Posted on by Staff Report

On a Lap 324 restart during Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar collided in Turns 3 and 4, sparking a multicar incident.

Entering Turn 3, the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota rammed the backside of Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. While the initial contact didn’t send Hocevar around, a stack-up ahead of Hocevar resulted in Wallace hitting the No. 77 again and eventually sending Hocevar around. Hocevar’s spin resulted in a multicar crash involving a handful of drivers.

RELATED: Race Results | At-track photos: Martinsville

Twelve cars were listed in the incident, including Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Connor Zilisch and both Legacy Motor Club Toyotas of John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones.

Hocevar continued in the race on the lead lap, while Wallace’s day ended early.

Hocevar placed 17th when the checkered flag waved, while Wallace was credited with a season-worst 36th-place result.

Posted on by Holly Cain

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Good pit strategy and a highly-motivated team rallied Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott to the NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway; the sport’s reigning Most Popular Driver delivering Chevrolet its first win of the season, all to the delight of a huge, enthusiastic crowd at the historic half-miler.

Elliott short-pitted on lap 261 to gain track position, then moved his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the lead for good after a restart with 68 laps remaining — ultimately out-running the day’s most dominant driver, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin to the checkered flag by 0.565 seconds to extend the Hendrick team’s track record win total to 31 victories.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Martinsville

“It was definitely a team effort, how about that, that was awesome,” said Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who made his very first Cup Series start at Martinsville exactly 11 years ago to the day.

“We’ve never had a win this early in the season. Just a really great team effort. So proud of [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson], the crew really did a great job. We took a gamble and were going to two-stop that last stage, and honestly believe it was going to work out either way. Just so proud. Sure is a lot of fun when days like this work out.”

Elliott, 30, of Dawsonville, Georgia, said he had been confident in the car’s speed all weekend and on Sunday, just needed that clutch pit call to get up front and seize the chance.

“This whole deal is really weird the way it works,” said Elliott, who now has 22 career wins. “Fortunately got that lead on the last one [restart] and fell into a good pace. Just had enough.

“Probably needed a little bit to be just the absolute best outright, but we were really close and were able to manage and save enough to get through traffic at the end.

“But man, it’s really cool when this stuff works out. To win these races is just so tough. Really grateful for the opportunity as always. I never take it for granted.”

SHOP: Winner gear

Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota led a race-best 292 of the 400 laps and, for much of the afternoon, looked to absolutely run away with his seventh grandfather clock trophy. But after Elliott got out front, Hamlin was playing catch-up and never really was able to get close enough to attempt a pass in the closing laps as the leaders navigated lapped traffic.

“He did a good job controlling the pace there,” said Hamlin, who won both stages and was actually leading by three-seconds at the point Elliott made that all-important short pit stop to get up to the front.

“Just really came from that bad restart — just not much more that I could have done there. I felt like we gave it our all.”

This year’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway spring winner, Hamlin said he was also concerned in the final laps that perhaps the car had a loose wheel on the final run, but said either way, “there are some races that get away from you in your career, and this was certainly one of them.”

Team Penske’s Joey Logano rebounded from a rough 33rd-place outing last week at Darlington Raceway to finish third Sunday — equaling his best showing of the season in the No. 22 Ford.

“Weekends like last weekend, you start to question everything, you have to right, as a competitor you have to do that, but nice to have a good rebound, solid car,” the three-time series champion Logano said. “Our car, honestly, if we were able to get to the lead, I don’t know that the 9-car [Elliott] was any better than us, he just got the clean air at the right time. Proud of this team.”

Fourth-place finisher Ty Gibbs earned his fifth consecutive top-six of the season in the No. 54 JGR Toyota and the fourth top-five in the last five races. It marks his first top-10 at Martinsville.

Hendrick Motorsports William Byron — a three-time Martinsville winner — was fifth after leading six laps in the No. 24 Chevrolet. Penske’s Ryan Blaney, JGR’s Christopher Bell, Penske’s Austin Cindric, Hendrick’s Kyle Larson and Wood Brothers’ Josh Berry rounded out the top-10.

