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NASCAR playoffs at Martinsville, where blood will boil

By Asher Fair

MARTINSVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 01: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, makes contact with Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 01: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, makes contact with Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 1, 2015 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
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It’s short track NASCAR Cup Series playoff racing at Martinsville Speedway for the First Data 500, which means only one thing: blood will boil.

Martinsville Speedway is set to kick off the three-race round of 8 of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs later this afternoon with the First Data 500.

Eight drivers remain in championship contention with four tickets to the Championship 4 on the line over the course off the next three races, starting with this 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Martinsville Speedway oval in Ridgeway, Virginia.

Understandably, Martinsville Speedway has been the site of many recent playoff tempers, with three extremely notably instances over the last four years alone.

Everybody is eager to punch their ticked to the Championship 4 as one of the four title contenders, and it doesn’t take much for the eight round of 8 drivers to show it.

In 2015, Matt Kenseth, who had been eliminated from championship contention following the round of 12 (then called the Contender Round), intentionally drove race leader and championship favorite Joey Logano into the turn one wall.

While he denied intent, his move was clearly in reaction to Logano and him battling for the win at Kansas Speedway in the round of 12.

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Logano had already won a race in the round of 12 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to advance to the round of 8 (then called the Eliminator Round), but Kenseth hadn’t. This battled resulted in Kenseth, who had dominated the race, spinning out, and he ultimately failed to advance to the round of 8 as a result. Logano then failed to the Championship 4 as a result of this payback.

In 2017, Chase Elliott was in line to secure his first career Cup Series win and clinch a spot in the Championship 4 with just over two laps remaining when Denny Hamlin sent him into the turn three wall, putting him in a must-win situation that he could ultimately not overcome.

Hamlin ended up being involved in multiple incidents in the race’s overtime period despite the fact that he entered it was the race leader. He finished in seventh place, and his championship hopes went out the window two races later in the round of 8 finale at ISM Raceway when Elliott nudged him into the wall, causing one of his tires to go flat. This flat tire sent him hard into the wall just a few laps later.

Most recently in 2018, Martin Truex Jr. took the while flag a nose ahead of Logano. Logano moved Truex out of the way in turns three and four and took the lead. The two drivers bumped and banged down the front straightaway, and Logano came out on top. Hamlin actually edged ahead of Truex for second place. However, Truex ended up in the Championship 4 anyway.

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There are really no two ways about it. NASCAR Cup Series playoffs coupled with Martinsville Speedway means that blood is going to boil and feelings are going to be hurt. Which round of 8 driver will get the worst end of the inevitable drama? It is all set to start this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET, when the First Data 500 is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.

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