CLUB ENTRY LIST

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
POINT STANDINGS: 17th

ERIK JONES
POINT STANDINGS: 22nd

CLUB NOTES

Back to where it all started: John Hunter Nemechek has a great track record at Martinsville Speedway in Trucks and Xfinity competition. Last season in Xfinity, he started second and won the 250-lap event by leading 198 laps en route to victory. In the second event, Nemechek started fifth and led 54 laps but ultimately finished 18th. In the Truck series, he has 14 starts and compiled one pole, one win, five top-five, and six top-10 finishes. His first official NASCAR series start came at Martinsville in the Truck Series on Oct. 26, 2013, when Nemechek was just 16 years old.

Skip Barber Racing School: This weekend at Martinsville, Nemechek and the No. 42 will run a Skip Barber Racing School red, white, and black paint scheme. Founded in 1975, the Skip Barber Racing School is the largest in the world with over 400,000 alumni including drivers who currently compete in Formula 1, INDYCAR, NASCAR, and LEGACY M.C.’s own Jimmie Johnson. It currently operates racing schools and safe driving academies at nine different venues across the country such as Sonoma Raceway, Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Laguna Seca, and Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Homecoming: Winston-Salem native Justin Reissmann, fueler for the No. 43, returns to his roots this week at his “home track.” Reissmann’s journey in motorsports began after earning a BS in Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2012. He worked at Roush Fenway Racing (now RFK) from 2011 to 2014, gaining valuable experience in the engineering departments before transitioning to Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) from 2015 to 2021. During his tenure at both Roush Fenway and RPM, Reissmann contributed to the engineering programs while serving as the fueler, showcasing his versatility and expertise.

Short track, big momentum: The recent race at Richmond Raceway cleared a significant hurdle for Erik Jones and the No.43 team. This marked their best finish at the 0.75-mile track since Jones joined the organization at the beginning of the 2021 season. The team has struggled in the past six races at Richmond, with an average finish of 25.3. However, their 14th-place finish this weekend marks a positive step forward for the organization’s short-track program.

Family Dollar Gold Star: Primary partner Family Dollar will honor store #43, located in Martinsville, Virginia this weekend as a part of the company’s “Go For G.O.L.D.” (Grand Opening Look Daily) program. Throughout the race season, the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar primaries will highlight these stores on the deck lid of all three LEGACY M.C. entries.

Xfinity success: Crew chief Dave Elenz has three starts at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during his time with JR Motorsports. Out of these three starts, he achieved three top-five finishes, led 188 laps, and secured the checkered flag during the 2021 fall race. Elenz has an average start of 6.3 and an average finish of 2.0 at the historic short track.

Ben too!: Crew chief Ben Beshore has a great record at Martinsville in the Xfinity Series, winning two races with Harrison Burton and John Hunter Nemechek. Beshore’s drivers led a total of 333 laps around the paper clip-shaped track.

Tick tock: LEGACY M.C. co-owner Jimmie Johnson has visited Victory Lane nine times at this track, therefore owning nine of the coveted grandfather clock trophies. These dominating victories place Johnson third all-time at Martinsville, tied with Jeff Gordon, only trailing Richard Petty ‘The King’ and Darrell Waltrip.

Career averages: Jones has 40 starts on short tracks in his NASCAR Cup Series career, earning an average start of 17.7 and an average finish of 19.2. Jones has led 293 laps in these 40 attempts, earning four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

CLUB QUOTES

John Hunter Nemechek, Driver of the No. 42 Skip Barber Racing School Toyota Camry XSE:

“Laps are laps so success in Trucks or Xfinity doesn’t translate over automatically. Working with the Next Gen car we are learning the car itself. The tracks are the same but the car is just so different. There is a lot more to these longer races on the Cup side than the Xfinity or truck side. I am just soaking up information like a sponge. The short practices are tough but Ben and I are just gaining on it throughout the races and we are making improvements. As a driver, I am putting in the work during the week and showing up being prepared. As far as learning how this car feels in traffic, we are spending time during the race to do so but we get better from start to finish.”

