October 27, 2025
Kyle Larson finished fifth after a steady and consistent performance during Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Larson began the race from the third position and had one of the fastest cars early in the race. The No. 5 Chevrolet driver mainly focused on his points battle with Christopher Bell and outran him in both of the first two stages. In the first stage, he placed third, and in the second stage, he placed second, earning enough stage points to open up a points gap where he simply needed to finish ahead of Bell to advance. Larson continued to run inside the top 10 through most of the last stage and worked back up to his eventual finishing position of fifth. With his top-5 finish in this week's race, Larson continues his streak of seven consecutive races of sixth or better at Martinsville. The 2021 Cup Series champion advanced to the championship race at Phoenix next week by placing ahead of Bell and has the opportunity to win his second Cup Series title.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
October 27, 2025
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney was one of the two dominant drivers of Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He led 177 laps, the second-most of all drivers, but they all came during the third and final stage. The No. 12 Ford driver spent the first two stages of the race methodically working his way to the front as he started the race from 31st after a slow lap in qualifying. From there, Blaney dominated the race outside of one brief sequence of pit stops until lap 457, when William Byron chased Blaney and took the lead. Blaney tried to get back to the lead during the race's final restart on lap 490, but was not fast enough to pass Byron and settled for second. Unfortunately for Blaney, second place was not enough to advance to the championship race in the playoffs; he needed to win.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
October 27, 2025
Chase Elliott finished third in Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott was one of the fastest drivers of the race and ran in the top five throughout most of the race. He placed fourth at the end of the first two stages and looked like one of the few drivers who could compete against the dominant drivers of the day, William Byron and Chase Elliott. Unfortunately for Elliott, he was caught a lap down during a green flag pit sequence due to a caution on lap 379 for Erik Jones spinning. Elliott spent the rest of the race in the final stage recovering from outside the top five, but was able to recover to third, earning his fourth consecutive top-5 result by passing Ross Chastain in the closing laps. Despite his strong run, Elliott was unable to score enough points to advance to the championship race in the playoffs, as he needed to win to keep his postseason hopes alive.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
October 27, 2025
In a winner-take-all race at Martinsville, where William Byron and Ryan Blaney led 96% of the laps from below the playoff cut line, Byron and Blaney's duel made it a race-long battle between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot, but it really wasn't much of a battle. Even though Bell entered the race with a one-point lead over Larson, as predicted here, Larson overtook him on stage points in Stage 1, and Bell never really found a way back in. Larson spent the vast majority of the race ahead of Bell and finished fifth to Bell's seventh in a race where the Toyotas were surprisingly off-song. Ultimately, although Bell was actually the fastest Toyota driver this season and had his share of wins, he was a little too complacent in terms of focusing on consistency rather than dominating races and top-level performance, which probably bit him in the end.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 27, 2025
Although Joey Logano predictably ran in the top 10 most of the day at Martinsville, where he started fourth, finished eighth, and posted an average running position of sixth, he just as predictably failed to seriously contend for the win or even the lead at any point in the race. Logano ranks 10th in speed this season and has not been the fastest driver in any race, so in a race like Sunday's, where very little chicanery took place, speed was paramount, and there was no chance for the No. 22's penchant for wild strategies to shake up the outcome. People feared Logano advancing to the Championship 4 because of Penske's dominance at Phoenix and the fact that he already has more titles than he deserves, but they should not have. However, Logano's "odd-even" trend of making the Championship 4 only in even-numbered years is likely just a statistical quirk that means nothing.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 27, 2025
Chase Briscoe finished last in Sunday's race at Martinsville after an engine failure, but it clearly doesn't matter since he had already advanced to the Championship 4 by virtue of his win at Talladega. It seems incredibly obvious that both Hamlin and Briscoe were trying some wild setups and treating Martinsville as a race-long test session for the Phoenix finale, so one should not judge their prospects based on that. However, the difference is that Hamlin actually ran well as he was second to Ryan Blaney for a while, as opposed to Briscoe, who was in and out of the top 10 and had one of his weaker runs in weeks before his engine failure. Briscoe seems outmatched compared to the three perpetual championship contenders who joined him in the Championship 4, but he's also exceeded people's expectations all season and is quite strong at Phoenix, so he's not entirely out of it either.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 27, 2025
In a Martinsville race that didn't mean much for Denny Hamlin since he had already locked himself into the Championship 4, Hamlin and his teammate, Chase Briscoe, who had also advanced, both blew engines, as did fellow Toyota driver Riley Herbst. Obviously, since the two Toyota drivers who advanced both blew engines while none of the other Toyota drivers did, except for Herbst, who has literally nothing at stake, it seems obvious that Toyota as an organization was trying some aggressive setups to prepare for the championship finale at Phoenix. This is why fans should stop looking at full-season points to evaluate driver performance when teams are responding to the current playoff format. With Penske failing to advance and Hamlin having three weeks to prepare for Phoenix after his win at Las Vegas, he's probably the championship favorite.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 26, 2025
Chris Buescher will start in the 29th position for the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This is Buescher's lowest starting position in a Martinsville race since April 2024. In 20 races at the site, Buescher has 10 top-20 finishes, including four top-15s in the last seven Cup events. With 34 races completed in the 2025 season, Buescher has 26 top-20 finishes, including 16 inside the top 10, with an average finish of 14.0. In practice for this week's race, Buescher ranked 25th in overall lap averages, while displaying top-20 speeds in the 20-30 consecutive lap average categories. Buescher has plenty of upside in this week's race, with equipment capable of finishing in the top 20 at Martinsville. He is a solid option to consider for all DFS formats this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
