Posted on April 8, 2022April 8, 2022 by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Chase Elliott was the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to break 19.7 seconds in Friday’s knockout qualifying session, earning the pole position for Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Driving the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Elliott toured the 0.526-mile short track in 17.694 seconds at 96.151 mph in the second round of time trials, edging Aric Almirola for the top starting spot in the eighth event of the 2022 season. Almirola covered the distance in 19.799 seconds at 95.641 mph.

“It honestly surprised me that it was that fast,” said Elliott, who won the 10th pole of his career, his first at Martinsville and his first since the fourth race of 2020 at Phoenix Raceway. “I didn’t expect it to be in the 60s. I thought I had a good lap but not a great lap. Nice to grab a pole — it’s been a while.

“It’s always good to have a good starting spot. Obviously, Lap 400 (on Saturday) is what pays. The bigger thing, I think, than the starting spot itself is the pit selection. Having that first pit stall is a really big deal and can lend you a lot of opportunity to gain spots on pit road. Hopefully, we can get this thing dialed in to be driving like we want the second half of the race and be around and have a shot at it.”

Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Cole Custer, qualified third, followed by Chris Buescher and William Byron. Kevin Harvick was sixth fastest, giving SHR three of the top six positions on the grid.

Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Todd Gilliland will start seventh through 10th, respectively. Larson was the only driver to run one lap versus two in the first round, a strategy that had worked for pole winner Ryan Blaney last weekend at Richmond.

But Larson locked up his tires in Turn 3 to ruin his money lap and had to settle for eighth fastest.

PRACTICE: Session results

Elliott also topped the practice leaderboard, which was finalized prior to qualifying. Elliott clocked a 19.995-second lap, the only one below the 20-second mark. Kyle Busch, in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, posted the second-best time at 20.032 seconds. Fellow Toyota pilot Bubba Wallace in 23XI Racing’s No. 23 entry came in third with a 20.038-second best time.

Alex Bowman (20.040 seconds) and Christopher Bell (20.055 seconds) completed the top-five leaders. Kyle Larson, Byron, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10 in order.

Contributing: Staff reports.

Posted on April 8, 2022April 8, 2022 by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet for driver AJ Allmendinger will serve a pass-through penalty after the start of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

The No. 16 Kaulig entry failed pre-qualifying inspection three times Friday before Busch Light Pole Qualifying for Saturday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). No other entry in the 36-car field failed more than once.

Allmendinger was not permitted to post a qualifying lap, and he will make a trip through the 0.526-mile track’s pit road shortly after the green flag. NASCAR officials also ejected engineer Michael Brookes for the rest of the race weekend.

Allmendinger, a regular for the Matt Kaulig-owned team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, is scheduled to make his fourth Cup Series start of the season in Saturday’s 400-lapper.

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Tadd Haislop

Some tracks that are staples on the ARCA Menards Series West schedule are all but guaranteed to produce entertaining races with exciting finishes.

All American Speedway in Roseville, California, is one of those venues.

Located about 20 miles Northeast of downtown Sacramento, All American Speedway is a 0.333-mile bullring of a paved oval. It may be small, but with Turns 1-2 banked differently than Turns 3-4, it’s tricky.

Below is everything to know about All American Speedway, a NASCAR Home Track.

All American Speedway

Track Profile

Track	All American Speedway
Location	Roseville, California
Opened	1955
Layout	Paved oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.333 miles
Banking	Eight degrees in Turns 1-2; Progressive banking (10-14 degrees) in Turns 3-4

Then known as the NASCAR Winston West Series, what’s now the ARCA Menards Series West competed at All American Speedway for five seasons from 1977-82. Those races produced five different winners.

When the series finally returned in 2008, it arrived at a totally different track.

All American Speedway was constructed in the 1950s as a quarter-mile oval. A renovation ahead of its racing season in 2008 stretched that length to the third-mile configuration we recognize today.

The corners in the new configuration are intentionally challenging. Turns 1-2 feature eight-degree banking, but Turns 3-4 feature progressive banking, 10-14 degrees.

The West Series has competed at All American at least once a year every year since its return to the track in 2008. Entering the 2022 event, the annual race had produced 12 different winners over the previous 12 years.

Eric Holmes won the West Series’ return to Roseville in March of 2008. He also is the driver with the most West Series wins at the track with four (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).

All American Speedway is the home track of West Series powerhouse Bill McAnally Racing; the team’s race shop is located just a few miles away.

