Martinsville Speedway Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The combination of Chase Elliott and Martinsville Speedway has certainly been eventful. Maybe a bit of an understatement considering the luck he’s had in Virginia, highlighted with last fall’s wild comeback win. Eventful wasn’t the word during Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. The defending Cup Series champion finished second after passing Denny Hamlin late in the going, equaling his best result this season. However, if you ask him how his 500-lap race went, he bluntly said it was uneventful. Compared to the luck Elliott hasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Denny Hamlin kept his No. 11 Toyota up front for more than half of Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but in the closing laps didn’t have enough to hold off teammate Martin Truex, Jr. and had to settle for a third-place result. The five-time Martinsville winner noted that it all came down to his car being fast on the short runs, but not so much on the long runs, which allowed his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate the opportunity to pass him forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday’s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track. The victory was Truex’s second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Josh Berry had to wait nearly two days for the Sunday conclusion of the Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway, but it was a worthwhile delay for the late model ace. Driving for JR Motorsports car owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Berry took the lead from Ty Gibbs on Lap 223 of 250 and held it the rest of the way to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in his 13th start. In a race that was halted by rainRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Rain halted Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway after 42 laps, necessitating a Sunday doubleheader of incomplete races that will feature 458 laps of the NASCAR Cup Series race, along with the final 159 circuits of Friday night’s rain-delayed Cook Out 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series event. The eighth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season will restart Sunday at 4 p.m. ET, following the conclusion of the Xfinity race, which completed 91 of 250 laps Friday night,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Friday night’s Cook Out 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race was 89 laps old, and Brandon Jones had just taken the lead from late model ace Josh Berry when rain began pelting Martinsville Speedway. With persistent storms continuing to drench the .526-mile short track, NASCAR was forced to postpone the completion of the 250-lap event until Sunday at noon ET. FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the broadcasts of the race. Defending race winner Harrison Burton led the first 52 laps but choseRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a weekend away for the first break of the 2021 season, the NASCAR Cup Series gets back to business Saturday night with a trip to southern Virginia for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. 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. As has been the case for the last year and a half, no practice, no qualifying, just line up andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor April 18, 2004 – The day Martinsville Speedway bit back, derailing the chances of one future NASCAR Hall of Famer going to Victory Lane, and paving the way for another to break a years long winless streak and capture the final win of his NASCAR Cup Series career. For much of the first half of the Advance Auto Parts 500, it looked as if defending race winner Jeff Gordon was going to be the driver to beat down the stretch, as the four-time Cup Series championRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor And then there were four. Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville marked the end of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which would see four drivers moving on to compete for the championship and the end of the line for the other four. Three of the four drivers eliminated when the checkered flag flew were in must win positions coming into the day, but a fierce battle for the final spot between Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin would become the focusRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott cruised to an impressive 6.577-second victory over Ryan Blaney Sunday in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the most clutch victory of the 24-year old’s young career – earning a position in next week’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 season finale. Equally as dramatic was a failed last lap pass for position that has eliminated the regular season champion and nine-race winner Kevin Harvick from advancing to that final round. Harvick had to pass 2019 series champ Kyle Busch forRead More