RICK WARE RACING
Cook Out 400
Date: March 30, 2025
Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 7 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/100 laps/220 laps)
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 36th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 396 of 400 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (37th with 33 points)
Race Notes:
● With less than 90 laps remaining, rubber buildup underneath the left-front wheel well of Ware’s No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse caused a fire that burned two spark plug wires, remaking his V8 into a V6.
● Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out 400 to score his 55th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his sixth at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Christopher Bell was 4.617 seconds.
● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 86 laps.
● Only 22 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● William Byron remains the championship leader after Martinsville with a 17-point advantage over second-place Kyle Larson.
Sound Bites:
“Super frustrating. That’s definitely the best car we’ve ever had at a place like Martinsville, so pretty devastated. It was another really rough weekend for us, and I know it’s cliché, but the result didn’t show the speed we had today. All we can do is get to Darlington, where Billy (Plourde, crew chief) and I have had some pretty good runs in the past. We’ve just got to stay positive, look forward, and know that we still brought a fast racecar to the track this weekend. That’s something we can build on.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Arby’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, April 6 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
