Martinsville Speedway Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into next month’s 61st running of the Daytona 500. Age: 33 Years in Cup: 12 Career Wins: Two Although the 2018 on-track results fail to show it, David Ragan had his best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season since 2011 as the veteran driver finished 25th in the final championship standings. In 2018, Ragan earned just one top-10 finish, at the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway. The seasonRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Entering its second full season in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, David Gilliland Racing – CROSLEY Group has embraced the role of driver development. In 2018, the team had 11 drivers, including co-owners Gilliland and Bo LeMastus, behind the wheel of its’ Toyota Tundras. DGR – CROSLEY has fielded teams from the late model ranks to the Truck Series. In 2019, the team is expanding. In the Truck Series, Anthony Alfredo and Natalie Decker, will split time in one truck, while 2018 NASCAR K&NRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano sat down to open a morning of press conferences at Texas Motor Speedway fresh off an appearance with his sponsor – and Sunday’s race sponsor – AAA. He had visited with high-schoolers – new drivers – and helped teach them about safety, courtesy and making good decisions on the road. The timing couldn’t have been better, the irony was obvious. Logano, 28, became the first driver to officially claim one of the four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship contender spots courtesy ofRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Despite being a member of the ‘Big Three,’ Kevin Harvick flew under the Radar after struggling to run inside the top-10 at Martinsville Speedway. The First Data 500 was an uncharacteristic struggle for the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Harvick finished 10th after hovering just inside the top-15 in his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion. The struggles for Harvick were evident as he was forced to take the free pass at the end of the second stage. Changing track conditions and lack of trackRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “He may have won the battle, but he ain’t winning the damn war,” Martin Truex, Jr. said after the conclusion of Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville. Minutes earlier, Truex, who had driven from the back of the pack to the lead on the last lap, found himself at the receiving end of Joey Logano’s bumper in Turn 3, dropping him from a chance at a win and a berth in the Championship 4 at Homestead to a third-place finish. While Logano was celebrating his winRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In the midst of an instant classic battle between Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr., Denny Hamlin snookered his way to finish second in Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. After taking out fan favorite Chase Elliott out of the race lead last year, Hamlin was introduced in front of his home state fans with loud jeers. 500 laps later, the jeers lessened after Logano’s bump on Truex that could’ve been disastrous for their championship aspirations. As both were sliding, Hamlin charged his way byRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Joey Logano provided his own interpretation of the Golden Rule in Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, as in “Do unto others as others didn’t do to you.” With a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4 Round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at stake, Logano moved the Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. out of the way in Turns 3 and 4 of the final lap to win for the first time at the .526-mile short track and claim hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer As sparks flew up ahead, Kyle Busch crossed the line fourth at Martinsville Speedway. The exciting and wild finish to the First Data 500 capped off a strong day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff driver. Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry was in the thick of the fight for the win in the waning laps. He battled Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin as the four drivers chased eventual winner Joey Logano. While TruexRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner Mike Mittler celebrated his team’s milestone 300th start from his Missouri home as he battles cancer. The diagnosis was revealed on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast of the race at Martinsville Speedway, prior to a planned ‘Stand Up to Cancer’ on Lap 63, to honor Mittler. Kyle Donahue had the honor of driving the No. 63 First Responder Racing Chevrolet Silverado in the Texas Roadhouse 200, the team’s 300th race. The underfunded team spent much of the day hovering justRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Hoping to reverse the outcome of this year’s spring race at Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Busch took the first step on Saturday afternoon, winning the pole position for Sunday’s First Data 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first race in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch navigated the .526-mile short track in 19.673 seconds (96.254 seconds) in the final round of knockoutRead More