Tyler Reddick, the season’s four-time race winner, finished 15th but still holds a massive 82-point advantage over Blaney and is 94 points ahead of Hamlin atop the Cup Series standings. Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, who finished 36th after triggering a 12-car accident on lap 325, dropped from third place to 11th in the standings.

The Cup Series takes the first of the season’s two off-weeks next weekend before resuming competition April 12 in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson is the defending Bristol Spring race winner.

Stage 2 recap: Hamlin sweeps Martinsville stages

Hamlin continued his short-track mastery, leading the entire stage and making it known that the race win will have to go through him.

The Toyotas as a whole started to move forward with Hamlin’s JGR teammate Gibbs following the No. 11’s tire tracks and placing second in the middle frame.

The Team Penske trio also started flexing over the long run, with Logano, Blaney and Cindric settling into the top six.

William Byron was the highest-placed Chevrolet in fifth.

Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen, Larson and Berry took the remaining stage points.

After a fairly clean opening stage, the middle portion opened Pandora’s box slightly in terms of tire strategy after Noah Gragson was spun due to early contact in the stage and several cars in mid-pack opted for new tires, highlighted by defending series champion Larson, who was running 15th when the caution came out.

Stage 1 recap: Hamlin retakes lead from Byron before stage checkered

Hamlin won the opening frame of Sunday’s 400-lapper around the historic Martinsville Speedway.

Hamlin took command, leading the opening 38 laps from pole until he caught lapped traffic and lost the lead to Byron for a handful of laps. He retook it six laps later and won Stage 1 under caution after Cody Ware spun on Lap 78.

The six-time Martinsville winner won his ninth stage at “The Paperclip.” Byron, Berry, Gibbs and Cindric rounded out the top five.

Van Gisbergen, Logano, Blaney, Reddick and Ryan Preece completed the top 10 to earn stage points.

Brad Keselowski rolled off 23rd and charged all the way up to 16th in the first stint of Sunday’s contest as he looks to join Richard Petty as the only drivers to win in their 600th Cup start.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded in the Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Elliott as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series head to Martinsville Speedway for the first of two trips to the Virginia short track in 2026. Bookmark this page and come back often for your race-week essentials — from links to qualifying order, average practice speeds, results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Ten sets for the weekend (eight new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying, one for practice). Teams will also be allotted four wet-weather sets, if necessary.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Qualifying Results
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Race day: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Five sets for the weekend (three new race sets, one set transferred from qualifying, one for practice). Teams will also be allotted three wet-weather sets, if necessary.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Starting Lineup (QUALIFYING CANCELED, set by rule book)
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on by Staff Report

With the drop of the green flag Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, Brad Keselowski eclipsed 600 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, becoming just the 35th driver to reach that historic threshold.

“I just wanted to have a career and was trying to prove myself,” Keselowski said in a team release. “To think that I’ve had another 599 since then is pretty cool. I just want to sit down with a 24-year-old me and tell him that was going to happen.

“When I first got in a Cup [car], I just wanted to be here. I didn’t think about anything outside of that,” he added. “I didn’t think of the stats. I didn’t think about the accolades. I just wanted to be here, and I’m lucky to be here.”

RELATED: Brad Keselowski through the years | At-track photos

From Rochester Hills, Michigan, Keselowski made his first NASCAR start in 2004, driving for his father, Bob, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He debuted in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2006 before making his Cup Series debut for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. A year later, driving a part-time Cup schedule for multiple teams, Keselowski won his first premier-series race at Talladega Superspeedway, coming in a James Finch-owned Chevrolet.

His Cup Series career officially took off in 2010, when he moved to Team Penske’s No. 12 Dodge entry for the full campaign. While he went winless and missed The Chase, he put together a stellar O’Reilly Series season in the team’s No. 22 entry, winning the series championship.

In 2011, Keselowski turned into one of the Cup Series’ elite young drivers. Switching to the No. 2 entry, he won three times and finished fifth in points. A year later, he reached the sport’s pinnacle, earning his first and only series championship, highlighted by five victories and remarkable consistency through the 10-race Chase.

