Posted on by Brad Norman

It’s no secret that Richard Petty and Martinsville Speedway go together like PB&J.

“Yeah, I’ve heard it a couple times,” Darrell Wallace Jr. joked when asked about his boss’s 15 wins at the Virginia short-track. “I’m only 13 away.”

MORE: Full Martinsville schedule | Fantasy sleepers: STP 500 

But having the iconic STP orange and ‘Petty’ blue paint scheme back on track wasn’t enough for Richard Petty Motorsports and STP this weekend. The two companies wanted to make sure everyone tuned in to Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

They did just the trick with this video — which is already Internet gold.

It’s only fitting that ‘The King’ learns what ‘G.O.A.T.’ means, right?

Posted on by Staff Report

Take a look at which drivers led the way with the best 10-lap averages at Martinsville Speedway in this weekend’s practices ahead of Monday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FINAL PRACTICE: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 2 Brad Keselowski 5 14 94.579
2 18 Kyle Busch 5 14 94.523
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. 4 13 94.501
4 14 Clint Bowyer 4 13 94.214
5 10 Aric Almirola 4 13 94.212
6 31 Ryan Newman 4 13 94.201
7 1 Jamie McMurray 2 11 94.150
8 19 Daniel Suarez 7 16 94.109
9 3 Austin Dillon 4 13 94.066
10 22 Joey Logano 38 47 94.028
11 9 Chase Elliott 3 12 93.980
12 4 Kevin Harvick 5 14 93.886
13 12 Ryan Blaney 8 17 93.836
14 21 Paul Menard 9 18 93.817
15 13 Ty Dillon 4 13 93.733
16 6 Trevor Bayne 9 18 93.703
17 41 Kurt Busch 24 33 93.696
18 42 Kyle Larson 14 23 93.641
19 38 David Ragan 3 12 93.624
20 47 AJ Allmendinger 4 13 93.599
21 11 Denny Hamlin 4 13 93.433
22 24 William Byron # 3 12 93.380
23 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 5 14 93.377
24 20 Erik Jones 3 12 93.375
25 88 Alex Bowman 6 15 93.365
26 95 Kasey Kahne 12 21 93.232
27 48 Jimmie Johnson 9 18 93.088
28 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. # 2 11 92.764
29 34 Michael McDowell 27 36 92.458
30 23 Gray Gaulding 5 14 92.337
31 72 Cole Whitt 1 10 92.119
32 15 Ross Chastain(i) 16 25 92.061
33 32 Matt DiBenedetto 6 15 91.852
34 96 * DJ Kennington 46 55 91.325
35 51 Harrison Rhodes 23 32 87.811

PRACTICE 1: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 78 Martin Truex Jr. 3 12 95.054
2 18 Kyle Busch 6 15 94.790
3 42 Kyle Larson 6 15 94.675
4 11 Denny Hamlin 8 17 94.506
5 9 Chase Elliott 3 12 94.479
6 14 Clint Bowyer 10 19 94.399
7 13 Ty Dillon 6 15 94.138
8 1 Jamie McMurray 5 14 94.104
9 12 Ryan Blaney 6 15 94.086
10 19 Daniel Suarez 20 29 94.072
11 41 Kurt Busch 18 27 94.024
12 10 Aric Almirola 6 15 94.011
13 4 Kevin Harvick 4 13 93.995
14 22 Joey Logano 4 13 93.987
15 24 William Byron # 7 16 93.976
16 48 Jimmie Johnson 34 43 93.973
17 47 AJ Allmendinger 8 17 93.962
18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 7 16 93.827
19 20 Erik Jones 35 44 93.781
20 31 Ryan Newman 21 30 93.690
21 2 Brad Keselowski 12 21 93.631
22 21 Paul Menard 14 23 93.510
23 95 Kasey Kahne 6 15 93.455
24 3 Austin Dillon 25 34 93.252
25 34 Michael McDowell 5 14 93.218
26 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. # 23 32 93.169
27 38 David Ragan 5 14 93.149
28 88 Alex Bowman 8 17 93.022
29 37 Chris Buescher 6 15 92.971
30 23 Gray Gaulding 14 23 92.827
31 6 Trevor Bayne 28 37 92.744
32 55 * JJ Yeley(i) 2 11 91.137
33 15 Ross Chastain(i) 1 10 89.051

#-Indicates rookie in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
(i)-Indicates driver is not running for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points

Posted on by Staff Report

For the second time today, the No. 78 and No. 2 were 1-2 on the Martinsville leaderboard.

