Season Finale 500 NASCAR Free Online Live Streaming ,November 08,Sunday 2020

 Season Finale 500 NASCAR online free live streaming 2020 high quality(HD) broadcast on Sunday ,November 08,Track:Phoenix Raceway, Time:3 p.m. ET. Watch NASCAR Season Finale 500 free live stream online Race on any device .You can follow to Watch Season Finale 500 NASCAR free live streaming from here details below.

One of the most unique seasons in NASCAR history concludes on Sunday with the running of the 2020 Season Finale 500. After a two-month COVID suspension, countless races rescheduled, and a flurry of off-track news in the summer (see: Confederate flag ban, Bubba Wallace incident at Talladega Superspeedway) NASCAR will wind down its season and crown a Cup Series champion.

 

The Championship 4 of Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano gives us a 50/50 shot at a first-time titlist. They're also evenly split in how they could conceivably boost NASCAR's popularity in the short-term.

 

Elliott, NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, is also the only twentysomething in the group. Winning his first title at 24 would match the age of NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon's first championship in 1995. It would mark a Hendrick Motorsports generational transition with Jimmie Johnson leaving full-time stock car racing after this event. And it would invigorate the sport whose fan base has seen the same drivers seeking the title for the past 5 years.

 

For Hamlin, at age 39, he remains the winningest all-time driver in NASCAR Cup history without a title in the modern era. Overall, only Junior Johnson (50 wins in NASCAR's early days) has more victories than Hamlin's 44 without a championship. After a seven-win season, his most since 2010, Sunday is crucially important for him to cash in. With co-ownership on the horizon and three very competitive Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, how many more chances will he get in the No. 11? Should he win it, a partnership in the sport with Michael Jordan would allow NASCAR new and unique opportunities to market itself.

 

Then, there are the two veterans over at Team Penske who are both well-known household names. Both Keselowski and Logano have championships already and their ability to expand NASCAR's fan base is more limited. Keselowski won back in 2012, under a different playoff system. He's struggled under the current format despite being one of the sport's more consistent drivers (three or more wins every season for the past five years). So, a win on Sunday would be vindication Keselowski can get it done in crunch time.

 

Logano, meanwhile, won his title in 2018 after sneaking into the Championship 4 with an upset in the Round of 8 (sound familiar?) At age 30, he's entering his prime while seeking a second championship in three seasons. A title for him or Keselowski would leave them tied with Kyle Busch as the only active drivers with multiple Cup championships come 2021.

 

That's because Johnson, the seven-time Cup champion, is one of three drivers retiring from full-time competition after Sunday. Clint Bowyer will be leaving his seat at Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 14 to jump into the FOX broadcast booth in 2021. Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, will also be hanging it up at Chip Ganassi Racing in favor of Ross Chastain.

 

We should also acknowledge the owners running their final race. Leavine Family Racing (No. 95) and Germain Racing (No. 13) are closing up shop after this event while Go FAS Racing (No. 32) will scale back significantly come 2021. The future of small team ownership in the age of a COVID economy will be a big question for NASCAR to face over the offseason.

 

But that's a topic for another day. NASCAR should be given credit for finishing its season on time after a two-month delay that threatened the health of the sport. Even with the pandemic gripping the country, they made it through a tumultuous time in good enough shape to declare a champion come Sunday night.

 

Season Finale 500

 

Date: Sunday, Nov. 8

Time: 3 p.m. ET

Track: Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.)

TV: NBC

Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM Channel 90

 

Who's at the Front: Chase Elliott

Let's be clear: Elliott took a major step in his career Sunday at Martinsville. The win was the first time he'd advanced to the final round in the Cup Series playoff and put demons of close, but no cigar behind him.

 

"We proved to ourselves that we can do it," Elliott said. "I think we have always believed we can do it. But to go out there and achieve it certainly is something we haven't experienced yet as a group."

 

Elliott wound up winning comfortably, by 6.577 seconds, overcoming a potential jackman penalty that was overturned by NASCAR officials. He took the lead away from Martin Truex Jr. with 43 laps remaining and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way.

