NASCAR Cup Series

When Martin Truex Jr. says he is less perplexed about the paper clip-shaped Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, he has real numbers to support his statement.

Trevor Bayne heads into the first short-track race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) season this weekend at Martinsville Speedway looking for his fourth top-15 finish of the year.

Auto Club Recap: Denny Hamlin secured a 14th-place finish in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway, dropping right outside of the top-10 in the closing laps of the 200-lap event after multiple cautions and a last-minute move to forgo a pit stop with only a few laps remaining.

ANOTHER CLOCK: Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his first victory at the historic 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26, 2014. He held off former teammate and nine-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon to score the win, taking home the iconic grandfather clock that the speedway gives as its trophy. In the last 12 races at the paperclip-shaped oval, Earnhardt has earned five top-five finishes and eight top-10s, which bodes well for the 42-year-old veteran’s chances to capture his second grandfather clock this weekend.

1. Kyle Larson: Larson survived four late restarts and pulled away for the win at Fontana, finally snatching a win after three consecutive runner-up finishes.

The successful Driven to Give Gloves campaign will kick off at Martinsville Speedway this weekend to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital and four Patient Champions, The Dale Jr. Foundation announced today. This year, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s race-worn driving gloves will be auctioned off four times during the NASCAR season to raise funds for the groundbreaking work done by the researchers and physicians at the Columbus, Ohio-based hospital.

Bayne makes his sixth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Martinsville Speedway this weekend.

Kyle Larson held off and pulled away from Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer on the final green-white-checkers restart to capture his first win of 2017, the second win of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) career and his first win at Auto Club Speedway.

Ford Performance has won at Martinsville Speedway 26 times overall and as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series prepares for the first of two visits to the half-mile oval, the standings show five Ford drivers holding down spots in the Top 10.

“Martinsville is a difficult half-mile track that I have struggled at in the past. I’m going to spend some time this week in the simulator to get more comfortable with the feel of the track. It’s a long race, so I need to remind myself to be patient.