Martinsville Speedway – Page 2

Mazdas Buzz Martinsville

August 22, 2023August 22, 2023 Missed Gear

It’s just a few days from IMSA weekend at Virginia International Raceway and, somehow, Martinsville Speedway grabs some of the attention!

Consider, for a moment, a bunch of tuned Mazda MX-5 Cup race cars taking a couple of days to run hot laps around the historic oval. Yes… That is exactly what they did.

Racing history is combined as cars commonly running on the twisted track of VIR take laps around Martinsville. This merges names like Carroll Shelby and Paul Newman with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Speaking of, by the way… Dale Earnhardt, Jr and Bobby Labonte were on hand from NASCAR history to lend a lap or two in the Mazda Motorsport testing. Speedway President Clay Campbell also climbed in and put his driving to the test with the Mazda crew.

MX-5 Cup series drivers were on hand for Monday to dial the cars in. Campbell and the NASCAR guys came in Tuesday to throw their Martinsville racing experience behind the wheel.

The stage is early but all of this opened the door for the possibility of the MX-5 Cup series actually racing at Martinsville Speedway. Logistics are many but the test made a mark on all involved.

Dale Jr referenced the advancement of iRacing and how that virtual platform raises the bar. He said you can put any car on any track and the technology is such that the simulation is eye-opening. The difference on track from a NASCAR Cup car or Late Model is in the turns, he referenced. The Mazda is as fast in the turns but the entry and exit is different on the shifting. The Cup cars have the straights but these are close in the corners.

We’ve seen Bobby Labonte in the SMART Mods and SRX this year and now in Mazdas at Martinsville. He was just straight up having fun in the MX-5 dropping the power of SRX or a Modified for the low ride and easy handling convertible. His experience in multiple series aided his input on the testing.

Clay Campbell noted the speed of the Mazda through the turn. These are lighter so the brakes don’t play the major role like they do in a Cup or Late Model car. He said you stand on the brakes in those Cup cars and these it’s more in the downshift and easy entry in the turns. The low driving position also puts your perspective of the speed right on the edge.

The series drivers on their way to VIR this weekend said the tuning was not as much as they thought for the oval. There will be some camber and steering adjustments to get them back to turning right as easy as left but the mechanics of the MX-5 are the same.

Who knows for sure when, or if, the MX-5 Cup will race at Martinsville. This testing, however, showed that if they do it is going to be a fun watch. The size of the car would allow for some lanes of racing that larger, more powerful cars can not run in a race setting. The sound of these and the quick handling nature could be a race fan experience for sure.

*There were, unfortunately, no famous hot dogs available for the Mazda MX-5 crews to test.
**Ross Chastain was either unavailable or not invited to this test.

PHOTOS from Mazda MX-5 Cup testing at Martinsville Speedway (August 21-22/2023)

Race Day Showcase

Preece Earned It But Larson Took It At Martinsville

April 17, 2023April 18, 2023 Missed Gear

Speeding. Maybe a bit of misunderstanding on where the lines are but at the end of the day… Speeding. That is essentially what pulled the plug on Ryan Preece at Martinsvlle Speedway.

There was a possibility of rain on NOCO 400 Sunday. The weather had already played a role in Friday racing with the Craftsman Series as delays eventually led to a rain shortened Long John Silver’s 200.

The Xfinity Series, Call811.com Before You Dig 250, went off with mostly clear skies on Saturday. It was also Saturday that set Ryan Preece on a race leading start. Preece had won the Busch Light Pole Award. That may have been a blessing and a curse. It gave him pit choice but that also contributed to his race day mistake.

Ryan started up front and stayed there for the stage 1 win. Stage 2 started well enough as Preece still pulled the train. A touch and spin with Eric Jones and Harrison Burton put the caution on and opened the pits. This stop put the brakes on hard for the #41. He had the last spot on pit road and his exit for position led to the speeding penalty. The exit and speed points caught him as he jumped the gun on those points.

The Haas #41 Ford was fast up front in clean air but back in the pack at Martinsville it was tough going for moving forward. He ultimately finished 15th. A good start and show for the Preece team and, perhaps, a big lesson learned.