Ben Beshore, Crew chief of the No. 42 Skip Barber Racing School Toyota Camry XSE:

“I think we are doing a good job of running every lap and not making catastrophic mistakes to where we are getting a decent finish out of each of these races. The results aren’t what we had hoped for, but as long as we keep improving every week, that is a positive. We want to keep progressing and getting better and the team, JH and the pit crew are doing a great job getting solid days. Our second half performance of the race is way better than the first – and that is consistent – so it’s just going to take some time and we will start seeing results.”

Erik Jones, Driver of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:

Talk about the team morale going into Martinsville after a top-15 at another short track in Richmond.

“We hope the momentum keeps rolling after Richmond. We have had a handful of rough races—some of those from lack of speed and some of those are out of our control. It was nice just to have a smooth race; everything went really well and went our way, which was good. Going into Martinsville, we hope that we can continue that on. We learned a lot on our car and some other tools that we have as well, so that is a good note to head into Martinsville on.”

Has Richard given you any tips on how to conquer the paperclip?

“Richard has always talked about the patience that place takes. He always talks about the importance of saving your equipment so you can make it through the entire thing, especially with the racetrack and your fellow competitors. That has been goal number one and what he has shared with me when going out and competing for a win at Martinsville.”

Dave Elenz, Crew chief of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:

How has the organization’s short-track program improved so far this season?

“Our short track program is a lot stronger this year than last year. The new rules package that we have with the simple diffuser on the back plays an advantage for us. It also helps with the feel that Erik is looking for. Last weekend at Richmond was a little bit of a struggle, but we came out with a good finish in the end. We look forward to continuing to improve our cars going into Martinsville to earn a stronger finish overall.”

PETTY 75TH ANNIVERSARY

ABOUT PETTY 75th: The 2024 season marks a significant milestone in the history of the Petty family as they have helped define stock car racing for 75 years. Their commitment to the sport and the people who make it possible – behind the wheel, under the hood, in the back office and beyond – has shaped the growth and success of NASCAR. Their LEGACY lives on with the countless fans, drivers, technicians and team members they touched. Throughout 2024, LEGACY M.C. will celebrate the Petty family and share countless memories with friends and fans at race tracks across the country.

Petty History in Martinsville: The Petty Family has a storied history at Martinsville Speedway, with Lee and Richard winning a collective 18 races at this historic short track. Lee won three times in his 24 attempts (Spring ’53, Fall ’54, Spring ’59). However, it was Richard Petty who was truly dominant at Martinsville. ‘The King’ earned 15 wins at the historic short track, setting a record that still stands today, including 10 wins in 13 attempts between 1967 and 1973.

Petty Fest: Race fans far and wide will have the chance to celebrate their affinity with the Petty family at the 14th Annual PettyFest on April 20th. This historic event celebrates all things Petty and will take place at the Petty Museum in Level Cross, N.C., from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event will feature meet and greets with Kyle and Richard Petty, tours of the original Petty homestead, food trucks, vendors, and much more. Meet and greet wristbands are limited to the first 100 guests.

The King’s Hat: The Martinsville King’s Hat will be in the Fan Zone outside of Turn 4 at the Virginia-based track.

BROADCAST INFO

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 7th @ 3:00 PM ET

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS

ABOUT DOLLAR TREE, INC.: Dollar Tree, a Fortune 200 Company, operated 16,622 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of October 28, 2023. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada. To learn more about the Company, visit www.DollarTree.com.

ABOUT SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL: Founded in 1975, the Skip Barber Racing School is the largest in the world with over 400,000 alumni. It currently operates racing schools and safe driving academies at nine different venues across the country. Since the inaugural season of SRX in 2021, the Skip Barber Racing School has served as the official logistics partner for the series, responsible for the care, maintenance, and transport of all series vehicles throughout the season. Many of the regular competitors in SRX graduated from the Skip Barber Racing School including Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, and Marco Andretti. In addition to operating over 200 days of racing schools and safe driving academies each year, the Skip Barber Racing School owns and operates the Skip Barber Race Series, a training-focused Formula 4 series. The Skip Barber Racing School also competes in professional racing under the Skip Barber Racing banner with entries in a variety of series including IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, TC America powered by the Skip Barber Racing School, and Toyota GR Cup North America. www.SkipBarber.com

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice “Maury” J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The CLUB competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series fielding the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE of John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE of Erik Jones, and the No. 84 limited schedule entry for Johnson. LEGACY M.C. also competes in the Extreme E Series. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty “The King” serves as CLUB Ambassador. With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level. To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ on Facebook, X, Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.