Keselowski drove for Roger Penske through the 2021 season. He earned 34 victories for the organization and banked nine top-10 finishes in points, including a runner-up in 2020.

“I was really blessed to have the opportunity to drive for Roger Penske, a great chapter in my career,” Keselowski said in a media teleconference earlier this season. “We did a lot of really cool things together. Winning the championships in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Cup Series was just highlights of my career. I look back really fondly on most of it.”

RELATED: Brad Keselowski driver page | RFK Racing team site

Entering his age-38 season, Keselowski took a leap of faith. He bought an ownership stake in what’s now RFK Racing and switched to the team’s No. 6 Ford starting with the 2022 season. Keselowski finished 24th in his debut season, but made the playoffs in a 2023 season highlighted by Chris Buescher’s three victories in the team’s No. 17 entry. A year later, Keselowski won at Darlington Raceway for his first victory as both driver and owner.

Keselowski got off to a difficult start in 2025 as RFK expanded to three full-time cars with Ryan Preece joining the fold in the No. 60 Ford. All three drivers missed the playoffs, but Keselowski showed signs of life in the back half of the campaign with a trio of runner-up finishes.

But entering 2026, Keselowski faced arguably his greatest challenge yet.

During the offseason, the future Hall of Famer fell and broke his femur during a vacation with his family. He was rushed into surgery, and later admitted he wasn’t sure if he’d ever walk again. But through consistent winter rehab, Keselowski climbed back into his No. 6 Ford just in time for the Daytona 500, finishing fifth.

Through six races, he’s finished no worse than 20th and enters Martinsville ninth in points after leading 142 laps and coming home second at Darlington.

“Driving the race car is a blessing and a curse,” Keselowski said. “It’s a blessing because it provides the motivation for me to really push my rehab and do things faster than normal, which is not a bad thing. But it’s a curse because, yes, when I get in the car, it does hurt, it does pull me backward.”

While Keselowski is one of NASCAR’s elder statesmen, he feels the end of his Cup career is nowhere in sight, with at least 800 starts in mind.

“I think that’s a good goal,” he said.

Posted on by Zack Albert

The NASCAR Hall of Fame revealed its ballot of 15 nominees for the Class of 2027 on Sunday, adding Kevin Harvick, Ray Elder and Ernie Elliott to the list of Modern Era candidates for induction.

Ray Fox and Herb Nab, two prominent figures from the world of mechanics and crew chiefs, have been added to the Pioneer Era Ballot, and longtime sports marketing guru T. Wayne Robertson joins the list of five nominees for the Landmark Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to stock-car racing.

The Hall of Fame voting panel will meet in person to cast ballots on Tuesday, May 19 in Charlotte. Fan voting, which will count as one ballot toward the selection of next year’s class, will be open from April 14 to May 17 on NASCAR.com.

The announcement came during FOX Sports’ pre-race broadcast for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Martinsville Speedway with NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton helping to do the honors.

RELATED: NASCAR Hall of Fame members

Harvick, in his third season as an analyst in the FOX Sports booth, appears on the ballot for the first time with credentials that include the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship and 60 Cup wins, including the 2007 Daytona 500 crown. He also won 47 times and scored a pair of titles in what’s now known as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Elder, another California campaigner, won a record six championships in the former NASCAR Winston West Series, which evolved into the current-day ARCA Menards Series West. He won twice in the Cup Series — both victories coming at the old Riverside International Raceway road course in his home state — and his 47 West Series wins rank second on the tour’s all-time list.

Elliott, brother of Class of 2015 inductee Bill Elliott, earned nomination as a master engine builder who powered his family racing team to 40 Cup Series victories and the 1988 championship. Elliott was recognized as Engine Builder of the Decade after leading the No. 9 Ford to dominance in the mid- to late 1980s.

Those three replace Class of 2026 inductees Kurt Busch and Harry Gant plus legendary crew chief Harry Hyde, who moves from the Modern Era Ballot to the Pioneer Era Ballot, which recognizes industry figures whose careers began at least 60 years ago. The rest of the Modern Era nominees are Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Randy LaJoie and Jack Sprague. Two inductees will be enshrined from the Modern Era list of 10.

