Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola will lead the field to the green flag at Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday night.
Blaney will start on the pole via a random draw, which was revealed Monday evening during “Race Hub” on Fox Sports 1. The Team Penske driver is the first of four Fords that will start inside the top five, while this is the third straight week that Almirola starts second.
Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, and Martin Truex Jr. complete the top five. All three drivers are former winners at Martinsville.
A random draw once again set the starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series in groups of 12. Pit stall selection is based on the finishing order from Sunday’s race at Atlanta, which was won by Kevin Harvick.
Brad Keselowski is the defending race winner at the Virginia track. There are 39 drivers entered in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.
Andy Petree, vice president of competition at Richard Childress Racing, said on “Race Hub” that AJ Allmendinger will be on standby for the No. 3 Chevrolet team. Driver Austin Dillon is expecting the birth of his first son, Ace, any day with wife Whitney.
Martinsville will be the third mid-week race for the Cup Series this season. It will also be the first night race in the 73-year history of the track, with the green flag dropping after 7:00 p.m. EDT.
Starting Lineup:
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Aric Almirola
3. Joey Logano
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Kyle Busch
8. Alex Bowman
9. Kurt Busch
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Chase Elliott
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Erik Jones
14. Tyler Reddick
15. William Byron
16. Ryan Newman
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18. John Hunter Nemechek
19. Matt DiBenedetto
20. Matt Kenseth
21. Jimmie Johnson
22. Austin Dillon
23. Darrell Wallace Jr.
24. Chris Buescher
25. Corey LaJoie
26. JJ Yeley
27. Cole Custer
28. Ryan Preece
29. Michael McDowell
30. Ty Dillon
31. Brennan Poole
32. Christopher Bell
33. David Starr
34. Quin Houff
35. Garrett Smithley
36. Joey Gase
37. Daniel Suarez
38. Timmy Hill
39. Reed Sorenson
Comments