MARTINSVILLE 1

Friday, April 5 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, April 6 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Sunday, April 7 — NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (FS1)

A pair of consecutive night races kicks off the first of two NASCAR weekends at Martinsville Speedway as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series kicks things off on Friday night with the NASCAR Xfinity Series following 24 hours later. The weekend culminates with an afternoon race on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series.

CAM WATERS SET TO MAKE NASCAR DEBUT

Cam Waters, a fixture in the Australian Repco Supercars Championship, is scheduled to make his NASCAR debut in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Waters, who drives for Tickford Racing, has won three races in each of the last three seasons and has 10 career victories overall. He will be in a fifth truck for ThorSport, joining Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Jake Garcia.

BLANEY REPEAT?

The last time NASCAR came to Martinsville Speedway, Ryan Blaney passed Aric Almirola with 22 laps to go and never looked back to win the Xfinity 500 and clinch a spot in the Championship 4. Blaney came into the race with a 10-point cushion, but extended that by finishing second in Stage 1 and winning Stage 2. In all, Blaney led four times for 145 laps enroute to his third victory of the year, which matched his career-best for a single season. One week later, Blaney was celebrating his first championship. Overall, Martinsville is Blaney’s best track in terms of averaging finish. In 16 career starts, the Team Penske driver has a 9.0 average finish, which includes a current streak of four consecutive top-10 runs.

LOGANO LIKES MARTINSVILLE

Only one other track on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit has been better for Joey Logano when it comes to qualifying than Martinsville Speedway. Logano enters this weekend with an average starting position of 8.4 at the half-mile facility and is only bettered by his 7.8 average at Las Vegas. He has six poles, including three in a row in 2015-16, and had an active streak of 18 straight top-10 starts (including races where qualifying was rained out) at one point. In 30 career races at Martinsville, Logano has an average finishing position of 10.9 and has been running at the finish of every event. He come into Sunday’s race with a streak of nine straight top-10 finishes, including runner-up finishes in this event each of the past two years.

BUESCHER SHOWING TOP 10 CONSISTENCY

Chris Buescher heads into this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway looking to extend a top-10 finishing streak that reached four after his ninth-place run Sunday night in Richmond. After an 18th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, Buescher has registered five top 10 efforts in the last six races with Las Vegas being his only hiccup as a wheel issue resulted in him hitting the wall and finishing 37th. Other than that, he’s been a model of consistency at Atlanta (9th), Phoenix (2nd), Bristol (7th), COTA (8th) and Richmond (9th). In 17 career series starts at Martinsville Speedway, Buescher has only a pair of top-10 results, but one of those came on his last visit when he finished eighth.

RYAN BLANEY: “Bristol and Martinsville are the same size, but very different shapes and banking and speed. I feel like at Martinsville I find myself getting into more of a rhythm than Bristol. At Bristol things are happening super quick and you’re always loaded up in the corner. Martinsville is more finesse. You ease it down in the corner and try to find your own rhythm there if you get a little bit of a break from someone pressuring you or you trying to pressure somebody else. You kind of get in this mode at Martinsville 50 or so laps into a run onwards and you just kind of find yourself in a little bit of a trance of making laps and adjusting for what the track wants. It’s a big rhythm racetrack.”

CHASE BRISCOE: “Five hundred laps is definitely a long time at Martinsville. Physically, it’s one of the harder races we go to. When we got done with the fall race there last year I literally couldn’t even bend over to take my shoes off because my back hurt so bad just with all of the braking we’re doing there constantly, so it’s hard from a physical standpoint. Mentally, I feel like it’s harder for some guys than others just to stay mentally focused for that long and just always being around somebody and keeping your emotions in check, but it is a marathon. It’s 500 laps, but it goes by super quick. At the same time it’s super long. There are a lot of opportunities to make mistakes, but you’ve got to be so aggressive there now with this Next Gen car because it is so hard to pass. It’s so hard to get track position that, honestly, you run 500 qualifying laps and it’s a challenge to do that well. I’m looking forward to getting to Martinsville. That’s been a place where I feel like we’ve done everything but win there the last four times, so that’s probably the one race I’ve had circled on the schedule for a while now.”

