Posted on by Paul Lambert

With about 40 laps to go at Martinsville Speedway Thursday, it dawned on Eric Goodale that his night was about to get a lot more expensive.

“When I got to Justin Bonsignore’s bumper,” said Goodale, “I actually thought, ‘Oh my god, we have a car to win this race and I’m going to have to buy these guys clocks’.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200

The stray expense line didn’t slow Goodale, who passed Bonsignore with 30 to go and then held off the defending tour champion and Tyler Rypkema to win the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200. It earned Goodale the coveted Grandfather Clock, historically given to the race winner at Martinsville. The win also meant the Long Island driver would have to make good on his pre-race promise, when he told his team that if he managed to win the race, they’d all get clocks, too.

“We got some new crew guys,” Goodale said. “We got real good chemistry. Some of my crew has been with me since I been racing go-karts since I been 12. It’s been pretty cool to still have them around.

“It’s just clicking and we’re gonna ride it for as long as it comes.”

RELATED: Eric Goodale finally gets to bring The Grandfather Clock home with Martinsville win

Plus, Goodale gets to keep the shiny original from victory lane. He plans on putting the clock in his kitchen.

Goodale hated the grandfather clock he had in his house as a child. Make no mistake however: he’s in love with this one.

“It is about that clock,” he said. “You have no idea how bad I’ve wanted one of those. Now that that one’s mine, I’m gonna love it. I don’t care how many times it chimes when my fat foot sets that thing off. I’m gonna enjoy it.”

Save for his first Tour win in front of family and friends at Riverhead Raceway back in 2014, Thursday night’s Martinsville win is the sweetest one yet.

“I love Martinsville,” Goodale said. “We’ve been so good here in the past, and we just had issues that prohibited us from having good finishes. It’s awesome, man. This is Martinsville. Just the aura of it. I’ve watched Cup races here.

“It’s all about the clock.”

RELATED: Eric Goodale Career Stats | Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 Results

Goodale finished 10th at Martinsville in his tour debut in 2008. He was seventh there in 2009, but dropped to 24th in 2010.

Goodale had his share of struggles in 2020, dropping from sixth in the standings in 2019 to 15th in 2020. The speed, however, has clearly returned to the No. 58 GAF Roofing Chevrolet. It started with three top-10s at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna back in February, and has carried over to the Whelen Modified Tour season.

“[2019] and ‘20, we just really struggled,” Goodale said. “We found out everything not to do. You gotta put it behind us and just think that you’re gonna show up and win the next race. We didn’t get the win down in Florida, but we felt good leaving there.”

Up next for the Tour in less than two weeks: the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway, the track where Goodale’s last win came back in 2017. Since 2016, he has six top fives in 14 races at the half-mile.

“I run well at Stafford,” Goodale said. “I love Stafford. It’s gonna be good to show up there with a head of steam.”

Podium Shots

Tyler Rypkema collected five top 10s in nine races last year, including a best finish of eighth at Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsyvlania, en route to Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.

The 24-year-old from Oswego, New York, established himself as a contender early at Martinsville. He was second fastest in practice, leading the charts until a late run by NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman knocked him off the top spot. After qualifying 10th, Rypkema ran with the leaders all night and brought the No. 32 Musco/Welcorp Chevrolet home with a runner-up finish.

“This is huge,” said Rypkema. “We’re just a family-run team. We all have day jobs. We all work our butts off to be able to come and do this, and to be come all the way down to a track that I’d always dreamed of racing at … and to pull off a second-place finish is just incredible.”

RELATED: Rypkema Starts is NASCAR Modified Season Strong

Justin Bosnignore, on the other hand, is used to running at the head of the pack. The third-place run by the No. 51 Coastal-Fiber Chevrolet was Bonsignore’s 16th straight top-five finish. But it wasn’t without its bumps.

A potential radiator leak after qualifying had the two-time tour champion standing outside his car while the rest of the field was lined up on pit road.

