Posted on by Staff Report

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Preece already has one grandfather clock from Martinsville Speedway. He’s in a prime spot to get another.

The NASCAR Cup Series driver earned the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in Thursday’s Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 qualifying at the flat half-mile in record time. Preece qualified for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener in the No. 6 Riverhead Raceway Chevrolet in 18.607 seconds (101.768 mph).

He broke the track mark set by Greg Sacks in 1986 of 101.014. Preece won the 2008 tour race at Martinsville. It’s the 17th career pole for Preece, the 2013 tour champion.

RELATED: Ryan Preece Career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour stats

Fellow NASCAR Cup driver Ryan Newman, who was fastest in the afternoon practice, qualified second at 18.676 (101.392). Tour regular Eric Goodale was third quick at 18.755 (100.965).

Tommy Catalano qualified fourth and Woody Pitkat fifth.

RELATED: Complete qualifying results

Kyle Ebersole, defending tour champion Justin Bonsignore, Jon McKennedy, Patrick Emerling and Tyler Rypkema rounded out the top 10.

The Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 will go green at 8 p.m. ET on TrackPass on NBC Gold and MRN Radio.

Posted on by Staff Report

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Newman hasn’t won a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race since 2011. And the tour hasn’t been to Martinsville Speedway since 2010.

The return of the tour to the historic flat half-mile may suit the NASCAR Cup Series star. Newman piloted the No. 53 Curb Records Chevrolet to the top of the charts Thursday in the one and half hour practice session.

RELATED: Practice Results

Newman’s time of 18.698 came late in the session and he was the only driver to break the 19-second mark.

Tyler Rypkema was second fastest at 19.573 seconds, followed by Kyle Ebersole at 18.876. JB Fortin and Ronnie Williams were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Patrick Emerling, Justin Bonsignore, Eric Goodale, Ryan Preece and Craig Lutz completed the top 10.

Newman won four of his first eight NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts at Bristol Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway between 2008-11. Since, his best finish is a runner-up at New Hampshire in 2013 and a third third two years ago.

RELATED: Ryan Newman’s Whelen Modified Tour Stats

Qualifying is at 6 p.m. ET, with the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 at 8 p.m. The race will stream live on TrackPass on NBC Gold and air on MRN Radio.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Ward, Jeff and Harrison Burton all have NASCAR Xfinity Series victories at Martinsville Speedway. This weekend, Jeb Burton looks to do continue the family tradition.

Martinsville holds a special spot in the hearts of the Burton family, who hail from the South Boston area. Jeff won what was then the Busch Grand National Series race at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped short track in 1990 driving the No. 12 Buick for team owner Sam Ard. Ward earned his victory in 1993, leading 227 of the 300 laps in the No. 2. Jeff recorded a total of 27 race victories during his time in the series, while Ward drove into Victory Lane on four occasions.

Then fast forward to last year when the Xfinity Series made its first stop to Martinsville since 2006 when Kevin Harvick triumphed. It was Jeff’s son, Harrison, who took home the grandfather clock in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Jeb finished fourth during his part-time effort in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Jeb feels even more confident this time around.

RELATED: Martinsville weekend schedule

“I know I can do it and I know my team can do it,” Jeb said. “That’s my best track so that would be pretty awesome. Harrison definitely had a really good car last time. I didn’t have anything for him that last race. I think that would be pretty special if we could get that done. Four different family members to do that, I don’t think anybody would ever do that again.”

While Jeb wasn’t even a year old when his father won Martinsville, his most special moment at the track came in 2013 when he earned the pole and finished third, noting it was a really emotional day for the father-son duo.

MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 30: Jeb Burton, driver of the #23 Rocky Ridge/Estes Toyota, and his father Ward Burton stand on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2015 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images)
Jeb Burton and his father Ward Burton stand on the grid during Cup Series qualifying at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2015. Credit: Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images

Jeb looks to make more Martinsville family memories in the Cook Out 250 (resuming Sunday at noon ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.) The Halifax, Virginia native is in his first full-time season driving the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, currently sitting sixth in the drivers’ standings with three top-five and five top-10 results in six races.

