NSCS: Race Preview Martinsville

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will move to the Martinsville Speedway for stop six on the 2014 race schedule. This will be the 65th annual STP 500 and will serve as the first of two races scheduled to run at the half-mile this year.

Entry list:

A total of 44 drivers is featured on this weekend’s entry list and will mean that one car will go home following qualifying tomorrow afternoon. A few notables include, David Stremme, David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek and Michael McDowell. Dave Blaney was entered but the team has withdrawn.

Storylines:

Hendrick Motorsports will celebrate its 30th anniversary and will also mark the anniversary since the team’s first win on April 29, 1984 at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both respectively ranks first on the top of wins list at the track located in Virginia. Kasey Kahne, who drives the No. 5 Chevrolet, has finished inside the top-five in two of the last three races. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had his own success at Martinsville but still looks for a win. Last fall, Earnhardt Jr. finished eighth.

Kyle Busch looks to reach a milestone this weekend by being the 15th driver to lead a total of 10,000 career laps led in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In order to reach this achievement, he will need to at least lead 62 laps this Sunday afternoon.

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings are starting to separate a little bit as Larson leads by four points over Austin Dillon. Larson capitalized last week on numerous drivers’ misfortune to take his No. 42 Target Chevrolet to a second place finish at the Auto Club Speedway. See full rookie standings below.

Driver

Points

Kyle Larson

58

Austin Dillon

54

Justin Allgaier

40

Michael Annett

38

Cole Whitt

37

Alex Bowman

34

Parker Kligerman

25

Ryan Truex

23

Where to watch:

You can catch the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX. The Motor Racing Network will provide the live radio portion of the event. You can listen on many stations around the United States, TuneIn, MRN.com or on AudioNow by dialing 1-832-999-1717 on your phone.

Brett Winningham
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