For the first time this season, the NASCAR Cup Series will be racing under the lights this weekend. Martinsville Speedway is set to play host to the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. This marks just the second time the race has been run at night with Martin Truex Jr. reaching victory lane last season. Like any sporting event, there are a whole host of NASCAR betting trends and statistics that can help shed some light on what we might see transpire this Saturday.
NASCAR Betting Trends for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
There are all sorts of intriguing trends to consider when making your NASCAR betting picks this weekend. The following sections will look at a few different types.
NASCAR Betting Driver Trends
The King, Richard Petty, finished his NASCAR Cup Series career with nine victories in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. That number still stands today as the most all-time. Among active drivers, Denny Hamlin leads the way with three previous wins in this race.
narrowing our focus down to the six most recent races at Martinsville, Martin Truex Jr. is the only driver to win more than once. He won both the fall 2019 race and last year’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Truex has four top-5 finishes in the last six Martinsville races, one behind both Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney who have five apiece. Truex’s 747 laps led in the last six races are also tops among all drivers.
When it comes to top-10 finishes in the last six races at Martinsville, only Keselowski has cracked the top-10 finishers all six times. His Team Penske teammates in Blaney and Joey Logano have also run well at “The Paperclip” recently with five top-10 finishes apiece. They are joined at that mark by Truex Jr. and the most recent Martinsville winner, Chase Elliott.
| Want more NASCAR Cup Series stats? Our driver standings and stats article is loaded with them!
NASCAR Betting Team Trends
Hendrick Motorsports tops all current race teams with eight all-time wins in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing are not far behind with seven victories apiece. Despite Hendrick’s all-time lead in wins, JGR has won three of the last six editions including last season’s race.
NASCAR Betting Manufacturer Trends
Chevrolet has been the dominant manufacturer in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway throughout history. Camaros have earned a whopping 26 wins in this race. However, no Chevrolet has reached victory lane since 2014. Instead, Ford has manufactured three of the last four Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 winning cars.
Martinsville Speedway Driver Statistics
The tables below contain NASCAR betting driver statistics specific to recent races at Martinsville Speedway.
Average Finish at Martinsville Speedway
Note: Data is taken from the five most recent Martinsville races
| Rank | Driver | Starts | Best Finish | Average Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael McDowell | 10 | 1 | 11.0 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 10 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 3 | Bubba Wallace | 8 | 2 | 15.1 |
| 4 | Kyle Larson | 9 | 6 | 15.8 |
| 5 | Austin Dillon | 10 | 1 | 16.1 |
| 6 | Ryan Newman | 10 | 5 | 16.2 |
| 7 | Christopher Bell | 3 | 13 | 16.7 |
| 8 | Alex Bowman | 7 | 7 | 17.9 |
| 9 | Ross Chastain | 6 | 7 | 18.2 |
| 10 | Joey Logano | 10 | 4 | 18.3 |
| 11 | Corey LaJoie | 9 | 6 | 18.7 |
| T-12 | Aric Almirola | 9 | 4 | 18.9 |
| T-12 | Matt DiBenedetto | 10 | 7 | 18.9 |
| 14 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 10 | 1 | 19.0 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher | 10 | 3 | 19.2 |
Driver Rating at Martinsville
Note: Ratings reflect the average of the six most recent Martinsville races
| Rank | Driver | Starts | Car Number | Average Driver Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Logano | 7 | 22 | 93.1 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 7 | 11 | 92.1 |
| 3 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 7 | 47 | 87.2 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 7 | 18 | 86.3 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 7 | 9 | 85.6 |
| 6 | Ryan Blaney | 7 | 12 | 83.8 |
| 7 | Alex Bowman | 7 | 48 | 83.2 |
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | 7 | 4 | 82.8 |
| 9 | Austin Dillon | 7 | 3 | 82.6 |
| 10 | Michael McDowell | 7 | 34 | 82.0 |
| 11 | Christopher Bell | 3 | 20 | 81.4 |
| 12 | William Byron | 7 | 24 | 78.7 |
| 13 | Bubba Wallace | 7 | 23 | 76.9 |
| 14 | Kyle Larson | 6 | 5 | 76.1 |
| 15 | Brad Keselowski | 7 | 2 | 75.2 |
NASCAR Cup Series Race of Many Names
Okay, this last section probably won’t help you with your NASCAR betting picks this week. With that said, everyone loves a good fun fact from time to time. With Martinsville Speedway being one of the oldest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, this race has been around a while. In fact, this will be the 71st running of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. However, it has only actually been called by that name for two years now.
In fact, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 is just the latest in a long line of titles that the spring Martinsville race has held. The first edition of this race was run all the way back in 1950. Since then, it has held a whopping 17 different names! From “Virginia National Bank 500” to “Goody’s Cool Orange 500”, the names have ranged from simple to downright mouth fulls. As recently as 2019, it was known simply as the “STP 500”. That’s a stark cry from what we know it as today.
Where this gets even more fascinating (for NASCAR nerds like me at least) is when we look all the way back at the very beginnings of the race. The first six editions (1950-1955) were in fact run without a name at all! It wasn’t until 1956 that it came to be known as the “Virginia 500”, setting off a long string of name changes in the successive years. For a race that has held 17 different identifications over the years, the fact that it started out with no name at all is downright hilarious.