The setting now had another Stewart-Haas driver, veteran Kevin Harvick, in position to run for the stage 2 win. Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin were also in the mix but it was Harvick at the 2nd green/white flag.

The final stage was led out by Stewart-Haas as Harvick and Briscoe shared the front row. Denny Hamlin charged into it with 140 or so to go and managed to get by both of them to have his turn out front.

The charge for Hamlin was short lived as competition and incident cautions shook the field to allow Kyle Larson to take control in the later laps. Joey Logano had also pushed his way forward to challenge but could not get close enough for the pass. At the final lap it was Kyle Larson taking his first Martinsville win and his second win of the season. *Both are at Virginia tracks! Richmond and now, Martinsville.

The day finished very well for Larson. Team mate Chase Elliott stepped back into the #9 for the first time since his snowboard accident. Six weeks out and Martinsville maybe wasn’t the best for a return. The rhythm of racing here isn’t easy on the legs. However, Elliott did salvage a top 10 after starting deep in the pack.

PHOTO GALLERY – NOCO 400 – Martinsville Speedway, April 16, 2023

Race Day Showcase

Nemechek Xfinity Win at Martinsville

April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 Missed Gear

Saturday (April 15, 2023) racing at Martinsville Speedway showcased the NASCAR Xfinity Series with an evening start to finish under the lights.

The running order in the top 5 fluctuated slightly as Cole Custer led the field at the start but John Hunter Nemechek drove to the front and held for stage wins and the finale.

Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Cole Custer ran the top three slots for most of the evening with Josh Berry sneaking in the mix but ultimately coming across in 4th. Brandon Jones filled out the top 5.

The win of the Call811.com Before You Dig 250 is Nemechek’s 2nd win of the season and also adds to his grandfather clock collection as he has a previous win at Martinsville in the Truck series.

PHOTO GALLERY – Call811,com Before You Dig 250 / Xfinity at Martinsville Speedway

Race Day Showcase

Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville

April 15, 2023April 15, 2023 Missed Gear

One or the other, perhaps. Martinsville or NASCAR was not really thinking about oval tracks, concrete, hard braking left turns and rain racing…

Friday at Martinsville gave a showcase of Spring weather. Rain, sunlight and a bit of lightning. It all mixed together for a long day. And night.

Practice and qualifying for the Craftsman Trucks (Long John Silver’s 200) and the Xfinity (Call811.com Before You Dig. 250) went off with blue but cloudy skies. The rain had come in but left an open door to get through for mid day track action.

There was a bit of a push as drivers were introduced for the Craftsman series. The rain was coming and the plan was to get on track quickly. The track was mostly dry but the start was on rain tires with a planned caution to switch out if the rain held back.

The soft compound and tread design of the rain tires wore quickly and left rubber on the track showing the preferred line. At lap 37, the trucks were brought in an the switch to Goodyear slicks was on.

With the racing, it was Corey Heim driving the pace for most of it. Zane Smith started on the pole with NASCAR veteran Kyle Busch running on the side. Busch was able to get around to the lead early but Corey Heim was always there and charging forward.

Heim won both stages. Rain had made a comeback and put the trucks on pit road just as stage 2 was set to go green. The wet faded after a bit and the racing continued. There were some contact spins and loose racing with cautions to shake up restarts but it was Corey Heim who took control through it all.

Another long hold with thunder and visible lightning threatened to put it all off as the half way was still laps away. Radar and forecasts showed another opening and the race was on hold but the clock was ticking. The gamble paid off and racing resumed with Corey Heim still running the front. The rain returned at lap 111.

As the clock was pushing towards Saturday, NASCAR called it with over half the race run. Fans saw a bit of everything. Weather, on track action and a Martinsville first as rain tires were featured as another notch in the history there.

At the call, it was Corey Heim for the win. Kyle Busch and Zane Smith took 2nd and 3rd for their efforts. Ty Majeski and Tanner Gray filled the top five.

