Records and facts

Last year's Xfinity 500 saw the race end with a 168-lap run under green. Aric Almirola was position to claim a surprise victory. However, Ryan Blaney ran him down in the closing laps and took the lead with 23 laps to go.

From there, Blaney opened up a comfortable lead and held on to take the victory and claim his spot in the Championship 4. He won by .899 seconds over Almirola. Denny Hamlin was third, then Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano.

Among active drivers, Jimmie Johnson (not entered) has the most wins at Martinsville with nine. Hamlin has five triumphs, Martin Truex Jr. has three wins, while William Byron, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski have two each.

All-time, Richard Petty is the leader with 15 career victories. Darrell Waltrip has 11 Martinsville victories, then Johnson and Jeff Gordon with nine. Rusty Wallace has seven wins and could have had an eighth if he didn't get black-flagged for jumping the final restart from the lead in the 1997 Hanes 500. Three other drivers (Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt and Fred Lorenzen) have six wins each.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 0.526-mile oval, 500 laps (263 miles)
Banking: 12 degrees

Straightaways: 800 ft., flat

Grandstand Seating: 55,000

Pit Road Speed: 30 mph
Pace Car Speed: 35 mph
Opened: 1947 (first Cup race in the inaugural season, 1949)

Website:http://www.martinsvillespeedway.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/MartinsvilleSpeedway
Twitter:http://twitter.com/MartinsvilleSwy

Pre-Race Schedule:

Practice: Saturday, Nov. 2, 1 - 1:50 p.m. ET on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App

Qualifying: Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2:05 p.m. ET on NBCSports.com/NBC Sports App

Say What!

"I feel like what made us really good last year at that race was we didn’t have great qualifying speed. We didn’t qualify very , but our race pace was really solid, especially after 20 or so laps. I feel like I could move around where I needed to after 50 laps, but my strong suit was just kind of running where I needed to – kind of low and out of the rubber, but also being able to move around. I passed a handful of guys on the top of the racetrack when they got slowed up in lap traffic or rubbered down on the be pretty versatile. I think that versatility in our car really helped out. I was kind of racing [Denny Hamlin], who is really good there, the whole race and kind of seeing where our strengths were compared to his and just being able to kind of move around with our car, where I feel like some guys were maybe a little bit more locked into their lane that they were running. I had the ability to move around and that helped me a lot in traffic, so that’s something I hope we have again. The tire is gonna be interesting. It’s nice to have a longer practice on Saturday. Hopefully, the track gets in to where the race is gonna be as far as the rubber goes and what it does. Does it lay down? Does it kind of snake up a little bit to where you’re gonna have to be below it or above it? I feel like you’re gonna be able to make both lanes work and it just depends on how you adjust your car and your driving style to make both lanes work, but that versatility, I feel like, was a huge advantage for us." - Ryan Blaney

"I like Martinsville and can’t wait to get there this weekend. Obviously, it’s a special place for me because of the wall ride, but it’s a great, old track. It’s great to drive up there from Mooresville, walk down the hill into the track and have a hot dog after the race. It’s certainly important to get a good qualifying spot because it’s such a small track and the pace is quick." - Ross Chastain

"I think we probably should have finished a little better than eighth [at Martinsville] in the spring. We kind of got run over every which way at the green-white checkered [flag]. I think we can be strong there, for sure. Obviously cheering hard for my Hendrick Motorsports teammates to go make the Championship 4. We are doing everything we can to go run up front and maybe come home with a trophy. I love Martinsville. It’s become an entirely different animal with this Next Gen. car. It will be interesting to see what this new soft tire does too- it’s supposed to have a lot of fall off. If it falls off like predicted, we will see a lot of green flag pit stops, which we rarely see at Martinsville [Speedway]." - Alex Bowman

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.