Buescher has finished 24th or worse in the last two Martinsville races. … Buescher has never led a lap in 20 starts at Martinsville.

Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell placed 12th at Martinsville in March, his best finish in 29 Cup starts there. Bad news: Carson Hocevar has not finished better than 17th in four Cup starts at Martinsville, the only short track he has not scored a top 15 in Cup. … Justin Haley has never finished better than 27th in nine starts at Martinsville. … McDowell has one top 10 in his last 16 short track races.

Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney has won the Martinsville playoff race the last two years to secure a spot in the championship race. … Blaney ranks first in overall speed and long run speed on short tracks this season, according to Racing Insights data. … Blaney’s average finish of 8.5 at Martinsville ranks third all-time among drivers who have made at least six starts there, trailing only Lee Petty (5.5 average finish) and Jeff Gordon (6.7). … Joey Logano has 12 consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville. … Austin Cindric has finished in the top 10 in the last two Martinsville playoff races. Bad news: Both Blaney and Logano face must-win situations at Martinsville to reach the title race. … Logano has not won on a short track since Oct. 2018 at Martinsville.

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Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Shane van Gisbergen has finished 11th or better in three of the last four races. … Ross Chastain finished sixth at Martinsville in March. … Chastain has not finished worse than 14th at Martinsville in the Next Gen car. Bad news: Daniel Suarez has not had a top 10 in the last 12 Martinsville races.

Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry’ ranks second in long run speed at short tracks this season, according to Racing Insights data. Bad news: Berry has finished 33rd or worse in five of the last eight races.