Martinsville Speedway
Sunday, March 29
0.526-Mile Oval
3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
TV: Fox
Event: NASCAR Cup Series race (7 of 36)
RADIO: SiriusXM
5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Last Week: 32nd (Darlington)
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 10th
No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet
- Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM team earned their third consecutive top-five starting position at Darlington Raceway. He ran inside the top 10 for most of the day and led 20 laps. He enters Martinsville Speedway in the 10th spot in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
- Larson’s seven consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville are tied for his longest such streak at any track, matching Bristol Motor Speedway (also active). He is tied with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott for the longest active top-five streak at the 0.526-mile Virginia short track with four.
- The defending Cup Series champion has logged 1,800 laps inside the top five at Martinsville Speedway in the Next Gen car, third among all drivers. He leads the field in laps run inside the top 10 with 2,973.
- The track known as “The Paperclip” is Larson’s second best in terms of average finish in the Next Gen car at 5.4.
9 CHASE ELLIOTT
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Last week: 15th (Darlington)
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Standings: 5th
No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet
- Chase Elliott heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
- Elliott’s average finish of 10.3 this season ranks second in the series and is his best through six races since 2017. He’s one of five drivers to finish on the lead lap in every race so far this season.
- Elliott is currently tied with teammate Kyle Larson for the longest active streak of top-five finishes at Martinsville with four. Last year, he finished fourth in the spring and third in the fall.
- The 30-year-old has the fourth-best average finish (11.29) at Martinsville among active Cup drivers. The paperclip-shaped oval is his best track when it comes to top 10s (14) and laps led (1,275).
- Elliott’s seven stage wins at Martinsville rank second all time.
- In the Next Gen era at the Virginia short track, Elliott has led the third-most laps (557), spent the most laps inside the top five (2,331) and is tied for the third-most laps inside the top 10 (2,702).
- Elliott has nine top-10 finishes in the last 13 short track races.
24 WILLIAM BYRON
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Last Week: 8th (Darlington)
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Standings: 6th
No. 24 Cincinnati Chevrolet
- William Byron battled to an eighth-place finish last Sunday at Darlington Raceway, his third consecutive top 10 in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
- Through six races, the 28-year-old has run the second-most laps in the top 10 (1,054). He also has an average running position of 9.91, which ranks second best and he’s tied for the fifth-best average finish (11.8).
- In four of the last five seasons, Byron was the first driver to visit victory lane for Hendrick Motorsports. Teammate Kyle Larson scored the first win in 2022.
- The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has two victories in the last four Cup races at short tracks, winning at Iowa Speedway and at Martinsville Speedway last year.
- Byron won the pole for the fall race at Martinsville in 2025, captured both stages and led 304 laps en route to his third Cup Series win at the track. It was the first time at Martinsville that the pole winner went on to win the race since NASCAR Hall of Fame driver, Jimmie Johnson, in April 2013.
- Including last year’s victory, Byron’s three wins at the paperclip-shaped track is the fourth most by a Hendrick Motorsports driver behind NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine), Johnson (nine) and Darrell Waltrip (four).
- Crew chief Rudy Fugle has been on top of the pit box for all of Byron’s Cup Series wins at Martinsville. He is the 14th crew chief to win a minimum of three events at the track, taking only four years to complete the feat.
- In the Next Gen era at Martinsville, Byron has led 655 laps, second most.
48 JUSTIN ALLGAIER
Age: 39 (June 6, 1986)
Hometown: Riverton, Illinois
Last Week: 24th (Darlington)
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Standings: 36th (owner’s points)
No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, will not compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway as he continues to recover from vertigo. Justin Allgaier will fill in.
- Allgaier has subbed for Bowman in the last two Cup Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway.
- Driving the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series, Allgaier has finished in the top five in every stage so far in the 2026 season.
- Allgaier won the NOAPS race at Phoenix Raceway earlier in 2026, breaking the record for most consecutive seasons (10) with a win in the series. Additionally, he won the NOAPS race last weekend at Darlington.
- The 2024 NOAPS champion has made 11 starts in NASCAR’s Saturday Series at Martinsville Speedway, earning one win (fall 2023), seven top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Allgaier has an average start of 4.6, scoring a top-10 qualifying effort in every event he’s run.
17 COREY DAY
Age: 20 (November 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Last Finish: 6th (Darlington)
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Standings: 7th
- Corey Day continued his run of consistency at Darlington Raceway last week, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish with a sixth-place result.
- The 20-year-old currently sits seventh in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series standings.
- The Clovis, California, native will make his third NOAPS start at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. In his most recent run on the track in October 2025, Day earned a 13th-place finish.
- Day’s first NOAPS start came at Martinsville in March 2025, kicking off a part-time schedule. This weekend’s event will mark his 17th race in the series.
- Hendrick Motorsports enters this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway as the facility’s all-time leader in wins (30), poles (21), top fives (100), top 10s (158) and laps led (11,455). Its 30 victories at the 0.526-mile oval are the most by any team at any track in NASCAR history.
- The organization has won at least one race at Martinsville in each of the last six seasons and has won there in 25 different years. It was the site of the team’s first win in 1984, 2003 and 2009 with the 1984 victory from Geoff Bodine serving as Hendrick Motorsports’ first ever.
- In each of the last 16 Martinsville races, at least one Hendrick Motorsports driver has finished in the top 10. In each of the last four, at least two of the company’s Chevrolets have come home in the top five. Since the start of 2024, the organization has led 46% of all laps run at the Virginia short track (841 of 1,815).
- The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 560 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series including five straight in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series.
- Hendrick Motorsports remains the premier series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (320), poles (250), top-five finishes (1,326), top 10s (2,269), laps led (85,551) and championships (15).
QUOTABLE /
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on returning to Martinsville Speedway: “It will be good to get to Martinsville Speedway this weekend and continue applying what we’ve learned with the Chevrolet body and the higher-horsepower short track package. I feel like we’ve made a lot of gains with our short track program over the last year. We’re continuing to improve with the body each week and we’re looking to get a good result at one of our stronger tracks.”
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on Martinsville Speedway: “It’s where I got my first start in the Cup Series. And I think for that, you know, it’ll always carry a special place in my mind. I think the significance of the track through the company also makes it at the forefront of our of our minds, too. I think it kind of plays a role every time you go, wanting to do well. Fortunately, for us, I think that we always have a lot of motivation to want to go and do our jobs and perform at a high level.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on coming off of Darlington Raceway headed to Martinsville Speedway: “Last weekend’s race was tough, a bit more tough than we expected but I do think we’re making gains with this new Chevrolet body. I feel like our notebook for Martinsville (Speedway) though is stacked, which is always a good feeling when we show up at a track. Last year’s win was such a statement for this team especially to come in the playoffs. Hopefully we can repeat the past success we’ve had there and keep things moving in the right direction.”
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on filling in for Alex Bowman at Martinsville Speedway: “First and foremost, we are all wishing for a continued and speedy recovery for Alex (Bowman). Martinsville (Speedway) definitely is a unique type of short track, but everyone knows how strong Hendrick Motorsports is here, which gives me a lot of confidence heading into the weekend. Blake (Harris, crew chief) and everyone on this Ally team have been working hard all week long and I know we are going to have great chance to have a strong day on Sunday.”
Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on Martinsville Speedway: “Really looking forward to getting back to Martinsville (Speedway), had a decent run there in the fall and excited to head back with a few more races under my belt. It’s always a chaotic track which is fun but also, I’ll get to learn a lot, I’ve definitely learned a ton since my first start in the No. 17 there last March. Never really know what’s going to happen on that track.”
