MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
First Data 500 Presented by Alpha Energy Solutions
Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, Virginia
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Age: 32
Team: No. 18 – M & M’s Halloween Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “It’s just a great win for this whole M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry. It’s awesome to get to victory lane here at Martinsville. You know I wanted to win Charlotte, Martinsville and Homestead and that’ll make us this year’s champions, so we’ve got one more. Just wanted to say our guys did an awesome job preparing this car. We weren’t the best all day, but we put ourselves in the right spots there at the end and there was kind of chaos ensuing and none of it was our fault, we just came out on the right end of the stick.”
· Kyle Busch
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· Kyle Busch won the 69th annual First Data 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Martinsville Speedway Sunday afternoon. It was the first of the three races in the Round of 8 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Busch’s 43rd win in 459 career MENCS races and his fifth victory in 33 races this year. He now has won three of the seven playoff races this year.
· With the win, Busch is the first driver to punch his ticket into the Championship 4 who will compete in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19. It will be Busch’s third straight appearance in the Championship 4, as he took home the title in 2015.
· Overall, today’s finish marked Busch’s 20th top-10 and 13th top-5 in 33 races of 2017.
· Busch’s five wins this year are tied for the second-most of his MENCS career (8 in 2008, 5 in 2015).
· This was Busch’s second win in 25 starts at Martinsville.
· This marked the 18th straight playoff race that was won by a driver who was still alive in the playoffs. The streak dates back to the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was won by Kyle Busch.
· Four of the top five finishers and six of the top eight today were playoff drivers.
· Martin Truex Jr. (2nd) posted his 23rd top-10 finish in 33 MENCS races this year and his 16th in the top-5.
· Clint Bowyer (3rd) accounted for his 13th top-10 finish in 33 races this year and sixth top-5. It was his fifth top-3 finish of 2017.
· Daniel Suarez (15th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Brad Keselowski won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of today’s race.
· The following are the playoff standings heading into the second race in the Round of 8, which will take place at Texas Motor Speedway next weekend. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Martin Truex Jr. 4117 5. Jimmie Johnson 4050
2. Kyle Busch* 4100 6. Ryan Blaney 4047
3. Brad Keselowski 4079 7. Denny Hamlin 4045
4. Kevin Harvick 4053 8. Chase Elliott 4027
*Advances to Championship 4 with win
· In 12 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch has collected five top-10 finishes and two top-5 showings. This includes a win in the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 when he earned the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship of his career.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· The NASCAR XFINITY Series was off this weekend. They will resume action next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway – the second of three races in the Round of 8 of the playoffs.
· The following are the standings following the first of three races in the Round of 8 in the 2017 NXS playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Justin Allgaier 3066 5. Matt Tifft# 3033
2. William Byron# 3064 6. Ryan Reed 3032
3. Elliott Sadler 3055 7. Daniel Hemric# 3032
4. Brennan Poole 3038 8. Cole Custer# 3030
#Denotes rookie
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· Rookie Noah Gragson won the 19th annual Texas Roadhouse 200 Presented by Alpha Energy Solutions NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday. The race was the first in the Round of 6 of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs.
· For Gragson it is his first victory in 22 career NCWTS starts. It is his 12th top-10 finish and fourth top-5 in 20 races this year.
· Following Gragson, playoff drivers took the second and third spots.
· Matt Crafton (2nd) accounted for his 14th top-10 finish and fifth top-5 showing in 20 NCWTS races this year.
· Johnny Sauter (3rd) posted his 16th top-10 finish and 10th top-5 showing in 20 NCWTS races this year.
· The following are the playoff standings heading into the second race of the Round of 6 in the NCWTS playoffs, which will take place next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Christopher Bell 3083 4. Ben Rhodes 3049
2. Johnny Sauter 3080 5. Austin Cindric# 3038
3. Matt Crafton 3068 6. John Hunter Nemechek 3021
#Denotes rookie