 

"To win a championship in this series, you have to make the Final 4," he added. "We've seen the same crowd make the Final 4 since this deal has been implemented. We want to assert ourselves amongst the people who can make it consistently.

 

"I feel like we're very capable of doing that. We just have to seize the moment, enjoy it."

 

Who's at the Back: Kevin Harvick

Everything (and I mean everything) had to break against Harvick in the Round of 8 in order to miss the final round. But the nine-time winner who would have won the title two races early under the old system won't get a chance to compete for it.

 

Harvick's problems started with a near-miss, finishing second to Logano at Kansas Speedway. Then, a slick track at Texas Motor Speedway sent him into the wall and damaged the No. 4 car to the point he wasn't competitive. (Harvick finished 16th).

 

Then, Elliott's win took a second Championship 4 spot away during a Martinsville race that was Harvick's nightmare. A flat tire left him two laps down and struggling for much of the event. By the time Harvick got back on the lead lap, it was too late to make up for lost track position. A valiant effort to pass Kyle Busch to advance ended in a last-lap crash and Harvick fell short of a second title shot.

 

News Briefs

 

After an investigation, NASCAR chose not to penalize the No. 20 of Erik Jones or Joe Gibbs Racing for their actions at the end of the race at Martinsville. Jones was accused of not passing teammate Denny Hamlin during the closing laps in order to preserve that driver's spot in the Championship 4. In the end, Kevin Harvick's spin made the issue a moot point as the No. 11 team advanced into the final round with a solid cushion.

 

Cup Series Silly Season news was quiet this week, but Justin Allgaier will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports in 2021. Allgaier and sponsor BRANDT will pair up for their sixth straight year running the No. 7 instead of jumping back up into the Cup Series.

 

Michael Annett will also jump back on the JR Motorsports train next season. It'll be his fifth straight year with JRM after dropping down from the Cup Series. Sponsors Pilot / Flying J will continue to back the No. 1 Chevrolet.

 

NASCAR by the Numbers

 

8

Of nine races during the NASCAR playoff where Chase Elliott has led at least one lap. He's the only driver in the postseason besides Harvick to win twice.

 

24.0

Average finish for Jimmie Johnson during this year's NASCAR playoff, a postseason format he once dominated.

 

Playing the Odds (Fantasy Spin)

 

Top Tier

 

I say this one every year, but your lineup needs to be stacked this weekend with as many Championship 4 contenders as possible. In each of the past three seasons, the championship driver not only won the race, but his closest challenger wound up second. This year, the entire quartet will start up front and should be in position to lead the lion’s share of the race's 312 laps.

 

My money is on Joey Logano, the March winner, taking the title. But I think there's a chance this group, even with Kevin Harvick's success at this track, will match the 2018 results in the championship finale and wind up 1-2-3-4 in the final running order.

 

Related: Best Phoenix Raceway Drivers for DraftKings

 

Middle Tier

 

I'm going to take one last bet on retiring drivers. Matt Kenseth won this race in November 2017 and was competitive in 2018 in a bad year for Roush Fenway Racing. He should run well for a Chip Ganassi outfit that was fourth here in March in their last race with Kyle Larson at the helm.

 

Clint Bowyer is coming off a top-10 finish at Martinsville and is ending strong for SHR. And you have to think, despite a miserable playoff, Jimmie Johnson will have some semblance of respectability at this track. Keep in mind he ran 12th at Phoenix back in the spring.

 

Lower Tier

 

Rookies, rookies, rookies. Christopher Bell has been coming on strong as of late with three straight top-15 finishes. He's a whole different Cup driver from the one who struggled at Phoenix back in March.

 

Tyler Reddick appeared to have a top-10 run going at this facility before a crash in the spring. And Cole Custer has a ninth-place result in that race before going on to an upset win at Kentucky Speedway and the sport's Rookie of The Year award. These drivers are relatively inexpensive this week and would fill out your roster nicely with top-heavy championship salaries.