Auto Club winner Martin Truex Jr. propelled his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 95.415 mph to notch the top spot, while Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford came up second with a 95.280-mph lap during Saturday’s final practice at the “Paperclip.”

FINAL PRACTICE: Full results | Best 10-lap averages

Sophomore Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suarez was third-fastest (95.242 mph) in his No. 19 Toyota, while fall 2017 Martinsville winner Kyle Busch ranked fourth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota (95.122 mph). After ranking fourth in opening practice, Ryan Newman landed the final spot in the top five during final practice, his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet notching a fast lap of 94.756 mph.

JTG Daugherty Racing’s AJ Allmendinger ranked sixth in his No. 47 Chevrolet (94.746 mph).

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race following heavy damage to his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford after he wheel-hopped and hit the wall midway through the session. He was 27th-fastest in final practice.

Both Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) and Paul Menard (No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford) served 15-minute practice holds for inspection violations.  Elliott came up 15th-fastest, while Menard ranked 17th.

PRACTICE 1 RECAP: Full results | Best 10-lap averages

Wheeling his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota at 95.752 mph, Martin Truex Jr. flew to the top of the leaderboard at Martinsville Speedway during Saturday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice. Truex is coming off his first win of the 2018 season at Auto Club Speedway.

Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford was second-fastest, clocking in at 95.646 mph. Martinsville’s most recent winner Kyle Busch ranked third, his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota propelling around the short track at 95.213 mph. The 2012 Martinsville winner Ryan Newman was fourth-quickest (95.199 mph) in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, while 2014’s paperclip oval victor Kurt Busch rounded out the top five in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a top speed of 95.094 mph.

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The promotional videos, TV commercials and social-media chatter have been almost unavoidable this week for Chase Elliott. The run-up to Monday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) has been chock-full of clips from his role in a confrontational finish and face-off with Denny Hamlin here last fall.

In terms of building up any sense of drama, Elliott hasn’t really bought in.

“My reaction is everybody’s got to try to write a story, right?” Elliott said. “It’s been a long time ago, last October to now has been a good while back. … I can’t do anything about it. So for me, when I think about that night, I try to make myself think about things that our car was doing that made us good and just try to run laps in my head.”

RELATED: Memorable Martinsville moments | See what happened last fall

Hamlin says he’s also done his part to try to turn the page, even though the visuals of their post-race showdown have been tough to avoid.

“It’s part of short-track racing and it obviously gets used a lot for promos,” Hamlin said. “It’s part of short-track racing and it has been for many, many years. It was just bad to be a part of it on that particular night.”

RELATED: Hamlin: Bump and run is ‘part of short-track racing’

Elliott and Hamlin clashed in the late going of the track’s annual fall race last October. Hamlin’s nudge from behind sent Elliott spinning from the lead, relegating him to a 27th-place finish. More importantly, it denied Elliott a shot at his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory and a final four spot for a championship berth in last year’s playoffs.

The two exited their cars and squared off on the backstretch on the cool-down lap. Their heated exchange of words and budding rivalry carried over two weeks later at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, where the two made contact again nearing the race’s end.

Having had nearly five months to reflect on the events of last fall, Elliott said he hasn’t played through any hypothetical scenarios.