The Pioneer Ballot will present one candidate for induction from a list of five nominees, which features two new names this year. Fox, a successful mechanic and car owner from NASCAR’s early years, reappears on the ballot for the first time since 2020. Nab, who won 92 Cup Series races and a pair of championships with Cale Yarborough for car owner Junior Johnson, makes his first appearance on the ballot.

Fox, Nab and Hyde join returning Pioneer Ballot nominees Banjo Matthews and Larry Phillips on the voting list. Jake Elder and Bob Welborn have dropped off the ballot.

Robertson guided the powerful R.J. Reynolds marketing arm during a time of significant growth for the sport. He was a senior vice president at the tobacco company, and his Sports Marketing Enterprises division produced widespread exposure for NASCAR, including a role in the creation of the NASCAR All-Star Race, then called “The Winston” at its 1985 debut.

Robertson makes his first ballot appearance alongside four returning candidates for the Landmark Award: Alvin Hawkins, Lesa France Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mattioli and Les Richter.

The election results and the new Class of 2027 members and Landmark Award recipient will be revealed after the annual Voting Day meeting on May 19. The announcement will be broadcast live from the NASCAR Hall of Fame; fans may watch in person from the Great Hall or live on the NASCAR Channel.

The full list of nominees (in alphabetical order) with biographies provided by the NASCAR Hall of Fame:

Modern Era Ballot

Greg Biffle, 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and 2002 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion.

Neil Bonnett, 18-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, including consecutive Coca-Cola 600 victories.

Tim Brewer, two-time NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief.

Jeff Burton, 21-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, including the Southern 500 and two Coca-Cola 600 victories.

Randy Dorton, built engines that won over nine championships across NASCAR’s national series.

Ray Elder, six-time ARCA Menards Series West champion.

Ernie Elliott, 1988 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief, including victories in two Daytona 500s and two Southern 500s.

Kevin Harvick, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, winner of the 2007 Daytona 500, and two-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion.

Randy LaJoie, two-time NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion and 1985 NASCAR North Tour champion.

Jack Sprague, three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.

Pioneer Ballot

Ray Fox, 1956 NASCAR Mechanic of the Year and 14-time NASCAR Cup Series winner as an owner, including the Southern 500.

Harry Hyde, 1970 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief.

Banjo Matthews, built cars that won more than 250 NASCAR Cup Series races and three championships.

Herb Nab, two-time NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief; ranks third on the all-time crew chief wins list with 92.

Larry Phillips, five-time NASCAR Weekly Series national champion.

Landmark Award

Alvin Hawkins, NASCAR’s first flagman; established NASCAR racing at Bowman Gray Stadium with Bill France Sr.

Lesa France Kennedy, NASCAR Executive Vice Chair and one of the most influential women in sports.

Dr. Joseph Mattioli, founder of Pocono Raceway.

Les Richter, longtime NASCAR executive who oversaw competition, helped grow the sport on the West Coast.

T. Wayne Robertson, held dual roles of senior vice president at R.J. Reynolds and president of the company’s Sports Marketing Enterprises division, oversaw the creation of The Winston.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The last time Hendrick Motorsports went to Victory Lane was here last fall at Martinsville Speedway.

The team is ready to book another stay.

Perception of how the four-car organization has started the 2026 campaign probably depends on which team you’re asking. But the stats bear out a generally favorable start for the defending champions entering Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Martinsville starting lineup | At-track photos

While the No. 48 team perseveres through Alex Bowman’s bout with vertigo, Hendrick’s other programs have found reasonable success. Chase Elliott has wheeled the No. 9 Chevrolet to fifth in the standings with William Byron’s No. 24 team sixth and Kyle Larson’s No. 5 program in 10th.

Coming just short of a Daytona 500 victory, Elliott has four finishes of 11th or better this year with four top-five qualifying efforts, but that hasn’t been enough to wow him yet as the team navigates a new body style on its Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s.