 

What Vegas Thinks

Kevin Harvick may not win the title but he's a favorite to win at Phoenix after nine career victories at the track. He stands at 3/1 odds while Kyle Busch sits at 11/2 and Denny Hamlin is at 6/1. It's interesting in that it's the first time in years the championship favorites are actually not favored to win the event. (I disagree.)

 

Chase Elliott sits at 7/1, Joey Logano at 17/2, and Brad Keselowski rounds out the Championship 4 at 10/1. No longshot pick this week only because the championship fight leaves them a wasted pick.

Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 NASCAR Free Online Live Streaming ,November 07,Saturday 2020

Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 NASCAR online free live streaming 2020 high quality(HD) broadcast on Saturday ,November 07,Track:Phoenix Raceway, Time:5:00 p.m. ET. Watch NASCAR Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 free live stream online Race on any device .You can follow to Watch Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 NASCAR free live streaming from here details below.

The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.

The DraftKings Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 slate locks at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

1. Justin Allgaier ($10,900) - Last year, Allgaier had to win the Phoenix playoff race, and he did. He was a very chalky play based on his Phoenix expertise. In the spring race, he was chalk again and was on his way to a win, but the team chose to forfeit the lead and pit on lap 137. He was never able to recover from this egregious pit road decision.

2. Harrison Burton ($9,900) - All of the JGR cars could have won at Phoenix. Busch fell off late and Jones got the win, but Burton finished 2nd. Without a doubt, Burton is the hottest driver in the Xfinity series with wins in the last two races at Texas and Martinsville.

3. Austin Cindric ($10,600) - In clean air, he looked good at Phoenix. In traffic, Cindric struggled. Phoenix seems like a career ago for Cindric. He’s grown by leaps and bounds, but from a track specific point-of-view, it’s difficult to imagine him winning without some sort of luck.

4. Chase Briscoe ($11,200) - According to Briscoe, this is one of his worst tracks. He needed to run well at Phoenix last fall in order to make the championship, and he couldn’t get it done. In the spring race, he was never in contention. Briscoe and his team have been lights out at the intermediate tracks, but the short, flat tracks have been a glaring weakness.

5. Brandon Jones ($9,300) - If Allgaier doesn’t pit near the end of stage 3, the spring race is a completely different race. Jones was good, but he restarted in the perfect spot to take advantage of Kyle Busch’s poor long run speed. To Jones’ credit, he did take advantage and won the race.

6. Ross Chastain ($10,300) - Here’s a shocker - Ross Chastain wrecked in both the Cup and Xfinity races at Phoenix in the spring. Throughout the course of the season, Chastain has done a tremendous job of learning to dial down his aggression when it is unnecessary.

7. Noah Gragson ($9,700) - He led the third most laps, but he was barely a top five driver. Gragson jumped to the lead via fast pit stops and great restarts. Passing the leader in stock car racing is challenging, and Phoenix is no different. Gragson’s pit road good fortune padded his stats some, but in the end, he finished 7th.

8. Daniel Hemric ($9,500) - Phoenix was one of the many wrecks for Hemric this season. As predicted, not only has Hemric’s performance eliminated his chance of a Cup ride, but he lost his Xfinity ride to Josh Berry and Sam Mayer. This might be the last race of his car in decent equipment, so expect him to race like it’s his last.

9. JJ Yeley ($7,900) - This week, Yeley jumps from the Rick Ware car to the #61 Hattori car. First and foremost, this car does not park. Secondly, this is JJ Yeley’s hometrack and he’s sponsored up. He did start and park last year, but that was in a notorious start and park ride for RSS.

10. Justin Haley ($10,100) - During an interview at Phoenix, Haley stated that his car was the best car that he had ever had during practice. That does not mean it was a great car, just a good Kaulig car. Haley finished 5th, but in terms of average running position, he had a 9th place car.

11. Brett Moffitt ($8,600) - Short of a wreckfest, it’s hard to slot Moffitt in for a top 10 finish. He’s a good driver and his small team is doing everything that they can, but NASCAR is an uphill battle for small teams. At least Moffitt will get a warm up race on Friday night, and maybe a hangover, if things go well in the truck race.