Part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, in addition to its annual West Series event, All American Speedway hosts weekly racing from March through October.

The venue also hosted six NASCAR Southwest Series races from 1986-90.

Below are the results from those races and all of the West Series action at All American over the years.

FOLLOW ALL AMERICAN: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

West Series races at All American Speedway

Year-Race No.	Date	Winner
1977-14	7/17/77	Sumner McKnight
1978-02	4/2/78	Jimmy Insolo
1979-07	7/20/79	Tim Williamson
1981-03	5/24/81	Jim Robinson
1982-03	5/29/82	Jim Bown
2008-01	3/29/08	Eric Holmes
2008-13	10/25/08	Jason Bowles
2009-02	4/4/09	Eric Holmes
2009-13	9/26/09	Paulie Harraka
2010-01	3/27/10	Paulie Harraka
2010-11	10/16/10	Eric Holmes
2011-02	4/16/11	Jason Fensler
2011-13	10/15/11	Eric Holmes
2012-14	10/13/12	Dylan Kwasniewski
2013-13	10/12/13	Cameron Hayley
2014-13	10/11/14	Christian PaHud
2015-12	10/17/15	Gracin Raz
2016-14	10/15/16	Ryan Partridge
2017-13	10/14/17	Michael Self
2018-13	10/13/18	Cole Rouse
2019-12	10/12/19	Jagger Jones
2020-09	10/23/20	Gio Scelzi
2021-08	10/9/21	P.J. Pedroncelli

NASCAR Southwest Series races at All American Speedway

Year-Race No.	Date	Winner
1986-07	7/19/86	Mike Chase
1987-08	7/18/87	Roman Calczynski
1988-09	7/23/88	Roman Calczynski
1989-10	7/22/89	Ray Hooper, Jr.
1989-17	9/23/89	Dan Press
1990-09	7/21/90	Doug George

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Thursday night’s Camping World Truck Series race had a familiar ring for Johnny Sauter. The 43-year-old veteran — somewhat suddenly — was back in a ThorSport Racing No. 13, competing near the front of the field at a track where he had won four times before.

Any signs of rust were nearly non-existent for Sauter, who turned in a runner-up return in just his second Truck Series start of the season. The reunion with ThorSport, his longtime home, was announced just two days before the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200. Sauter made the most of it, picking his way from last in the 36-truck field and driving with confidence to finish second behind race winner William Byron.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“There’s a couple of times in the race tonight I thought I was getting wrecked, and a couple of times I made some mistakes in traffic, too,” Sauter said. “So I just knew it was gonna be a good truck. I knew on Lap 2 that the truck had good speed. I could just feel it. I’ve been doing this long enough to know, so nah, I’m not surprised that we started at the tail of the field and got where we needed to be. I just wish we had one more pit stop, and we could make one more adjustment.”

Sauter, the 2016 series champion, had been idle since a one-off start with G2G Racing in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. He landed the opportunity to return in a fifth ThorSport entry at Martinsville, with veteran crew chief Carl “Junior” Joiner making his first appearance of the year atop the No. 13 pit box.

Joiner’s successful 10-year run with driver Matt Crafton, who claimed three series championships during their partnership, had ended last year with ThorSport’s No. 88 team. Thursday night, the veteran crew chief’s return was every bit as solid as the driver’s.

“I had fun. We did good,” Joiner told NASCAR.com. “You know, for a crew that never races together and an old, retired crew chief and an old, retired driver, we did all right.”

MORE: Martinsville race recap

As far as the notion of retirement goes, Sauter ended Thursday night’s race on an upbeat note, hoping more races at his former full-time home might materialize.

“I mean, the whole plan was to run anywhere upwards of eight races or maybe less. It’s kind of up in the air,” Sauter said. “So we kind of just cherry-pick the race tracks that I like, and maybe one or two that (the crew) like. So hopefully it’s more than less, but I don’t know. It’s just fun to be with guys that really want to get it done.”

Though he didn’t lead any laps, Sauter found himself in position – avoiding the pitfalls from some of the race’s 11 caution periods and restarting on the front row down the stretch. His most recent Truck Series victory came nearly three years ago at Dover Motor Speedway.

“You know, there’s no question the last couple years haven’t been up to standard, shall we say,” Sauter said. “So it’s cool to take a step back and get reinvigorated and to have fun. You know, that’s what this is all about.”