“I mean, the coulda, woulda game doesn’t really matter,” Elliott said. “There was a lot that was laying on that race. It wasn’t just a win, it was a chance to win a championship. That obviously had a lot of implications. It doesn’t matter. It didn’t happen. I can’t turn back time. We all know the implications of the things that could have been, but they weren’t. No point in really getting caught up in it too much.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Timothy Peters says he isn’t looking beyond this weekend at Martinsville Speedway and his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the year, though the temptation to do so might still be there.

A fixture in the series for more than a decade, Peters lost his ride last year when Red Horse Racing disbanded after the fifth race of the season and has competed in the series only three times since then.

Born in nearby Danville, Virginia, Peters returns to his home track with what has to be a modicum of nostalgia. After all, he scored the first of his 10 NCWTS victories at the .526-mile paper-clip-shaped speedway in 2009.

RELATED: Timothy Peters’ career statistics

In the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (resuming at 11 a.m. ET Monday on FS1), he’ll be running a one-event deal for owner Ricky Benton. Though his focus will be on the race at hand, Peters can be forgiven if he’s hoping for more.

“I’m just glad to be back — first start of the year,” said the affable 37-year-old. “I cut my teeth on tracks around here with Late Model Stocks, so I just thank Ricky Benton for the opportunity to come up here with the BTS Ford F-150 to a place that I call home.

“I can’t wait to get out there and mix it up.”

A strong performance on Saturday could lead to additional opportunities in the series.

“Right now our focus is on (Saturday’s) race, and again, I’m thankful for what he (Benton) has done to let me drive this truck and work with (crew chief) Mike Hester,” said Peters, who finished in the top 10 in the series standings for eight straight years before last season’s abrupt hiatus.

“As far as going forward, we’ll just have to see how (Saturday) goes. Hopefully, there’s more opportunities to be back in the Trucks, and I’d really love to do it with Ricky Benton Racing.”

The race will mark Peters’ 239th NCWTS start, but it will be his first in a Ford. Previously, Peters had driven Dodges, Chevrolets and Toyotas.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series hasn’t raced since March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but for ThorSport Racing driver Ben Rhodes, the break was welcome — and necessary.

ThorSport made an offseason manufacturer change from Toyota to Ford, with a small window of time to accomplish the changeover. That’s why Rhodes was fine with the pause in the schedule after Las Vegas.

RELATED: Full Martinsville schedule

“With our switch to Ford this year, we need all the time we can get,” said Rhodes, who finished fourth, fourth and seventh in the first three races. “We haven’t been to the wind tunnel yet. We haven’t done any of the other things that teams like Kyle Busch Motorsports and GMS Racing are doing.

“This time allows us to do some R&D on our side and really work off the track to get at speed. A lot of the speed you see these days is made at the shop, from the wind tunnel, the seven-post machine, stuff like that. It’s kind of a blessing, but the racer in me wants me to race every single day.”

Incidentally, Rhodes is also the poster child for the value of stage points in NASCAR racing. He finished fourth in the season opener at Daytona but failed to finish in the top 10 in either of the first two stages of the race and left the track 16th in the series standings, tied for the position with journeyman Norm Benning.

He’s now ranked fifth in the overall driver standings.

RELATED: Full Camping World Truck Series standings

Posted on by Holly Cain

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Three of NASCAR’s brightest young talents sat shoulder to shoulder, sharing smiles and good spirits Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway — all talented teenagers today and certain stars of tomorrow.

Noah Gragson, 19, the November 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner at this track, joined 17-year-olds Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland to preview the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (resuming approximately 11 a.m. ET Monday on FS1) at the historic .526-mile oval.

MORE: Full schedule for Martinsville

The three Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers are good friends away from the track and intense competitors on track – a can’t-miss dynamic for the sport.

And expectations are high.

“We all joke around, mess around off the track, but when it’s time to be serious and it’s time to get to crunch time and put our racing hats on, I think we all are like a light switch, we flip very easily,’’ said Gragson, who drives the No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

“On the race track I think we all want to be in a KBM top-three finish, 1-2-3. If we all are 1-2-3, then we’re going to be battling hard. I think together, collectively, we all want the best for the organization of Kyle Busch Motorsports and we all know we have fast Toyota Tundras, so now it’s just working together until we get to the front and then it’s game on.”

