Kyle Bush signs autographs after qualifying second for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on March 23
Kyle Bush signs autographs after qualifying second for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on March 23Matt Bell | Associated Press

NASCAR: Eckel’s picks for STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway

The battle for the “Grandfather Clock Trophy’’

STP 500, Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeville, Va., 2 p.m.

Kyle Busch, the hottest driver through five weeks, is the overwhelming favorite as NASCAR heads to Martinsville, Sunday.

The storyline this week, however, involves two of the other top drivers on the circuit, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. It was last fall in Martinsville when Logano bumped Truex on the final lap on his way to a win and the points championship.

Logano talked to NASCAR.com this week about that race.

“I mean, it’s in the past at this point,” Logano said. “But I think at that point Martin texted me and, like I told you guys, he was pretty clear that he was frustrated with the move. I understood, and I think he understood why I had to do it, and it kind of played out and worked out, but my move to him was that I didn’t wreck you. I gave the old bump-and-run.

“That happened 15 times a race here at Martinsville, and that one was just a little more popular. I think there’s a fine line. You don’t want to straight out bump somebody on purpose, but you also, when it comes down to the end of the race like that and there’s that much on the line … that was our shot to win a championship.

“So I think every driver has a line that they are OK with and that you can go to sleep at the end of the night and say, ‘I did what I had to do and I’m all right with it,’ and if it happened to me, you have to be OK with that as well. I think that was the situation for me that I was trying to explain to him.”

Logano, who won at Las Vegas two weeks ago, and Truex, looking for is first win of the season, will battle with Busch for the “Grandfather Clock Trophy.’’

Chevrolet has dominated here at the track known as “The Paper Clip’’ with 23 wins since the race began in 1950. But Ford, with 13 wins, has won the past two.

Here’s Sunday’s selections with the help, as always, from Scott “Tobacco Road’’ Baker and Mike “Left Turn’’ Sweeney.

Joey Logano (7-1) — Both “Tobacco Road’’ and “Left Turn’’ made him their top choice and it’s not often those two agree on anything. So Logano, who finished sixth in this race last year, fourth in 2017, and has the pole position Sunday, is the top pick.

Martin Truex Jr. (5-1) — Truex needs a win and would love to beat Logano here after what happened last fall. He’ll be coming out of the ninth spot. The Jersey Boy has never won at Martinsville, but has seven finishes in the top five. “Left Turn’’ likes him in this spot.

Kyle Busch (8-5) — The old horse racing saying is “The only thing worse than picking the overwhelming favorite, is not picking the overwhelming favorite.’’ It works here, too. You can’t overlook Busch, who has won to straight weeks and has finished second here the past two years and won in 2016.

Longshot Play: Kevin Harvick (15-1) — It’s not often you get these kinds of odds on a driver with Harvick’s success.

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