2017 First Data 500

Background

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 kilometres) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.

First practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.846 seconds and a speed of 95.415 mph (153.556 km/h).^[10]

Final practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 20.056 seconds and a speed of 94.416 mph (151.948 km/h).^[11]

Qualifying results

• Jimmie Johnson started from the rear after changing tires on the car following qualifying.^[13]

Stage 1

Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 3:16 p.m., and he led the opening stint of the race until the first caution of the race on lap 37,^[14] when Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell were involved in an accident at turn 2. This also served as a competition caution, which was initially planned for lap 45.^[15] The race restarted on lap 45 with Logano leading, but he was passed by his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski on lap 49. Keselowski maintained the lead through to the next caution period on lap 63, following a spin for David Ragan at turn 4. Keselowski kept the lead at the restart on lap 69, before being re-passed by Logano 10 laps later before another caution period followed on lap 87, due to contact between Danica Patrick and A. J. Allmendinger.^[14] Jimmie Johnson took the lead during the pit stop cycle, holding the lead until lap 114, when Keselowski returned to the lead, which he held to the end of the stage.

Stage 2

Kyle Busch took the lead of the race during the pit stop cycle, going into the race's longest green flag run of 122 laps, which culminated in the end of the second stage. Busch led for 123 laps during the stage, but it was Keselowski that prevailed following contact between the two drivers.

Final stage

Just as he did between the first two stages, Busch took the race lead from Keselowski prior to the race restarting. Busch led the next stint of the race until the sixth caution period at lap 304,^[14] as Kyle Larson hit the wall on the backstretch and the resulting damage caused his retirement from the race. Busch kept the race lead at the restart on lap 314, but the race was back under neutralized conditions within 3 laps as Erik Jones spun out in turn 4. Busch led to the restart on lap 322, but he was passed shortly after by Chase Elliott; Elliott led the race up to the next caution period at lap 362, again caused by a spinning car in turn 4 – this time being Landon Cassill. Keselowski took the race lead during the resulting pit stop cycle, and from the restart on lap 368 until Elliott regained the lead on lap 386.

Elliott held the lead for the next portion of the race, up until the race's ninth caution period on lap 459, caused by an accident for Carl Long in turn 2. Busch and Elliott traded the lead during the pit stop cycle before Keselowski took the race lead from Elliott on lap 471. With eight laps to go, Logano spun out in the second turn as a result of a flat tire to cause the tenth caution of the race. At the restart with four laps to go, Keselowski started from the outside lane and was run up the track by Elliott to the inside in turn 3; behind, Denny Hamlin moved into second place, and on the following lap at turn 3, Hamlin spun Elliott around, with Elliott impacting the wall, causing another caution period and an overtime finish.^[16]

Overtime

Hamlin led the field to the restart with two laps to go, but Busch bumped his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate out of the way at the start of the final lap, and ultimately won the race to advance to the Championship 4 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Hamlin ultimately finished the race in seventh place,^[16] as he was passed by Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Trevor Bayne. Numerous drivers were involved in a crash on the frontstretch as the race was finishing.^[14]

Race results

Final stage results

Stage 3 Laps: 240

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 16 among 6 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 11 for 74 laps
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 32 minutes, 47 seconds
• Average speed: 74.902 miles per hour (120.543 km/h)

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the broadcast booth, while Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane.

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on SiriusXM's NASCAR Radio channel.