Martinsville Speedway Tag

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

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer In a relatively calm race at Martinsville Speedway, track position, or the lack thereof, kept Noah Gragson from earning a better result. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver ran the Texas Roadhouse 200 with zero practice on a brand-new set-up in his Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra. Gragson’s No. 18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra moved back into the top-10 late in the 200-lap race. Slow pit stops robbed his Toyota of the valuable track position. Changing track conditions also hindered Gragson’s progress throughRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer From the bottom performer at ThorSport Racing to once again being the highest finishing entry, Myatt Snider’s late-season charge continued in Saturday’s Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, finishing third after leading seven of 250 laps. The highest rookie driver in points backed up his career-high runner-up finish at Talladega two weeks ago with yet another strong run in the No. 13 Louisiana Hot Sauce Ford F-150, especially when his crew opted for a different pit strategy, which turned out to be beneficial and extendedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Qualifying aside, Saturday at Martinsville Speedway belonged to Johnny Sauter, who earned another shot at the NASCAR Camping World Series championship with a dominating victory in the Texas Roadhouse 200. After inheriting the lead when pole winner and race leader Todd Gilliland came to pit road with 11 laps left in Stage 1, Sauter was out front for 148 of the remaining 161 Laps, sweeping both stages and the race win to grab a berth in the NCWTS Championship 4 race atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip out to America’s Heartland, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the final short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the First Data 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. Sunday’s race will mark the start of the three-race playoff semi-finals that will trim the eight-driver playoff fieldRead More