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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – MARCH 28: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, (L) and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, talk on the grid during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n
His 13 consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville is the longest streak among this week\u2019s starting field. He won here in 2018 and has a pair or runner-up finishes in the 14 races since his victory circle visit.<\/p>\n
Through six races this season, however, Logano has only a single top-10 \u2013 a third place effort in the season-opening Daytona 500. He is coming off a 33rd place finish at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway last week, while his two Penske teammates, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric both finished among the top five.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill a mystery,\u2019\u2019 Logano said of Darlington. \u201cObviously it was a tough one, but you have those races every now and again. It\u2019s not fun living through them, I can tell you that much, not fun for anybody. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut you also have to remember the success we\u2019ve all had together too. We still know how to do this, so you have to move on. Learn from it as quickly as possible and you have to close the book and by Monday, Tuesday move on and that\u2019s kind of what we did.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
With the change in the points format, and season-long points now putting a team in the Chase (Playoffs), Logano said it\u2019s very much time to go and he\u2019s very mindful of the points progression. Not only does he have the streak of top-10 finishes here, but Logano has been running at the finish of the last 34 consecutive Martinsville races \u2013 the fourth best effort all time and he’s still going.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those [tracks] that it seems like once you get a hold of it you see the same cast of characters in the top five frequently. You think of Blaney, Chase, us, the 24 [Byron] and the 11 [Hamlin], consistently. It\u2019s a very predictable race from my standpoint. Every now and then you can sprinkle someone else into that mix. But those are the people who are probably going to be pretty strong here<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, it\u2019s a good track to try to rebound, especially after last weekend that was so horrible. We know how to get around here, we know what to do, let\u2019s just see if we can get a little momentum built up going into the off-weekend.”<\/p>\n
NEW CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT EFFECT<\/b><\/p>\n
Even with only six races in the bookS, drivers say they do notice a difference in the way the competition is approaching the 2026 title run and the change this season to emphasize season-long points versus a win-and-in Playoff format.<\/p>\n
Both the approach to stage points and emphasis on consistency have helped create a noticeable new dynamic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI notice guys are just a little more protective of their finish,\u2019\u2019 said three-time Martinsville winner William Byron, who is ranked sixth in the standings. \u201cThere’s more emphasis on finishing well, but what goes with that is stage points. Last year, we had a really good start to the season. We scored a lot of stage points. This year, we’re not scoring as many stage points and we’re not as high up in the points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there’s more of an emphasis on finishing the race strong, but I still think with stage points, you can’t overcome not having a good couple stages. So, the guys scoring a lot of points might still not be finishing as well, but they’re just scoring throughout the weekend on the stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow championship contender, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Christopher Bell agreed that there is a very evident change in mindset.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody knows the importance of maximizing your day now where in the previous format you didn\u2019t have to maximize your day,\u2019\u2019 said Bell, who is ranked eighth with three top-10 finishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a win-or-bust mentality whereas now I think the racing is a little more compelling and aggressive. Everyone knows that every position matters more now than it did in years past.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
KESELOWSKI MAKES 600th START<\/b><\/p>\n
Although finishes are what typically define race car drivers, Brad Keselowski will be experiencing a significant career start this weekend. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion boasts the fourth most race starts in the current field and best of all for him, he\u2019s marking the 600-start milestone in one of the best season starts he\u2019s turned in since becoming a team owner in the series.<\/p>\n
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MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA – MARCH 28: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n
Only three other drivers on Sunday\u2019s starting grid have more starts than Keselowski with Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Kyle Busch leading the group with 756. Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin has 727 and three-time champ Logano has 621.<\/p>\n
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty has the most series starts (1,184) in history and fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Ricky Rudd is second on the list with 906. Petty is the only driver to have won his 600th start.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat to be back here, great to have cars that are super competitive and to be running up toward the front,\u2019\u2019 Keselowski said. \u201cTo hit 600 starts is a number I never really even dreamed of to be honest with you. I never thought that big. Just tried to do my thing and do the best I could and it kind of snuck up on me. It\u2019s always a lot of fun when the cars are fast and things are clicking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keselowski comes into Martinsville ranked ninth in the championship with three top-10 finishes already, including a third place in the Daytona 500 and a season-best runner-up effort at Darlington, S.C. last weekend. More encouraging for Keselowski is that the entire three-car effort is off to a positive start with Chris Buescher ranked seventh in the standings and Ryan Preece 12th.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately to be judged as successful in this sport you have to win and be a contender to win regularly,\u2019\u2019 Keselowski sad. “I\u2019m hopeful we can push through with some kind of stellar performance early in the season and kind of serve ourselves in that way. We were close last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis weekend would be another one of those opportunities I feel real good about,\u2019\u2019 he continued. \u201cNot trying to discredit Ryan [Preece] from winning the Clash but we need to win the points paying races and be in contention to that on a regular basis. We are not where I want us to be but we\u2019re inching closer to that goal and I\u2019m thrilled to see that growth. It never comes fast enough but there has been a lot of progress.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
OFF WEEK PLANS<\/b><\/p>\n
Next weekend is the first off-weekend of the season for the NASCAR Cup Series and not too surprisingly there is a great range of plans \u2013 and non-plans – for the competitors.<\/p>\n
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Connor Zilisch, 19, is heading to California with the idea of taking a break from racing. It\u2019s a similar idea for Bell, who grinned and proclaimed, \u201cI\u2019m going to sitting on my couch.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Spire Motorsports\u2019 Daniel Suarez and his wife Julia are heading to Greece.<\/p>\n
Three-time champ Joey Logano says he will just spend time with his three kids and maybe enjoy a family trip to the beach. Reigning series champion Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Kyle Larson conceded that his down time now as a father looks a lot different than it did a few years back. Next week, he will not be racing and instead attending the races his son Owen, 11 and daughter Audrey, 7, will compete in.<\/p>\n
His Hendrick teammate Byron, smiled and explained he hasn\u2019t even begun considering off-week plans yet. \u201cI\u2019m not a planner, just gotta get through this weekend and see where I\u2019m at.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LOGANO SHAKES OFF ROUGH DARLINGTON RACE MARTINSVLLE, Va. — Joey Logano is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and perpetual favorite at any race track he competes on. But the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, who is enduring a very uncharacteristic slow start to the season, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":57068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[407,16],"class_list":["post-57066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2268789827-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-eQq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57082,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57066\/revisions\/57082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}