TEAM CHEVY ADVANCE
Martinsville Speedway
Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2026
Chevrolet Newsroom
With the penultimate weekend of the 2026 NASCAR Chase on the horizon, Chevrolet heads to Martinsville Speedway with its reigning champions leading the standings in NASCAR’s top-two divisions and a milestone victory within reach in the Craftsman Truck Series. Coming off his first career superspeedway victory, Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team hold a commanding 73-point advantage in the Cup Series standings, putting a third championship within reach before the season finale. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, defending champions Jesse Love and the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team left Talladega with their fourth-consecutive podium appearance and their position atop the points standings intact. Christian Eckes and the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team leads Chevrolet’s Truck Series championship contingent in fifth, while the manufacturer enters the tripleheader weekend just one victory away from its 300th all-time win in the division.
Chevrolet’s History at “The Paperclip”
Martinsville Speedway stands as Chevrolet’s most successful track in NASCAR Cup Series competition, with the manufacturer’s series-leading 63 victories at the .526-mile Virginia short-track reflecting generations of Bowtie brand success. Chase Elliott added the most recent chapter of that history in March, delivering Chevrolet’s first Cup Series victory of the 2026 season and the first triumph for the new Camaro ZL1 racecar. Hendrick Motorsports has been a driving force behind that legacy, entering the weekend with a record 31 Martinsville Cup Series victories, with seven of those victories coming in the past 12 races. Chevrolet also swept the track’s spring Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series events this season, with Justin Allgaier’s Saturday victory preceding Elliott’s Sunday celebration.
LARSON WITHIN REACH OF A THIRD TITLE
Kyle Larson turned Talladega Superspeedway from a potential championship obstacle into a statement performance, rallying from 11th on the final lap to claim his first career superspeedway victory and lead a Chevrolet top-six sweep. His 71-point afternoon expanded a five-point championship lead to 73 points over Denny Hamlin, giving the reigning champion an opportunity to secure his third Cup Series title at Martinsville. The No. 5 Chevrolet team returns to a track where they’ve recorded eight consecutive top-10 finishes, including his spring 2023 victory and a ninth-place result earlier this season. With a 5.8 average finish in the Next Gen era at “The Paperclip”, the third-best in the field, Larson has a chance to turn his Martinsville consistency into the defining performance of his title defense.
ELLIOTT EYES A MARTINSVILLE SWEEP
Chase Elliott returns to Martinsville Speedway looking to complete a season sweep after delivering Chevrolet’s breakthrough NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2026 at the track in March. The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team combined a well-timed short-pit strategy with Elliott’s execution in traffic to take control of the spring race. The Georgia native went on to lead the final 69 laps en route to claiming his second coveted grandfather clock. While Elliott is no longer mathematically eligible for this season’s championship, another grandfather clock would give the team a strong closing statement and extend Chevrolet’s winning legacy at its most successful Cup Series venue.
LOVE CONTINUES TO LEAD A CHEVROLET CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE
Jesse Love’s pursuit of back-to-back NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championships heads to Martinsville Speedway with the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team holding a 19-point advantage over fellow Team Chevy driver Justin Allgaier. A third-place finish at Talladega brought the defending champion’s podium streak to four-straight, while also boosting their average finish in the Chase to 5.7. His closest challenger, Allgaier, brings a stout Martinsville résumé that features two victories, eight top-fives and 10 top-10s in 12 starts at the track, including a victory earlier this spring. Saturday’s race presents Love an opportunity to strengthen his title defense, while giving Allgaier a familiar setting to close the gap, as they each see a second championship just within reach.
DAY KEEPS THE PRESSURE ON
Corey Day remains firmly in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship conversation after a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway brought him within 29 points of leader Jesse Love. The Hendrick Motorsports driver heads into the weekend with added confidence from the series’ spring visit to Martinsville Speedway where he drove to a runner-up finish in just his third career start at the track. With results no worse than eighth on the circuit’s short-tracks this season, another strong performance this weekend could put Day in position to challenge his fellow Chevrolet drivers for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
One Win from 300
Chevrolet’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams arrive at Martinsville Speedway following a commanding Talladega finish where Sammy Smith and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team’s breakthrough triumph brought the manufacturer just one victory away from its milestone 300th all-time win in the division. Smith’s victory came at the head of a Chevrolet podium sweep, underscoring the depth of the Bowtie brand’s Silverado lineup as it approaches the landmark. Friday’s race at Martinsville presents the next opportunity for a Team Chevy driver to deliver win No. 300 and add a milestone chapter to the manufacturer’s history in the division.
