Martinsville Speedway Race Preview

ONTO THE “ELITE EIGHT”: Joey Logano will head into this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway as one of the eight drivers still in the mix for the 2014 Championship. Logano earned his way to the third round of the Chase by grabbing finishes of first, fourth and 11th in the Contender Round, leading all drivers with an average finish of 5.3.

A THIRD-STRAIGHT WEEK WITH THE POINTS LEAD: Even though the Sprint Cup Series point standings reset this weekend leading into Martinsville with the start of the Eliminator Round of the Chase, Logano was able to emerge from Talladega with the points lead once again. Logano topped the point standings throughout the second round, the first time in his Sprint Cup Series career that the talented young driver had led the series standings.

PUTTING THE TEAM IN TEAM PENSKE: On Sunday afternoon, the “team” in Team Penske was on full display, as Logano was able to help push his teammate Brad Keselowski to the lead at the start of the green-white-checkered flag finish at Talladega to ensure Keselowski’s advancement to the next round. Unfortunately for Logano, after the solid push to the front, the 24-year-old driver slipped back without the benefit of a draft to finish 11th, his first result outside the top five to start the 2014 Chase.

LOOKING GOOD FOR ROUND THREE: Each of the three tracks in the Eliminator Round of the Chase (Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix) already hosted a race earlier this season. Of the eight drivers left in championship contention, Logano had the best collective results at those three races in 2014 – a 3.0 average finishing position. Logano finished fourth at Martinsville, fourth and Phoenix and first in Texas. Jeff Gordon (average finish of 6.3) and Matt Kenseth (8.3) rank as the next best finishers at those three tracks.

TESTING TO PAY OFF: Logano and Keselowski each tested at Martinsville Speedway last week in preparation for this week’s Eliminator Round event at the famed half-mile track. Even though the test was interrupted by rain, the team got a solid two days of testing.

ALL-TIME BEST FOR TEAM PENSKE: Logano’s five wins this season, along with Keselwoski’s six, mark the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories in a single season for Team Penske. Previously, the best was 10, all won by Rusty Wallace, in 1993.

MARTINSVILLE HAS NEVER REALLY BEEN ONE OF YOUR BEST TRACKS, BUT YOU HAVE BEEN BETTER THERE AS OF LATE. WHAT WOULD A WIN THERE MEAN?

“First and foremost, we want to win this weekend to lock us into the next round of competition and to be a lock to race for the Championship in Homestead. That is very important. But it would also be pretty cool to win one of those grandfather clocks. It has to be one of the coolest trophies in all of motorsports. It’s unique. But it’s not an easy race to win. There is a lot of beating and banging that goes on there and you can even get caught up in someone else’s mess. That’s a big part of short track racing. But we had a good test there and I feel like we have the ability to go there and win, especially with what we learned in the spring and how strong we were then.”

WHO DO YOU FEEL IS YOUR BIGGEST THREAT IN THESE NEXT THREE RACES?

“They are all good and they are all threats. That is why they are here and in the position that they are in. You don’t get this far in the Chase by just sneaking by – you have to be a good team and have good racecars. Obviously, the 4 (Kevin Harvick), the 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the 2 (Keselowski) have been really fast with us all year long. But that doesn’t mean you can look past Matt (Kenseth), Denny (Hamlin) or the rest of the guys either. It’s going to be a tough road over the next three weeks, but I feel like this Shell-Pennzoil team is up for the challenge.”