Getty Denny Hamlin races at Martinsville Speedway.
The NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on April 16 provided another opportunity for drivers to test out the new short track package with 30 percent less downforce. Many made it clear after the NOCO 400 that they were unimpressed with the results.
The race at Martinsville Speedway did not feature many passes at the front of the pack. Though some drivers such as Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman were able to work through the field during the first two stages.
The first lead change only occurred when Ross Chastain stayed out on the track under caution while pole-sitter Ryan Preece headed down pit road for fresh tires. The second took place when Kevin Harvick used fresh tires to chase down Chastain. There were 10 lead changes total, but only four occurred under green flag conditions.
“The package was terrible — it’s either the package or the tires,” Denny Hamlin said after the Cup Series race, transcript courtesy of Toyota Racing. “You can’t pass. Cars that I was lapping 10 laps before, we caught a caution, and I couldn’t pass them for second. It’s very difficult.
“Next Gen racing is all about strategy, execution on pit road — that’s who wins. Rarely does the car that dominates or the best car, win, simply because you can’t control the race when you need to — at least we couldn’t. We made a great strategy call at the end to get positions back.”
Penalties Created Issues for Contenders
GettyA penalty disrupted Ryan Preece’s day at Martinsville Speedway.
There were prominent examples of the passing issues at Martinsville Speedway — Preece and Bubba Wallace. They both spent the first two stages inside of the top 10, but they fell back to the rear of the lead lap after speeding penalties under caution.
Preece had one of the strongest cars in the field. He started from the pole, and he spent the first 135 laps at the front of the pack while winning Stage 1. Once he fell to the rear of the field, he was unable to move forward. Preece spent the remainder of the race around the 20th position before ultimately crossing the finish line 15th overall.
Wallace was able to recover better after his own speeding penalty. Though he was only able to do so because the No. 23 team gambled and stayed on the track longer while the majority of drivers headed down pit road under green flag conditions.
A caution for Anthony Alfredo’s No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro losing a wheel provided Wallace with an opportunity to pit for fresh tires without losing a spot. He went on to finish ninth overall.
“It’s crazy that Martinsville is a track position race,” Aric Almirola said after finishing sixth. “The cars are so close and so competitive. I thought we were arguably the best car the first part of the race and then we got a little bit behind as the track changed and the car changed a little bit. Then after that, we got the car really good.
“Drew [Blickensderfer] made some great adjustments and I thought we were arguably the best car. We went through that green flag pit sequence and then a caution comes out for a wheel and gives a lot of those guys just a free gift that stayed out. A lot of those guys we had lapped already in the race and it’s just so hard to pass that you give those guys track position and you start behind them on the same tires. It’s hard to pass.”
There Were Stark Differences Between 2 Short Tracks
There have been two true short track races since NASCAR implemented the new package with lower downforce. The first took place at Richmond Raceway, and it drew some praise for its overall competitiveness.
The second race, which took place at Martinsville Speedway, was a different story. There were several drivers that made strong comments about how difficult it was to pass and how the new short track package did not fully fix the racing product.
It just opened up the opportunity for drivers such as Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to work their way to the front of the pack by staying out on the track.
“No. I’m pretty sure everybody kind of saw it,” Logano said about the lack of passing opportunities. “It’s really challenging to pass still. It’s kind of interesting how some tracks it’s definitely improved it and at some tracks, it hasn’t. Richmond was a much better race.
“Here at Martinsville, I’d say we probably have to go back to the drawing board to try and find something else to help racing a little bit more, but part of it, too, you’ve got to understand is that all of the cars run the same speed. They gave us a box with cars that are all identical. Well, we’re all gonna end up running that same speed for the most part. When all the cars are within a tenth of each other, you can’t pass. There’s got to be more speed differential through the field.”