“It’s been super up and down,” Elliott said Saturday. “You know, I thought if you take the speedways out of it, Phoenix I thought was just a down weekend overall, just in general. I thought Vegas was really strong. We didn’t qualify super good but raced really well. Darlington, I thought was less than what I would like to see. So been kind of up and down. COTA, we did qualify well — ran really bad in the race. So there’s been a little bit of everything in all of it.

“Just trying to piece all that together because some of the trends I feel like of last year haven’t really been the trends of this year so far. So I’m not sure if that’s body related or other things related, I really don’t know. So, yeah, we’re just working through it to grind. Obviously, as we all know, it’s very much a marathon of a year, and narratives, as always, can can change really fast.”

Last week’s showing at Darlington Raceway was disheartening for Hendrick Motorsports — Byron finished eighth, with his teammates 15th or worse (Elliott 15th, Justin Allgaier 24th, Larson 32nd). But it was a marked improvement from last Labor Day’s Southern 500, when none of the team’s drivers placed higher than 17th.

“We still have to improve at that track,” Larson said of Darlington. “I would say that’s not all tracks, you know? Like Vegas, we were really strong. Us at the 5 car and 24 and 9, we were just a small step behind the (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars there. Better than the 23XI (Racing) cars at that track. So I mean, I think it’s track to track a little bit right now with where we’re at, but obviously always want to get better. You’re trying to learn as quickly as possible.”

Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron race at Las Vegas.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

If nothing else, the team’s internal discourse after its Darlington woes seemed to push Hendrick Motorsports in the right direction.

“I thought (Byron) and really all four of us last week had really similar comments in our meeting on Monday,” Elliott said. “With that being said, I thought that that’s both good and bad, right? Like, it’s a good thing that we’re all kind of on the same page. It’s a bad thing that we were screaming as much as we were, but I think that’s part of it. That’s part of the deal, especially when you have a change, you shift aero balance and have an aerodynamic adjustment like we had over the winter.

“It’s just takes time, so we’re working through it. Hopefully this weekend is a good step, but we’ll see. This is another very different track type that we haven’t really seen yet. Phoenix was a certain way, Vegas was a certain way. Darlington was another certain way. And this is kind of different, too. So we’re trying to work through it until we see all these places. We’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep building our notebook.”

Byron has generally been pleased with his starts, highlighting how well his team has executed its race days. But practice and qualifying stands out to the 28-year-old as an area where the No. 24 team could improve.

“I think we need to do a better job on balance on Saturdays so that we’re not guessing so much for Sundays,” Byron said. “Some of that could be obviously the new body, but also just tire changes and things of that nature. We need to do a better job of utilizing our tools and getting closer to unload so that we’re not guessing so much.

“If we have smoother Saturdays, we qualify better and we don’t have so many question marks going in Sunday, we’ll probably have a better weekend.”

The group seemed to find something helpful at Martinsville because Byron qualified second, behind only Denny Hamlin in Saturday’s time trials.

Byron also pointed to pit road as a possible area of improvement, eyeing everything from what he can do better behind the wheel to choosing having better pit-stall selection.

“I think trying to be as quick as we can be, especially when we have track position, we have an opportunity to capitalize and gain a spot inside the top five because I feel like those spots are a lot harder to come by on-track, as well,” Byron said.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Throughout Martinsville Speedway’s long history, some of Modified racing’s best have found their way to Victory Lane.

Richie Evans. Mike Ewanitsko. Reggie Ruggiero. Tony Hirschman. Justin Bonsignore. They’ve all won in a Modified at Martinsville.

On Saturday, a new name was added to the exclusive list.

Stephen Kopcik held off Ron Silk during a late restart to win Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, which was postponed one day due to inclement weather.

RELATED: Complete race results from Martinsville

The victory, which came in his 23rd career start, was the first of Kopcik’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career. He is the 82nd driver to win a series event since the formation of the modern Tour in 1985.

“I knew I had a car capable of winning. It was up to me to not screw anything up on every restart,” Kopcik said. “It’s crazy. I knew I had a good car, but Ron also had a good car. He got by me earlier in the race, and I wasn’t sure what he had left.

“You never know; he had a great car tonight too. Just glad we could come out on top.”