12. Bayley Currey ($4,900) - A Mike Harmon car is going to make DFS players hold their breath one last time. These cars have burned DFS players countless times, but here we go again. Currey is a 20th place driver, if his equipment holds up. He’s starting 33rd and is priced below $5,000. This should be fun.

13. David Starr ($5,600) - Who’s in the Bobby Dotter #07 car this week? David Starrr did not run very well in the spring race at Phoenix, but he was in much weaker equipment (Jimmy Means). If he avoids trouble, he should be around a 20th place driver.

14. Colby Howard ($5,900) - In the spring race, he was chalk. A JD Motorsports car for $4,600 starting 34th is a lock. Unless that’s the first ever Xfinity race for the driver. It was, and he wrecked. This time, he’s starting a little closer to the front and is a little more expensive, but he’s a little more experienced.

15. Riley Herbst ($8,400) - Phoenix was a typical Herbst day. This is more of a skill track and his inexperience showed. He should improve in his second race, and the stable of JGR cars were the best without question in the spring race.

16. Ryan Sieg ($8,800) - In the last three Phoenix races, Sieg has finished 11th, 13th, and 10th. That’s a typical Sieg finish this season. If some of the top tier drivers wreck or make mistakes, Sieg can earn a top 10, and possibly a top five, if there is a late race restart.

17. Myatt Snider ($8,000) - As predicted last week, Jeremy Clements looked like a terrible pivot away from the Snider chalk, but it would work if Snider wrecked. Sure enough, Snider wrecked, just as he has done many times this season. His price and starting position are not attractive, but the #21 RCR car is fast.

18. Matt Mills ($4,800) - He’s starting 32nd and he’s priced under $5,000. If A. He does not wreck and B. He does not park, then he should be one of the best value plays. In the double header at the short, flat track in Richmond, Mills finished 19th and 16th.

19. Jeffrey Earnhardt ($5,400) - Over the last eight races, Earnhardt has five top 20 finishes. He hasn’t raced at Phoenix since 2014, but in his four races at Phoenix, he has two 20th place finishes.

20. Brandon Brown ($7,700) - It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Brown ends up in the optimal lineup, but it can happen. He has no business being in cash lineups, but if there are a lot of wrecks at the end, then Brown could work. We have no idea how a championship race will play out at a short track.

Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Free Online Live Streaming ,November 06,Friday 2020

Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR online free live streaming 2020 high quality(HD) broadcast on Friday ,November 06,Track:Phoenix Raceway, Time:8:00 p.m. ET. Watch NASCAR Lucas Oil 150 free live stream online Race on any device .You can follow to Watch Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR free live streaming from here details below.

The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.

The DraftKings Lucas Oil 150 slate locks at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday. Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here:

1. Sheldon Creed ($11,000) - In four of the last five races, Creed has the highest driver rating. The only race where Creed did not have the highest driver rating was a plate race at Talladega, but he had the second-highest driver rating in that race.

2. Brett Moffitt ($10,700) - Among the championship contenders, only Moffitt has won at Phoenix (2018). This is Moffitt’s third truck season and his third appearance in the championship race. The rest of the championship contenders are experiencing their first championship race.

3. Grant Enfinger ($9,200) - He’s clearly an underdog, but he was an underdog at Martinsville. Enfinger has a top-five finish in both of the last two Phoenix races, and he’s won at the short flat tracks in Richmond and Martinsville. This race is shaping up to be an instant classic.

4. Zane Smith ($9,800) - Experience doesn’t seem to matter. In Zane Smith’s first race at Martinsville without any practice, he was the second-highest rated driver and finished third. At Phoenix, he does have experience. Smith finished fifth in the Xfinity race last fall.

5. Chandler Smith ($10,400) - He had the fastest truck in practice last year, and the best average running position in the race. That Phoenix race was with crew chief Rudy Fugle. This year, he has a backup crew chief.