October 26, 2025
RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece acquired a starting position of 18th for Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway, the Xfinity 500. This will be the sixth time in his Cup career that Preece will start inside the top 20 at the site. In 12 prior races at Martinsville, Preece has eight top-20 finishes with two inside the top 10. Through 34 races in the 2025 season, Preece has 12 top-10 finishes, including a seventh-place finish earlier at Martinsville in March. In practice for this week's race, Preece ranked 27th in overall lap averages, but displayed top-20 speeds in the 10-30 consecutive lap average categories. The No. 60 Ford driver has excelled in the past at Martinsville, with three top-15s in his last three races. Based on his equipment and overall track history, expect another favorable result from Preece this week at Martinsville.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
October 26, 2025
Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing qualified 30th for the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It will be the third time in Suarez's Cup career that he will start 30th or worse in a Martinsville race. In 17 Cup races at the Virginia short track, Suarez has six top-20 finishes, with only two of them being scored since 2022. After 34 Cup races this season, Suarez has 17 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 20.9. In practice, Suarez ranked 22nd in overall lap averages while displaying top-10 speeds in all other categories outside of single and five lap consecutive averages. Martinsville has never been one of Suarez's best tracks, but his favorable practice speeds, high upside, and low salary on both DFS sites make him worth consideration this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
October 26, 2025
Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon will start in the 20th position after qualifying for the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This marks the third consecutive race at the site where Dillon will start inside the top 10. In 23 starts at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet has 14 top-20 finishes with an average finish of 18.9. Since 2022, Dillon's results at Martinsville were mixed with four finishes of 18th or better and three instances of placing outside of the top 20. In 34 races this season, Dillon has 16 top-20 finishes with an average finish of 21.0. In practice for Sunday's race, Dillon ranked 11th in overall lap averages and as high as 22nd in 15 consecutive lap averages. For DFS lineups this week, Dillon is best suited as a value tournament play, with the equipment to remain in the top 20, but also displayed varying results throughout his Cup career at Martinsville.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
October 26, 2025
Kyle Larson sits 36 points above his teammate William Byron for the final transfer spot entering Sunday's penultimate Xfinity 500 at Martinsville. If any driver other than Byron, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, or his other teammate, Chase Elliott, wins at Martinsville, then Larson should be pretty safe to advance, but otherwise, he will need to outscore Christopher Bell, who is a point ahead of him. Larson outqualified Bell, as he starts third to Bell's 12th, which means Larson will probably overtake him in points in Stage 1. Larson has gotten a lot better at Martinsville lately, as he won his first race and led 332 of his 367 laps here in the last four years. Despite his 2022 win, Bell's record has not been nearly as consistent, so Larson should advance. However, there are probably better choices for DFS play since he starts third and costs $10,500.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 26, 2025
Joey Logano is 38 points behind Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot in the Championship 4 entering Sunday's race at Martinsville, but it's pretty hard to see him having much of a shot at advancing to Phoenix. Logano starts fourth, which is admittedly his best qualifying result on speed here since 2019, and he has impressively posted 12 consecutive top-10 finishes there. However, he tends to run consistently without factoring in the lead much, and almost all his laps led have come in the spring, while he has hardly led the fall Martinsville race at all since his win in 2018. You can expect him to finish well, but it's hard to envision him outrunning any of the other drivers left standing, who have all been faster this season. The road likely ends here, and he's probably starting a little too well to start him for DFS when considering he's not very likely to lead.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 26, 2025
William Byron did what he needed to do to stay alive in the playoff race, even though he is currently 36 points behind his teammate Kyle Larson for the final transfer spot to get into the Championship Round after winning the pole for Sunday's Xfinity 500. Since all the drivers he is chasing in the championship qualified pretty well and should also score points, it is unlikely he will advance to the Championship 4 unless he wins or either Larson or Christopher Bell have bad luck in Stage 1 and fail to score any stage points. Byron will naturally be entirely focused on winning at a track where he won both the 2022 and 2024 spring races. Considering how difficult it is to pass here and also considering that he should have a major advantage with the first pit stall, he'll likely lead a lot of laps, even if he doesn't win, and in a 500-lap race, he can accrue many DFS bonus points. You probably need to start him, especially since he only costs $9,700.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
October 26, 2025
Although Ross Chastain delivered what will forever remain his lifetime highlight reel in the fall 2022 race at Martinsville with his storied last lap wall ride to advance to the Championship Round of the playoffs, he actually hasn't been very good at Martinsville overall. That improbable fourth-place finish was his best ever at the track and he's never finished better than sixth since. He also only led 31 laps here at the spring race in 2023. He typically runs between 6th-15th here for the most part, which is again where he qualified (13th). Unlike a lot of weeks when he's a favorite for a lot of Place Differential points, he probably isn't this time. He'll probably get a sneaky and rather invisible top ten finish but won't likely contend. You should probably stay away from Chastain for DFS play.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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