Playoff Points: Martinsville Edition

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor

Following each regular season points race, Kickin’ the Tires takes a deep look at the current playoff grids for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, evaluating each team’s postseason odds and highlighting those that made steps in the right direction, as well as those who dug themselves into a hole. 

Track: Martinsville Speedway

Event: STP 500

Race Winner: Clint Bowyer

Stage Winner(s): Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney

Who Won Big

• Clint Bowyer: Let the party begin. Bowyer finally ended a winless streak dating back to 2012 in Martinsville, securing a playoff berth and making good on the hope Stewart-Haas Racing placed in the veteran after Tony Stewart’s 2016 NASCAR retirement.
• Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney: One of the two was expected to run well. The other? Not so much. Regardless, both Hamlin and Blaney managed to claim stages in the midst of good Martinsville outings, earning a playoff point apiece in the process.
• Kyle Busch: He’s going to win soon, right? Busch scored his fourth-straight top three on Monday, coming just short of victory once again. The result was disappointing for the Joe Gibbs Racing ace, but it elevated him to the overall points lead heading into the Easter break.

Who Hurt Their Odds

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: That may have been the ugliest race of Stenhouse’s career. The Roush Fenway Racing star wasn’t even capable of being competitive in a backup No. 17 Ford after crashing his primary car during a Saturday practice. Stenhouse finished just 37th, gaining only a lone point and dropping to a tie for 20th in the standings.
• Darrell Wallace Jr: Considering his last race at Martinsville had been a Truck Series win, Wallace was understandably excited to return to Virginia. But an untimely flat tire derailed any chance he had of earning a good finish, relegating the Daytona International Speedway runner up to 34th at race’s end.
• Jamie McMurray: It’s bad enough that McMurray was the only one to bring out a caution for a crash in Monday’s race, but the Missourian also finished a subpar 26th and finds himself in the same position in the standings heading into the holiday break. That’s a steep drop compared to the ninth-place effort he’d put in to this point last year.

Playoff Standings: 

*Technically ineligible due to missed races. Would require a waiver.
**One or more race wins ineligible due to post-race inspection failures.

Where They Stand

(All But) Locked In

• Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon
  • Race Winners

Safe (For Now)

• Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson

More Work to Do

• Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola

On the Bubble

• Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman

Within Reach 

• Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Darrell Wallace Jr., Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Jamie McMurray

Likely Need to Win

• Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Trevor Bayne, Ty Dillon

Playoff Points

Stage Points

Previous Race Results

Season Totals

*One or more stage wins ineligible due to post-race inspection failures