PHOTO GALLERY – CRAFTSMAN SERIES / LONG JOHN SILVER’S 200

Race Day Showcase

Martinsville Noir 2022

September 26, 2022September 26, 2022 Missed Gear

To quote Inigo Montoya on the bridge in “The Princess Bride” with Westley (Man in Black) and Fezzik…
“Let me explain……. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”
The racing at Martinsville Speedway always has angles. This year, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 put stories on the board like yarn stretched between clues on an old detective’s wall…

Going into the weekend it was a point to point pull on national points which, apparently, fell to an official NASCAR audit of season races, licenses and car counts. At the end of the mathematical juggling, the defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Champion was not the new Champion for 2022. That fell to Layne Riggs who won out over Peyton Sellers by single digits. Sellers is a two time Champion and was the youngest to win it at age 21 in 2005. That “youngest” now goes to Riggs at age 20.

Peyton Sellers, however, may have used the disappointment on the championship as motivation for Martinsville as he ran up front giving challenge to Mike Looney for the first stages of racing. Looney won the first two stages but Sellers was right there and ready to challenge. The late race restarts saw Sellers take and hold the lead all the way to the checkers. The win also snagged the “Virginia Triple Crown” of late model points between South Boston, Langley and Martinsville. Combined, Sellers came away with a payday for the team and a Martinsville Grandfather Clock. The clock, Peyton says, is going to long time sponsor, Clarence’s Steak House.

There was also the little incident from the heat races that went socially viral. Andrew Grady made his way to Davey Callihan’s car while others were still coming in from the first heat. Grady went “Mike Tyson” on Callihan through the window net and had to be pulled and carried away. The unfortunate side effect of the on track shuffle may have been the race day hopes of a young racer who has been making some late model waves. Katie Hettinger was caught up and her bruised #71 did not advance to the main event. The bouncing of Grady and Callihan on track likely put a dent or two on Hettinger’s Chevy in the on track hustle.

There were a number of younger drivers making a show at this 300. Katie Hettinger is 15. Rajah Carruth, Mini Tyrrell and Jessica Cann are some other younger faces making waves and entries trying to shine at Martinsville. The defending winner of the event last year, Landon Pembleton, was running well but engine trouble put him further back. These young guns were racing with veterans like Peyton Sellers, Timothy Peters, Mike Looney, Stacy Puryear and others. The changing of the guard was in plain view at Martinsville.

Beyond the racing for this year, there was more news on the future of this event. Martinsville Speedway and ValleyStar Credit Union announced the sponsor partnership will continue forward. The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 will continue to be the third jewel of the “Virginia Late Model Triple Crown”.

For this year, the top five were Peyton Sellers, Carson Kvapil, Jacob Heafner, Mike Looney, Kaden Honeycutt.
Mike Looney took home the prize as winner of stages one and two.
Bobby McCarty won the qualifying pole award.
The “Triple Crown” results: Peyton Sellers, Jared Fryar, Mason Diaz

Photo Gallery – ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway

Race Day Showcase

William Byron Takes Two at Martinsville

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 Missed Gear

Doubles on doubles. William Byron came into Martinsville with some momentum of an early season win. He already notched his playoff spot with a March win at Atlanta. However, there was a lot of hunger from a lot of drivers coming into the 75th year of racing at the historic raceway.

Racing was set to start with Chase Elliott on the pole. However, the weather took center stage about the time of driver introductions with cold rain and some reports of a snow flurry blowing by. The rain held the scheduled start for a bit over an hour before the track went green.

It was Chase Elliott’s race to lose while running up front for the start through the finish of stage 2. Byron, however, was on the bumper of the #9 for both stages and managed to win the race out of the pits for the run on stage 3.

Byron held on for the remainder of the race even as green flag pit stops cycled through. A late race tap of the wall by Todd Gilliland left the door open with a green-whit restart. Joey Logano made a bump move but Byron hung on to the #24 to take the win. Logano came in second with Austin Dillon coming in the third spot.

The other double beyond the second Cup win for 2022…? William Byron had also won the Camping World Series race at Martinsville on Thursday night.

William Byron does a burnout with the Camping World Truck win at Martinsville Speedway

At the end of the racing for Blue Emu weekend at Martinsville, William Byron came away looking for space for two Ridgeway Grandfather Clocks. Perhaps there was some old #24 magic blowing about as Jeff Gordon was around the pit and garage area and both he and Byron noted a long-time friendship. Byron spoke how Gordon would give him pointers or things to watch well before his actual driving career hit its stride. It took time, he said, but those conversations began to fall into place the more laps he ran at the “paperclip”.