The leak was eventually diagnosed as nothing and he made the grid as it rolled off, but Bonsignore had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments. He took the lead from Ryan Preece on Lap 111, and again with just under 40 to go but couldn’t fend off Goodale in the end.

“We did a longer run early in practice and we knew we had good speed, with not a lot of fall-off, the car was great to drive,” Bonsignore said. “There were no new-car jitters today. We raced our way up through the field, and had some really good strategy again by Ryan Stone. We just missed it on adjustments during the final stop.

“Starting at the tail and working our way into the top-three is a really good day. If you can’t win, you have to go out and run in the top three. We were able to get the season off on the right foot.”

Bonsignore turns his attention to Stafford, where he has seven top fives and 13 top 10s in his last 14 races – including a pair of runner-up finishes — but has remarkably gone winless in 38 career starts.

Notes

  • Max McLaughlin jumped in the No. 77 Curb Records Chevrolet and finished fourth, matching his finish at Stafford last year in his first career tour start.
  • Tommy Catalano finished seventh, his second best tour finish in 39 starts.
  • After leading the first 110 laps, Mayhew Tools Pole Award winner Ryan Preece finished 12th.
  • Former tour champion Jamie Tomaino made his first start soince 2019 — and 624th overall — and finished 10th. The 64-year-old from New Jersey now has 249 career top 10s.
  • Former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour regular Bobby Measmer Jr. finished 14th. Measmer had one win and nine top fivesin 35 races from 2014-16 on the former southern tour.
  • Jeff Gallup was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Race contender in 15th, one spot ahead of rookie Jared Fryar.
Cars race during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 for the Whelen Modified Tour at Martinsville Raceway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 8, 2021. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Tommy Catalano runs ahead of Kyle Ebersole (5) and Woody Pitkat (1) during the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 for the Whelen Modified Tour at Martinsville Raceway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 8, 2021. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Posted on by

Last five races for Active Drivers prior to 2021 Race – Ordered by Average Finish

Driver Name
Races
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Points
Laps Led
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
Kyle Busch 5 2 3 5 219 431 11.4 3.2
Martin Truex Jr. 5 2 4 4 244 579 6.2 4.2
Kevin Harvick 5 0 3 5 213 119 3.0 5.0
Brad Keselowski 5 1 2 5 221 379 10.6 5.8
Joey Logano 5 0  3   3  207 189 12.8 6.8
Denny Hamlin 5 0 3 3 173 51 9.8 7.8
Chase Elliott 5 0  3   3  180 36 13.4 7.8
Austin Dillon 5 0  1   3  157 55 15.0 10.6
Tyler Reddick 1 0 0 0 26 0  22.0 11.0
Aric Almirola 5 0  1   2  149 1  15.8 13.8
Kurt Busch 5 0  0  0 148 113  6.0 14.2
Kyle Larson 4 0  0   3  95 0  9.2 14.6
Christopher Bell 1 0  0   0  22 0  26.0 15.0
Alex Bowman 5 0  0   1  119 1  12.0 15.8
Daniel Suarez 5 0  0   2  108 0  27.8 16.6
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 5 0  0   0  102 2  15.8 17.0
Ryan Newman 5 0  1    2   107 0  18.8 17.8
William Byron 5 0  0   0  108 0  14.2 18.0
Erik Jones 5 0  0  0 96 0  16.6 19.6
Cole Custer 2 0 0 0 23 0  11.5 20.0
Ryan Blaney 5 0 0 0 83 0  13.8 20.4
Matt DiBenedetto 5 0 0 0 84 0  20.4 21.0
Ryan Preece 3 0 0 0 41 0  20.3 23.3
Bubba Wallace 5 0 0 0 68 0  25.8 23.4
Chris Buescher 5 0 0 0 57 0  19.2 26.6
Michael McDowell 5 0 0 0 48 11  19.2 27.4
Corey LaJoie 4 0 0 0 34 0  28.8 28.5
Ross Chastain 4 0 0 0 0 0  30.0 31.8