BOWTIE BULLETS:
· Chevrolet will serve as the official pace vehicle for the tripleheader weekend at Martinsville Speedway:
o NASCAR Cup Series: Specially themed pink Corvette Stingray in support of the American Cancer Society and its ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’ initiative
o NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Silverado RST
o NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Silverado RST
· Sunday’s Xfinity 500 will mark the fifth and final race in Chevrolet’s ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’ campaign for the 2026 season. The specially themed pink Corvette Stingray will serve as the official pace vehicle for the NASCAR Cup Series race, with every caution lap it completes generating a donation of $500 (up to $25,000).
· Active Chevrolet drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win at Martinsville Speedway:
o William Byron – three wins (2022, ‘24, ‘25)
o Chase Elliott – two wins (2020 & ‘26)
o Kyle Larson – one win (2023)
o Alex Bowman – one win (2021)
· In 155 NASCAR Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, Chevrolet has recorded a series-leading 63 victories. Among those victories include wins in five of the nine races contested in the Next Gen era at the track: William Byron’s three career victories, Kyle Larson’s triumph in the spring 2023 event, and most recently, Chase Elliott’s victory in this season’s spring race.
· Chevrolet has earned wins in 28 of the 31 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races this season, setting the series’ record for the most wins by a single manufacturer during a season in the division.
· With Sammy Smith and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Chevrolet sits just one win away from its milestone 300th all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.
· In 177 points-paying races in the NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen era, Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 76 victories – a winning percentage of 42.9%.
· With its 44 NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer championships, 34 NASCAR Cup Series driver championships, and 890 all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins, Chevrolet continues to hold the title as the winningest brand in NASCAR Cup Series history.
TUNE-IN:
NASCAR Cup Series
Xfinity 500
Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m. ET
NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
National Debt Relief 250
Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. ET
CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating
& Air Conditioning
Friday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. ET
FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
QUOTABLE QUOTES:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Martinsville’s been a pretty good track for you. What are you looking forward to this weekend?
“Winning the grandfather clock just stands alone in my mind for trophies that I want when I’m sitting in a rocking chair at the end of my life and I can look at and I can wind it up and hear it, hear that chime. Winning at Martinsville is so special. It’s such an old track. There’s been so many races. I mean, next year, I think it’ll be the 80th year of the racetrack. So to think about how many NASCAR races have been held there, how ingrained the Campbells, Clay Campbell, the current track president, but his father and grandfather were working with the France family for many years. My family is new to NASCAR, but Martinsville has been a part of NASCAR for a really long time. It actually was built the year before NASCAR was formed. So to know how ingrained Martinsville is with NASCAR, to win there and to have in my mind so many drivers that came before me, that would be a life achievement I would never forget.”
Is there a mental shift for you maybe going from a superspeedway like Talladega to now going to a track like Martinsville?
“Absolutely. Yes, completely different preparation. As simple as at 3 o’clock on Monday afternoon, I was virtually driving laps in Martinsville. We did not do that for Talladega. There’s no simulation that we do from the driver’s standpoint of actually getting in the simulator at Chevy for us and doing simulated runs for Talladega. Martinsville is a totally different story with all of the time we spend in the simulator. The team will alone on their computers and their virtual software will run about a million laps of simulation to make decisions on a small air pressure adjustment, a different spring, a different shock setting. We have a lot of smart people that design and build these cars.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
What are your thoughts going into this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway?
“I am looking forward to it with the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet. It’s the last short track of the year, and we’ve had some success there in the past. We want to keep on running good to work on 2027.”
Do you put more emphasis on Martinsville knowing that it is a home race?
“I love going to Martinsville. I feel like it is a place that we can compete and go out and run really well at, short tracks have been good to us. Obviously Richmond has a couple of things that you can use at Martinsville, and we’ll work hard.”
What’s it like going from Talladega to the paperclip in Martinsville in back-to-back weekends?
“It’s a totally different form of racing, I guess is the best way to explain it. You’ve got the biggest track to the smallest track, and we’re beating and banging. But one thing’s the same, we’re still pushing each other around at both of those places. So it gets pretty interesting fast.”
Four iconic brands coming together this weekend with RCR, Ducks Unlimited, Winchester and Bass Pro Shops. What does it mean for you to have a role in promoting conservation?
“I love the outdoors and love hunting and fishing. So to put all of those brands together on one car is really cool. And I think all the outdoorsmen will really take notice, especially when you put the No. 3 on a short track. We just need to go out there and have a great race. I am proud to represent a bunch of great conservationists, and we need to do our part to give back to the outdoors for the future.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
“I still feel a lot of pressure. It’s so easy for the points to swing, and you’ve seen that throughout The Chase. A team or driver can have a great day and score maximum points, and we could have a day like we had at Phoenix [Raceway], and boom, they’re right back in it. So, I do feel a lot of pressure. Ultimately, I’d love to go to Martinsville [Speedway] and gain the points I need to lock it up, but if we can’t do that, I still want to have a solid day and give ourselves as much of a cushion as possible heading into Homestead [Miami Speedway]. We’ve done a super good job of staying focused over the past couple of months of The Chase, and we can’t let those thoughts creep into our minds. My goal is to stay locked in and stay on offense.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What makes Martinsville such a challenging track, and what have you and your team been working on to be prepared for this fall’s race?