6. Johnny Sauter ($7,800) - Last year was pretty bad for Sauter, but this year has been worse. In 2018, his average finish was sixth. He was released by GMS and signed with ThorSport last season and averaged a 12th place finish. This season, his average finish is 17th. Sauter has one top-10 finish in the last 10 races.

7. Todd Gilliland ($8,200) - There were moments this season where Gilliland looked like the promising prospect that won two K&N championships. Unfortunately, the season has closed with Todd Gilliland looking like Todd Gilliland. Over the last six races, he’s averaging a 17th place finish.

8. Matt Crafton ($9,000) - Other than a surprise win on the back-end of the Kansas double header, this has been a lackluster season for Crafton. He has topped 15 hog points just once this season.

9. Austin Hill ($9,600) - Kevin Harvick did not make the championship race, and neither did Hill. The drivers know the deal, but for Hill, it’s hard to accept a playoff elimination based on the failure of a NASCAR-mandated engine. It happens to a contender every year, and it’s unacceptable.

10. Ryan Truex ($6,400) - The last couple weeks have not worked out, but this week Truex is cheap and he’s starting deep in the field. In 2017, Truex finished 19th at Phoenix; better than that, he finished second at Phoenix in the 2019 spring Xfinity race.

11. Christian Eckes ($8,800) - If Eckes can’t win with Rudy Fugle as his crew chief, then he’ll never win. This is his last race with Fugle and possibly his last shot at a win. It’s been a rough couple months for Eckes, but a fourth-place finish at Martinsville has him headed in the right direction.

12. Ben Rhodes ($8,000) - Last year, Rhodes led the most laps and had the second-best average running position at Phoenix. There’s no reason that he cannot have a similar performance this year. Rhodes is often an afterthought, so he makes for an interesting GPP play.

13. Carson Hocevar ($6,900) - Practice would help, but it’s not happening. Hocevar has earned three top-15 finishes this season without practice. He’s proven himself in the late models, but the issue is not his skill. The issue is that the Niece trucks have not been very strong this season.

14. Sam Mayer ($10,000) - Shortly after a restart on lap 100 of 150 at Phoenix last season, Mayer was in 13th place. Moments later, Mayer got wrecked by John Hunter Nemechek in the #8 truck. Last year, the #8 truck was the Grim Reaper.

15. Tanner Gray ($7,100) - There is a reason Gray is starting 23rd. He’s wrecked in three of the last four races. Despite the terrible end to the season, he’s averaging a 16th-place finish for DGR Crosley. A 6x return from Gray is not a stretch.

16. Raphael Lessard ($6,800) - His Talladega win was nice, but it’s Talladega. DFS players should not overreact. Other than a fourth-place finish at Texas, Lessard is averaging a 24th-place finish over the last two months.

17. Tyler Ankrum ($8,400) - This hasn’t been a terrible season for Ankrum. In terms of average finishing position and top-10 finishes, Ankrum is around the 10th-best driver this season. The problem is that in DFS, Ankrum has no ceiling and a bottomless floor.

18. Stewart Friesen ($8,600) - Last year, Friesen won this race and qualified for the championship race at Homestead. This year, he changed manufacturers during the worst possible time. Friesen has never been able to dial his truck in. Phoenix has been his best track, but his trucks are a mess.

19. Tate Fogleman ($5,800) - This play never seems to work, but Foglemen is starting in a position where he can easily move forward. During the summer, Fogleman was consistently a top-20 driver. If Fogleman can finish 20th, then he’ll likely be in the optimal lineup.

20. Trevor Bayne ($6,200) - It’s very strange when Trevor Bayne’s salary is cheaper than what it was in the Cup Series. If he can finish where he starts, then he can hit 6x, but that’s a stretch. This Niece truck hasn’t been that good and neither has he.

Xfinity 500 NASCAR Free Online Live Streaming ,November 01,Sunday 2020

 Xfinity 500 NASCAR online free live streaming 2020 high quality(HD) broadcast on Sunday ,November 01,Track:Martinsville Speedway, Time:2 p.m. ET. Watch NASCAR Xfinity 500 free live stream online Race on any device .You can follow to Watch Xfinity 500 NASCAR free live streaming from here details below.

