Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Preview

NASCAR is leaving dirt and hitting asphalt once again. This weekend the Cup Series will head to the “paperclip” that is Martinsville Speedway. This will be only the second time that the Cup cars will race at night at the historic short track. The 500 lap race will be split into stages of 130/130/240. Here is the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville preview.

Update: The race has been postponed due to rain and will continue on Sunday, April 11th, at 4 pm ET on FS1.

Race Lineup

After winning the Bristol Dirt Race, Joey Logano (22) will lead the pack to green this Saturday. Running beside him will be Denny Hamlin (11). The second row will consist of William Byron (24) and Ryan Blaney (12) with Chase Elliott (9) rounding out the top five.

Will the String of Different Winners Continue?

If the #NASCARPlayoffs began today, would your favorite driver be in? ? pic.twitter.com/fFEKur3wRE

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 8, 2021

Will an eighth different driver catch a win this weekend? Or will someone rise above and be the first to land a second win of the season? Martinsville is one of those tracks where really anything can happen. Several drivers who have had quite a bit of luck at this track haven’t seen victory lane (yet) this year. Drivers like Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott come to mind. Then again, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano have also have won there over the past few years and if anyone can break the streak, it’s definitely them.

Next-Gen Announcement

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for.

?: https://t.co/j6E8K6CVjt pic.twitter.com/BuMnWAY1v2

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 7, 2021

This week NASCAR announced when they will be unveiling each manufacturer’s car for 2022! Chevy, Ford, and Toyota will be revealing the official next-gen cars along with some new specs that haven’t been announced yet. The unveiling will be on May 5th. Many are hoping that a new manufacturer will join the series for next season (looking at you Dodge) but the probability of something that big being hidden for this long is pretty far out of the realm of possibility. At least for 2021.

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