STP 500 Tag

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 Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  A wreck in final practice has left Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s team scrambling during the first enhanced weekend of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. With just two practice sessions before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and qualifying after, Stenhouse will be limited to just the laps he turns in qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Regardless of where he qualifies, he will start from the rear of the field due to the back-up car. Stenhouse’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion spun, wheel-hopping asRead More

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 Seth Eggert, Staff Writer The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been a season of firsts for Gaunt Brothers Racing. The team scored its’ first top-25 finish with driver D.J. Kennington in the Daytona 500 and made their first non-restrictor plate appearance at ISM Raceway. Now the team will make their first short track start at Martinsville Speedway in Sunday’s STP 500. At Martinsville, the primary sponsor of Kennington’s No. 96 Toyota Camry will be Gordon Brothers. Gordon Brothers is global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm. Martinsville willRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – When it came to Chase Elliott’s performance in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was suffering from a severe lack of self-esteem. After Sunday’s STP 500 at the .526-mile short track, Elliott will have to reevaluate. Starting on the outside of the front row after rain washed out Friday’s time trials, Elliott ran in the top five for the bulk of the afternoon and rolled home third, by farRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Contributor Despite a third-place finish in the Daytona 500, the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has not started off as planned for A.J. Allmendinger. A penalty at Atlanta Motor Speedway dropped Allmendinger to 34th in the Championship standings. The penalty also resulted in a four-race suspension for his crew chief, Randall Burnett. Several finishes outside the top-15 have held him back in the standings as the field rolled into Martinsville Speedway, one of Allmendinger’s best tracks. Left looking for more speed after placing hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In Sunday’s STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, everything worked – but nothing more than Brad Keselowski’s race-winning No. 2 Ford. Yes, that’s right, a Ford. The car maker found Victory Lane at the .526-mile short track for the first time since Oct. 20, 2002, when Kurt Busch won at NASCAR’s oldest and smallest premier series track in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Keselowski and runner-up Kyle Busch swapped the lead during the final 64-lap green-flag run,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After winning his first Martinsville grandfather clock in this race one year ago, Kyle Busch looked primed to accomplish that feat for the second year in a row after leading the most laps in Sunday’s STP 500, but with handling issues plaguing him in the final stint of the race, he had to settle for a runner-up finish instead. Busch started the day in 10th place and took over the lead for the first time under caution on lap 109. Though it was just forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The first five races of the season haven’t exactly gone to plan for Austin Dillon, but Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville was just what the doctor ordered for the fourth-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver as he was able to score his best finish of the season with a fifth-place result. In this race one year ago, Dillon brought home a fourth-place finish, so the driver out of the Richard Childress Racing stable has learned how to get around the treacherous half-mile in recentRead More