2021 Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500: NASCAR CUP Preview, Odds, Picks, Longshots

Martin Truex Jr. +500- Truex will begin Saturday night’s journey around the Martinsville Speedway from the 7th position and if the car is set up right should be cracking the top 5 before the end of stage 1. Truex has the highest average driver rating at Martinsville of any driver in the last 6 races of 115.7. 5 top 10 finishes, including 4 top 5s and 2 victories for Truex in the last 6. Martin led 132 of the 500 laps one year ago in the first Martinsville race of 2020 to win and we should see another solid performance on Saturday. Consider the favorite big time on Saturday.

Chase Elliott +600- Chase will roll off inside row 3 from the 5th position for Saturday’s Blue-Emu 500 at Martinsville. Chase dominated the 2020 playoff race at Martinsville leading 236 of the 500 laps to claim victory, no doubt setting up for the 2020 Championship run. Elliott with 5 top 10 finishes in the last 6 races at Martinsville including 3 top 5 finishes. Track position of major importance at Martinsville, Chase is starting up towards the front on the inside lane. Be on the lookout for #9 car at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday night.

Denny Hamin +700- Hamlin fires off from the 2nd position for Saturday’s race at the Martinsville Speedway. Solid 3rd place finish on the dirt in Bristol one week ago for Denny, and Denny has finished outside the top 10 only 1 time in 2021 which came at Homestead. Hamlin has 3 top 5 finishes over the last 6 races at Martinsville and an average finish of 9.67. Hamlin didn’t perform well at Martinsville at all in 2020, but the team will come into 2021 with a better prepared race car. Denny will be a top contender on Saturday night.

Joey Logano + 700- Logano will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday night from the pole position in the Blue-Emu 500. Big surprise from Logano winning at Bristol on the dirt last week and Joey had a solid run at Phoenix 3 weeks ago finishing 2nd. Joey has the 2nd best average driver rating at Martinsville over the last 6 races at 113.2. Logano has 5 top 10 finishes, including 3 top 5 finishes and picked up a victory at Martinsville in 2018. Logano in great form heading into Saturday’s Blue-Emu 500, one of the best value plays of the week.

William Bryon +2500- Bryon will be my dark horse play to win on Saturday night. Willy B. starts from the 3rd position, so track position is automatically built into the advantage on Saturday night. Byron is off to the best start of his career in 2021, reeling off 5 top finishes in a row and winning at Homestead a few races ago. In 6 races at Martinsville, William has managed to crank out 2 top 10s and 1 top 5 finish. Bryon is no safe play here on Saturday night by any stretch of the imagination but is worth a longshot or dark horse shot on Saturday night.