Posted on April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 by Reid Spencer

William Byron proved emphatically Thursday night he hadn’t forgotten how to drive a truck.

Making only his second start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 2016 — after a blown engine knocked him out of last year’s Nashville Superspeedway race — Byron parlayed perfect pit strategy into a decisive victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

In his last full season in the series in 2016, Byron won seven races before moving on to the Xfinity Series and finally to the Cup Series.

With Kevin “Bono” Manion on his pit box, and with input from Cup crew chief Rudy Fugle, Byron brought his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road for the final time on Lap 83 of 200 and took over the lead when the trucks ahead of him pitted at the end of Stage 2 on Lap 104.

The 24-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, led all but two of the final 96 laps and beat runner-up Johnny Sauter to the finish line by 1.138 seconds. Kyle Busch ran third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek and defending series champion Ben Rhodes.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Byron, who already has a Cup victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in hand this season. “Great crowd here at Martinsville. I’ve never won a race at Martinsville and struggled here when I was in late models.

“Yeah, just awesome to get the win tonight — a great truck tonight, the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Thanks to Spire, all the guys back at their shop. They don’t have a lot of guys, and they do it right, obviously. It was fun to work with Bono, have a little help from Rudy. Obviously, he knows the trucks pretty well.”

The race was a homecoming for Sauter, too. Making his second start of the season, the 2016 series champion was driving a ThorSport Racing Toyota for the first time since last year, his last full-time season with the organization.

Carl “Junior” Joiner, longtime crew chief for Matt Crafton, returned to call the race for Sauter after retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2021 season.

“I told Joiner today, I said don’t listen to me when I give you feedback on the first run,” Sauter said. “I called for an adjustment, and I shouldn’t have. I thought we fired off tremendous and just got a little too tight there at the two-thirds mark of the corner…

“It was the first in-house chassis, in-house body for ThorSport. To come home second was pretty solid.”

Sauter chased Byron after the final restart with 36 laps left but couldn’t match the speed of Byron’s Silverado.

The race featured 11 cautions for 71 laps. Zane Smith won the first stage wire-to-wire, and Rhodes claimed the second stage win.

Chandler Smith, Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Zane Smith and Tyler Ankrum finished sixth through 10th, respectively. Rhodes leads the Truck Series standings by four points over second-place Chandler Smith.

The Truck Series returns to action for the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Truck Series garage is complete with no issues, confirming William Byron as the winner.

Contributing staff reports.

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Five days after their intra-team clash last weekend at Richmond Raceway, sometimes Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek indicated they had followed up with each other, but crossed signals kept them from hashing out any differences in a team debrief.

Gibbs came out victorious after a full-contact final lap in last Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, leaving Nemechek to lament a runner-up finish in his first start in JGR equipment this season. Thursday, the two were back at Martinsville Speedway but competing in different NASCAR series – Nemechek in Thursday night’s Camping World Truck Series race and Gibbs prepping for Friday’s Xfinity Series go, where he’ll start from the pole position.

Coach Joe Gibbs had said last weekend he had encouraged his grandson to address the conflict head-on, to attempt to sort out any lingering bitterness among themselves. Thursday at Martinsville, the younger Gibbs said post-qualifying their talk didn’t take place in the organization’s debrief.

“Well, Coach doesn’t come to our Xfinity debriefs, and John Hunter didn’t show up,” Ty Gibbs said after Thursday’s Xfinity Series qualifying session. “So I got to call John Hunter, but he never showed up to the drivers’ meeting, which I was surprised about. But you know, it is what it is.”

Nemechek, a Truck Series regular for Kyle Busch Motorsports, confirmed before Thursday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 the two had spoken since Richmond.

“I had a phone call with him. I was not in the team debrief when we had it on Tuesday. I guess it was my mistake for saying it was Monday,” Nemechek said. “That’s normally when our Truck debrief is, so just figured it was Monday. But I had Trucks then, trying to get ready for here, so I wasn’t able to be there for the team debrief. But him and I have had a call and exchanged some words and different things of that sort, so that’s pretty much it.”

Was a resolution reached?

“I mean, he pretty much told me the same thing that he said in his post-race interview and all that stuff,” Nemechek said. “We’ll just see where it goes. It’s hard racing, I guess.”