HARRISON BURTON: “I feel great about Martinsville. It’s always fun to go there because the Wood Brothers have a huge following there and we have a lot of support. I think we’ve run well there at times, but Martinsville is either a good run or a bad run for a lot of people and it all depends on qualifying recently. You’ve got to really qualify well and if you don’t, you can have one of the best cars and still go a lap down. Martinsville, for me, qualifying is everything and it’s going to be half-a-tenth that makes the difference in five or six spots, so we’re gonna have to just really nail that and have a good lap. Once you get in the race, it’s really managing the runs and trying to restart well. I think restarts are really important to get spots early and then hopefully tuck back in line and try to manage your tires and run a little bit. For me, it’s super exciting to go there. I love Martinsville. It’s one of my favorite racetracks.”

KESELOWSKI WINS FIRST CLOCK

Brad Keselowski outdueled Kyle Busch down the stretch to win his first grandfather clock after capturing the STP 500 on Apr. 2, 2017. The two drivers waged a memorable battle that saw them swap the lead five times in the last 160 laps, but Keselowski ended up making the decisive pass on lap 458 and led the final 43 circuits to become the first repeat winner in 2017. Prior to winning at Martinsville, Keselowski took the checkered flag at Atlanta in the second race of the season.

BOWYER NETS FIRST FORD WIN

Clint Bowyer snapped a 190-race winless stretch by leading the final 114 laps to win the weather-delayed STP 500 in 2018. The win was Bowyer’s first with Ford and ninth of his career. He passed Ryan Blaney on lap 285 to gain the lead for the first time, and when Jamie McMurray brought out the caution 100 laps later after hitting the wall, Bowyer’s pit crew got him back out with the lead and that proved to be the difference. That capped a big day for Ford, which had five drivers finish in the Top 10 and saw Blaney win Stage 2.

A FIRST FOR FORD AND FRED

The first time Ford won a NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway also marked the first career victory for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen. The date was April 9, 1961 and Lorenzen battled Rex White, who led the first 118 laps after starting on the pole. Lorenzen, driving for Holman-Moody, grabbed the lead on lap 119 and held it until rain came ending the race prematurely after 149 circuits. Little did anyone know that 54 years later both men would be enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the same induction class. Martinsville was a place Lorenzen dominated, winning six times, including four straight from 1963-65 – the only driver to date to accomplish the feat. He was absolutely unbeatable in 1964 as he led 990 out of a possible 1,000 laps (487 in the first and 493 in the second) in winning both races.

CUSTER EXTENDS TOP 10 STREAK

Cole Custer had to drive through the field during the latter stages of last week’s race at Richmond Raceway, but he was able to extend his streak of top-10 finishes to four after a 10th-place finish. The streak started with a runner-up finish in Las Vegas and continued with runs of fifth at Phoenix Raceway and fourth at Circuit of the Americas. Custer, who is third in the point standings, has two career series starts at Martinsville Speedway. He sat on the pole and finished third in 2023 before ending up 19th last year.

MAJESKI SECOND IN POINTS

Ty Majeski is still looking for his first win of the season, but he comes into Friday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway second in the point standings and only 10 points out of the overall lead. Majeski, who has started in the top 10 in all five races this year, has finished 11th and fourth in his two previous series starts at Martinsville Speedway.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS

AT MARTINSVILLE

1961 – Fred Lorenzen (1)

1962 – Nelson Stacy (2)

1963 – Fred Lorenzen (2)

1964 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)

1965 – Fred Lorenzen and Junior Johnson

1966 – Fred Lorenzen (2)

1969 – Richard Petty (Sweep)

1986 – Ricky Rudd (1)

1990 – Geoffrey Bodine (Sweep)

