Consider it batting practice or a nice warm-up for tomorrow’s Cup event at Martinsville. That’s what Denny Hamlin seemed to do on Saturday afternoon as he went out and won the Camping World Truck Series event, muscling his way past Matt Crafton with six laps to go.
Virginia native Denny Hamlin takes the checkered flag after driving from the rear of the field. Hamlin qualified fifth, but missed the drivers meeting which was taking place after the start of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) practice.
Denny Hamlin would make his way to the front after starting in the back due to missing the driver’s meeting and bump his way past Matt Crafton to win the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
Peters who finished fifth here in the spring turned a lap of 19.641 sec at 96.411 mph and bested Cup Series regular and spring race winner, Kevin Harvick by only .027secs
Paul Menard’s season has had it’s ups and downs. The season started off solid with a sixth place finish at Daytona. Though the team stumbled at Phoenix, they followed it up with two more top tens. As the season progressed, the roller coaster trend continued with many finishes in the high teens to lower twenties being the norm.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will roll out onto the half mile oval at the Martinsville Speedway for Sunday's running of the Tums Fast Relief 500. This historic racing facility is referred to as the paper clip due to its unusual shape.
Chase contender Jimmie Johnson sets fast lap in qualifying at Martinsville Speedway for the Sunday's Tums 500. Johnson turned a lap of 97.598 MPH (19.402 SECS), edging out Brian Vickers who was fastest in practice and therefore was the last car to attempt qualifying.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visits the legendary Martinsville Speedway this weekend and that leads me to reminisce about "the good ole days". The series began in 1995 and during that first season, the trucks competed primarily on short tracks. Venues like Saugus, Evergreen, I-70 and Mesa Marin are just a few of the fantastic short tracks that the trucks visited.
The 19-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, posted a pole-winning lap at 88.398 mph at COTA in 97.740 seconds, which was enough for him to claim his first O'Reilly pole position of the 2026 season.
The 27-year-old Mosack from Charlotte, North Carolina, was awarded the pole position for Saturday's Truck event at St. Petersburg due to rain canceling Saturday's qualifying and practice sessions.
Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of running double-duty in the NASCAR Cup and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Circuit of The Americas.
Scott McLaughlin showed the speed that has earned him two prior poles at this event, leading the first practice Friday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brent Crews was made available to the media on Friday prior to his NASCAR O’Reilly Parts Series debut this weekend at Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas.