“We’re looking to have a stronger weekend with our No. 7 Gainbridge Assists Chevrolet this time around. Martinsville is a tough place, and getting the handling right is what we need to have a good race. We’ve learned a lot since the spring, and hopefully, we can put together a fast-qualifying lap and be in position to compete for a solid finish. We want to keep improving and give our team something to build on heading into the final two races of the season.”
Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
What is the key to having a successful race at Martinsville Speedway?
“Martinsville is a half-mile racetrack with flat corners. Getting into the corner hard will be important. Your entry speed needs to be fast to not give up under braking, but you also need to be able to put throttle down on exit. Usually, the guys who win the race have top entry speed and top exit speed, but their center speed isn’t great. Not worrying as much about the center has also made us pretty good on the O’Reilly (Auto Parts Series) side, so maybe that transfers over. We ran the spring race earlier this season, so hopefully we have a few notes of what to do or not to do to help our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet this weekend.”
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
“Martinsville is a slugfest from start to finish. You’re managing contact with the guys around you, and you’re really having to manage the tires. Every time you buzz the tires, you’re taking away your speed in the long run. If you get in a little too deep and make your front tires mad, you end up paying a penalty.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What makes Martinsville so special, and what have you learned since your first start there?
“Martinsville is one of those tracks where I feel like if I can win there, I’ve truly arrived as a Cup Series driver. It’s such a unique and technical place. Short-track racing isn’t something I grew up doing like a lot of these guys. The racing is so aggressive compared to intermediate tracks and superspeedway racing. Martinsville is a place with constant action and somewhere you need to manage your track position while still being aggressive. It’s also a track with a lot of history for me, since that’s where I made my first Cup and Truck Series starts. Martinsville is a tough place to get around. You don’t have much time to catch your breath and reset if something doesn’t go your way. We’ve been able to find a good groove in practice and qualifying, but the smallest mistake can ruin your day. Hopefully, we can have a clean weekend and put together back-to-back top-10 weekends.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
What are your thoughts heading into this weekend?
“Martinsville has always been tough. I think we had our best day going there this Spring, but then we got run over and that ruined our day. We were super-fast at Bowman Gray to open the year, so I know we can run well on these types of tracks.”
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
What is your approach to Martinsville this weekend?
“Martinsville is always fun to race that and I’m hoping we can finish our season strong with good runs here at Martinsville and Homestead. I’m going to try and run as well as possible, learn as much as I can, run all the laps and hopefully have a good day.”
As a driver, what are some things that you need to be manage during a race at Martinsville?
“There is a lot of things to manage at Martinsville. You have to keep the brakes as cool as possible. The rubber buildup at Martinsville is always pretty crazy and I enjoy trying to figure out what the best ways are to get around it and unique lines to run in the corner to get out of the rubber. A lot of guys do that really well and those are the guys who also end up winning a lot of the Martinsville races. As a driver, you can make a difference at Martinsville and help with the way your car is driving. Martinsville is a fun racetrack and certainly different in the Cup car than anything I’ve ever done. Most laps you’re shifting and that’s new to me at Martinsville. You get into a rhythm doing it after a few laps. I’m looking forward to it so hopefully we have a good day.”
Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Statistics
Manufacturer Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 44
First title for Chevrolet: 1958
Highest number of consecutive titles: 13 (2003-15)
Most recent: 2025
Years Won: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Driver Championships:
Total (1949-2025): 34
First Chevrolet champion: Buck Baker (1957)
Highest number of consecutive titles: 7 (2005-11)
Most recent: Kyle Larson (2025)
Driver and Manufacturer Championship Sweeps: 29
Years Won: 1957, 1960, 1961, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2025
Event Victories:
Record for total race wins in single season: 26 (2007)
2026 STATISTICS:
Wins: 9
Poles: 6
Laps Led: 2,527
Top-Fives: 58
Top-10s: 120
Stage Wins: 22
CHEVROLET IN NASCAR CUMULATIVE STATISTICS:
Total Chevrolet race wins: 890 (1949 to date)
Poles won to date: 772
Laps led to date: 259,261
Top-fives to date: 4,494
Top-10s to date: 9,271
Total NASCAR Cup Wins by Corporation, 1949 to Date:
General Motors: 1,224
Chevrolet: 890
Pontiac: 154
Oldsmobile: 115
Buick: 65
Ford: 855
Ford: 755
Mercury: 96
Lincoln: 4
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: 467
Dodge: 217
Plymouth: 191
Chrysler: 59
Toyota: 221
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
