The NASCAR Cup Series travel back to Martinsville Raceway this week for the Xfinity 500. The series last competed at Martinsville in April. A lot has happened since that race, but Martinsville is a driver’s racetrack. The drivers either know how to turn fast laps at this track or they are just in the way. There are still three spots up for grabs in the championship race next week since Kyle Larson won both races in the Round of Eight. It should be fun to see who can join him at Phoenix. The Xfinity 500 can be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was my pick last week at Kansas. Stenhouse is always a tough driver to trust but I was hoping the “Good Stenhouse” would show up in the Heartland. Well, it didn’t happen. Stenhouse spent most of the race running around the 20th position. I expected a lot more than a 24th-place finish from Stenhouse, but it is tough to get a top-20 finish from your One & Done driver in the final races of the season.
My One & Done Pick for Martinsville: Bubba Wallace
The drivers I have available in the One & Done game include Bubba Wallace, Anthony Alfredo and the drivers who always finish 33rd or worst. I will roll the dice with Bubba Wallace Sunday. Wallace does not have many wins in the three top series of NASCAR, but he does have two wins at Martinsville in the Truck Series on his resume. Wallace started 25th and finished 16th at Martinsville in April. He has been running well lately (Wallace has a 15th-place average finishing position in the playoffs), so I will take a chance with the No. 23 car this week. He is the best choice I have available.
Aric Almirola will be my One & Done pick Sunday in games where I can use a driver twice. . Almirola hasn’t been very good this year but he has had success at Martinsville and he has been good on the short, flat tracks this season. Almirola finished 7th in this race last year. He also won the race at New Hampshire in July, finished 6th at Richmond and he finished 11th at Phoenix. His stats on the short, flat tracks are pretty good so Almirola will get a spot in the lineup Sunday.
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