If you need a seal of approval that Jeb is setting himself up for long-term success, look no further than his teammate AJ Allmendinger, who raced with Ward in the Cup Series for a period of time.

“He’s (Jeb) very passionate,” Allmendinger said. “I’ve followed his career over the duration of me being in NASCAR. … He’s an easy guy to get along with, that’s the biggest thing that stands out to me.

“It’s hard to fit into a race team when you’re the new guy. I’ve been there off and on for obviously three years. Justin (Haley) has been there for three years. …When there’s no practice for the most part and you don’t have any testing, it’s a challenge to get up to speed right away and he hasn’t been full time in a while. I think he’s doing a fantastic job.”

As he continues to jell with a new team heading into Martinsville, Jeb feels that it would almost be a disappointment if he doesn’t win given how he’s in a more secure position than sharing a part-time ride a year prior. Now he looks to reverse the roles and beat his cousin to make history.

“The last time I went there I knew I had a job for next year,” Jeb said. “We’d hadn’t announced our deal yet, but I knew I had this opportunity, so that helped me a lot there. Now, if something happens, we can go get ‘em next week. Where before, if something happens, I have to wait for two months to drive again. That was the biggest thing.

“It just relieves a lot of the stress, but the pressure is still there. I want to perform for me, my family and all my partners. I’m doing everything I can on and off the track to be better.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

When will it end?

The first seven races of the NASCAR Cup Series season have produced seven different winners, and there’s a good chance that streak will survive Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (4 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Martinsville schedule | Joey Logano on pole

Only twice before in NASCAR’s Modern Era (1972-Present) has a streak of different winners to start a season reached as many as eight—in 2000 and 2003. In the latter year, the string reached nine before Kurt Busch ended it with his second victory of the season at Auto Club Speedway.

The 2000 season produced a record 10 different winners before Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke the streak by winning for the second time that year at Richmond.

On the surface, the numbers would seem to favor an eighth different winner in the 145th Cup event at the .526 mile track, whose races in NASCAR’s top division date to 1949, when Red Byron triumphed in the inaugural event there.

After all, seven of the 10 active short-track winners in the Cup Series have yet to take a checkered flag this season, a group that includes Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Chase Elliott.

The first five drivers on that list also are the top five active drivers in career short-track wins, led by Kyle Busch with 16. Denny Hamlin, a seven-time winner last year, has five victories at Martinsville, but he hasn’t claimed a grandfather clock trophy since 2015.

Elliott, the reigning series champion, has only one short-track win on his resume, but he’s the most recent victor at Martinsville, where he won last fall to advance to the Championship 4 race at Phoenix.

Keselowski won the spring races at Martinsville in 2017 and 2019, and he’s optimistic as the schedule turns to back-to-back races at two of his favorite tracks—Martinsville and Richmond.

“I’m pumped,” Keselowski said. “When we got out of Bristol, I left with a smile on my face, knowing that we had Martinsville, we had Richmond — those are two of my best race tracks. At Martinsville, we’ve been just so solid the last few times, and then Richmond was kind of a dominant race for us last fall.”

When it comes to snapping the streak of different winners, the most likely candidate is Martin Truex Jr., who triumphed in the fifth race of the season at Phoenix. In the fall of 2019, Truex got a breakthrough victory at Martinsville and backed that up with a win in last year’s June race.

“Martinsville has become one of our better tracks,” Truex said. “I just feel like, working with the same group for so long, we’ve hit on something the past few years and been able to keep fine-tuning that and put ourselves in position to run up front.

ODDS: Martin Truex Jr. the favorite for Martinsville

“We have a lot of confidence going into this weekend that we can put ourselves in contention again, if we can avoid mistakes and stay out of trouble.”

Posted on by Marcus DiNitto

The NASCAR circuit heads to Martinsville this weekend for the first of two consecutive stops in Virginia, marking a soft launch of WynnBET’s sponsorship that is closely tied to the state. WynnBET, a subsidiary of the posh Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts, has partnerships with both Virginia tracks – Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway.

