NASCAR: Brad Keselowski’s Martinsville dominance historic in multiple ways

Brad Keselowski’s dominant victory in the sixth race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the STP 500, at Martinsville Speedway was historic in multiple ways.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski joined Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch on the short list of drivers who have won multiple races through the first six races of the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning the season’s sixth race, the STP 500, at Martinsville Speedway.

But Keselowski didn’t just win the 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia. Simply put, he dominated.

However, looking at the fact that the 35-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan native only won this race by 0.594 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who finished in second place, it would be hard to determine just how historically dominant his performance was.

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With all things considered, Keselowski’s dominance was historically significant in multiple ways.

After Team Penske teammate Joey Logano started the race from the pole position and went on to lead its first five laps, Keselowski, while he never truly separated himself from the pack, went on to lead the next 319 laps.

Elliott then passed Keselowski for the race lead following a restart, and he went on to lead the next 49 laps. However, a fast pit stop during a later caution flag period put Keselowski back out front, an he went on to lead the race’s final 127 laps.

By the time he took the checkered flag, Keselowski had led 446 of the race’s 500 laps. The last time a driver led that many laps in a race at Martinsville Speedway was nearly 49 years ago when Richard Petty won the Old Dominion 500 in October of 1970. He led 480 of that race’s 500 laps.

But during this era, dominant performances were not uncommon. Petty won this race by a full lap over second place finisher Bobby Allison. Keselowski led 446 laps despite the fact that he won it by only 0.594 seconds over Elliott and never opened up a major gap on anybody throughout the race.

A total of 96 Cup Series races took place at Martinsville Speedway between the 1970 Old Dominion 500 and the 2019 STP 500.

In addition, the STP 500 featured only three lead changes. The last time a Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway featured a lead change total of three or less was nearly 52 years ago when Petty won the Old Dominion 500 in September of 1967. This race featured only three lead changes.

A total of 102 Cup Series races took place at Martinsville Speedway between the 1967 Old Dominion 500 and the 2019 STP 500.

The last time any Cup Series race featured a lead change total of three or less was nearly 19 years ago when Jeff Burton won the Dura Lube 300 Sponsored by Kmart at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September of 2000. He led all 300 laps of this race after taking the lead from polesitter Bobby Labonte on the first lap.

A total of 661 Cup Series races took place between the 2000 Dura Lube 300 Sponsored by Kmart and the 2019 STP 500.

There is really no other way to put it. The dominant performance by Brad Keselowski in the 2019 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway was one of the most dominant performances in a long, long time both at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series in general.