The final race in the Round of 8 is set to take place in all three of NASCAR’s top touring series this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, a place where Ford’s Ryan Blaney has won the last two NASCAR Cup Series playoff races. A third on Sunday would allow him to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 and a chance for a second championship in three years.
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, October 24 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 6 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, October 25 – NASCAR Xfinity Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, October 26 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)
UP TO SPEED
BLANEY GOING FOR THREE STRAIGHT
Ryan Blaney has won each of the past two Martinsville playoff races and likely needs a third in order to advance to the Championship 4 next weekend in Phoenix. The 2023 series champion is 47 points below the final transfer spot, but no track has been better to Blaney than this half-mile short track. Sunday will mark his 20th career start at Martinsville and his 8.5 career average finish is the best of any track currently on the circuit (at least five starts). Further proof of his track consistency can be found in the fact he has finished 11th or better in 13 straight events.
LOGANO LIKES MARTINSVILLE
Ford’s other playoff contender, Joey Logano, is also in a likely must-win scenario, but just like his Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, he’s had a great deal of success at Martinsville Speedway. Logano’s average starting position of 8.4 ranks second among current tracks where he has made at least 10 starts with Las Vegas Motor Speedway being the only one that is better (7.7). And just like Blaney, he comes into Sunday’s race on a streak that has seen him post 12 consecutive top-10 finishes at the half-mile paperclip.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Joey Logano – 6th (-38 below the cut line)
Ryan Blaney – 7th (-47)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT MARTINSVILLE
Joey Logano: 33 starts, 1 wins, 1 top-5, 21 top-10
Ryan Blaney: 19 starts, 2 wins, 10 top-5, 12 top-10
THEY SAID IT
RYAN BLANEY: POST-RACE COMMENTS FROM TALLADEGA.
“Not the finish we wanted. We didn’t do what we needed to do and we didn’t get help when we needed it. Now we have to go win next week.”
JOEY LOGANO: POST-RACE COMMENTS FROM TALLADEGA.
“Martinsville’s not a bad track for us. We just have a simple point of view at this point, it’s all or nothing. Stage points aren’t going to matter. Nothing else is going to matter but winning.”
A LOOK BACK
KESELOWSKI AND MARTINSVILLE
Brad Keselowski outdueled Kyle Busch down the stretch to win his first grandfather clock after capturing the STP 500 on Apr. 2, 2017. The two drivers waged a memorable battle that saw them swap the lead five times in the last 160 laps, but Keselowski ended up making the decisive pass on lap 458 and led the final 43 circuits to become the first repeat winner in 2017. Keselowski added a second clock in 2019 when he dominated the spring race, leading 446-of-500 laps including the final 127.
MAYER AND CREED LOOKING UP
An accident at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend derailed the championship runs of Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed, but both drivers still have a path to making the Championship 4. Mayer, who has 13 top-five finishes this season, is in seventh place, 22 points below the cut line, going into Saturday’s race while Creed is in a likely must-win situation as he sits eighth overall, 41 points behind the final transfer spot.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE XFINITY PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Sam Mayer – 7th (-22 below the cut line)
Sheldon Creed – 8th (-41)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT TALLADEGA
Sam Mayer: 8 starts, 0 wins, 4 top-5, 5 top-10
Sheldon Creed: 7 starts, 0 wins, 3 top-5, 5 top-10
MAJESKI AND RIGGS IN THE HUNT
Ford’s two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series contenders, Ty Majeski and Layne Riggs, are both below the cut line, but well within striking distance of advancing to the Championship 4 going into Friday night’s elimination race at Martinsville Speedway. Majeski, who is the series defending champion, is five points below the cut line in fifth place while Riggs is only one point behind him.
FORD DRIVERS IN THE NCTS PLAYOFFS
DRIVER - POINTS POSITION
Ty Majeski – 5th (-5 below the cut line)
Layne Riggs – 6th (-6)
Note: Top 4 advance after Martinsville
FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT TALLADEGA
Ty Majeski: 5 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-5, 2 top-10
Layne Riggs: 3 start, 0 wins, 1 top-5, 1 top-10
PAST WINNERS
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1961 – Fred Lorenzen (1)
1962 – Nelson Stacy (2)
1963 – Fred Lorenzen (2)
1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)
1965 – Fred Lorenzen and Junior Johnson
1966 – Fred Lorenzen (2)
1969 – Richard Petty (Sweep)
1986 – Ricky Rudd (1)
1990 – Geoffrey Bodine (Sweep)
1992 – Mark Martin and Geoffrey Bodine
1993 – Ernie Irvan (2)
1994 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)
1995 – Rusty Wallace (1)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (1)
1997 – Jeff Burton (1)
1998 – Ricky Rudd (2)
2000 – Mark Martin (1)
2001 – Dale Jarrett and Ricky Craven
2002 – Kurt Busch (2)
2017 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2018 – Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano
2019 – Brad Keselowski (1)
2023 – Ryan Blaney (2)
2024 – Ryan Blaney (2)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1994 – Kenny Wallace
FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
1995 – Joe Ruttman
2003 – Jon Wood (2)
2004 – Rick Crawford (1)
2005 – Ricky Craven (2)
2015 – Joey Logano (1)
2020 – Grant Enfinger
The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 27 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines.