Halloween weekend in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series this year gives us a special treat: racing on the circuit’s oldest track, Martinsville Speedway, for the Xfinity 500. This Virginia treasure has played host to some of the best playoff races since the sport moved to a postseason format in 2004 and this Sunday should be no exception.

 

The paperclip-shaped oval is just .526 miles in length, the smallest track on the circuit. But don’t be tricked; it's large on action and close quarters typically mean 500 laps of close racing. Bumper cars could ensue as the pressure's on for seven drivers still looking to secure three spots in the Championship 4.

 

Joey Logano is the only driver who can rest easy; he's got a place assured in the finale after winning at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago. Yet Logano also knows how Martinsville could easily derail a postseason bid. Back in 2015, he spun out Matt Kenseth in the closing laps to win another race at Kansas. Kenseth's response? To wait patiently as a lapped car at Martinsville before torpedoing Logano into the outside wall.

 

Kenseth wound up paying the price for that one, serving a two-race suspension for his actions. But Logano also faced the consequences, failing to advance into the next round of the playoffs.

 

Now, with Martinsville the penultimate race of the NASCAR schedule, who will let out a year's worth of frustration with a little short-track contact? The seven other drivers in title contention are sure sorting through their Rolodex to make sure those I'm sorrys are dotted and apologies are crossed off the list. Slower speeds here combined with inevitable contact make payback the rule here, not the exception.

 

Chase Elliott roughed up Logano in his bid for a Bristol victory back in May. Is Martinsville the place Logano gets revenge... and prevents a maiden Championship 4 appearance for the sport's Most Popular Driver? Former Martinsville winner Brad Keselowski, meanwhile, has spent a career feuding with a suddenly red-hot Kyle Busch. Will Busch, out of title contention, ram into Keselowski to settle old scores if a second straight Cup victory is on the line? Martin Truex Jr., meanwhile, got knocked out of the way by Logano at Martinsville, a move that earned Logano the 2018 Cup championship. Do you think Truex will forget about that if the duo run 1-2 in the closing laps?

 

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch are not immune from payback, either. All it takes is one ill-timed moment at a place where you often need to muscle the guy out of the way to make a pass. Tempers flare, someone hits you back and all of a sudden, your championship hopes sit sideways in the middle of turn 4.

 

Martinsville mayhem seems likelier this year since the last three races have been mediocre by their standards. Two of them have produced just three lead changes and the last one produced a margin of victory that was nearly five seconds. In Martinsville terms, that's equivalent to five laps as Truex trounced the field down the stretch.

 

Add in one last desperation effort by Jimmie Johnson to grab a win in his farewell season and the plot thickens even more. Johnson has nine career victories here, more than any other track outside Dover International Speedway. Could a 10th grandfather clock be the feel-good moment in an otherwise disappointing year?

 

How about Clint Bowyer, also retiring after the season? One of his last victories came at this track in 2018. Or will one of the other championship-contending drivers come out on top? It’s a true Martinsville mystery, a wild way to send the Cup Series into its final race of 2020.

 

Xfinity 500

 

Date: Sunday, Nov. 1

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Track: Martinsville Speedway (Ridgeway, Va.)

TV: NBC

Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM Channel 90

 

Who's at the Front: Kyle Busch

It took four days and 52 laps of "practice" on Sunday before the Texas Motor Speedway race finished up. But it was finally the right mix for Busch to put a year’s worth of demons aside and win his first race in a mediocre 2020 season.

 

It’s the 16th straight year Busch has won at least one Cup race, two short of the all-time record held by Richard Petty (1960-77). During a time where everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for Busch, he was on pins and needles the final 50 laps while overcoming a rubber fire in the cockpit of his car.

 

"t was much needed and very much a lot of relief, as well," Busch said of the victory. "For me having the opportunity to continue that win streak was certainly high on our list, and when you fall out of the playoffs and you've got nothing else to race for, that's all you have to race for is trophies and getting wins for the rest of this year... it feels really good to be able to come to Texas and score that win."