WynnBET’s foray into auto racing looks to be only positive for fans and bettors, and to be clear, you do not need to be a resident of Virginia to place a legal bet in the state; you just need to be in the state, so if you’re headed to Martinsville or Richmond from out of state, downloading a betting app, making a deposit and placing a few wagers should be a snap.

RELATED: Explore BetCenter | Odds for Martinsville race

WynnBET’s NASCAR deal includes access to live data feeds that allow the sportsbook to post in-race odds that change as the race progresses. We’ve touched several times in this space on in-race betting, or live betting, which offers bettors the opportunity to get involved after the green flag drops. It’s a fun way to wager, and it favors astute race observers able to analyze what they’ve been witnessing to find an edge in the betting markets. Expect in-race betting options to expand as we move forward, particularly with deals such as WynnBET’s.

Another aspect of the deal of interest to race fans – WynnBET lounges are planned for both Virginia tracks. Such sportsbook-themed lounges are becoming popular across the entire sports landscape, as most states’ regulations do not allow actual sportsbooks within sports facilities (Illinois and the District of Columbia are exceptions). To recreate an experience similar to what one would find at a sportsbook, venues and their sponsors are constructing lounges with oddsboards, big screens and bars. 

In Virginia, in fact, there are not yet any brick-and-mortar establishments at which to make a bet – mobile sports betting is your only option. The state’s regulations allow for a maximum of 12 sports betting apps, and six are now live and ready for your action. In addition to WynnBET, BetMGM – an official NASCAR partner – is up and running. Barstool Sportsbook expects to launch in Virginia in the coming months.

As is always our recommendation, bettors should shop around various sportsbooks to find the best odds, best experience and best sign-up bonuses, which they nearly all offer. Be careful with these sign-up bonuses, however. Yes, they can be used to a bettor’s advantage, but there’s always fine print to be mindful of. WynnBET is offering a $500 “risk-free bet” when you sign up, and SportsHandle does a nice job of summarizing how this works.

Odds at WynnBET

As of Thursday, numerous betting markets are posted on WynnBET’s Virginia app – race winner, team of race winner, drivers to finish in the top four, top five and top 10, top finisher among groups of six, top Chevy driver, top Ford driver, and the last digit of the winning car. The offerings in Virginia are more robust than what WynnBET has posted in other states.

Picking the race winner is extraordinarily difficult, exemplified through the early stretch of this season with seven different drivers winning the first seven races.  If you can nail it, though, you’ll be rewarded with a nice payday.

While Martin Truex Jr., winner of two of the three most recent Cup races in Martinsville, is the betting favorite heading into the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, priced at +500 (bet $100 to win $500) at WynnBET, he is one of six drivers priced at odds of less than 10/1, an indication we’re in for another wide-open affair.

Truex is followed on the oddsboard by Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, both listed at +600. Keselowski has two Martinsville victories on his resume, and Elliott won here in November.

Next up is Ryan Blaney at +700 and then it’s Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano at +750.

With the race favorite plus Hamlin, who was once dominant at Martinsville, and 12/1 Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing has the shortest price in the winning team market, offered at +170 at WynnBET. 

Team Penske, which boasts three drivers near the top of the oddsboard, looks to be the better value at +215. Hendrick Motorsports is +300.

Download the WynnBET app and check out all the odds here, and scroll through BetMGM’s opening outright prices here. 

Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on by Team Release

David Gilliland Racing driver Taylor Gray underwent surgery earlier today at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. for a fractured L4 vertebra. Gray will also undergo another surgery in the coming days for a fractured left foot and ankle due to the accident. Gray is expected to make a full recovery.

Gray will not make his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in the No. 17 entry at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on April 17 as previously scheduled. The No. 17 has been withdrawn from the Richmond event.

MORE: Camping World Truck Series news

Posted on by Staff Report

After a week off from racing, the NASCAR Cup Series is rested, rejuvenated and ready to take on “The Paperclip” under the lights in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (resumes on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Want the inside scoop? Here’s what you need to know ahead of the race.

