By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
With only one on-track incident throughout 500 laps of racing at Martinsville Speedway, Monday’s snow-postponed STP 500 was among the cleanest in the track’s history.
In fact, Monday had four cautions, the least amount at Martinsville in 40 years.
“Once it gets strung out here, there’s just not a lot of attrition,” said Hamlin, who finished 12th. “Guys give each other room, when someone is faster, you usually give way. It’s just different racing now than what it used to be.”
Hamlin believes one way the racing has changed is through the data sharing throughout the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This has led to an even tighter, competitive field which leads to tougher passing conditions.
“I think everyone is running the same speed,” he said. “The cars, through data sharing, setups we’re sharing, everyone is getting their car to drive similar. Even when I got up to lapped cars, they were running about the same speed. I was just able to get through traffic better.
“When everyone is running the same speed, it’s hard to pass, when there’s less passing there is less chance for incident.”
Despite the clean day, the race had a handful of drivers dominate the day instead of the usual one. Hamlin was one of them as he led the race for 111 laps while Ryan Blaney led 145 and race winner Clint Bowyer led 215.
“I still thought it was a good race,” he said. “A lot of races have gone caution-free back in the day and Clint definitely put a whopping on them.”