William Byron celebrating a 2nd Grandfather Clock at Martinsville Speedway

Next up is Bristol – Racing on the dirt!

The Top 5 at Martinsville – The Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400

William Byron
Joey Logano
Austin Dillon
Ryan Blaney
Ross Chastain

FULL Photo Gallery

Race Day Showcase

Virginia Set For NASCAR Green

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022 Missed Gear

Well… Now it’s on! NASCAR has packed the April schedule with a Virginia run on short track racing.

*OK fine… Technically, the Bristol Motor Speedway is in Tennessee. However, Bristol itself is split on the Virginia border…

Richmond is up first. Martinsville the weekend after. Bristol (yeah yeah) is on Easter Sunday. This is reversed from Spring of 2021.

So far, season points races have seen young and newer Cup stars in the victory spotlights. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski have wins in non-point, pre-season events.

Austin Cindric made his NASCAR Cup points debut in the #2 Penske Ford and won the Daytona 500. Defending Cup Champion Kyle Larson grabbed a win at Auto Club Speedway in California. Alex Bowman took Vegas making 7 career Cup wins. Chase Briscoe also notched his first Cup win with a checkers at Phoenix. William Byron added to his two previous wins (2021, 2020) with a victory in Atlanta. The most recent success came at Circuit of the Americas as Ross Chastain placed his first Cup win.

Ross Chastain places his first Cup win with the new Trackhouse Racing (formed from previous Ganassi team)

Oddly enough, Chase Elliott is currently leading the points with no wins but “top finish position” math adds up. Elliott is, oddly enough, the lone Hendrick driver without a win but is certainly making the effort.

Early season racing has focused on speed, drafting and shaking down the “new generation” car in race conditions. One exhibition short track outing gave a clue but the Virginia sweep will find all the tight pack nuances of how these bigger brakes and sequential shifting play out. The tight quarter pit stops will also make the teams hit all the new marks for tires and fuel.

NASCAR Cup features runs at all three tracks. The Xfinity Series runs at Richmond and Martinsville but skips the “dirt race” of Bristol. Camping World Trucks skip Richmond but run Martinsville and Bristol. Richmond Raceway also will host the Whelen Modified Series with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 to fill out the Toyota Owners / Toyota Care weekend.

Xfinity will be on race number seven coming away from Circuit of The Americas. AJ Allmendinger grabbed the road course win. Ty Gibbs has two wins so far with Austin Hill and Noah Gragson holding one each. Cole Custer also has an Xfinity win but is running points in the Cup series. Gragson barely has a points lead in the series.

Noah Gragson wins at Phoenix and carries a slim Xfinity points lead

Camping World Trucks will be running their fifth race of the season at Martinsville. Chandler Smith and Corey Heim have one win. Zane Smith has two wins from Daytona and COTA. The math of finish positions and a win has Chandler Smith currently on top of the points going into Martinsville.

Chandler Smith wins at Las Vegas and holds the current Camping World points lead

Also, Richmond and Martinsville invite fans to the tracks on race week for “Charity Laps”. For Richmond Raceway on March 30, register and drive your car on the track with funds benefiting the Henrico Firefighter Foundation. For Martinsville on April 6, your car on the track benefits Vet Tix (Organization supplying sport and entertainment for United States Veterans).

Another highlight for the season in Virginia is Martinsville Speedway celebrating 75 years of NASCAR racing history at the track. The honors are reflected with a special anniversary display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. However, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 weekend at Martinsville is just beyond. We have Richmond Raceway first up for April short track racing. The Whelen Modified race is a welcome return at Richmond with series runs there peppered back to 1990. Modified racing made a NASCAR sanction first for Virginia and Richmond way back in 1948.

Ryan Preece and Ryan Newman racing close at Richmond in the Whelen Modified Series – 2021

It’s time. April is NASCAR in Virginia. Also – Don’t forget to check your short tracks, too. Home tracks, dirt tracks and drag strips are all coming alive this month! Go racing!

Richmond Raceway – Toyota Owner’s Weekend – April 1-3

Martinsville Speedway – Blue Emu Pain Relief Weekend – April 7-9

Bristol Motor Speedway – Food City Dirt Race Weekend – April 15-17