LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Xfinity 500
DATE: Oct. 26, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 35 of 36
TRACK: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway | .526-Mile Oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ THE CLOCK WHISPERER: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson knows how to win at Martinsville Speedway. In 38 starts, he collected a total of nine wins, 19 top-fives, and 25 top-10s in addition to his 2,932 laps led. He had an average finish of 9.9 at Martinsville. His wins are the most of any track he raced on during his fulltime career on the Cup Series circuit. Johnson scored his first win in Oct. 2004 after starting 18th. He led 67 laps en route to a 1.225 second margin of victory over Jamie McMurray. Between April 2006 and Oct. 2009, Johnson won five of the eight races run there and never finished outside the top-five. His final win at Martinsville came in Oct. 2016 after Johnson started third, where he led 92 laps to best Brad Keselowski by 1.291 seconds.
KENSETH AT MARTINSVILLE: LEGACY MC competition advisor and 2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth owns a total of 39 Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway. During his career, he collected six top-fives, 15 top-10s and 641 laps led at the .524-mile oval. He earned a best finish of second twice in his career – April 2002 and Oct. 2013.
THE KING OF MARTINSVILLE: LEGACY MC ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty has a total of 67 career starts at Martinsville Speedway. He’s earned 15 victories, 30 top-fives, and 37 top-10s as well as led 2,823 laps. He earned his first win in April 1960 after starting fourth. The King’s final win at Martinsville came in April 1975 when he started sixth and bested Darrell Waltrip by six seconds after leading 240 of 500 laps.
NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, “Never Settle”. Fans can find Never Settle on YouTube and watch the behind the scenes clips as well as full episodes. Click HERE to watch and subscribe.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT MARTINSVILLE: John Hunter Nemechek has five NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway. He earned a best finish of 25th, earned twice in his career – June 2020 and March 2025. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nemechek has two starts, including a race win in April 2023. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he has 14 starts where he earned one pole award in Oct. 2021, and five top-five finishes, including a race win in March 2018.
WINNER AT MARTINSVILLE: Nemechek has two race wins at Martinsville in his career, one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His Xfinity Series win came in April 2023, where he started from second and led 198 of 250 laps to best Sammy Smith under caution. His Truck Series victory came in March 2018, where he started from eighth and won with a .106 of a second margin of victory over Kyle Benjamin.
T-MACK MARTINSVILLE STATS: Sunday’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 10th NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville. His first outing came in March 2018 with Kasey Kahne. Mack returned to Martinsville with Daniel Suárez in the 2021 season, and the duo competed in six races together through the end of 2023, earning a Mack’s highest finish of 12th in Oct. 2022. In 2024, Mack returned with Josh Williams for the spring race. In March of this year, Mack competed with Nemechek. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has one start with Michael Annett, where the pair started 11th and finished eighth in Oct. 2020.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“We haven’t had the strongest short track program this season, but we’ve learned a lot throughout the year. We set ourselves up with a decent spot in the qualifying order, which will be important since qualifying makes such a difference here. I’m excited to put our notebook to the test and capitalize on some of our key learnings from earlier in the season.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We weren’t bad in the spring. We battled some issues, but we have a good baseline for Martinsville. It’s going to be chaos, of course, with playoff cars trying to make it into the Championship Four but we still want to run up front and would like to finish off the year with a good run to lead into next year. We’re taking something a little different to Martinsville this weekend, so I’m feeling good about our chances.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES MARTINSVILLE STATS: Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Raceway will mark Erik Jones’ 18th NASCAR Cup Series start on the track nicknamed the “Paperclip.” He earned a best finish of eighth at Martinsville in Oct. 2021 after starting 28th. While Jones never made an Xfinity Series start at Martinsville, he does have five starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he earned two top-fives and four top-10s. He earned his best finish of third in the March 2015 race at the track.
BESHORE AT MARTINSVILLE: Crew chief Ben Beshore has been on top of the box for six NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville with Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, and Jones. He earned a runner-up finish in Oct. 2021 with Busch who finished .472 of a second behind race winner Alex Bowman. He has an additional three starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Martinsville after the series made its return to the track in Oct. 2020. Beshore won that race with Harrison Burton after the duo started 10th. Burton finished .355 of a second ahead of Justin Allgaier. Beshore won again in April 2021 with Nemechek after starting second, leading 198 of 250 laps, and besting Sammy Smith and Cole Custer to capture the checkered flag.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Martinsville is definitely a difficult racetrack. We haven’t been as strong in our short track program as our intermediate, but I feel like we’ve made progress throughout the year. Qualifying is really important at Martinsville because of how short the track is – you can get lapped pretty quickly since it’s so hard to pass. We’ve been looking at our notes from all of the short tracks this year so hopefully we can find some speed this weekend.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“Martinsville has been a tough racetrack for us. We didn’t really have a great run there in the Spring, so we’re really putting our heads together to see if we can come up with a good package this time around that makes sense for that track. The main goal this weekend is to learn something that we can use to build on our program for next season. As a company, short tracks have kind of been our Achilles heel. Hopefully, we can get a direction on something and be able to build on it for next year.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
Nemechek will be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, Oct. 26.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. EDT on NBC, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.