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

The NASCAR Cup Series’ first stop of the season at Martinsville Speedway spanned two days — one start-and-stop night Saturday and a sun-splashed Sunday. Two near-constants atop the scoring pylon were Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos: Martinsville

The two traded the lead often, their car numbers of 11 and 12 swapping the first and second spots throughout, but late-race issues kept both drivers out of Victory Lane by the end of Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain 500. Their dominance was legend, as Hamlin and Blaney combined to lead 433 of the 500 laps, but Martin Truex Jr.’s resurgence as the race pushed into the evening hours prevailed, elevating him to the series’ first repeat winner of 2021. Hamlin wound up third with Blaney 11th.

Both seemed poised to break droughts at the tricky .526-mile Virginia track. Hamlin was set up for his sixth Martinsville triumph but first since 2015. Blaney made a convincing case for his first Martinsville win.

Hamlin was out front for 276 laps, benefiting from a No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that brimmed with short-run speed. But his car began to fade in the final 42-lap run to the finish, as Truex worked his way by to pace the last 16 laps and Chase Elliott capitalized to grab second place.

Hamlin emerged from Martinsville with his grip on the series’ points lead intact, but the zero in the win column also remains, offset by a series-best seven top-five finishes in eight races.

“It’s just been amazing the execution that our team has had over the first eight races. Short of a pit-road penalty I had on the last pit stop at Homestead, we finished top three every single week,” Hamlin said. “It’s hard to be disappointed with that. We’re executing phenomenal. We just haven’t had that dominant car that we’ve had a few times last year that we just beat up on everyone. We just haven’t had that car yet. We’ve just been next best.”

Blaney, who swept the stage wins and led 157 laps with a car best suited to long green-flag stints, had a more dramatic drop from the ranks of contenders. He pulled in for his final pit stop on Lap 454 in second place, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford crew had the air-gun hose stick hang up in the left-front fender well as he left. Compounding the issue was damage sustained on Martinsville’s close-quarters pit road with Elliott. The penalty for removing equipment from his pit stall knocked Blaney from fifth to 19th in the running order, and he was only able to rally to just outside the top 10 by the end.

“We had a really good Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang tonight. On the long runs we were really good. Denny was good on short runs,” Blaney said. “I was just kind of trying to hold off the guys behind me until we got 20 or so laps in and then I could kind of start creeping forward. But we just got that pit road penalty at the end. It’s just a mistake and something that should be avoided. We’ve had an issue the last three times we’ve been here with a car to win, so that’s frustrating but I’m real proud of the effort. I just wish we could close one out.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday’s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track.

The victory was Truex’s second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for the fifth time in his last 11-short track starts. 

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Martinsville

Truex finished 1.972 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott, who passed Hamlin for the second spot on Lap 495 of 500. Hamlin held third, 2.364 seconds behind, to post his seventh top-five finish (including four third-place results) in his eight starts this season.

“I can’t believe we won again here, after not having the dominant car today, for sure,” said Truex, who led for the first time when he beat Hamlin out of the pits on Lap 455 but surrendered the top spot to Hamlin’s short-run speed after a restart on Lap 459. “It was a lot of fun there at the end racing with Denny. 

“We raced clean, and we were able to come out on top. It’s definitely difficult. We try to race hard, race clean. He was making it difficult on me — I was loose coming off the corners. His car got tight, so we kind of had opposite things going on, and it made it difficult to pass. We played nice. (Team owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) will be happy. It’ll be a cordial meeting tomorrow.”

In a race that produced 15 cautions for 102 laps, the 42-lap green-flag run to the finish proved Hamlin’s undoing. The driver No. 11 Toyota didn’t have the long-run speed to hold off his teammate.

“It’s just the cards we were dealt,” said Hamlin, who led 276 laps. “We had a really good short-run car. We just didn’t have a good long-run car. We just couldn’t get our car to turn in the long run. That was the bugaboo of it, I guess you could say.