Gibbs, 19, has won three times already in his first full season of Xfinity Series competition, and Thursday’s pole was his third consecutive. His rise has been meteoric – seven total wins in just 25 Xfinity starts – but he has also become known for his tendency toward aggressive racing.

Asked if he felt additional pressure with those tactics becoming his calling card, Gibbs sidestepped: “Not really. You know, we’re all out here doing the same thing. I mean, last year, I got wrecked from the lead, so it’s not like it’s different, you know. So I’m gonna do the best I can.”

Nemechek, 24, is in his second full season with Kyle Busch’s Truck Series operation, and he was tapped just last month to drive in three Xfinity Series events in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota. The first of those was a doozy at Richmond.

Asked if he looked back on the last-lap proceedings any differently, given some time by Thursday to cool off and reflect with a fresh perspective, Nemechek maintained he expected a more sporting battle among teammates.

“I mean, I’m mad I didn’t win the race, right?” Nemechek said. “And I guess you can look at it from different ways, right, and you can think of it from you must win no matter what, but at the same time as a teammate, you I guess expect a little more respect than that, but it is what it is. We just move on and keep racing.”

Posted on April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 by Zack Albert

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel ruled Thursday that penalties against RFK Racing’s No. 6 Ford team and driver-owner Brad Keselowski will stand.

A three-member panel heard the appeal Thursday, confirming that RFK Racing violated Sections 14.1 and 14.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book. Those sections both relate to modification of a single-source supplied part on the Next Gen stock car that debuted in the Cup Series this year.

NASCAR competition officials handed down an L2-grade penalty March 24 after an inspection of RFK’s No. 6 Ford at its Research & Development Center after the previous weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That punishment included 100-point penalties in both the driver and owner standings, the loss of 10 playoff points, a four-race suspension to crew chief Matt McCall and a $100,000 fine.

After Thursday’s ruling, those penalties have been upheld. The decision keeps Keselowski in 31st place in the Cup Series standings.

RFK Racing had indicated its intent to appeal the penalties a day after they were first issued, but instead of deferring the crew chief’s suspension, McCall has sat out the last two races. Engineer Josh Sell has served as interim crew chief, helping the No. 6 team register finishes of 14th (Circuit of The Americas) and 13th (Richmond) the last two weekends.

The organization had the option to appeal the decision to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, but the team released a statement saying it would not.

NASCAR officials announced Jan. 24 that a tougher deterrence system would be in place for 2022, with a three-tiered structure that marked its most strict penalties for alterations to or unapproved fabrication of Next Gen-specific parts. RFK Racing was the first organization to draw a penalty at the L2 level under the new system.

The three members of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel who served in Thursday’s hearing were: Mr. Dixon Johnston, Mr. Bill Mullis and Mr. Dale Pinilis.

Posted on April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 by Staff Report

Although Idaho is primarily known for its mountains and potatoes, the Gem State also boasts a thriving asphalt bullring in the form of Meridian Speedway.

Since the 1950s, Meridian has provided Idaho short track fans an ideal opportunity to see their local heroes battle for victories in the weekly edition while also occasionally hosting NASCAR-sanctioned events featuring the next generation of stars.

Over a half-dozen divisions currently encompass a stacked weekly program for Meridian that now includes the facility’s own crown jewel event, the NAPA Auto Parts Idaho 208, which is set to take place on Aug. 20.

Meridian’s new season formally gets underway April 9 with the ATS Inland Season Opener. The on-track action starts at 6 p.m. MT and will include races for Meridian’s Modified, Sprint Car, Street Stock, Pro 4 and Hornets divisions.

Below is everything to know about Meridian Speedway.

Meridian Speedway

Track Profile

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West racing at Meridian Speedway on September 30, 2017. (Otto Kitsinger/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Track	Meridian Speedway
Location	Meridian, Idaho
Opened	1951
Length	0.25 miles
Surface	Asphalt

A proud racing heritage has been built at Meridian over its seven decades of operation, with plenty of drivers permanently etching themselves into the track’s record books.

Sean Miller currently holds the most championships in Meridian’s Late Model division following a dominant stretch during the mid-1990s that saw him claim five consecutive titles. Other multi-time champions in that division include Jerry Bowers, Jim Dillon and John Nesmith.

Meridian has also seen women drivers break barriers on numerous occasions.

Along with Melissa Weaver claiming six Street Stock titles and Hannah Newhouse becoming the only female Late Model champion in 2016, Hailie Deegan notably captured her first of three NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) wins at Meridian in 2018 following a last lap pass on Cole Rouse.

