Xfinity 500 from Martinsville Speedway Pre-Race Thread

I wouldn't count Almendinger out

Dating back to the Indianapolis road course in late July, Allmendinger has six consecutive top-10 finishes in the Cup Series, the longest streak of his career. In 16 starts on the season, he’s got a 50% top-10 finishing rate, and is tied for the third most top 10s he’s had in a single season.
Martinsville happens to be among Allmendinger’s best tracks on the circuit, with seven top-10 efforts in 22 starts.
 
???
UPDATE:Like nearly everyone else in the garage area, William Byron is not completely sure what to expect when the NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Martinsville Speedway in October for the Xfinity 500.
Byron was encouraged by what he saw out of the tires on Wednesday afternoon but admitted there is not yet enough information for him to infer on how different the Xfinity 500 will be compared to the Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 in the spring, which he ended up winning.
 
Total Johnny Raincloud comment incoming but after watching the Roval I expect this race to be absolutely horrible. With wide tires and lower HP the only passing is gonna be via front bumper
 
Denny with his back to the wall, and that list. I'd like to see Willy get his due. Going to be stressful fun. Love this sport.
 
Brad Moran addressed the differences at Martinsville.....New final drive gear.....new tire.....better weather.
 
2 Sweet said:
Did they change the gearing and the tire? If so, that's good news. I thought they determined no changes were necessary after the test last month, but hopefully that was inaccurate
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They considered running the Bristol dirt aero package (underbody/diffuser changes) but opted against it. Not sure if the gearing change is different from what they did in August? Whatever they did then didn’t keep them from shifting. New tire sounds promising.
 
2 Sweet said:
Did they change the gearing and the tire? If so, that's good news. I thought they determined no changes were necessary after the test last month, but hopefully that was inaccurate
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Yeah, I wasn't sure, but that is what he just said on NASCAR Radio. Won't eliminate shifting, but will help. Yeah, tire too....
 
Mispeedway15 said:
Total Johnny Raincloud comment incoming but after watching the Roval I expect this race to be absolutely horrible. With wide tires and lower HP the only passing is gonna be via front bumper
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Won't even be the bumper. Pit gains and.... I got nothing.
 
FLRacingFan said:
They considered running the Bristol dirt aero package (underbody/diffuser changes) but opted against it. Not sure if the gearing change is different from what they did in August? Whatever they did then didn’t keep them from shifting. New tire sounds promising.
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It's sad when "aero" and Martinsville are used in the same sentence

remember Harry Gant winning with half of his front end ripped off
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Wouldn't that all but negate the data? That's a significant difference
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The compound they chose is based on years of accumulated data. Construction choice with the 18” configuration will likely be based on the test results.

Tire supply is a tough contract, irrespective of the sharp criticism leveled at these guys.
 
The weather factor ... Sunday will tell the tale.

Goodyear Fast Facts – Martinsville​

NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 35 – 500 laps / 263 miles
Martinsville Speedway (0.526-mile oval) – Martinsville, Va.
Fast Facts for October 29-30, 2022

Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Short Track Radials

Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race (8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5176; Right-side — D-5178

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,249 mm (88.54 in.); Right-side — 2,278 mm (89.69 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 10 psi; Left Rear — 12 psi; Right Front — 22 psi; Right Rear — 22 psi

Storyline – Goodyear prepares cold-weather compounds for Martinsville’s concrete corners: Because the times of the year the NASCAR Cup Series runs at Martinsville Speedway – early April and late October in 2022 – the weather can be cool or even cold. That complicates the process of laying rubber on the track’s concrete corners. To respond to that, Goodyear tested at the Southern Virginia short track to come up with tread compounds that will accomplish that goal. And while the temperatures at the on-track session in June were significantly warmer, Goodyear is confident that the compounds changes to both the left- and right-side tires that came out of that test will rubber-in the track in all weather conditions.

“Martinsville is such a unique track, not only with the relatively long straightaways and tight turns, but also with the concrete surface in the corners only,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “After an especially cold spring race, where it became very difficult to lay rubber in the corners, we decided to test there to make another step in doing that no matter how cool the temperatures are. We had a good test and the compounds worked extremely well, and we believe it’s a formulation that will work in all conditions. Laying rubber in the corners is important at Martinsville because if gives drivers an option to move up to a second groove to look for grip and give them a better chance to pass cars. That, of course, creates better racing.”

Notes – Compound changes for Cup cars at Martinsville: Having moved to an 18-inch bead diameter tire for 2022, NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville this week . . . this is the first time Cup teams have run either of these two tire codes . . . compared to what these teams ran at Martinsville in April, this tire combination features compound changes to both sides of the car (see Storyline above) . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Martinsville in June . . . teams (drivers) participating were the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (Tyler Reddick), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Kyle Busch) and Team Penske Ford (Austin Cindric). . . this set-up was also confirmed at a NASCAR organizational test in August . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars will not run inner liners in any of their tires in 2022.
 
Revman said:
Denny with his back to the wall, and that list. I'd like to see Willy get his due. Going to be stressful fun. Love this sport.
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Glad to see you back. God knows Denny can't pass gas without starting in his pants. Didn't you learn anything with that week off?
 
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