3 years agoTodd Gilliland surprised many with a 10th-place lap in qualifying on Friday. While quite a few cars turned in faster laps later, Gilliland was able to advance to the final round of qualifying, which guaranteed him a top-10 start. The No. 38 Front Row Motorsports driver got a little lucky, but sometimes luck is good. The rookie year has been a lesson for the young racer. He had not cracked the top 20 in qualifying until this week. How does he do during the race? That is a much bigger question.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoBrad Keselowski and his RFK Racing team lost their appeal but excelled on the track Friday in qualifying. He was the fifth of six Ford cars in the top ten. Keselowski finished almost a third of a second behind pole-sitter Chase Elliott. The driver is the only active racer to finish five times in the top-five during the past six appearances. Keselowski has recently won and has led more than 15% of the laps in this timeframe. The former Team Penske racer and his new No. 6 could surprise on Saturday night during intermediate and longer runs.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoKyle Larson finished third among the Hendrick Motorsports Racing drivers in qualifying on Friday. Still, starting eighth at Martinsville is not a bad position to begin at. The No. 5 car has led 4.1% of the laps over the past three seasons and does have a couple of top-ten results too. That includes a top-five even. The last race in the Fall showed that Larson could race and contended on the short-track. He led 77 laps before a bad pit stop and some bad luck derailed his chances. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoIn a bit of a mild surprise, Christopher Bell will start seventh after qualifying on Friday afternoon at Martinsville. Bell was fast but then it started to vanish. It was why data trended in the wrong direction. The No. 20 was one of the few who did not run longer than 15 laps. It will be intriguing to see if there are less cautions on Saturday night than usual. Bell has managed one top-ten result in four career starts. Every other start saw Bell fade late in each race or worse. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoIt seems Kevin Harvick and the Ford cars had something good on Friday. Harvick tends to qualify pretty well at Martinsville. Friday afternoon was no exception as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver turned in the sixth fastest time overall. Harvick has finished inside the top-ten in three of his past six starts on the short track. Strangely, the No. 4 Ford has not led a lap on the track since 2016. There is a chance in the Next-Gen car of a lap led or three. Harvick was able to carry his speed as the intervals increased. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoWilliam Byron won the Trucks race but that was not enough on Friday. Byron and his No. 24 Hendrick Racing car qualified fifth and was one bobble from the pole. The driver has four top-ten results in the last five races aside from a fluke of a crash. Byron has only led nine laps on the short-track in his career however. That being said, the racer does have a shot at becoming the first driver to win more than one race in 2022. His consistency serves him well on the paperclip but his long-run speed interval is a bigger reason. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoChris Buescher had struggled in 2022 at times but put together a very good lap on Friday. He qualified fourth at Martinsville and is nestled among five other Ford cars in the top ten. Buescher has placed 13th or better on the track in four of his past five appearances. That included finally breaking into the top-ten last Fall (9th). The RFK Racing driver again was one of those who showed better long-run speed in practice. He could be one to watch to stay near the front even if his past data does not look quite as favorable.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoSome names are not used to being this high but Cole Custer was among the Ford wave during qualifying at Martinsville. Custer finished third behind Aric Almirola and Chase Elliott on Friday afternoon. Custer, like Almirola, does not have the track record of some of the top-tiered drivers. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has never qualified better than 15th so who knows how he may perform on Saturday night. He did begin to tail off on longer runs but not like the Toyota's. Things should be interesting for the 400-lap race at Martinsville.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoAric Almirola nearly pulled off a pole position run on Friday afternoon but came up just 0.105 seconds short. He settled for second or outside of Row 1 when the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 starts Saturday night. Again, as the track conditions cooled, that was when some interesting trends started to emerge. Almirola and his Ford stood firm, however. Fords were quite fast in qualifying with six in the top ten on Friday. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has two top ten results in the last four races on the 0.526-mile track. Now, can Almirola run well at night in the Spring?--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoChase Elliott got around the Martinsville "Paperclip" faster than anyone else on Friday afternoon. His time of 19.694 seconds was good enough to wind up on the pole for Saturday night's Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing driver is one of the few drivers to win other than Martin Truex Jr. recently. The No. 9 car has wound up in the top-five four times as well. Elliott has an average finishing position of 10.3 but has led 19.2% of the lap over the past six races. His long-run speed did not tail off too badly.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoKyle Larson never quite had the push and speed to get to the front of the field on Sunday at Richmond. The No. 5 car was pretty fast but far from the fastest. He was able to sneak up the field. By the end of Stage 2, the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver was ninth. From there, he was able to ride several drafts into the top five. However, Larson could not get any further. On the bright side, that result was better than crashing like in the previous two races. Larson's third top-five of the season placed him back up to 12th in the points standings. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoJoe Gibbs Racing was at the forefront on Sunday as Martin Truex Jr. led 80 of the 400 laps at Richmond. He accumulated the most stage points (17) and won Stage 2 on Sunday. In the end, the No. 19 car just did not have the tires to maintain grip and speed on the short track. Truex Jr. tried to hold off William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin. He just could not do it as all three passed him during the final ten laps or so. Ultimately, Truex Jr. finished fourth on Sunday and now sits third in the Cup Standings after seven races. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoWilliam Byron led all the Hendrick Motorsports Racing cars on Sunday at Richmond. He led 122 out of the 400 laps on the 3/4 mile track. It looked like he might even win but his car just was not quite fast enough. Ultimately, the hard charging Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick went by him with just laps to go. Byron was able to keep Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney. The No. 24 car ended up with another top finish as he inched up to fourth in the Cup Standings. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoKevin Harvick had the speed and push to get to the front at Richmond. It seemed like the No. 4 Ford had the best chance to win the Toyota Owners 400. However, Harvick never did get to the front of the race. Harvick never even led a lap. However, late in the race he got on the backend of Denny Hamlin and drafted his way up to second place. Harvick had his chance to win with a few laps but could never get past the No. 11 Toyota. In the end, the Ford just was not quite fast enough. On the bright side, it was Harvick's first top-five finish of 2022. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

3 years agoThe Joe Gibbs Racing car passed the test on Sunday as Denny Hamlin found a late surge in speed. He was able to pass William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. on his way to win the Toyota Owners 400. The No. 11 driver finished just outside the top ten during the first two stages. However, he had the car when it counted. His speed was able to haul in every car in front of him. Then, Hamlin spent the last few laps holding off Kevin Harvick to cross the checkered line first. With that, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will make the playoffs and vaults up the points standings up to 20th. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com