Martinsville Speedway Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ryan Blaney had an interesting Wednesday night at Martinsville Speedway to say the least. The pole sitter rallied from both falling a lap down and a pit road penalty to score a runner-up finish in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Although Blaney led the 39-car field to the green flag, he wouldn’t lead a lap up until Lap 272 as fellow Ford driver Aric Almirola took the lead right away. From there, Blaney regressed in the running order that he even fell a lap downRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. won his second consecutive Martinsville Speedway race Wednesday night, ultimately cruising to a 4.232-second victory over a super competitive Team Penske trio of cars in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. Compared to his dominating victory at the half-mile track last Fall (he led 464 of 500 laps), Truex had to negotiate and muscle his way to the front this time. “We’ve been working a long-time on trying to figure this place out and just been chipping away at it,” saidRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Wednesday, June 10, 2020 will go down as a day both NASCAR and Bubba Wallace will remember. On a night the Cup Series ran its first full night race at Martinsville Speedway, the sport shifted into the right direction by banning confederate flags in their events and Wallace was sporting the Black Lives Matter “Compassion, Love and Understanding” livery on his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Wallace’s ride garnered tremendous praise from fellow black athletes like NBA star LeBron James and NFLRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Mid-week racing is back on the docket tonight as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville for a short track showdown under the lights in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic half-mile, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. This go around will be an even bigger test than normal. No practice, no qualifying, just line up and turn ‘em loose. Since being announced last year,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer More encouraging news from NASCAR were announced Thursday as the second batch of races were realigned. They’ll be racing at five tracks in a span of 23 days across all three national touring series and the ARCA Menards Series. The sport will start their odyssey at Bristol Motor Speedway, beginning with Xfinity Series action at Bristol Motor Speedway May 30. The Cup Series will race the following day with both races being held at 3:30 pm EST on FS1. Following Bristol, it’s off to Atlanta MotorRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR announced Friday that it won’t go to Martinsville Speedway on May 8-9 as itsdue to the COVID-19 health crisis and the state of Virginia’s stay at home regulations that go through June 10th postponing the race weekend. “Our intention remains to run all 36 races, with a potential return to racing without fans in attendance in May at a date and location to be determined,” in a statement issued by NASCAR. “The health and safety of our competitors, employees, fans, and the communities in whichRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR President Steve Phelps held a teleconference with the sport’s media Tuesday addressing questions and reassuring that the hope is, yes, the full season’s 36 points races will be run, with the safety of the sport’s fans and its participants of utmost importance during the current worldwide COVID-19 virus outbreak. NASCAR announced Monday that races through at least May 3 will have to be rescheduled. “The health and safety of our fans, industry and the communities in which we race is our most importantRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The inevitable is sealed. No NASCAR action through May 3rd due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic that’s severely impacted all businesses, sporting events and society around the world. NASCAR issued the following statement Monday afternoon: “The health and safety of our fans, industry and the communities in which we race is our most important priority, so in accordance with recent CDC guidance, NASCAR is currently postponing all race events through May 3rd, with plans to return racing in Martinsville. We appreciate the patience of our fansRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The much maligned aerodynamic packages that were rolled out for the NASCAR Cup Series last year are getting a facelift heading into 2020 — at least on the short tracks and road courses. Last season, the aero packages were split between a 750 horsepower package that ran on oval tracks one-mile or shorter and road courses, along with a 550 horsepower package that ran the remainder of the schedule. The massive eight-inch spoiler and other aerodynamic devices had a negative effect on the racing atRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Standing five feet from the spot in his team’s transporter where he suffered a seizure at Martinsville, Matt Tifft stepped out into the cold Sunday morning at Texas Motor Speedway and addressed his future going forward for the rest of the year and into the seasons ahead. A week removed from the health scare that landed him in a Martinsville hospital and sidelined him for the rest of the 2019 campaign, Tifft expounded on the details of the incident and hisRead More