FOLLOW MERIDIAN: Facebook | Twitter

In the six K&N West races at Meridian, none of them featured a repeat winner.

Ray Elder, who won six K&N West titles between 1969-75, was victorious during a one-off appearance for the series at Meridian back in 1972. When K&N West returned to Meridian during the late 2010s, Deegan, current NASCAR Cup Series competitor Todd Gilliland and six-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Noah Gragson all earned victories at the facility.

During its existence, the NASCAR Northwest Series also infrequently visited Meridian. Former track champion John Dillon picked up a popular victory in front of the home crowd back in 1989 while Ron Eaton accumulated the most wins with two in 1986 and 1990.

Below are the complete list of NASCAR winners and track champions during Meridian’s long and storied history.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West racing at Meridian Speedway on September 24, 2016. (Otto Kitsinger/NASCAR via Getty Images)

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) races at Meridian

Year-Race No.	Date	Winner
1972-13	6/30/72	Ray Elder
2015-11	9/5/15	Noah Gragson
2016-13	9/24/16	Todd Gilliland
2017-12	9/30/17	Michael Self
2018-12	9/29/18	Hailie Deegan
2019-11	9/28/19	Derek Kraus

NASCAR Northwest Series races at Meridian

Year-Race No.	Date	Winner
1985-05	6/15/85	Bob Fox
1986-04	5/17/86	Ron Eaton
1989-08	7/24/89	John Dillon
1990-07	6/23/90	Ron Eaton
1991-08	6/22/91	Tobey Butler
2006-01	4/30/06	Brandon Riehl

Meridian Speedway track champions

Year: Track champion

1966: Gary Brown

1967: Rick Poulton

1968: Bob Mitich

1969: Bob Mitich

1970: No champion

1971: Jim Dillon

1972: Bob Mitich

1973: Jim Dillon

1974: Steve Mason

1975: Steve Mason

1976: Jerry Bowers

1977: Jim Dillon

1978: Jerry Bowers

1979: Jerry Bowers

1980: LeeRoy Nelson

1981: Marv Whiteman III

1982: Larry Bowers

1983: Kenny Bowers

1984: Marv Whiteman III

1985: Steve Mason

1986: Pat Minegar

1987: John Dillon

1988: Keith Postlewait

1989: Steve Nesmith

1990: Kim Bradford

1991: Willie Ransom

1992: Willie Ranson

1993: Matt Klaas

1994: Sean Miller

1995: Sean Miller

1996: Sean Miller

1997: Sean Miller

1998: Sean Miller

1999: Mike Marston

2000: Dennis Wurtz II

2001: Jim Tremuan

2002: Dennis Wurtz II

2003: John Nesmith

2004: No champion

2005: Scott Durbin

2006: Craig Bell

2007: John Nesmith

2008: Chris Ratterree

2009: John Nesmith

2010: Dan Buckley

2011: Chris Fenton

2012: Dylan Caldwell

2013: Travis Anderson

2014: Lee Hackney

2015: Dennis Wurtz II

2016: Hannah Newhouse

2017: Chris Fenton

2018: Kyle Tellstrom

2019: Kyle Tellstrom

2020: John Newhouse

2021: Daytona Wurtz (Pro Late Model)

Posted on April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 by Zach Sturniolo

Martinsville Speedway hosts the first scheduled night race of the NASCAR Cup Series season this weekend.

The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 gets underway on Saturday night (7:30 ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) from the shortest track on the points-paying schedule. For the first time since October 1956, the race is scheduled for 400 laps around the 0.526-mile oval instead of 500.

Find everything you need to know for this weekend’s racing here:

PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

Cup Series drivers will hit the track for practice on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET (FS1), with all 36 teams separated into Group A and Group B, determined by a metric that factors results and fastest laps from last week’s race at Richmond Raceway, in addition to points position. Each group will get 15 minutes of practice.

After practice, each group will go out for single-car qualifying for two laps. The fastest five cars from each group will advance to the second round, in which the 10 remaining drivers will fight for the Busch Light Pole Award.

MARTINSVILLE HISTORY

— Built in 1947, Martinsville Speedway hosted its first race on Sept. 7, 1947, a modified stock car race that preceded NASCAR’s inception. Bill France Sr. convinced track founder Henry Clay Earles that stock cars were the future of racing and promoted the event for a percentage.

