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 .526 mile (.847 km) short track (extended from 500 laps), 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.

2017 First Data 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 33 of 36 in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
First Data 500.png
Date October 29, 2017 (2017-10-29)
Location Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
.526 mi (.847 km)
Distance 505 laps, 265.63 mi (427.49 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.5 km)
Average speed 74.902 miles per hour (120.543 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Team Penske
Time 19.622
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 184
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (Backstretch)

Report

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Background

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Martinsville Speedway, the track where the race will be held.

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 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Monster Energy 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

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No. 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 Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

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First practice

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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]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
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 95.156
Official first practice results

Final practice

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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]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
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 94.289
Official final practice results

Qualifying

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Joey Logano scored the pole position.

Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.622 and a speed of 96.504 mph (155.308 km/h).[12]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.631 19.571 19.622
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.725 19.696 19.627
3 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.742 19.685 19.636
4 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19.718 19.705 19.700
5 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 19.721 19.608 19.702
6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.760 19.691 19.707
7 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 19.695 19.696 19.712
8 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.755 19.722 19.772
9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.694 19.685 19.786
10 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.658 19.716 19.820
11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 19.757 19.661 19.844
12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.667 19.734 19.947
13 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 19.734 19.736
14 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.709 19.739
15 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.708 19.746
16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.711 19.751
17 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.660 19.767
18 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.711 19.791
19 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.727 19.792
20 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 19.684 19.793
21 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.715 19.795
22 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.756 19.808
23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 19.728 19.833
24 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.734 20.126
25 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.779
26 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 19.791
27 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.792
28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 19.799
29 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.810
30 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 19.871
31 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.880
32 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 19.885
33 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.916
34 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.921
35 83 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.971
36 23 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 19.987
37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 20.027
38 51 Kyle Weatherman Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 20.226
39 66 Carl Long (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 20.410
40 7 Hermie Sadler Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 20.585
Official qualifying results
  • Jimmie Johnson started from the rear after changing tires on the car following qualifying.[13]

Race

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Stage 1

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Start

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Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 3:16 p.m, Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked in turn two on lap 37 to produce the first caution of the afternoon. NASCAR had planned to have a competition caution at lap 45 but chose to use the first true caution for the competition period.

The race restarted on lap 45 and it remained green for 18 laps, The second caution of the race flew on lap 63 when David Ragan spun out in turn 4, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the free pass under caution.

The race restarted on lap 69 and it remained green for 19 laps, Contact between Danica Patrick and A. J. Allmendinger sent his car sliding on lap 87, bringing out the race’s third caution.

The race restarted on lap 94.

Brad Keselowski, targeting Sunday’s race as a must-win, outran Kyle Busch by 1.1 seconds to win the race’s first stage on lap 130, Completing the top 10 were Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 132 to complete stage one.

Stage 2

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The race restarted on lap 140 and it remained green for 122 laps.

The race’s second stage ended with a tense battle for the lead between Brad Keselowski and arch-rival Kyle Busch. They bumped fenders with three laps remaining in the stage, Keselowski eventually winning the race to the finish line by 1.1 seconds. Following in the top 10 were Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson, The fifth caution of the race flew to complete stage two.

Final stage

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Kyle Busch won the race.

The race restarted on lap 272 and it remained green for 32 laps, The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 304 when Kyle Larson, who fell out of the playoffs last week at Kansas Speedway, lost control of his car and crashed into the inside wall on the backstretch, Larson finished 37th, his second consecutive finish of 35th or worse.

The race restarted on lap 314 and the seventh caution of the race flew three laps later when Erik Jones spun out in turn 4, Ryan Newman won the free pass under caution.

The race restarted on lap 322 and it remained green for 40 laps, The eighth caution of the race flew on lap 362 when Landon Cassill spun out in turn 4, There was no free pass under this caution.

