Hendrick Motorsports Media Advance: Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, Oct. 26
0.526-Mile Oval
2 p.m. ET
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series (Race 35 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM

5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 26th (Talladega)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 4th

No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet

• Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team enter the final race of the Round of 8 sitting 36 points above the playoff cutline.
• Larson’s 20 top-10 finishes in 2025 are his second-most through 34 races in a NASCAR Cup Series season.
• Larson has six consecutive top-10 results at Martinsville Speedway, which is tied for the second-longest streak of his career. He has an active streak of seven straight top-10 finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• The Elk Grove, California, native has finished in the top five at Martinsville in each of the last three races.
• In the most recent five races at Martinsville, Larson has an average finish of 3.4. It is his second-best track in the Next Gen era with an average finish of 5.43.
• The No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM pit crew ranks first in the “Best on Pit Road” statistic, which accounts for pit stop speed, consistency and ability to gain position on the pit lane.

9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 29 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 40th (Talladega)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 8th

 No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet

• Chase Elliott heads to Martinsville Speedway eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings, 62 points below the cutline. He will need to win Sunday to advance to the Championship 4.
• Elliott and the No. 9 team won at Martinsville in the fall of 2020 to punch their ticket to the Championship 4. The next weekend they triumphed at Phoenix Raceway and won the Cup Series title.
• The 29-year-old driver has finished fourth or better in the last three races at Martinsville. He is tied with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the longest active streak of top-five results there.
• Elliott has led 1,275 laps at the paperclip-shaped oval, his most at any Cup Series track. His average finish of 11.7 ranks fourth among active drivers with at least two starts, and his seven stage wins at the venue rank second.
• The Dawsonville, Georgia, native’s 1,977 laps raced in the top five in the Next Gen era at Martinsville leads the series. His 557 laps led there rank second among active drivers.
• In this race last season, Elliott led 129 laps en route to a second-place finish.

24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 27 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 25th (Talladega)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 5th

No. 24 Cincinnati Chevrolet

• After the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8, William Byron sits fifth overall, 36 points below the cutline.
• This season, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native has run the most laps in the top five (3,492) and the top 10 (5,135). The 2025 regular season champion has the best average running position of the Cup field (10.85).
• At Martinsville Speedway in the Next Gen era, Byron has led the third-most laps (351) and raced inside the top five for the sixth-most laps (990).
• Byron is a two-time Martinsville winner, with victories in the spring of 2022 and 2024.
• In 15 starts at the half-mile track, the 27-year-old driver has five top-five finishes and eight top 10s with 360 laps led. The only venue where he has led more career laps is Charlotte Motor Speedway (485).

48 ALEX BOWMAN
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Last Week: 29th (Talladega)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 13th

No. 48 Ally Chevrolet

• Alex Bowman owns five top-10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway, including one in the Next Gen era (eighth in April 2024).
• The Tucson, Arizona, native won at Martinsville in October 2021, marking one of his two career short-track victories in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Bowman has finished inside the top 10 in the last three short-track races, including a runner-up result at Richmond Raceway in August.
• The driver has 16 top-10 finishes in 2025, his second-most through 34 races in a season.
• Ally and Bowman have raised more than $725,000 with Best Friends Animal Society since 2021, with weekly donations to local shelters. This week’s beneficiary is The Haley Graves Foundation in Summerfield, North Carolina.

Hendrick Motorsports

*Most all time
**Tied for most all time

• Corey Day will make his 10th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Martinsville Speedway, returning to the site of his series debut in March. The 19-year-old driver from Clovis, California, has earned two top-10 finishes in his last four Xfinity Series starts, including a career-best fourth earlier this month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Hendrick Motorsports owns 29 victories at Martinsville Speedway, the most by any organization at a single track in NASCAR Cup Series history. The team also leads all organizations with more than 11,000 laps led at the Virginia venue.
• Nine Hendrick Motorsports drivers have combined for the team’s 29 Martinsville victories: Jeff Gordon (nine), Jimmie Johnson (nine), Darrell Waltrip (four), William Byron (two), and one each by Geoff Bodine, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson.
• The organization has won five of the last 10 Cup races at Martinsville with four different drivers, including a 1-2-3 Hendrick Motorsports sweep in April 2024 that came 40 years after its first victory at the same track.
• Hendrick Motorsports engines have powered 27 total victories and 23 pole positions across NASCAR’s top two series this season.
• Through 34 races in 2025, Hendrick Motorsports has led 30% of all Cup Series laps (2,669 in total) and recorded at least one top-10 finish in 32 events.
• Hendrick Motorsports’ 19 stage wins this season are its second-highest total through 34 races, trailing only its team record of 25 during the 2021 Cup Series campaign.

QUOTABLE /
 
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on his mindset going into the Martinsville cutoff race: “I’d say we really need to outpoint [Christopher] Bell. It’s going to be interesting. Obviously we’ll be focused on the race, but for us, one guy matters more than the rest. It’s similar for them. They’ll be watching what we’re doing throughout the day, too. Hopefully, we’ll have a strong car, qualify well, grab stage points, and do everything we can to gain as many points as possible. Martinsville has been a good track for us in the past, so if we can go there, stay strong, and do what it takes, we can make the final four and compete for a championship.”

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on how Hendrick Motorsports prepares each week to set themselves apart from other teams: “The top level of any sport is all very detail oriented, right? I think that can be said for anything, whether it’s racing, football, baseball. All of that last 1 or 2% is really all in the details. Everyone here (in the Cup Series) is pretty good at what they do. I feel like Hendrick Motorsports does a great job of just really fine tuning all the details that it takes to be successful at every part of the shop. The boss (Rick Hendrick) gives us the resources that we ask for and that we need to go and be successful. Then he just trusts us to go get the job done from there. So I’m grateful to have that at my disposal to help me do my job to the best of my ability.”

William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on his approach to Martinsville: “It’s not ideal, but we know what we have to do this weekend. The only option is to win. The last two weeks, not having a better finish for how well we were running is what hurts. Come Monday, though, we have to forget that and move on. All focus is on Martinsville and how we can run up front all day. The fall there hasn’t been the strongest for us, but I do think we’ve made a lot of strides on that package.”

Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on Martinsville Speedway: “Martinsville is a place that means a lot to me. Getting that win there in 2021 was special, and every time we go back I feel like we’re capable of running up front. Short tracks have been a good stretch for our team lately, so hopefully we can keep that momentum going.”