Before the green flag even waved for the 200-lap event, Kopcik and his Wanick Motorsports team had a plan. The goal was to stay off cycle with the other leaders, which the team hoped would allow Kopcik to maintain track position and, hopefully, control of the race.

The plan worked perfectly.

Stephen Kopcik
Stephen Kopcik on his way to victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Kopcik, who started 12th, took the lead with 50 laps left during a cycle of pit stops. From that point forward, the path to victory ran through him.

The driver from Newtown, Connecticut survived three more restarts, including the final green flag with four laps left, to etch his name in history as a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner at Martinsville Speedway.

Now he just needs figure out where to put his new grandfather clock.

“Probably the biggest win of my career at this point,” Kopcik said. “Coolest trophy, biggest win, coolest place to win at. I would say this tops most all of them.

“We’ll remember this one forever.”

Silk finished second, a career best at Martinsville for the two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion. Tyler Rypkema drove the Ole Blue No. 3 to a third-place finish, followed by Eric Goodale and defending series champion Austin Beers.

Polesitter Patrick Emerling, Kyle Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Timmy Solomito and Ryan Newman were sixth through 10th, respectively.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season continues with its annual spring trip to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Sunday, April 12. Fans unable to attend in person can watch the race live on FloRacing at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Staff Report

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway C

  • Race results:
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 21 Stephen Kopcik Wanick Construction/Newton Pools 200  —
2 16 Ron Silk Blue Moutian Machine/ Future Homes 200 0.147
3 3 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/SYP 200 0.835
4 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 200 1.251
5 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Fastrack Electic/AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew Ja 200 1.665
6 1 Patrick Emerling USNE Motorsports 200 1.891
7 22 Kyle Bonsignore ChawLew Performance/MTT/LRD 200 2.04
8 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara/USNE Power 200 2.246
9 66 Timmy Solomito USNE Power/Kennedy Realty/FX Caprara 200 2.277
10 0 Ryan Newman Oshwekon Speedway/Glenn Styers Racing/Keydisplay/USNE 200 2.487
11 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 200 2.697
12 60 Matt Hirschman Bar Harbor Bank & Trust/Pee Dee Motorsports 200 2.835
13 82 Andrew Molleur Horton Avenue Materials 200 3.108
14 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 200 3.399
15 31 Michael Christopher Jr Elite Towing/Elite Racing/Baker Racing 200 3.563
16 25 Danny Bohn Foxfire Farms/Ready Mix 200 3.743
17 38 Jack Baldwin* Stokes Shoes 200 3.943
18 71 Jimmy Zacharias Kevo Motorsports/Stafursky Paving/American Property Solutions/Velocita 200 4.126
19 55 Jeremy Gerstner Garage Doors of the Triad/Cherokee Underground/JTS Services 200 4.328
20 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power/Eighty-Two Services Gerneral Contractor 199 1 Lap
21 40 Luke Fleming William E. Smith Trucking/Taylor Auto Parts/Perkins & Associates/Hodges Realty/Autos by Nelson 195 5 Laps
22 95 Cory Plummer* Tuckers Metal Fab & Welding/Apex Race Cars/Apex Racing/Croteau Machine & More 194 6 Laps
23 7 Luke Baldwin Baldwin Automotive 188 12 Laps
24 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication 188 12 Laps
25 18 Ken Heagy Merkel Racing Engines 184 16 Laps
26 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat 171 29 Laps
27 79 Jonathan McKennedy Stuart’s Automotive 160 40 Laps
28 05 Teddy Hodgdon IV* Business Time Motorsports/The Landau Team of Re/Max/Montanari Fuel 160 40 Laps
29 73 Paulie Hartwig III* Professional Therapy Associates/Velocita USA 81 119 Laps
30 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mfg Co. 58 142 Laps

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – A full range of emotions had swept over Lee Pulliam all weekend at Martinsville Speedway. He choked up at moments when he considered the magnitude of this opportunity, a shot at his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with one of the circuit’s best teams. But he also absorbed some moments of self-criticism, frustrated with trouble on a series of late restarts that may have cost him a victory bid.