 

Who's at the Back: Denny Hamlin

Two top-five finishes in the first eight playoff races? That’s not the path expected for Hamlin after entering the postseason a co-title favorite with Kevin Harvick. Hamlin does have a victory during that stretch, by inches at Talladega Superspeedway in October, yet has struggled at types of tracks (1.5-mile ovals) that were his strength earlier in 2020.

 

However, Hamlin remains in position to make the Championship 4 with a good run at Martinsville. Guess who else limped through the playoffs last season? Kyle Busch had two top-five finishes in the first eight races. He rebounded to second at Phoenix Raceway this weekend last year... then won the title the following Sunday with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

 

News Briefs

 

In a move expected for weeks, Kyle Larson was officially named to Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet in 2021. Sponsorship was not immediately announced but Hendrick remains bullish he'll find some for a driver he initially wanted replacing Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 car. Larson's firing from Chip Ganassi Racing over a racial slur complicated that plan; in the end, though both sides wound up working out a deal for him to occupy the soon-to-be re-numbered No. 88.

 

William Byron will have a new crew chief in 2021. Rudy Fugle will come over from NASCAR's Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series to run the No. 24 Chevrolet in place of the soon-to-be-promoted Chad Knaus. Fugle has had great success with Kyle Busch Motorsports in that division, winning 28 races there over the past decade. While there, Byron proved to be his best student, winning seven times in 2015 while falling just short of a series title.

 

Bubba Wallace also has a new head wrench for his new team, 23XI Racing, in 2021. Mike Wheeler will move from the No. 95 of Leavine Family Racing to join the new organization headed by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. The team also announced Friday they'll run Toyotas for the coming season with technical support provided by Joe Gibbs Racing.

 

NASCAR by the Numbers

 

3

Consecutive days the Texas race was delayed by rain. It's the first time in the modern era a Cup race has had that many consecutive postponements.

 

3rd

Finishing position for Christopher Bell in Leavine Family Racing's home state of Texas. It was the second-best career finish for this team, closing at the end of 2020, in 254 career Cup starts.

 

Playing the Odds (Fantasy Spin)

 

Top Tier

 

Martin Truex Jr. has won the last two races at Martinsville. A third straight victory here would launch him into the Championship 4 for the fifth time in the last six years. He'll be an expensive pick for any roster but he's also hard to bet against, leading 596 laps here the past two races while not finishing outside the top 10 at this track since 2017.

 

Kyle Busch will potentially be under the radar entering this weekend with the Championship 4 taking center stage. He shouldn't be. Busch was 14th and 19th the last two starts here, lowering his price, but had eight consecutive top-5 finishes before that, including two wins. We've seen Busch get hot before after breaking a slump and hitting victory lane. Don't lose out.

 

Related: Best Martinsville Speedway Drivers for DraftKings

 

Middle Tier

 

Jimmie Johnson has been on this list far too often this year and disappointed far too much. However, at Martinsville, a track he's won at nine times, Johnson has visions of one last run up front. 10th in June, he led 70 laps and won a stage before fading in the final portion of the event. Everyone remembers Johnson's former Hendrick teammate, Jeff Gordon, winning the final race of his career at Martinsville back in 2015. Can lightning strike twice?

 

William Byron has had a forgettable playoff run after sneaking into the first round with a victory at Daytona International Speedway back in August. Don't forget about him here, though considering runs of second and eighth his last two times out. It's a cheap way to fill out the lower portion of your roster with near-guaranteed top-10 success.

 

Lower Tier

 

Bubba Wallace hopes to end his tenure with Richard Petty Motorsports on a high note. Every time out at Martinsville, he's gotten better with runs of 17th, 13th and 11th since the start of 2019. In a race where late-race wrecks and attrition could be high, look for Wallace to sneak into the top 15 at a place where driver skill makes a real difference.

 

Michael McDowell was a surprising 14th at Martinsville back in June. He's worth a flyer with a Front Row Motorsports team that's finished in the top 10 at this track with David Ragan. In fact, Ragan ran 11th with FRM in the fall race held here last year.