STARTING LINEUP
Bristol winner Joey Logano starts his Team Penske Ford right where he left off, securing the Busch Pole Award for the Saturday night showdown. Joining Logano on the front row is points leader Denny Hamlin, followed by William Byron and Ryan Blaney — both winners already this season — in row two. Chase Elliott, the most recent Martinsville winner, rounds out the top five. Check out the full starting lineup.

RELATED: Pit stall picks | Paint schemes

BETTING ODDS, ONES TO WATCH
Martin Truex Jr. leads this weekend’s NASCAR betting odds after dominating two of the last three races at the southern Virginia track. Truex opens at 11-2 with Hamlin hot on his heels at 23-4, followed by Elliott (6-1), Brad Keselowski (6-1) and Logan0 (7-1), who each have track wins under their belt.

Though winless here, Ryan Blaney (8-1) and Matt DiBenedetto (66-1) present great value alongside the weekend favorites. Two-time winner Kurt Busch (30-1) might have a say, as well.

Blaney finished runner-up in both 2020 Martinsville races, while both of DiBenedetto’s two career top 10s at the track have come in the last two trips and the elder Busch has three consecutive finishes of ninth or better.

Should you side with the sleepers? See the full list of BetMGM Martinsville odds.

TICKETS AND TRAVEL PACKAGES
General admission tickets for Saturday’s Blue-Emu 500 at Martinsville have sold out. However, travel packages and tickets for the fall race may still be available. For more information, visit the Martinsville event site.

SHORT TRACK SETUP
The NASCAR rules package for short tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to set a target of 750 horsepower. The cars will use a reduced downforce package with a shorter spoiler, a shorter splitter overhang and other aerodynamic changes.

GOODYEAR TIRES
Back to the radials we go, with each team getting nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Short Track Radials for the 263-mile race on the 0.526-mile oval.

Drivers will be tasked with tire management on a mixed surface of asphalt straightaways and concrete corners. For the relatively flat track, recommended inflation is 10 psi for the left side tires, 23 psi for the right front and 22 psi for the right rear.

TRACK FACTS, RECENT TRENDS
— Martinsville Speedway is the only track to host a race in every season of NASCAR’s existence and is the only remaining active “Charter Track” on the current schedule.

— Saturday’s Cup Series race is the 145th race at Martinsville but just the second season that it will be a scheduled night race.

— The last five short track races were won by five different drivers, most recently Chase Elliott during the 2020 Cup Series Playoffs.

— After going winless in his first 80 premier series starts, Martin Truex Jr. has won four of the last 10 short track races.

— There have only been 12 first-time winners at Martinsville and the last was Ricky Craven in October 2001.

Source: Racing Insights

RELATED: How tight is pit road at Martinsville? | Logano, Truex detail thrilling ’18 finish

FANTASY

Another week means another chance to beat the competition and show off your NASCAR instincts. Take control of your very own team each week with NASCAR Fantasy Live — it’s free to play! Learn everything you need to know at fantasygames.nascar.com.­

The 2021 fantasy points leaders are Denny Hamlin (327), Joey Logano (262) and Martin Truex Jr. (247).

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.

New for this season, 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 by Staff Report

Tyler Reddick took his turn behind the wheel of the Next Gen car during a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Darlington Raceway.

Reddick, who drives the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, is in his second season in the NASCAR Cup Series but this marked his first time driving the Next Gen car.

PHOTOS: Scenes from the Next Gen test at Darlington

“I heard how much different this car was, and I wanted to see it for myself,” Reddick said. “Darlington is one of the top 3-4 most challenging tracks we get around. It might be the most difficult. This track in turns 1-2 is different than 3-4. I really wanted to get to drive this car and see what this thing’s like at a track that I’m comfortable at. I have a good understanding of this track, and what it takes to get rubbered in and what direction to go to hopefully find us the best tire.”

The Next Gen car features 18-inch wheels as opposed to the 15-inch wheels that are currently used in the Cup Series. The workhorse P3 prototype was used for the test at Darlington.

Given Reddick’s propensity to run the high line at high-wear tracks, it’s worth asking if he had gotten the first Next Gen Darlington Stripe. Day 1 went without incident, but Reddick’s final run of the day Wednesday ended with slight right-side damage.