“We had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away.”

RELATED: Denny Hamlin reacts to coming up short at Martinsville 

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch completed the top 10. 

Ryan Blaney won the first and second stages and led 157 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford dragged an air hose out of the pit box on his final stop, earning a penalty that sent him to the back of the field for the Lap 459 restart. He fought back for an 11th-place finish.

“We’ve had an issue the last three times we’ve been here with a car to win, so that’s frustrating, but I’m real proud of the effort,” Blaney said. “I just wish we could close one out.”

RELATED: Pit-road penalty derails Ryan Blaney’s bid for a win

A 12-car pileup worthy of a “Big One” at Talladega Superspeedway thinned the field of potential winners and blocked the track as effectively as the forlorn container ship stopped traffic in the Suez Canal. Then melee started with side-to-side contact between the cars of Chris Buescher and Busch, collecting a dozen cars behind them — and setting the Chevrolets of Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece on fire.

The wreck, which stopped the race under a red flag that lasted 21 minutes, 47 seconds, was the coup de grace for two-time Martinsville winner Brad Keselowski, who had sustained damage in two earlier accidents.

“It’s just unfortunate that we got caught up in it,” Keselowski said. “The track was blocked.  I think I was just barely going to get stopped in time, and somebody clobbered me from behind and just tore us up. It’s a bummer. I think we were really good.  

“We drove up into the top five and lost the power-steering. I was able to manhandle it around the race track, but I couldn’t get down pit road where you go to turn in your pit box… Just one of those compounding, frustrating short-track days, but we had decent speed.”

MORE: Major wreck thins Martinsville field

The race was halted by rain after 42 laps Saturday night and resumed under caution at 4 p.m. ET Sunday.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is scheduled next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) at Richmond Raceway.

Note: Post-race inspection is complete in the NASCAR Cup Series garage with no issues and the race winner is confirmed to be Martin Truex Jr. Three cars had one lug nut found to be not safe and secure: the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Chase Briscoe and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, April 12
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Tuesday, April 13
1 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
3 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Martinsville (re-air), FS2
4 a.m., Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder (re-air), FS2
5 a.m., Beyond the Wheel (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Martinsville (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR Presents: Davey Lives On (re-air), FS2

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Thursday, April 15
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia Is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway (tape-delay), NBCSN
5:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder (re-air), FS1

Friday, April 16
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Saturday, April 17
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Auto Racing Classics: 2008 Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Richmond Raceway, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway, FS1

On MRN:
1 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway

Sunday, April 18
7 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS1
11 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Richmond, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Richmond, FS1
2:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCS at Richmond Raceway, FOX
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, FOX (Canada: TSN1, TSN5)

On MRN:
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway

Posted on by Zack Albert

Short-track racing and short fuses boiled over post-race as Joe Graf Jr. and Gray Gaulding — a pair of former teammates — tussled after Sunday’s completion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The altercation stemmed from an on-track incident in the final stage, sparked by a Gaulding nudge to Graf’s back bumper. That contact sent Graf’s No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet spinning and into the No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevy of Blaine Perkins. Gaulding drove his Means Motorsports No. 52 Chevrolet to a 21st-place finish in the Cook Out 250, and Perkins took 35th with Graf 38th.

WATCH: Gray Gaulding, Joe Graf Jr., Blaine Perkins tangle

Graf told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race he walked over to discuss the incident with Gaulding in the garage. Graf said a remark from Gaulding escalated their confrontation and he had thrown multiple punches before they wound up wrestling on the ground.

NASCAR officials separated the two. Both drivers indicated they had gone to the officials’ hauler to discuss the incident. Afterward, both drivers further explained their cases on SiriusXM’s “Dialed In” program before Sunday’s resumption of the rain-delayed Cup Series race (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“There, with about 75 laps to go, though, Gray just wrecked us and the 23, drove us off into the corner and just flat-out wrecked us and ended our day,” Graf said. “I went to have words with him after the race and he mouthed off to me and there were some punches thrown. I landed a couple.

