Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, March 30, 2025
0.526-Mile Oval
3 PM ET
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (7 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
 Age: 32 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 1st (Homestead-Miami)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 2nd

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

• Kyle Larson led 19 laps en route to victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, moving into second in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
• Sunday’s victory marked the 2021 Cup Series champion’s 30th victory which ranks Larson 30th on the all-time wins list in NASCAR’s premier series.
• In 2024, the Elk Grove, California, native scored the most points at Martinsville Speedway with finishes of second and third.
• Larson leads the Cup Series with 2,125 laps run in the top 10 at Martinsville in the Next Gen car.
• At 7.59, Larson is one of three drivers to have an average finish of better than 10th on short tracks in the Next Gen car.
• The 32-year-old accumulated 306 points on short tracks in 2024, 20 more than the next competitor.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
 Age: 29 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 18th (Homestead-Miami)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 6th

No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet

• This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series takes to Martinsville Speedway where Chase Elliott scored a victory in the fall of 2020 en route to capturing the championship at Phoenix Raceway the following weekend.
• Last year on the paperclip-shaped oval, Elliott racked up two top-three results, placing third in the spring and second in the fall. He earned a total of 94 points across those two races, second-most in the series. The driver’s average finish of 2.5 there in 2024 was tied with teammate Kyle Larson for tops in the category.
• Elliott’s 12 top 10s at Martinsville are tied with Kansas Speedway for his most on active tracks. His 1,233 laps led are a personal best at a single track.
• The Dawsonville, Georgia, native is tied for the most stage wins (seven) at Martinsville, and he has the fourth-best average finish (12.11) among active drivers with at least two starts.
• In the Next Gen era at Martinsville, Elliott has spent the most laps inside the top five (1,645) and has the most laps led (515).
• Elliott finished top 10 in the last seven short track races, the longest active streak in the series. His average finish of 7.5 on short tracks in the Next Gen car ranks second and his 275 points earned are third.
• The driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet emerged victorious at the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the only short-track event held so far this year.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 27 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 12th (Homestead-Miami)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 1st

No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet

• So far in 2025, William Byron has an average starting position of 8.33 (tied for the best), an average running position of 7.31, and an average finish of 8.67 – both best in the series. His 735 laps in the top five and 1,070 laps in the top 10 are also tops in the field, as are the 70 stage points he’s collected.
• The Charlotte, North Carolina, native is the only driver to have led a lap in every points-paying event this season. In total, Byron has led laps in the last eight races, dating back to 2024.
• Byron has finished in the top six in 11 of the last 13 points-paying races.
• This weekend, Byron returns as the defending winner of the spring race at Martinsville Speedway. In 2024 he captured the win in a special ruby-red car celebrating Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet had an average finish of 3.5 across two races at Martinsville in 2024.
• Byron has two wins in 14 starts at the Virginia short track with a personal-best 360 laps led. His average finish of 13.29 is seventh-best among active drivers.
• During the Next Gen era at Martinsville, the 27-year-old driver has spent 990 laps in the top five (sixth best), 1,352 laps in the top 10 (seventh best) and has led 351 laps (third most).
• Byron will pull double duty this weekend. Outside of his usual Cup Series duties, he will climb behind the wheel of the No. 07 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports Friday in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The last time he was in a Spire truck, Byron captured the company’s first Truck Series win at Martinsville Speedway in 2022.

48 ALEX BOWMAN
 Age: 31 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 2nd (Homestead-Miami)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 3rd
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet

• Alex Bowman secured his sixth NASCAR Cup Series career pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His time of 31.98 seconds (168.85 mph), marked the fastest Next Gen pole at the 1.5-mile track. Leading with 10 laps to go, he made contact with the wall but held on to finish second, earning his first top-five finish in 2025.
• Bowman is now in third place in the points standings, just 39 markers behind teammate and leader William Byron.
• The Tucson, Arizona, native has finished in the top 10 in five of six starts in 2025, leading all drivers.
• Bowman has 17 starts at Martinsville Speedway, with one win (2021), one top five, five top-10 finishes and 10 laps led.
• For the Best Friends Animal Society programming, Ally and Bowman will be partnering with Alleghany Humane Society as their selected shelter for this weekend in Martinsville.
• Ally and HendrickCars.com are teaming up again to give fans the chance to win prizes with this year’s “Open Road Sweepstakes.” Fans can win VIP experiences at various races throughout the season and one lucky winner will hit the open road in a Chevy Silverado LT Trail Boss with an Airstream camper. To enter, fans can stop by the Ally Fan Zone and check out the camper. To enter online, visit ally.com/sweepstakes/nascar. 

Hendrick Motorsports

 
*Most all time
**Tied for most all time

• Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series wins (29), poles (20), top-five finishes (95), top-10 finishes (153) and laps led (11,103) at Martinsville Speedway. Those victories, the most by the company at any venue, are also the most by any team at any track in the sport’s history.
• The organization is a perfect three for three in spring races at Martinsville in the Next Gen era.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ 16 top-10 showings through six races in 2025 are the most for the organization and the third-most of any team ever.
• The team’s four drivers have spent a combined 3,077 laps running in the top 10 this season and a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has been running in the top 10 in 96% of the laps run, both of which lead all teams in the Cup Series.
• With Kyle Larson’s victory last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has now won at least twice in the first six races of a season in five straight years, the organization’s longest such streak in history.

QUOTABLE /
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on his development at Martinsville Speedway: “When I started at Hendrick Motorsports, the car was probably a little bit better than I was at Martinsville (Speedway). But we’ve gotten better as a whole and I think it’s one of our best tracks now. We got a win there in 2023 and had solid runs and finishes there last year, so we’re looking forward to this weekend.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on whether or not short track racing has improved lately in the Next Gen era: “It seems like it. I mean it seems like it’s better, for sure, and it seems like it’s largely in part to the tire, truthfully. The more I kind of look at it, the more I kind of just feel like, man, maybe this tire thing is really … we’re onto something there. But, if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my course of doing this is that just when you think you start to figure something out, you didn’t and you don’t, and whatever you think you know, you probably didn’t to begin with. So, I certainly don’t act like I have the answer. I do think the tire thing, seemingly from the gains that we’ve made, is pretty important considering it’s what touches the ground.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on returning to Martinsville Speedway: “I’m confident but also not extremely confident. We’ve had some good runs and we’ve also had some just OK runs. We have some work to do from Bowman Gray (Stadium) on our short-track package but I think we’ll still be in a good place. It’s really about having a good long run car and that’s what we will really focus on.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on Martinsville Speedway: “I feel like Martinsville is a decent track for me. We have had some success there in the past and won there back in the fall of 2021. Qualifying is going to be really important this weekend just to start the race off with good track position since it’s just difficult to pass. Our team is coming off from a solid run in Miami and we just need to keep the momentum and consistency going.”