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It’s time for the first Saturday night Cup Series race! The Cup cars race under the lights at Martinsville Speedway for the Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Last week the series was at the D-shaped mini superspeedway known as Richmond Raceway for the first short track race of the year. This week makes two short tracks in a row. But Martinsville and Richmond are completely different. Does that change who the favorites to win outright this week are? Not too much!
Once again, Martin Truex Jr comes in as the lone favorite this week at +450. Truex was the favorite last week at Richmond due to his three wins over six races at the track. In case you’re wondering, Truex also has three Cup Series wins in the last five trips to Martinsville.
As for Richmond, Truex came in as the favorite but it was Denny Hamlin who won the race. Hamlin is also one of the favorites this week coming in at +800.
Here are the top-four favorites to win the Martinsville Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 outright.
Martin Truex Jr +450
Ryan Blaney +650
Chase Elliott +700
Denny Hamlin +800
Hamlin has five wins in the Cup Series at Martinsville giving him the most among active drivers. Of the four favorites listed above, Ryan Blaney is the only one without a Martinsville win. Complete odds are listed below.
2022 Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 Preview
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2022, 7:30 pm EST
Track: Martinsville Speedway / Ridgeway, Virginia
Type: Oval, Asphalt, 0.526 miles
Race Distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.
Defending Track Winner: Alex Bowman (Fall Race).
TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN
2022 Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 Predictions
Chase Elliott +700
Chase Elliott put on a show when he got his win at Martinsville in 2020. This was on the way to earning his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship that season. During that race, Elliott led 265 laps while swapping the lead with Martin Truex Jr. Elliott has not won a race this season but his history at Martinsville indicates that he could change that this weekend. Here’s a stat from the last Martinsville race, Elliott was the leader for 289 laps before getting shuffled at the end for a 16th place run.
Denny Hamlin +800
The last time Denny Hamlin last won at Martinsville was in 2015. Since then he’s finished 11th or better seven times with three races in a row with 5th or better finishes. His last three trips to Martinsville have not been fantastic as he finished 24th last year and 3rd, 11th, and 24th respectively. That aside, Hamlin has some of the best numbers at Martinsville than any other active driver including 22 top 10 finishes with 16 of those being 5th or better.
Joey Logano +1000
Joey Logano ranks 5th in NASCAR Fantasy stats when it comes to Martinsville. In his last ten races at the track, he has scored a win and finished 10th or better eight times. In last year’s races, he finished 3rd in the Spring race and 10th in the fall race. In 2020, he carded a 3rd place run and followed that up with a 4th place finish.
Others to Consider: I like Martin Truex (+450) but only if he and his team remain mistake-free on the day. Truex has been consistent, but can’t seem to break through this year. Brad Keselowski (+2500) is ranked as the 2nd best driver at Martinsville over the last ten races behind Truex. He’s my darkhorse driver this weekend in my small fantasy group. But he’s with his new team this season and those numbers may not cross over.
2022 Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 Betting Lines
Martin Truex Jr +450
Ryan Blaney +650
Chase Elliott +700
Denny Hamlin +800
Kyle Larson +1000
Kyle Busch +1000
Joey Logano +1000
William Byron +1200
Christopher Bell +1400
Tyler Reddick +1600
Ross Chastain +1600
Kevin Harvick +2000
Chase Briscoe +2500
Brad Keselowski +2500
Austin Cindric +5000
Aric Almirola +5000
Kurt Busch +5000
Austin Dillon +6600
Erik Jones +6600
Daniel Suarez +8000
Chris Buescher +10000
AJ Allmendinger +15000
Cole Custer +15000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +20000
Darrell Wallace Jr. +20000
Justin Haley +25000
Harrison Burton +35000
Todd Gilliland +50000
Ty Dillon +50000
Michael McDowell +50000
Corey Lajoie +50000
Garrett Smithley +100000
Josh Bilicki +100000
Cody Ware +100000
BJ McLeod +100000
J.J. Yeley +100000