And it’s been a good game. Real good.

Gragson scored his first career national series win in Martinsville’s Camping World Truck Series race last October, beating former series champs Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter to the checkered flag. And he finished fourth in the track’s spring race last year.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself, but I’m trying not to – I don’t know how to put it, — but trying not to rely on that,’’ Gragson said. “I’m trying to treat this weekend as if I’ve never been here before and that I’m going in here and I’m trying to learn all weekend and really focus on executing and knowing what I can do because I feel like if I come into this weekend and I say, “Oh, well I won here before. I know how to do it,” that really doesn’t do me any good for a young driver.

“Maybe Jimmie Johnson or guys who have won here a lot of times, maybe they can do that, but I don’t feel like I can do that. (I’m a) young driver just trying to learn as much as I can. I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I’m just trying to execute all weekend.”

It’s a similar goal for both Burton – the son of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup driver Jeff Burton – and Gilliland – the son of former Daytona 500 polesitter David Gilliland. Both are just 17 years old, which means they aren’t allowed to compete on the series’ biggest tracks yet, so this weekend’s opportunity at the famously tight Martinsville half-miler is a long-anticipated return to action for all three.

Like his friends, Gilliland has seized upon every NASCAR opportunity. He has three top-seven finishes in six truck races, including a third-place showing at New Hampshire last summer and a fifth-place effort in the fall Martinsville race. He turns 18 years old in May. That’s the threshold age NASCAR has set for full-time competition – on all types of tracks – in its national series.

“It’s been hard (not racing),’’ said Gilliland, who will steer the No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota this weekend.  “(I’m) just spending a lot of time at the shop and a lot of time at the simulator just trying to make up for lost time, kind of like I’m not missing anything at all.

“That’s what we’re hoping for. I wish I could keep racing, but soon enough we’ll be racing every week.”

Burton doesn’t turn 18 until October, so he will still be getting a significant amount of his experience this season in the ARCA Series until his birthday. But what time he has had behind the wheel in the Truck Series has certainly been productive – his learning curve is obvious and impressive.

His last Camping World Truck Series race was here at Martinsville in November and Burton scored a career-best fourth-place finish. So he has specific and legitimate reason to be optimistic.

“I kind of get the last four races of the year at KBM, so I’m still kind of on a part-time schedule, jumping around and in the races that I can be,’’ said Burton, who will drive the No. 51 DEX Imaging Tundra. “There’s other guys in the mile-and-a-halves (races). It’s a balance. In between, I want to move up, but I got to learn, too. I got time and I’m taking that time and learning as much as I can.

Burton will make his first 1.5-mile start in ARCA cars this year, and will run Texas and Homestead in the Truck Series at the end of the year.

“Those will be fun in the Truck Series and hopefully we can go out and run good,” he said. “It’s a different ball game. Like I said, short tracks, mile-and-a-halves, all that’s so different. It’s a big learning curve, but I’m ready for it.”

And this weekend’s “lessons” will come in a setting of good friends, who will also be the fiercest of competitors. Only one driver can hoist the trophy, but all three of these young talents are positioning themselves as winners.

“I think that’s been something that’s very special, just growing up with everyone you know,’’ Gilliland said. “Us three have raced against each other for a long time. We’re all very competitive and we’ve raced – me and Harrison have raced hard.

“We’re just out here doing our best and I think it helps having teammates that you get along with. You can communicate information a little bit better, a little bit easier. I think everything is just going to flow together this season and I think we’re going to have some fast trucks.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR announced this offseason that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.

Official team rosters for Monday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were unveiled.

Simply click the “print” icon above, next to the headline and social media icons, to get the full list.

RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates

Posted on by Staff Report

Axalta and Hendrick Motorsports have extended their long-standing partnership with a four-year contract extension through 2022, the team announced Friday.

