The 2017 First Data 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 29, 2017, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 505 laps – extended from 500 laps due to an overtime finish – on the short track, it was the 33rd race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, seventh race of the playoffs, and first race of the Round of 8.
Leading 184 laps during the race, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch won his fifth race of the season – and his third during the playoffs – progressing to the Championship 4 as a result of the victory.
Report
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 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.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Hermie Sadler Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Kyle Weatherman Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 66 Carl Long (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.846 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.846 95.415 2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.870 95.299 3 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.900 95.156Official first practice results
Final practice Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 20.056 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 20.056 94.416 2 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.075 94.326 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 20.083 94.289Official final practice results
Qualifying
Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.622 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 122 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.631 19.571 19.622 278 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.725 19.696 19.627 324 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.742 19.685 19.636 421 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19.718 19.705 19.700 514 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 19.721 19.608 19.702 611 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.760 19.691 19.707 72 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 19.695 19.696 19.712 877 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.755 19.722 19.772 942 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.694 19.685 19.786 1043 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.658 19.716 19.820 1141 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 19.757 19.661 19.844 125 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.667 19.734 19.947 134 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 19.734 19.736 1418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.709 19.739 1519 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.708 19.746 161 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.711 19.751 1720 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.660 19.767 1831 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.711 19.791 1927 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.727 19.792 2095 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 19.684 19.793 2188 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.715 19.795 2217 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.756 19.808 2310 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 19.728 19.833 2448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.734 20.126 253 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.779 2613 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 19.791 2747 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.792 2832 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 19.799 2937 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.810 3072 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 19.871 3138 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.880 3215 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 19.885 3334 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.916 346 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.921 3583 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.971 3623 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.987 3733 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 20.027 3851 Kyle Weatherman Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 20.226 3966 Carl Long (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 20.410 407 Hermie Sadler Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 20.585 Official qualifying results Jimmie Johnson started from the rear after changing tires on the car following qualifying.
Race
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, 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. 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. 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, 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.
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, 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.
Race results Stage results
Stage 1 Laps: 130
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 66 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 48 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 210 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 130
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 75 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 57 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 210 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage 3 Laps: 240