Martin Truex Jr. will look to defend the crown he won last year at Martinsville Speedway when he puts his foot on the pedal this weekend down in Virginia. Will he go back to back? Check out our preview of the 2021 Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 below.
After coming up with a win in the InstaCart 500 at the Phoenix Raceway, Truex sort of dialed back, as he finished ninth in Atlanta then 19th in the dirt race at Bristol. But you can’t discount Truex at Martinsville Speedway, where he has two career wins in 17 appearances there. Moreover, he’s finished inside the top 10 in six of his last seven starts in Martinville, where he has an average finish of 6.5 in his last six starts there.
Brad Keselowski (+600)
Keselowski is another driver who always performs well in Martinsville. Keselowski, who is still in search of his first win of the season, has two wins in 22 career starts in Martinsville. He also has 11 top 5s and 16 top 10s there. Keselowski has an ongoing five-race streak of top-5 finishes in Martinsville. In his last race there, Keselowski finished fourth at the 2020 Xfinity 500.
Chase Elliott (+600)
Elliott had engine troubles in Atlanta and settled for the 38th spot, but rebounded strongly in the next race, finishing 10th at Bristol (dirt). Elliott should be feeling good about his chances to win his first race of the season this week, as he reigned supreme at Martinsville Speedway last year when he topped the Xfinity 500, leading the race for 236 total laps. That gave him top-5 finishes in back-to-back appearances in Martinsville, as he placed fifth there in the June 2020 Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 race.
SLEEPERS
Aric Almirola (+6600)
Almirola has zero wins on the season. He hasn’t finished inside the top 5 or top 10 in any race so far this year and his season average finish is just 26.57 so far. But he finished seventh in his lsat appearance (2020 Xfinity 500) at the Martinsville Speedway.
Tyler Reddick (+6600)
Reddick could be on to something after finishing seventh at Bristol (dirt) last week. He finished 24th at the 2020 Xfinity 500 and 16th in his first-career race there in June 2020’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 race.
LONG SHOT
Michael McDowell (+20000)
McDowell has a career average finish of 29.75 at Martinsville Speedway, but hey, the guy shocked everyone with a win at the 2021 Daytona 500 as a long shot. Then he also has three top 10s in seven starts this year.
Writer’s Prediction
Brad Keselowski wins the 2021 Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.
