Sport Joey Logano secures Busch Pole Award for Martinsville

Notable Modified races at Martinsville: the early years

Modified racing at Martinsville is filled with memorable moments. Leading up to the Modified return to the track, here are selected some of the biggest and most important races in Martinsville history. 1948: The Birth of a Jewel In a field including NASCAR founder Bill France, Buck Baker and Tim Flock, it was Fonty Flock […]In a field including NASCAR founder Bill France, Buck Baker and Tim Flock, it was Fonty Flock who won the first race at the dirt half-mile oval.

© Provided by NASCAR Joey Logano secures Busch Pole Award for Martinsville Joey Logano has won the Busch Pole Award for Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Martinsville Speedway.

Logano, the series’ most recent winner at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt-track event, will start his No. 22 Team Penske Ford from the pole position. The starting lineup was made official Wednesday morning.

Harrison Burton won the pole for Friday’s Cook Out 250 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The 20-year-old driver is the most recent Xfinity winner at the .526-mile Martinsville track.

Modifieds bring history back with return to Martinsville

Brett Bodine remembers the first time he watched a race at Martinsville Speedway. The Chemung, New York, driver had flown down in a single-engine plane to watch older brother Geoff compete. His first impression when he walked into the property? “I was amazed. I had never seen such a pristine piece of property at a […]His first impression when he walked into the property?

RELATED: Martinsville weekend schedule | 2021 Cup Series standings

As NASCAR adapted to COVID-19 protocols last season, practice and qualifying were eliminated at a majority of national-series events to limit at-track time, exposure and to cut race weekend costs. To determine starting lineups, competition officials used grouped draws, added inversions for weekend doubleheaders, and eventually adopted a performance-metrics formula. That metrics format remains in place this season, drawing on performance from both individual races and season-long results.

NASCAR’s metrics formula for 2021 weighs:

• 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
• 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
• 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
• 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race

See the full lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series race below.

Martinsville Cup and Xfinity entry lists

The first entry lists for this weekend's NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been released. Your browser does not support this video The Cup Series returns after taking Easter weekend off. The Xfinity Series is back after a two-week break following its March 20 race at Atlanta. Cup: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1) 37 cars are entered for Saturday’s Cup race. Martin Truex Jr. won last year’s spring race at Martinsville. Chase Elliott won there in the November playoff race to earn his place in the Championship 4.

Start pos.	Driver	Car #	Team
1	Joey Logano	22	Team Penske
2	Denny Hamlin	11	Joe Gibbs Racing
3	William Byron	24	Hendrick Motorsports
4	Ryan Blaney	12	Team Penske
5	Chase Elliott	9	Hendrick Motorsports
6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47	JTG Daugherty Racing
7	Martin Truex Jr.	19	Joe Gibbs Racing
8	Ryan Newman	6	Roush Fenway Racing
9	Kevin Harvick	4	Stewart-Haas Racing
10	Brad Keselowski	2	Team Penske
11	Daniel Suarez	99	Trackhouse Racing Team
12	Kyle Busch	18	Joe Gibbs Racing
13	Tyler Reddick	8	Richard Childress Racing
14	Michael McDowell	34	Front Row Motorsports
15	Chris Buescher	17	Roush Fenway Racing
16	Erik Jones	43	Richard Petty Motorsports
17	Ryan Preece	37	JTG Daugherty Racing
18	Austin Dillon	3	Richard Childress Racing
19	Kyle Larson	5	Hendrick Motorsports
20	Alex Bowman	48	Hendrick Motorsports
21	Kurt Busch	1	Chip Ganassi Racing
22	Matt DiBenedetto	21	Wood Brothers Racing
23	Christopher Bell	20	Joe Gibbs Racing
24	Chase Briscoe	14	Stewart-Haas Racing
25	Bubba Wallace	23	23XI Racing
26	Cole Custer	41	Stewart-Haas Racing
27	Ross Chastain	42	Chip Ganassi Racing
28	JJ Yeley	53	Rick Ware Racing
29	Quin Houff	00	StarCom Racing
30	Justin Haley	77	Spire Motorsports
31	Aric Almirola	10	Stewart-Haas Racing
32	Cody Ware	51	Petty Ware Racing
33	Josh Bilicki	52	Rick Ware Racing
34	Corey LaJoie	7	Spire Motorsports
35	Anthony Alfredo	38	Front Row Motorsports
36	BJ McLeod	78	Live Fast Motorsports
37	James Davison	15	Rick Ware Racing

Practice and qualifying are tentatively scheduled for eight Cup Series races this year. Busch Pole Qualifying was held for the season-opening Daytona 500 but rain canceled the qualifying races for Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt-track race. The next Cup Series event with qualifying scheduled is the May 23 debut at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas.

]]>