“I think the garage is just loaded with drivers who pretend they’re tough. Like, they’re going to find out how tough they are if they race me like that and then run their mouth at me. Just ask Gray how he’s doing now. I’m sure he’s needing some ice packs.”

Gaulding said that his on-track actions were intentional, and his only apology was to the Bobby Dotter-owned SS Green Light team that he drove for full-time in 2019 and part-time as a teammate with Graf for five races last season. His issue with Graf stemmed from contact between the two earlier in the race.

“I 100 percent wrecked him on purpose because I’m tired of dealing with his nonsense. The reason why I stand by that is because earlier in the race, about 30 laps in, I was just running on the outside (line), there’s nowhere to go, and I just get body-slammed, and it was the 07. And then when he was going by me, he door-slammed me. So I told my spotter, I said when I get back to the 07, he’s done, and I stood by that. I’m not going to stand by here and sugar-coat it, I 100 percent wrecked him and I don’t regret one thing I did.

“I’d do it all over again because the way that guy races, it’s actually comical watching him drive because his equipment is very good. I drove that equipment, and I think there’s a lot of jealousy there. I personally think so because he hasn’t sniffed the results that I had with Bobby Dotter and SS Green Light Racing since he’s been there. I think it’s kind of funny that he’s got that chip on his shoulder with me and you can tell with the way he races on the race track.”

As for their conversation, Gaulding recounted how it escalated from words to a physical confrontation.

“I was just walking back to the hauler and he starts cussing me out and just … I literally started laughing. I think that’s what made him upset,” Gaulding said. “I was laughing because he’s very awkward, and I didn’t know if he was serious or not, so when we were done talking, he started swinging. …

“The poor kid has got a lot to learn, and when you drive the way he’s currently driving, he’s going to get wrecked, and I’m very, very happy that I was the one to wreck him today.”

As for Graf, he said that the two drivers did not reach a resolution in their brief talk before their scuffle. The series resumes April 24 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“There was no understanding. He tried to blame me,” Graf said. “Just a major lack of respect, and I won’t have it. I won’t be raced like that and I won’t be disrespected like that.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Josh Berry’s first career NASCAR national series victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in the Xfinity Series’ Cook Out 250 was a popular one both in the stands and in the garage at the .526-mile short track.

A longtime short-track phenom in late models, the 30-year-old Berry had the second- and third-place finishers in Sunday’s 250-lapper singing his praises in their post-race Zoom interviews — a rarity in a sport with one winner and 30-some-odd losers.

RELATED: Official results | Berry wins first at Martinsville

“I really look up to him. He’s kind of like a big brother,” said teammate Noah Gragson, who placed second and earned Sunday’s $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize. “He’s a short-track legend, and it’s really humbling just to say that I was able to race on the same track as him. That being said, if there’s one guy I want to run second to, it’s him. He’s the short-track king. One of the best ever.”

The 22-year-old Las Vegas native and Berry have only been Xfinity Series teammates for the past two months but became fast friends. After last month’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — where they each finished in the top seven — the pair hung around Sin City, spending time together with brief stints at the Blackjack table (they’re both awful gamblers, according to Gragson) before honing their craft at the nearby Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in Pahrump, Nevada.

“Really thankful to get to know him; we’ve worked really hard together off the track, working out with Josh Wise and Scott Speed and preparing each and every weekend,” Gragson said. “Just very thankful for the opportunity to be on the same track as him and the way our friendship has grown. Really happy for him.”

Third-place finisher Daniel Hemric — whose friendship with Gragson is also growing; more on that in a moment — knows the path Berry has taken to prominence, as a driver who himself cut his teeth at the short-track, late-model level scrapping for opportunities.

