CJ picked up his 3rd win of the season via William Byron’s second victory of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season on Saturday night at the Martinsville (VA) Speedway. In fact, CJ went 1-3 with having Austin Dillon in third under the lights in a ho-hum Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. That pushed him closer to Greg’s lead as Greg only had 1 car in the top five (Ryan Blaney, 4th) and just two in the top 10 (Chase Briscoe, 9th). With as many cars in the top five as Greg had in the top 10, including a victory, CJ moves another step closer to his second straight championship.

Granted, it’s early, it’s still a solid start to the season for him after a week that saw him get 5 of his 7 drivers in the top 11.

Greg had 5 of his 7 from 12th to 20th.

Eric had a quietly solid night with 2nd place (Joey Logano) as well as 3 cars in the top six including Ross Chastain (5th) and Kurt Busch (6th). Factor in Aric Almirola (8th) and you get 4 of his drivers in the top 8.

Now, we go to Bristol for a dirt race where Logano won as a 30-1 driver last year. This is a completely unknown race in terms of what to expect on Sunday.

1 TEAM CJ – 1,675 points (3 wins)

A Cindric… 395 (1 win)

W Byron… 310(2 wins)

C Elliott… 265

Kyle B… 245

M Truex Jr… 215

A Dillon… 200

H Burton… 45

2 TEAM GDP – 1,665 points (3 wins)

A Bowman… 280 (1 win)

R Blaney… 280

C Briscoe… 175 (1 win)

B Keselowski… 175

C Bell… 85

K Harvick…80

T Reddick…30

Waived/Traded Drivers… (560; 1 win)

DRIVER CHANGES

3/29 (After Race 6) Acquired K Harvick and T Reddick from TEAM ERIC for K Larson (170 points, 1 win) and Kurt B (160 points).

3/15 (After Race 4) Acquired C Bell for D Wallace (200 points).

3/2 (After Race 2) Acquired C Briscoe for C Buescher (30 points).

3 TEAM ERIC – 1,340 points (2 wins)

A Almirola… 250

R Chastain… 210 (1 win)

J Logano… 205

D Hamlin… 160 (1 win)

D Suarez… 160

K Larson…50

Kurt B…30

Waived/Traded Drivers… (275)

DRIVER CHANGES

3/29 (After Race 6) Acquired K Larson and Kurt B from TEAM GDP for K Harvick (120 points) and T Reddick (120 points).

3/14 (After Race 4) Acquired R Chastain for C Bell (35 points).

Weekly Race Points Standings

Week 8 Martinsville

1 CJ 230

2 ERIC 180

3 GDP 140

Driver Standings (Top 10)

1 A Cindric… 395 (CJ)

2 R Blaney… 280 (GDP)

2 A Bowman… 280 (GDP)

4 W Byron… 310 (CJ)

5 C Elliott… 265 (CJ)

6 A Almirola… 250 (ERIC)

7 Kyle B… 245 (CJ)

8 K Larson… 220 (ERIC)

9 M Truex Jr… 215 (CJ)

10R Chastain… 210 (ERIC)