Martinsville Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After completing a trip out to the West Coast, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east this weekend and straight to the first short track race of the season, with Sunday’s running of the STP 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. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only way to pass will be the moveRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer StarCom Racing announced Monday that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran Landon Cassill will pilot the No. 00 USFRA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at both Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway and April 8th’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The announcement comes less than a day after StarCom and Jeffrey Earnhardt agreed to part ways after five races. The duo has failed to finish inside the top-30 since scoring career-highs of 21st in last month’s season opening Daytona 500. Earnhardt finished 36th SundayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ricky Benton Racing will make their season debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in March 24th’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway, with veteran Timothy Peters strapping in the No. 92 BTS Tire and Wheel Distributors/Carquest Auto Parts/Valvoline Ford F-150. It’ll mark Benton’s first Truck Series start this season after spending its early season efforts in the Daytona 500 with David Gilliland in February. In Benton’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut as an owner, Gilliland brought the No. 92 Ford FusionRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Note: This is the first in a five-part series of features detailing the careers of each of the five inductees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2018. The inductees, who will be officially enshrined on Jan. 19 (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), are Red Byron, Ray Evernham, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ken Squier and Robert Yates. For tickets to the Induction Ceremony, visit nascarhall.com/inductees/induction-ceremony.  Robert “Red” Byron was a true NASCAR original – the sport’s first crowned champion (NASCARRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Now that the 2017 NASCAR season is complete and the year is drawing to a close, we’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at the year that was. Up on the docket today, we finish off the 10 most memorable moments of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson Ties Cale Yarbrough Despite his late season struggles, Jimmie Johnson was on fire in the first half of the year, capturing three wins early on. His third win of the year cameRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Chase Elliott admitted that he is still upset with Denny Hamlin following last week’s late race incident at Martinsville. With two laps remaining in the First Data 500, Elliott was en route to his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory until Hamlin put an aggressive hit to his rear bumper and sending Elliott’s No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet into the wall and with a 27th-place finish. The outcome led to a heated exchange on pit road. During Friday media availabilityRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week, NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway. WINNERS Kyle Busch – There was only one driver that was truly happy after Sunday’s race at Martinsville and that was Kyle Busch, who won for the fifth time this season and punched his ticket to the championship race at Homestead. Busch would lead for 184 laps on the day, butRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The sun went down, the new lights came on, and all hell broke loose at Martinsville Speedway. In a wild overtime finish that took Sunday’s First Data 500 to 505 laps at the .526-mile short track, Kyle Busch beat Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader Martin Truex Jr. to the stripe by .141 seconds to take the checkered flag and earn a spot in the Nov. 19 Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As Busch crossed the finish line, a multi-car wreckRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Racing on short tracks, Martinsville in particular, tends to amp up the aggressiveness in the closing laps and in Sunday’s First Data 500, Chase Elliott found himself on the receiving end of the aggressive driving by Denny Hamlin, ending up in the wall and putting a damper on the end of a stellar day for the No. 24 team. Elliott, who led 123 laps on the day, looked to be in the catbird seat for his first career win and a ticket to Homestead asRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Blowing around two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton after a restart with 10 laps left, 19-year-old Noah Gragson scored his first victory in Saturday’s Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender frustrated Playoff competitors Crafton and Johnny Sauter, who finished second and third behind him. After talking the checkered flag, Gragson parked his No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota near the flag stand and climbed to the top of the frontstretch catchfence in celebration. AfterRead More