The race restarted on lap 368 and it remained green for 91 laps, The ninth caution of the race flew on lap 459 for a single-car wreck in turn 2, A Carl Long crash brought the leaders to the pits for key stops. Chase Elliott’s crew returned his car to the track first. He was leading when Long’s wreck occurred. Elliott was followed out of the pits by Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.

The race restarted on lap 465 and it remained green for 28 laps, The tenth caution of the race flew on lap 493 when Joey Logano spun out in turn 2, Chris Buescher won the free pass under caution.

The race restarted on lap 497 and the eleventh caution of the race flew on the final lap when race leader Brad Keselowski chose the outside line with Elliott running on the inside. Elliott ran Keselowski's car up the race track to take the lead until Hamlin raced to his back bumper, made contact and spun Elliott into the wall and crashed, sending the race into overtime.

Overtime

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The race restarted with two laps to go, Kyle Busch overtook Denny Hamlin to win the Round of 8 opener at the 70-year-old, half-mile track in southwest Virginia.

Busch guaranteed himself a spot in the final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the victory and a chance to win his second championship. Busch won his first title in 2015.

Points leader Martin Truex Jr. finished second, followed by Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. The race ended under caution as a massive wreck broke out before Busch crossed the start-finish line that especially involving Harvick, Trevor Bayne, Hamlin, Blaney, Kenseth, Johnson, Suarez, Kahne, Ty Dillon, Paul Menard, Buescher, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, Cassill, and Cole Whitt. Denny Hamlin finished seventh.[14]

Race results

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Stage results

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Stage 1 Laps: 130

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 10
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 8
4 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 6
6 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 5
7 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 4
8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3
9 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2
10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 130

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 10
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 8
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 7
5 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6
6 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 5
7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 4
8 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3
9 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage two results

Final stage results

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Stage 3 Laps: 240

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 14 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 505 58
2 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 505 48
3 5 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 505 36
4 7 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 505 53
5 13 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 505 36
6 34 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 505 31
7 6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 505 31
8 4 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 505 38
9 17 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 505 31
10 22 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 505 27
11 21 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 505 26
12 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 505 33
13 25 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 505 26
14 18 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 505 23
15 15 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 505 22
16 12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 505 24
17 23 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 505 20
18 10 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 505 19
19 20 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 505 18
20 19 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 505 17
21 29 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 505 16
22 11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 505 15
23 33 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 505 14
24 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 504 29
25 30 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 504 12
26 8 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 504 11
27 3 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 504 21
28 31 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 503 9
29 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 503 8
30 26 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 501 7
31 35 83 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 501 6
32 32 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 500 5
33 36 23 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 500 4
34 40 7 Hermie Sadler Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 494 3
35 38 51 Kyle Weatherman Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 488 2
36 39 66 Carl Long (i) MBM Motorsports Chevrolet 444 0
37 9 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 300 1
38 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 274 1
39 28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 187 1
40 27 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 94 1
Official race results

Race statistics

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

Media

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Television

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

NBCSN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Dave Burns
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio

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MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Backstretch: Dave Moody Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "2017 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2016. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  2. ^ "Martinsville Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 28, 2017. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 28, 2017. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 29, 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  7. ^ "First Data 500 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 29, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  8. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 30, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  9. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 30, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  10. ^ Utter, Jim (October 28, 2017). "Denny Hamlin rockets to top of first Cup practice at Martinsville". Motorsport.com. Ridgeway, Virginia: Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  11. ^ Utter, Jim (October 28, 2017). "Logano leads final practice at Martinsville". Motorsport.com. Ridgeway, Virginia: Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  12. ^ Fryer, Jenna (October 29, 2017). "Johnson spins in qualifying before Martinsville playoff race". Associated Press. Ridgeway, Virginia: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "Jimmie Johnson to move to the rear at Martinsville". NASCAR.com. Ridgeway, Virginia. October 29, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  14. ^ Hembree, Mike (October 20, 2017). "Kyle Busch punches ticket to final four with dramatic win at Martinsville". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 20, 2017.


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