Martinsville Speedway Tag

By NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Clint Bowyer was so excited he started his celebratory burnout at the entrance to Turn 3 at Martinsville Speedway, flirting perilously with the outside wall. Bowyer had ample reason to start the party early, before he got to the frontstretch for a traditional smoke show. With his victory in Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500, he had just ended a winless streak in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that had reached 190 races, dating to the fall race at Charlotte in 2012. The victory didRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ryan Blaney came up short of capturing his second career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, finishing a season-high third place after a stage two victory and led 145 of 500 laps. The No. 12 Menards/Libman Ford Fusion started fifth and would stay inside the top-five for much of the afternoon. Blaney wouldn’t take the lead for the first time until Lap 137, when he gained two spots on pit road and took the lead from stage oneRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When it comes to certain tracks in AJ Allmendinger’s wheelhouse, everyone knows he is a force to be reckoned with at the road courses, but there are also some other tracks that the JTG-Daugherty Racing driver has shown speed at. One of those is Martinsville Speedway and Allmendinger displayed exactly why, driving from deep in the pack to score an eighth-place finish in Monday’s STP 500, marking top-10 finishes in four of his last five starts at the track. With qualifying snowed out, Allmendinger wouldRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Saturday at Martinsville Speedway was great for Ben Rhodes and the ThorSport Racing organization. The 21-year-old driver kicked off the day by putting the No. 41 Ford on the pole for the fourth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Teammates Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger qualified second and third, respectively, to give ThorSport Racing their first 1-2-3 qualifying effort in team history. The pole was the third of Rhodes’ career in his 54th Truck Series start and his second at the 0.526-mileRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In a race delayed for two days by a freak snowstorm in southern Virginia, John Hunter Nemechek charged to the front on a restart with 31 laps left on Monday and held off Kyle Benjamin to win the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race by a mere .106 seconds. The victory was the first at Martinsville for Nemechek, who had two previous runner-up finishes at the .526-mile short track. This time, despite Benjamin pounding his rear bumper in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Pit strategy elevated Grant Enfinger’s strong start in his second full-season in the Camping World Truck Series, finishing fourth in the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway, won by John Hunter Nemechek. It marked the second straight fourth place finish for Enfinger’s No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Ford F-150 and dating back to last season, his fifth straight finish inside the top-10. ThorSport Racing had a strong day with all four trucks finishing in the top-10 in stage one, including the top three spots.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Todd Gilliland came into Martinsville Speedway with a lot to prove after seeing his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra run by his dad David at Daytona, his boss Kyle Busch at Atlanta, and Spencer Davis at Las Vegas with neither scoring a top-10. The reason behind Gilliand missing the opening three races was NASCAR’s regulations prohibiting drivers under 18 years old competing on tracks 1.5 miles or larger. Gilliland doesn’t turn 18 until May 15th. Age aside, Gilliland had another battle in his seasonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the second day in a row at Martinsville Speedway, Mother Nature got the upper hand, postponing all Sunday track activity to Monday due to snow. The wintry weather that set in around the half-mile track on Saturday never let up throughout the night, dropping several inches of snow, and forcing NASCAR’s hand as dawn broke on Sunday morning. NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, Steve O’Donnell would tweet the news out, noting the need to dedicate local resources toward any issuesRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Wintry conditions was the word around the NASCAR garage Saturday instead of spring climate and racing action, as both the Camping World Truck Series race and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying have been impacted by inclement weather. With weather being a concern, the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 truck race started several minutes early to get as much racing possible. The 32-truck field managed to run 23 laps until it was halted for rain and snow. Not wasting time, NASCAR postponed the race until Sunday evening,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In his 29 previous starts at Martinsville, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had come so close, so many times on capturing that elusive grandfather clock trophy. But in the 2014 Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, the stars aligned for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, as he finally scored a win on the half-mile bullring that is Martinsville Speedway. Starting 23rd, Earnhardt first made his way to the lead on lap 192 for a 13 lap stint before being overtaken Matt Kenseth for one lap and then returned toRead More