Martinsville Speedway Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In big time NASCAR racing, there are, of course, Victory Lane celebrations for the race winner. And then there are CLINT BOWYER Victory Lane celebrations or rather, as we learned Monday. …. Victory Lane, grandstands, pit road, frontstretch, track garage, driver motorhome lot, Stewart-Haas Racing shop and, of course, back home in Kansas celebrations. Parties, soirees, clicking-of-the-heels. High toasts, hearty handshakes, pats on the back. Smiles all around. There was plenty of hooting and hollering too – and that wasRead More

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 Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The driver nicknamed ‘The Showman,’ Alex Bowman scored his first top-10 finish of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The last time Bowman competed at Martinsville Speedway was 2015. Bowman’s No. 88 Nationwide Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came to life late in the STP 500. He hovered just outside the top-10 for most of the first 400 laps. With about 40 laps to go, Bowman, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, were the only two drivers as fast as eventual race-winner ClintRead 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 Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  A top-10 finish after a slightly longer off-season than most is a good start for Timothy Peters. The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway was the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start for Peters since the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year. Peters finished seventh in the No. 92 BTS Tire & Wheel Ford F-150 after a relatively quiet race for the Providence, NC-native. He narrowly avoided several late incidents, including one that wiped out past champions Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter.Read More