“Well, the Lady in Black bit me,” Reddick said on Twitter, recounting details of his 360-degree spin and contact with the retaining wall. “It’s definitely a lot harder to hold onto these cars than what I was used to in the sixth-gen.”

NASCAR Managing Director of Vehicle Systems, R&D, Brandon Thomas, says Tuesday that the goal is to leave the test with Goodyear having enough information to be able to make a decision on the tire for next year’s events with the Next Gen car on track.

“There’s a reverence for the track that is Darlington,” Thomas said. “So when you take a brand-new car, and you bring it to a track with this much history, you want to make sure the car respects the track. Reddick got out one time and was like, ‘This still drives like Darlington.’ And that to me is important.

“We want the car to come here and still slide around, still have to play with the throttle, still have to play the track, and that’s exactly what Reddick said it did.”

This week’s test marks the first appearance at the historic South Carolina track for the Next Gen model, which is scheduled for its official competition debut in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series. Manufacturer-specific Next Gen cars also tested last week at Martinsville Speedway, gathering data with wheel-force transducers.

Also on Wednesday, NASCAR officials announced that the three automakers’ Next Gen entries for 2022 will get their full unveiling in Charlotte on May 5.

Posted on by Staff Report

As the Next Gen car inches toward its 2022 competition debut in the NASCAR Cup Series, a full look at the models from each of the sport’s three manufacturers is also closing in.

The three Next Gen entries will be unveiled May 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The automakers’ three models took their first turns on the track last week at Martinsville Speedway, but in a closed test and with busy, camouflaged paint schemes to disguise their appearance. In addition to the new race car bodies, specs and elements of the new car also will be announced.

RELATED: Next Gen scenes at Darlington

It’s the next phase in the car’s timeline, moving past the development phase and into tire testing and eventually organizational tests. Wednesday’s announcement dovetailed with Tyler Reddick’s track time in the P3 prototype this week at Darlington Raceway, working with Goodyear officials to determine tire combinations.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Nearly two weeks after their post-race fisticuffs at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Noah Gragson would still like to discuss the incident with Daniel Hemric.

To refresh your memory, the two drivers tangled during a late-race pit stop in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 1.54-mile Georgia track. Hemric overshot his pit stall, which slowed up Gragson’s entry into his respective stall just ahead. Gragson showed Hemric a middle-finger gesture, then entered his stall at an awkward angle, which forced him to back up to get in a better position. Gragson then backed up the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet into Hemric’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota while Hemric’s car was being serviced.

Hemric confronted Gragson on pit road after the race, which led to punches thrown by both parties.

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

Hemric felt Gragson’s move was intentional, but NASCAR officials determined no penalty would be handed down to Gragson as a result of the incident.

“Oh yeah, crammed it into reverse and backed up,” Hemric said at the time. “Punched a hole in the nose of our car. Punched a hole in our car and I got one punched in his eye. We’re even.”

Although Hemric thinks they’re square, it’s Gragson who still wants to have a conversation before the series heads to Martinsville Speedway for Friday night’s Cook Out 250 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Gragson also explained why he wanted to wait until this week to pick up the phone.

“I’m going to call him in the next day or two,” Gragson said on Wednesday. “For me right now, I took a little bit of a break for Easter. I kind of wanted to reset my mind. I didn’t want to jump into anything too premature. I wanted emotions in check. I wanted to kind of give it a few days or a week to cool off. Emotions are high, tempers are high right after the fact.”

RELATED: Exclusive angle of Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric fight

Gragson and Hemric are fairly familiar with each other after being teammates at JR Motorsports in 2020 before Hemric moved to a full-time ride at Joe Gibbs Racing. Although a relationship between the two drivers may never be the same, Gragson has no hard feelings toward Hemric after exchanging jabs.

“With that being said, I think Daniel is a good guy. “… We’ve been to lunch together. I’ve seen him around at dinner and whatnot. I have no hard feelings toward Daniel or anyone else in the Xfinity garage. But at the same time, I need to keep a job and I need to race as hard as I can.”