Seeing Berry take the No. 8 car (which Hemric piloted a year ago) to Victory Lane for the first time since Dale Earnhardt Jr. did it in 2006 didn’t appear to instill any hostility in Hemric, despite Berry needing just a handful of starts to accomplish something he has yet to do in 94 races.

“Extremely happy for Josh and his family. It’s an honor to be on the race track with a guy like that and I know a lot of people would say the same thing,” said Hemric, now runner-up in points in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. ” … Have a ton of respect for him and his way he goes about his own duties at the race track. It’s cool to see a guy like that put the effort in and he has and having himself be rewarded. Just having the ride is one thing but then taking the opportunity to do what he did with it today is pretty cool.”

As for Gragson and Hemric, the former teammates talked things over and came to an understanding before this weekend after they came to blows on pit road after the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month. As the laps wound down at “The Paperclip” and the Nos. 9 and 18 ran neck and neck, the question arose around what might happen if contact was made.

RELATED: Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric mix it up in Atlanta fight

The race finished clean, however, and the pair expounded on the current state of their relationship in their interviews, with Hemric explaining he “didn’t have a thought of racing (Gragson) hard or any less hard,” in the interest of putting things aside for the long season ahead for the championship contenders.

Gragson went further and explained the rationale behind how sparks flew in the first place.

“We’re all very emotional in the race car and we kind of step over the line sometimes. … There’s no hard feelings toward any of these competitors. I have a lot of respect for Daniel Hemric and we were teammates last year. It’s not like we hate each other,” Gragson said. “It’s just tempers are high, emotions are high, pressure’s on. Reactions are going to be made in situations like that.

“I think talking to him and telling him my side of the story and what’s going through my head, I definitely don’t think that hurts. At the end of the day, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a person.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Josh Berry had to wait nearly two days for the Sunday conclusion of the Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway, but it was a worthwhile delay for the late model ace.

Driving for JR Motorsports car owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Berry took the lead from Ty Gibbs on Lap 223 of 250 and held it the rest of the way to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in his 13th start.

In a race that was halted by rain after 91 laps on Friday night and restarted at noon on Sunday, Berry beat JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson to the finish line by .590 seconds. Both Gragson and Daniel Hemric passed Gibbs during the closing run to finish second and third, respectively.

RELATED: Race results | Dash 4 Cash hub page

For Gragson, that meant an extra payday of $100,000 as the highest finisher among four eligible Xfinity Dash 4 Cash drivers.

But the day belonged to Berry, who led a race-high 95 laps, 10 before the rain arrived on Friday and 85 on Sunday. Berry is the first driver to win an Xfinity race in the No. 8 car since Earnhardt Jr. prevailed in 2006 at Michigan.

“Oh, gosh, I have so many people I could thank I could be here until tomorrow morning,” Berry said after climbing from his car on the frontstretch at the .526-mile short track. “Just Dale, L.W. (Miller), Kelley, everybody for believing in me, everyone on this No. 8 team.

“Man, they’ve been through a lot the last couple of years. Had a ton of different drivers. Man, I wanted to win so bad for these guys. They’re such a great group. I knew this would be a good opportunity to win. (Crew chief) Taylor (Moyer) called a perfect race. The car was good, and we just kept tweaking on it. The tires were pretty worn out there at the end. I was struggling a little bit with wheel-hop. … This is just unbelievable.”

RELATED: Josh Berry reacts to win in Victory Lane

Gragson had good reason to feel mixed emotions about finishing second to a driver he called “a legend in short-track racing.” The driver of the No. 9 JRM Chevrolet had to play defense during the final run to keep Hemric behind him.

“I really wanted to win there,” Gragson said, “but I was having to protect the bottom to keep the guys behind me from moving me out of the way. I couldn’t open up my arc the way I needed to and make speed with that.”

The Dash 4 Cash bonus was a welcome consolation.

“One hundred thousand dollars richer,” Gragson said, displaying the big check. “I’m pumped up. Great 1-2 finish for our team at JR Motorsports.”