The leading global coatings company will serve as a 25-race primary sponsor from 2018-2022. Axalta will sponsor Alex Bowman for 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in 2018 and 12 races in 2019, and William Byron for 10 races in 2018 and 13 races in 2019. The 2020-2022 schedules will be announced at a future date.

RELATED: Our favorite Axalta paint schemes

Axalta and Hendrick Motorsports began their partnership in 1992 with rookie driver Jeff Gordon, who won four championships with the sponsor driving the iconic rainbow-colored No. 24 Chevrolet. Axalta extended its partnership to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2016 and 2017 before teaming up with Hendrick newcomers Bowman and Byron this season in the Monster Energy Series.

This year marks Axalta and Hendrick Motorsports’ 26th season in a multi-faceted partnership.

“Motorsports is in Axalta’s DNA,” Axalta Chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver said in a team release. “For more than 25 years, our partnership with Hendrick Motorsports has enabled us to showcase our industry leading performance coatings that have helped make cars lighter, more efficient and look terrific. We’re excited to continue our successful partnership with Hendrick Motorsports through 2022.”

MORE: See all of Gordon’s wins in photos

The company also opened a 36,000-square-foot Customer Experience Center on Hendrick Motorsports’ Concord, North Carolina, campus last May. This allows fans to become fully immersed in the racing experience.

“We are so proud of our partnership with Axalta,” Hendrick Motorsports Owner Rick Hendrick said. “Their long-term commitment to our organization and our sport as a whole has been unbelievable. They are constantly innovating and investing to keep the program fresh, enhance the experience for their customers and ultimately drive value for their business. Projects like the Customer Experience Center on our campus are unprecedented and reinforce the strength of our relationship.

“We’ve worked together for more than a quarter of a century, and I believe it’s just the beginning.”

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 23, 2018) – NASCAR and PNC Bank today announced a five-year agreement that introduces the bank as the “Official Bank of NASCAR®” and “Official Wealth Management Partner of NASCAR®.”

The agreement provides PNC exclusive status and promotional rights around retail, corporate and private banking across the country and U.S. military bases abroad. PNC will be present at key NASCAR races throughout each season and offer its services to the industry, providing valuable insights to drivers, teams, tracks and sponsors. The agreement takes effect immediately.

“PNC Bank has a trusted reputation and national reach and we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome them to our family of partners,” said Steve Phelps, EVP and Chief Global Marketing, Media and Sales Officer, NASCAR. “Like many blue-chip brands, we are thrilled PNC Bank sees the value of the NASCAR fan. I’m confident we’ll deliver unique opportunities for PNC to connect with our industry and diverse fan base.”

The announcement signals another step in an ongoing effort to establish a stronger national PNC brand, even in markets without a retail branch presence. Last year, PNC said it was forming a national digital retail strategy. Since 2016, the bank announced the opening of expansion markets focused primarily on middle market corporate lending in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Kansas City, the Twin Cities, Nashville, Denver, Houston and the Port Cities market of Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston.

“As we continue to focus on establishing a more powerful national presence, PNC’s new alliance with NASCAR will open more avenues to build on our brand and business coast-to-coast,” said PNC Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer William S. Demchak. “NASCAR is a storied part of Americana that built a national fan base. Millions of Americans say they are NASCAR fans, and so are we.”

PNC becomes the latest Fortune 500 company to invest in the sport. In 2017, more than 1 in 4 Fortune 500 companies invested in NASCAR — a 7 percent increase year-over-year — showing sustained investments or growth year-over-year for the past five years.

“PNC Bank has earned the reputation as a reliable and trusted financial institution with strong client relationships,” said Susan Schandel, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, NASCAR. “We look forward to leveraging their capabilities and technology solutions as they become NASCAR’s primary provider of banking services moving forward.”

Announced during the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council® meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina, the agreement is PNC’s first with a sports league. PNC joins the NASCAR Fuel for Business Council®, bringing together an exclusive group of more than 50 Official NASCAR Partners to buy and sell products and services from one another.