Martinsville Speedway Tag

Posted On March 31, 2016By Motorsports TribuneIn Breaking News, Cup, Headline News

Elliott ‘chases’ first win

By NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott would probably like to forget his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. Debuting in the 2015 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway with much fanfare, Elliott was forced to take his No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the garage on the 74th go-around of the 500-lap race after sustaining heavy damage from two separate wrecks. His crew feverishly worked to get him back out on the track where he battled his way to a 38th-place finish. “This is a different ball-game,” Elliott said afterRead More
By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets back to racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is worried about some recent changes made by the sanctioning body. Earnhardt, 41, has recorded 13 top-five finishes at Martinsville, including a win in 2014 and addressed his apprehensiveness over NASCAR’s recent gearing adjustment for the .526-mile short track oval. “I think NASCAR took a little bit of the gear away at Martinsville,” said Earnhardt. “That concerns me a little bit because you don’t have the throttle responseRead More
By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After having Grant Enfinger behind the wheel for the first two races of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, a new face will be piloting the No. 33 Chevrolet for GMS Racing this weekend at Martinsville. Enter 17-year old Kaz Grala from Westborough, Mass., who will be making his first start in a NASCAR national series race in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 on the treacherous half-mile in southern Virginia. “I am looking forward to my NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut with GMSRead More
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service It’s a home game for the Wood Brothers. But the April 3 STP 500 is a home game the Wood Brothers haven’t experienced as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team with a single driver since Ken Schrader filled the seat of the vaunted No. 21 Ford in 2006. We’re talking about Martinsville, of course, the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit at .526 miles, the closest to the Wood Brothers’ family home in Stuart, Va., and the next race on the SprintRead More

Posted On February 16, 2016By Motorsports TribuneIn Headline News, Trucks

OneMain to sponsor Cole Custer in three NCWTS events

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 16, 2016) – Cole Custer’s No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado will wear OneMain blue and white for three races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) this season, beginning at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway (July 20). OneMain, which joined JR Motorsports as backer of the No. 1 OneMain Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Elliott Sadler, will also be on Custer’s No. 00 entry at Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 22) and again the following week at Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 29). “We are proud to see OneMain stepRead More
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—If the four men on the dais at the Diplomat Resort & Spa had been a vocal group, rather than the four Championship Round drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Jeff Gordon provided a ready name for the ensemble. “He’s the favorite,” Gordon said, pointing at reigning series champion Kevin Harvick. “We’re the sentimentals. That’s all there is.” The “we” in this case referred to Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., all of whom will be attempting to dethrone the championRead More

Posted On November 18, 2015By Motorsports TribuneIn Breaking News, Cup, Headline News

Idolizing and competing against a legend

By Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Wire Service I feel very fortunate to have been a fan of Jeff Gordon from the very beginning. He was somebody that I aspired to be. I watched him from his Midget and Sprint Car days all the way through, and when he hopped in that DuPont 24, it was much easier to follow him. When you look at the doors that he has opened after his success, and owners thinking that drivers don’t have to come from the South or come from stock cars, youRead More
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Those who were delivering a post-mortem to Matt Crafton’s hopes for a third straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title after last weekend’s race at Talladega learned on Saturday that the lid on the coffin is far from nailed shut. Crafton survived five restarts in the final 50 laps of Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway and won the race by .396 seconds over John Hunter Nemechek, who shoved third-place finisher Cameron Hayley out of the way after a restart with two laps left to secure theRead More

Posted On October 30, 2015By Motorsports TribuneIn Breaking News, Cup, Headline News

Joey Logano stays hot with pole run at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – At NASCAR Sprint Cup racing’s shortest track, Joey Logano’s torrid run just got longer. The winner of three straight races—constituting a sweep of the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—Logano toured .526-mile Martinsville Speedway in 19.215 seconds (98.548 mph) in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session to win the pole for Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (1:15 p.m. ET on NBCSN). Driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, Logano edged fellow Chase driver Martin Truex Jr. (98.487 mph) by .012Read More
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—With Brad Keselowski beating a tattoo into his rear bumper, and with his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sliding sideways as it approached the checkered flag, Denny Hamlin held on to his car and held off Keselowski to win Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. In winning his first race of the season, his fifth at the .526-mile short track and the 25th of his career, Hamlin took the lead for good on Lap 473 of 500, passing teammate Matt Kenseth for the topRead More