Martinsville Speedway Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Some season firsts took place for Chase Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, including his best track finish after coming up 0.594 seconds short of dethroning the dominant Brad Keselowski, who led 446 of 500 laps. The 23-year-old’s strong result marked Chevrolet’s third top-five of the season, and not only Elliott’s best finish of the season thus far, but Hendrick Motorsports first top-five all season in a track that’s been their yard for well over aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Brad Keselowski led 446 of 500 laps in winning Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. An easy victory, right? Well, not exactly. After Keselowski’s pit crew put him in the lead for a restart on Lap 380, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford spent the rest of the race fending off a determined charge from Chase Elliott. Ultimately, Keselowski got to the finish line .594 seconds ahead of Elliott and 1.335 seconds in front of Kyle Busch, who wasRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent It was a ‘there and back again’ kind of day for Clint Bowyer as he overcame two pit road speeding penalties to finish the STP 500 inside the top-10. Following his second speeding penalty of the day, Bowyer tore through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field at Martinsville Speedway. In the closing laps, his No. 14 Mobil 1 / Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang was the center of a heated battle with Martin Truex, Jr. The duo battled for the better part of 20Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – With surgical efficiency, Joey Logano continued his domination of knockout qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Saving his car and his tires for the final round of Saturday’s time trials at the .526-mile short track, Logano won the pole for Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a lap at 97.830 mph (19.356 seconds). Driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, Logano edged Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver Aric Almirola (97.643 mph) for the top starting spot byRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – A week after locking up his 200th NASCAR national series victory at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Kyle Busch took the first step toward the next century mark. Holding off challenges from Ross Chastain and runner-up Ben Rhodes, Busch survived a late restart in winning Saturday’s TruNorth Global 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The race ended under a last-lap caution, after Reid Wilson’s No. 44 Chevrolet spun in Turn 4 and nosed toward the inside wall.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent Only one driver and team have finished every NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race inside the top-10 this season, Ross Chastain and Niece Motorsports. Chastain kept that streak alive in the TruNorth Global 250 at Martinsville Speedway with a fourth-place finish in the No. 45 TruNorth / Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet Silverado. In the process, the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular earned his first stage win in the Truck Series and battled eventual race winner Kyle Busch. The race ultimately came down to a three-lap sprintRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “There is no coffee strong enough that will wake you up like losing brakes into turn one at Martinsville,” Corey LaJoie after crashing during Saturday morning practice. Heading into Turn 1, LaJoie’s No. 32 CorvetteParts.com Ford Mustang lost his brakes and careened into the wall at full force, leaving heavy right front damage as he brought his car to the garage. He and the entire GoFAS Racing team rolled out and began working on the backup car before qualifying commences later this afternoon. #RESPECT Driver workingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After weeks of aero package this and aero package that, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to some normalcy this weekend as they head to Martinsville Speedway for the first short track race of the season and Sunday’s running of the STP 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. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will beRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent After two weeks off, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is back in action at Martinsville Speedway. Austin Hill is still the only driver locked into the Playoffs after Kyle Busch has won the last two races. Drivers playing catch up, a huge rookie contingent, and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers in the field once again are some of the storylines heading into the Martinsville 250. Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Busch are the only Cup drivers enter in Saturday’s race. Coverage for theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor We all know how dominant Petty Enterprises was in its heyday, as the organization captured 250+ wins over the course of its lifespan with Richard Petty, Lee Petty, and a handful of others behind the wheel, but after Petty’s final win in 1984, trips to Victory Lane would become a much rarer sight. Only three other times after that would a Petty Enterprises No. 43 car take the checkered flag and in April 1999, John Andretti would be the last driver to deliver a win forRead More