RICK WARE RACING
Cook Out 400
Date: March 29, 2026
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: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of 23XI Racing (Toyota)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 35th, Finished 32nd / Running, completed 394 of 400 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (35th with 58 points)
Race Notes:
● Chase Elliott won the Cook Out 400 to score his 22nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was .565 of a second.
● This was Chevrolet’s 882nd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its first of the season.
● This was Chevrolet’s series-leading 63rd NASCAR Cup Series victory at Martinsville. Chevrolet won its first race at Martinsville on May 19, 1957 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 54 laps.
● Only 18 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Tyler Reddick remains the championship leader after Martinsville with an 82-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
Sound Bites:
“It was just a slugfest all day. Balance just never got right. We made some adjustments, and there were moments where the car felt a little bit better, but overall, just missed the mark. I think, not just for us, but I think our alliance partners as a whole. We all struggled today. So that’s frustrating, and we got spun early and got an extra lap down that we didn’t need to have. Just got to reset and refocus for Bristol.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Super.com Chevrolet
Next Up:
The NASCAR Cup Series takes a rare weekend off for Easter before returning to action on Sunday, April 12 for the Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
