NASCAR at Martinsville schedule, how to watch, stream, odds

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The final three spots in the Championship 4 will be decided at Martinsville Speedway this weekend.

Joey Logano locked up the first spot in the finale with his Las Vegas win. But non-playoff driver Kyle Larson’s victory at Homestead-Miami kept the other contenders from clinching their spot in the title race.

With only one race left in the Round of 8, there are still seven drivers fighting to make it into the Championship 4: Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville:

Martinsville entry list

There are 36 drivers on the entry list for Martinsville. Since up to 40 cars can qualify for a race, all 36 teams will race on Sunday.

Ty Gibbs will drive the No. 23 for Kurt Busch (concussion) for the 15th straight race. Alex Bowman (concussion) will miss his fifth straight race, with Noah Gragson filling in again. A.J. Allmendinger will drive the No. 16 for Kaulig Racing in place of Gragson.

Here's the full list of participants:

What is the Martinsville schedule?

The 36-car field will be split into two groups, and each group will get a 15-minute practice session on Saturday, Oct. 29 beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

Qualifying begins after practice at 12:45 p.m. ET. Each car takes two laps, with the five fastest drivers in each group advancing to the final round. In the final round, the 10 drivers each get two laps and the pole is awarded to the fastest driver.

The Xfinity 500 begins at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 30.

What is the NASCAR TV schedule this weekend?

Saturday, Oct. 29 (USA Network and streaming)

Sunday, Oct. 30 (NBC and streaming)

NASCAR playoff standings 2022, clinching scenarios

There are just eight drivers left fighting for the 2022 championship, and four more will be eliminated after Sunday’s race. The four lowest drivers in points will be cut, but a win at Martinsville means an automatic ticket to the Championship 4, regardless of points.

Logano, after his win at Las Vegas, is already locked into the final round. That leaves seven drivers competing for the final three spots.

Since the points standings are so tight, it’ll be tough for a driver to clinch without a win – Chastain and Elliott are the only two who can do it without any help.

Here’s a look at the playoff standings before the final race in the Round of 8, with clinching scenarios listed if they have one (drivers can only make up a maximum of 59 points in a race). Drivers obviously have multiple clinching scenarios depending on how everyone else does, but the ones listed below are the scenarios within their power:

  1. Joey Logano, clinched
  2. Ross Chastain, +19 points from 5th
    • Automatically advances with 41 points
  3. Chase Elliott, +11 points from 5th
    • Automatically advances with 50 points
  4. William Byron, +5 points from 5th

  1. Denny Hamlin, -5 points from 4th
  2. Ryan Blaney, -18 points from 4th
  3. Christopher Bell, -33 points from 4th
  4. Chase Briscoe, -44 points from 4th

Who was eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs?

So far, eight drivers have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon were eliminated after the Round of 16. Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman were eliminated after the Round of 12.

Which drivers have won at Martinsville?

Eight of the 36 drivers racing Sunday have won at Martinsville: Hamlin, Truex, Busch, Logano, Byron, Elliott, Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

Hamlin leads all active drivers with five Martinsville victories, but he hasn’t won at the Virginia track since 2015. Truex has three wins, all of which have come since 2019, while Busch and Keselowski each have two victories. Harvick (2011), Logano (2018), Elliott (2020) and Byron (2022) have one win apiece.

Who is favored to win NASCAR this weekend?

Martinsville is the most unique oval track on the schedule. Shaped like a paperclip, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series at 0.526 miles. Young drivers historically struggle at Martinsville, but once they can go on dominant runs once they figure the track out.

Blaney has the best average finish at Martinsville (10.2 in 13 starts) despite being winless at the track. Hamlin (10.7 average finish in 33 starts), Keselowski (11.1 in 25 starts), Busch (11.7 in 34 starts) and Logano (11.7 in 27 starts) also run well at the track.

Recently, the young Hendrick Motorsports duo of Elliott and Byron have paced the field at Martinsville. Elliott won all four stages in the last two races while surpassing 180 laps led in three of his last four starts. Byron led 212 laps in his win during April’s Martinsville race, which was his third straight Martinsville top-five.

Here are some of the odds to win this weekend before practice and qualifying, courtesy of our betting partner, PointsBet:

  • Chase Elliott, +675
  • Denny Hamlin, +750
  • William Byron, +800
  • Ryan Blaney, +850
  • Joey Logano, +900
  • Martin Truex Jr., +1000
  • Christopher Bell, +1200
  • Kyle Larson, +1200
  • Ross Chastain, +1400
  • Kyle Busch, +1600
  • Kevin Harvick, +1800
  • Tyler Reddick, +2200
  • Brad Keselowski, +2800
  • Bubba Wallace, +3500
  • Chase Briscoe, +3500
  • Daniel Suarez, +5000

Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.

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