Over the in-car radio, Pulliam’s perfectionist streak came through as he expressed his frustration, but team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. reminded him of another emotion to hold close.

“I love what you’re doing,” Earnhardt said. “Enjoy this.”

Pulliam, a Late Model legend with an overflowing wealth of short-track experience, drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to fifth place in Saturday’s NFPA 250. He overcame an early pit-road penalty and led twice for 40 laps, holding the top spot in the late going until JRM teammate Justin Allgaier took command for his third victory in the last four races.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Martinsville

For Pulliam, the result represented the journey back from a lengthy hiatus from racing, and a homecoming at a Martinsville track where he twice captured one of Late Model racing’s biggest prizes. One of the emotions that came through most was gratitude, as he offered his appreciation to the team and those who believed in him on the cool-down lap.

“I had a hell of a lot of fun,” Pulliam said on the No. 9 radio. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. embraces Lee Pulliam on pit road post-race at Martinsville Speedway
Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

The hunch that Pulliam’s debut might be a promising one came early. The resident of nearby Alton, Virginia, put the No. 9 Chevy atop the leaderboard in practice, and lined up 12th after qualifying was rained out. A pit-road penalty for an uncontrolled tire in the 107th of 250 laps knocked him back in the order, but a mix of a steady hand and an aggressive pit strategy elevated him to the lead by Lap 184, during the eighth of 14 caution flags.

Pulliam held tight with Allgaier in pursuit, but a pair of late-race restarts spelled trouble when his car failed to get up to speed at launch. On the most dramatic instance, his No. 9 Chevy balked right in front of JRM teammate Carson Kvapil, jamming up 18 other cars on the frontstretch and causing a prolonged red flag for clean-up.

“I mean, it’s probably my inexperience, mostly,” Pulliam said post-race. “I think having older tires, and then a combination of me not ever doing this, man, I just hate it. I could have … I needed to do a better job. I was trying to clean (my tires) up hard, and I just could not get going from second to third (gear).”

Though Pulliam was remorseful both during and after the 250-lapper for initiating the contact, Earnhardt said he reminded him not to wallow in that space.

“I said you’re going to have about 10, 15 minutes to talk to the media and tell the rest of your story today, and you might not ever get to tell it again,” Earnhardt said. “Don’t spend 15 minutes apologizing for that mistake. I was like, tell everybody you made a mistake, you’re sorry and move on, and make sure you can thank all the people you want to thank because when it’s over, it’s over, and that might be the end, his last opportunity, right? Of course, I hope it isn’t. But if I wouldn’t have said anything to him, he would probably sit there and apologize for 15 minutes, and that would have been all he would have been able to say the rest of the day. You know, you need to put a period on the great result that he had and be proud of his work and thankful for the people to help him have this opportunity.”

MORE: Paint Scheme Preview | Martinsville schedule, TV times

Allgaier completed the final pass shortly after one of those consequential restarts, working around Pulliam on the outside lane and going on to lead the final 26 laps. Pulliam faded slightly to the back end of the top five, but the performance made an impression on No. 9 crew chief Phillip Bell, who took special note of Pulliam’s work ethic, which included preparation with more than 1,000 laps of racing-simulator time.

“It just shows the talent, the natural talent he has, right?” Bell told NASCAR.com. “I’m gonna disregard (the mistake). We’re not going to be mad about running fifth in his first O’Reilly race. I mean, he’s just so good. He picked up the heavier car like it was nothing. I mean, very, very proud of him. Hopefully we get some more races with him. I mean, he showed the talent he has.”

Earnhardt had plenty of his drivers to commend afterward, with Allgaier and third-place finisher Sammy Smith making it three JR Motorsports entries in the top five on the official rundown. But he took time to share a long embrace on pit road with Pulliam, who took his post-race words to heart.

“Just enjoy it,” Pulliam said. “He was so proud of me, and he said everybody makes mistakes. He said ‘I’ve done it, and don’t dwell on it. Just, you had a killer day, dude,’ and it meant a lot.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

MARTINVSILLE, Va. — Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth exchanged a fair share of bumps during Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville Speedway, all leading to a post-race conversation in the garage.