RELATED: Noah Gragson congratulates Berry, talks Dash 4 Cash

Gibbs held the fourth spot, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones, who had just taken the lead from Berry when storms stopped the action on Friday night.

Series leader and defending champion Austin Cindric ran sixth, with Harrison Burton, Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett completing the top 10. All four JR Motorsports drivers finished in the top 10 (Berry, Gragson, Allgaier and Annett).

Though he’s not driving in the series full-time, Berry also earned eligibility for the Dash 4 Cash bonus in the April 24 Xfinity race at Talladega (4 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM), along with Gragson, Hemric and Jones.

MORE: Joe Graf Jr., Gray Gaulding fight after Xfinity race

Notes: The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Jones was found to have one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection. The No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Blaine Perkins was assessed a penalty for loss/separation of improperly installed rear axle (Section 12.5.2.7.4e) as the car lost an axle during the race. Crew chief Brian Graham has been suspended for the next Xfinity race — April 24 at Talladega.

Posted on by Staff Report

Rain has washed out the balance of Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, forcing a same-day doubleheader Sunday at the Virginia short track.

The resumption of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 has been rescheduled to 4 p.m. ET Sunday with live coverage on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. That will follow the remainder of Friday night’s rain-plagued Xfinity Series race, which is set to resume Sunday at noon ET on the same broadcast networks.

RELATED: Leaderboard | Key story lines

Five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin is scored as the leader of the Cup Series race, with 42 of a scheduled 500 laps complete. The event was set to take the green flag at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night, but on-and-off rain hindered track-drying efforts and pushed the start to 9:25 p.m. ET.

During the first caution period for James Davison’s Turn 4 crash, the return of wet weather — forecast to continue until the early hours of Sunday morning — forced officials to call for postponement.

“NASCAR cannot catch a break,” Hamlin told FOX Sports during the red flag. “I mean, gosh, this is crazy how many rain delays and whatnot we’ve had, but appreciate them sticking it out and at least let us try to get some laps in there, and now we’ve got some information and we’ll go from there.”

This is the eighth points-paying event of the 2021 season, and the Cup Series has seen seven different winners in as many races to open the campaign. Stage 1 of the race is set to finish on Lap 130. Stage 2 will end on Lap 260 and the scheduled end will be at Lap 500.

MORE: Suarez’s crew chief ejected

Hamlin led 38 laps in the early going. Pole-starter Joey Logano, shown in second place at the red flag, has led the other four laps thus far.

Rain also halted Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Cook Out 250 after just 91 of its scheduled 250 laps. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones is scored as the leader.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR ejected crew chief Travis Mack for the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team before Saturday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. During pre-race technical inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage, the No. 99 Chevrolet was found with added ballast outside of the approved container (a violation of section 20.17.2.1.b in the NASCAR Rule Book).

Daniel Suarez was set to start 11th in the race, but now he will drop to the rear during pace laps. The penalty also includes a loss of 10 NASCAR Cup Series championship driver points and owner points.

RELATED: Updated Martinsville schedule

According to multiple reports, Trackhouse’s race engineer Jose Blasco-Figueroa will take over the crew-chief duties for the race, the eighth points-paying event in the 2021 season. Blasco-Figueroa filled in at crew chief earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Mack was suspended for the car having two loose lug nuts at Phoenix Raceway.

Suarez finished 17th at Atlanta with Blasco-Figueroa as the crew chief. With Mack back at the helm, Suarez recorded a season-best finish of fourth place two weeks ago on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt. Suarez currently sits 20th in the driver standings, 28 points below the playoff cutline.

Tyler Reddick will also start at the rear for unapproved adjustments. The driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was slated to line up 13th.

The Nos. 7 (Corey LaJoie, starting 34th), 15 (James Davison, starting 37th) and 77 (Justin Haley, starting 30th) Cup cars had multiple inspection failures before Saturday’s race and will also drop to the rear.