Joey Logano has an opportunity to match a NASCAR icon with a strong run at Martinsville Speedway. He just needs a top-10 finish.
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The three-time Cup Series champion enters the spring weekend at the Virginia track with 13 consecutive top-10 finishes. If he scores one more, he will tie Lee Petty's mark. This will put him into a tie for the third-longest streak of consecutive top-10s at the track.
Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson tops the list. He posted 17 top-10s in a row between Oct. 20, 2002, and Oct. 24, 2010. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon is second with 15 top-10s in a row at Martinsville between April 13, 2003, and March 29, 2010.
Logano kicked off his current streak on Oct. 27, 2019. He finished eighth in the playoff race. He has since finished fourth, third, sixth, 10th, second, sixth, second, fifth, sixth, 10th, eighth, and eighth. He has led 390 laps in this stretch, headlined by 234 in the 2020 spring race.
One key factor in Logano being able to deliver such consistency is qualifying. He has started no worse than 15th at the short track since the 2011 fall race. He has won the pole six times in this stretch while posting an average starting position of 8.3.
Interestingly, Logano's lone win did not occur during this stretch of consistency. He won the 2018 playoff race after leading 309 laps. He then finished 19th in the 2019 spring race.
Petty, for comparison, kicked off his stretch of Martinsville consistency with his first-ever Cup Series start at the track in 1949. He finished second behind Red Byron.
Petty then finished eighth or better in the next 13 races at the short track. He won two of these races and finished second in five other races.
A 21st-place finish in 1956 snapped this streak, but Petty posted seven more top-10 finishes and one win at the short track before the end of his career. He ultimately walked away from NASCAR with an average finish of 5.5 at the track.