The duo expressed their frustrations with one another — as did Love’s crew chief Danny Stockman, who confronted Caruth himself.

But level heads ultimately prevailed, with the two young drivers reaching an understanding and ending their discussion with a fist bump.

MORE: Allgaier wins at Martinsville | At-track photos 

Aggressive contact from Caruth shoved Love’s No. 2 Chevrolet up the track in Turns 1 and 2 with three laps remaining in a battle for sixth, but that move cost both drivers two positions. Heading into Turns 3 and 4 on the next lap, Caruth charged back through Love’s rear bumper, driving both cars up the track. The lost momentum cost Caruth entering Turn 1 as Brent Crews then contacted Caruth, sending the No. 88 Chevrolet spinning and into the wall. Love finished 12th while Caruth finished 25th.

Upon arrival to the garage post-race, Love exited his car and immediately sought Caruth for discussion.

Stockman met him there, intensely expressing his own displeasure before Caruth could even get his helmet off: “You better buckle them [expletive] belts tight. We’re racing for sixth and you [expletive] shipped us twice.”

After an added retort from a member of Caruth’s team, Love interjected: “Listen, you guys go [expletive] argue. Let’s talk,” insisting the drivers handle it themselves.

And so they did, chatting with intent but peacefully for roughly eight minutes before amicably parting ways.

“I’m not necessarily a conversation starter on pit road because I know that, well, you guys (media) love it, right?” Love said. “So, yeah, Raj just shipped me and ended up taking my fifth-place day to finishing outside the top 10. Obviously, completely over the top. And then we’re side by side, and then he, like, doubles down on it, and then, like, runs me in, up into the marbles and just misses the corner again. And it didn’t work out for him either. Like, he ends up getting crashed because people see that, and they’re like, ‘What the heck,’ right? And they get people back in this field.

“So yeah, I was definitely frustrated because we worked our teeth and guts out to have a good day here, and we were gonna have a good day for how off we were. And obviously, now we have to go home with another (12th)-place finish.”

Caruth, who is splitting his schedule between JR Motorsports’ No. 88 car and Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32 car, took ownership of his aggressive driving and acknowledged it was “out of character” for him.

“I was in the wrong there,” Caruth said. “We had contact earlier and I didn’t need to hit him either time. I was gonna finish seventh or eighth and be fine, and I took myself out of a good points spot. So I didn’t handle that well. Like I wanted to move him, but I really didn’t even need to. And I didn’t even think about it in the moment because the 21 was right behind me, and like any contact I made with Jesse, he was going to be right there.

“I didn’t handle that well at all and took us out of a really good points spot there that I needed personally. Kind of disappointed in myself for how I handled the end of it, but overall, it was a learning day and we’ll go and we’ll do it again for the next one.”

After winning the 2025 series championship, Love emphasized how close he is with Stockman, who he views as a brother. But the 21-year-old Love wanted to make sure any issues between himself and Caruth stayed there, rather than escalating further.

“It’s tough, right? Because, like, me and Danny are brothers,” Love said. “And Danny wants me to know that he has my back, and I really do appreciate that. But it’s also my job to let Danny know I appreciate that and let me handle it, right? Because I don’t know if Danny knows this, but I see Rajah a lot. Me and Raj have a good working relationship, and I felt comfortable that I could have a conversation with him without just having a yelling match and having to get crew chiefs and engineers involved and people screaming at each other.”

Caruth understood the anger from both Stockman and Love, recognizing he cost the No. 2 team points. But the mutual respect between the drivers prevented tempers from truly boiling over.

“We train together and I think ultimately, we both have a lot of respect for each other,” Caruth said. “And I heard where he was coming from and he heard where I was coming from. I owe them grace moving forward for a little bit, just because I impacted their day — not only mine, but theirs, not well at the end. Just didn’t do the best job.

“It’s important for the drivers just to talk about it because we can discuss it and not, like, come to blows or anything like that. And that’s all that was. Like I said, I was in the wrong there. Kind of out of character for me. I don’t know what my thought process there was honestly, so I just won’t do that again.”