— Martinsville appeared on the first Cup Series schedule in 1949 and is the only track on today’s circuit that remains from that year.

— The first 12 Cup races at Martinsville were run on dirt.

— Earles partnered with Ridgeway Clock Company in 1964 to begin awarding race winners with a grandfather clock. Fred Lorenzen took the first one home on Sept. 27, 1964. Richard Petty won the most at 12 (not including his three prior victories), Darrell Waltrip won 11, and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson each won nine.

— The track’s turns were resurfaced with concrete in 1976, and the track wasn’t resurfaced again until 2004, after Gordon struck a loose chunk of concrete during that year’s spring race.

– LED lighting surrounded the 0.526-mile track starting in 2017.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

Because the track’s surface consists of both asphalt and concrete, Goodyear faces a unique challenge at Martinsville.

The tire provider will supply the same left-side tire compound utilized at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, February’s exhibition race on the 0.25-mile track built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“For our setup at Martinsville, we have a challenge to address with both the construction of the tires and the tread compounds,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “As far as the construction, it has to be robust enough to handle the hard braking and acceleration on and off the corners, which have no banking to speak of to help. What we try to do with the compounds is bring something that will wear and rubber-in the concrete corners in sometimes cool conditions. Rubbering-in the lower groove creates a second lane on the track and gives drivers more opportunity to pass. This Cup setup is very similar to what teams ran in The Clash, including the same left-side tire.”

MARTINSVILLE STORY LINES

— Martin Truex Jr. has been king at Martinsville lately, winning three of the last five races at the paperclip-shaped oval. Truex has also won each of the last two spring races and led 80 laps a week ago at Richmond.

— Kyle Busch leads all active drivers with 16 short-track victories, but his last such win came in the spring of 2019 at Bristol. The two-time champion has two Martinsville wins.

— Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have won each of the last six Martinsville races, with each organization winning three races in that span.

— Hendrick Motorsports is just 18 laps away from 10,000 laps led at Martinsville becoming the first team to reach 10,000 laps led at a track.

— Expect more cautions in the final stage at Martinsville. Ten yellows flew in Stage 3 there in November and nine last spring.

— Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have won four of the last six night races, each claiming two.

— Denny Hamlin’s win last week at Richmond ended a 12-race winless streak for himself and a 12-race winning streak for drivers younger than 30 years old. Hamlin is 41.

Source: Racing Insights

MONEY AT MARTINSVILLE

The statistics don’t lie — Martin Truex Jr. is the man to beat.

A 5-1 favorite, according to BetMGM, Truex has notched each of his last seven wins on tracks 1.366 miles in length or shorter. The 2017 series champion has won in each of the past three seasons at Martinsville and should be in contention Saturday night.

Behind him are Chase Elliott (7-1), Kyle Busch (8-1), Denny Hamlin (8-1) and Ryan Blaney (8-1). Elliott, Busch and Hamlin have all gone to Victory Lane at Martinsville, but Blaney is still seeking that first career win.

At 14-1 odds, keep eyes peeled for both Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell. Bowman won the fall race last year after contact with Hamlin, and Bell enters with top 10s in each of his last two starts in 2022.

RELATED: Odds for Martinsville

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.

The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Chase Elliott (235), Ryan Blaney (233) and William Byron (218).

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

Posted on April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 by Adam Fenwick

SALISBURY, N.C. — Kyle Larson and several of his NASCAR friends took a trip to Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, North Carolina, on Wednesday night.

Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, was on hand at the eighth-mile dirt track to compete in the non-winged 600cc Micro division alongside several other NASCAR and ARCA stars.

Joining Larson in the field for Wednesday’s race were two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion Jesse Love, Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell, 2020 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed, two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and current Richard Childress Racing Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick and multi-time NASCAR Xfinity Series race winners Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson.

The 30-lap feature started with Larson and Love on the front row, with Love taking the lead from the outside.

A caution and subsequent restart gave Larson the opportunity to battle Love for the lead with 26 laps left. After trading the lead multiple times in two laps, Larson eventually emerged with the lead ahead of Love.

Larson led the remainder of the distance while Bell raced from the 10th starting position to finish second.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kyle Larson (@kylelarsonracin)

Brent Crews, driving a car sponsored by Trackhouse Racing, was third. Love and Creed completed the top-five.

Reddick finished 12th and Jones finished 17th. Gragson failed to qualify for the feature.