Kevin Harvick was going to win at Martinsville, or so I thought. Having led 154 laps, it was a logical expectation, but he wound up eighth. Jeff Gordon was going to win, then a late caution and a speeding penalty in the pits ended those dreams and left him ninth.
Called upon at 3:30 a.m. EST, Regan Smith agreed to drive the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS and sub for Kyle Larson, who was sat out of the race due to fainting during an autograph session on Saturday.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered Martinsville Speedway with high hopes after scoring his first Grandfather Clock last fall. However, he wouldn't have anything close to the day that he wanted, finishing 36th.
From the first short track of the season with the grandfather clock as the trophy, here is what was surprising and not surprising from Martinsville Speedway’s STP 500.
Will Power dominated the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but Juan Pablo Montoya would get the advantage following the final set of pit stops. He then held off his Team Penske teammate throughout the final laps, scoring the victory.
Kyle Larson, the 2014 Sprint Rookie of the Year, fainted during an autograph session at Martinsville Speedway Saturday afternoon and was taken to Martinsville Memorial Hospital for an initial evaluation.
The box score shows that Cole Custer finished 16th, but that doesn't represent the speed that the 17-year-old showed at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.
It will be the 133rd time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the .526 mile paper clip in southern Virginia, and the winner of the STP 500 will go home with one of the most unique and coveted pieces of hardware in the sport - a grandfather clock from the Ridgeway Clock Company.
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his first trip to Martinsville Speedway, it didn't go well as he hit everything, even the pacecar. In his eyes, "it looked like that it was going to be quite a challenge to sort it out and understand what I needed to do." However, a test in the early 2000s paid dividends as Earnhardt was able to hit on something during that time and has since done well at Martinsville, scoring the victory last year.
Katherine Legge will make her first NASCAR Cup Series start of the 2026 season over Mother’s Day weekend, piloting the No. 78 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports in the Go Bowling at The Glen event.
Select high quality, durable reflective tapes from reputable manufacturers like 3M, Avery Dennison, Oralite, or Nikkalite, and consider other reliable manufacturers such as Toptend
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has been named as the Official Circuit Partner of NASCAR San Diego Weekend presented by Anduril and will serve as the naming rights partner of the soon-to-be constructed race track at Naval Base Coronado.
