The 2017 STP 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 2, 2017, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) paperclip-shaped short track, it was sixth race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
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 Sprint 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 remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Entry list
First practice
Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.879 seconds and a speed of .
Qualifying
Qualifying for Friday was cancelled due to rain and Kyle Larson, the point leader, was awarded the pole as a result.
Starting Lineup
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice
Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 20.058 seconds and a speed of .
Final practice
Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 20.174 seconds and a speed of .
Race
First stage
Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 2:18 p.m. He led the first 24 laps before giving way to Brad Keselowski on lap 25. The first caution flew on lap 69 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out in Turn 3. Trevor Bayne, Keselowski, Michael McDowell (speeding) and Joey Logano (crew member over the wall too soon) restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. Earnhardt said after the race that based on "what I see on my dash I wasn’t speeding, but (NASCAR) has better technology than we do. They said it was in the segment out of my pit box. Hell, I must have got out of there pretty damn good. I don’t know what to do about that." As a result of Keselowski's penalty, Martin Truex Jr., who was running second at the time, assumed the lead.
The race restarted on lap 76. Denny Hamlin passed Truex for the lead on lap 89. Jamie McMurray made contact with Jimmie Johnson on lap 100 and developed a left-rear tire rub that cut down the tire, led to him spinning out and hitting the Turn 3 wall on lap 106, bringing out the second caution. McMurray went on to finish last.
The race restarted on lap 117. The third caution flew on lap 123 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. got loose exiting Turn 2, and received help from Ryan Blaney, and spun out on the backstretch.
The race restarted on lap 127. Truex won the first stage and the fourth caution flew for the conclusion of the stage. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the race lead.
Second stage
The race restarted on lap 141. Chase Elliott took the lead from Busch on lap 145, only for Busch to pass under Elliott in Turn 2 to retake it on lap 152. Logano made an unscheduled stop for a flat left-rear tire on lap 230. In the closing laps of the stage, Busch drove to the outside of Stenhouse going into Turn 3 on lap 257 when Stenhouse made contact with him to try and stay on the lead lap. On the last lap of the stage, Stenhouse bumped Busch out of the groove, allowing Elliott to pass Busch for the lead and win the second stage, as the fifth caution flew on lap 260 for the conclusion of the stage. Busch was asked after the race if what Stenhouse did was fair, and he said it is "if you expect it back. I actually was rolling into Turn 3 and was kind of going higher out of my way in order to let the 17 [of Stenhouse] back by and give him the lap. That was my intent, and then he just drove through me. It cost me my spot to the 24 [of Chase Elliott], so I was hoping that I could run off the corner side by side with the 17 and keep the 24 at bay and just keep my nose in front of his and be able to score the segment, and I was trying to be a nice guy, but nice guys don't finish first."
Final stage
The race restarted on lap 272 and Busch took back the lead. Debris in Turn 2 brought out the sixth caution on lap 278.
The race restarted on lap 284. Exiting Turn 4 on lap 287, Erik Jones made contact with the outside wall, came down across the nose of Austin Dillon going into Turn 1 and got nudged out of the groove. Hamlin got into Dillon and turned him, and the domino effect resulted in heavy damage to the cars of Kurt Busch and Daniel Suárez. This brought out the seventh caution.