1992 – Mark Martin and Geoffrey Bodine

1993 – Ernie Irvan (2)

1994 – Rusty Wallace (Sweep)

1995 – Rusty Wallace (1)

1996 – Rusty Wallace (1)

1997 – Jeff Burton (1)

1998 – Ricky Rudd (2)

2000 – Mark Martin (1)

2001 – Dale Jarrett and Ricky Craven

2002 – Kurt Busch (2)

2017 – Brad Keselowski (1)

2018 – Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano

2019 – Brad Keselowski (1)

2023 – Ryan Blaney (2)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS

AT MARTINSVILLE

1994 – Kenny Wallace

FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE

1995 – Joe Ruttman

2003 – Jon Wood (2)

2004 – Rick Crawford (1)

2005 – Ricky Craven (2)

2015 – Joey Logano (1)

2020 – Grant Enfinger

CHASE BRISCOE
Martinsville Advance
No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 8 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 7
● Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
● Layout: .526-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/210.4 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 220 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● The NASCAR Cup Series’ short-track attack resumes with a second straight race in Virginia, and Chase Briscoe is eyeing improvement after finishing 18th last Sunday at the .75-mile Richmond Raceway. Martinsville Speedway is next up for the driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, and the .526-mile oval has been the site of a streak of front-running consistency for Briscoe that has improved each time he has turned a wheel on the paperclip-shaped bullring.

● Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville will mark Briscoe’s seventh career NASCAR Cup Series start at the venerable track. Since his Cup Series debut at Martinsville in April 2021, when he finished 27th, Briscoe had made steady and significant improvement. He finished 22nd in his return to Martinsville in October 2021 and has not finished outside of the top-10 in his last four Martinsville starts, finishing ninth (April 2022), ninth (October 2022), fifth (April 2023) and fourth (October 2023).

● Briscoe’s best Martinsville race as a NASCAR Cup Series driver came last April when he finished fifth. He started fourth and took the lead on lap 186 and paced the field for the next 71 laps. A series of green-flag pit stops jumbled the running order, but Briscoe came back to take the lead on lap 307 and he stayed out front for another 38 laps to bring his laps-led total for the race to 109, second only to his Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Preece, who led 135 laps.

● Briscoe has three other Martinsville starts outside of the NASCAR Cup Series – one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and two in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Briscoe finished seventh in his lone Xfinity Series start at Martinsville in October 2020, and in his two Truck Series starts at the track, both taking place in 2017, Briscoe finished 11th (April) and 19th (October).

● Briscoe won the pole for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville in October 2017. He promptly led the first 39 laps and was a front-running fixture until he was collected in an accident on lap 138 of the 200-lap race. The winner that day was Noah Gragson, Briscoe’s current teammate at Stewart-Haas.

● Mahindra Ag North America is in its third year as the anchor sponsor for Briscoe and the No. 14 team after extending its partnership with Stewart-Haas during the offseason. The multiyear agreement with the NASCAR team co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and industrialist Gene Haas continues to feature Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Mahindra Ag North America, on Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Mustang for the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America is part of Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector, the No. 1 selling farm tractor company in the world, based on volumes across all company brands. Mahindra offers a range of tractor models from 20-75 horsepower, implements, and the ROXOR heavy-duty UTV. Mahindra farm equipment is engineered to be easy to operate by first-time tractor or side-by-side owners and heavy duty to tackle the tough jobs of rural living, farming and ranching. Steel-framed Mahindra Tractors and side-by-sides are ideal for customers who demand performance, reliability and comfort. Mahindra dealers are independent, family-owned businesses located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You come into Martinsville with four straight top-10 finishes at the track. In fact, in each of your last four races there, you’ve gotten better – ninth, ninth, fifth and fourth – and you led 109 laps in last year’s spring race. Talk about your progression at Martinsville and how you’ve gotten better there with each race.

“I feel like Martinsville is one of those places where the more you run there, the better you’re going to get. It’s such a unique racetrack. It seems like guys, once they figure it out, they’re always good there. You look at Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and people like that, it’s one of those place where once you figure it out, it seems like your technique always works there. We’ve been really good at Martinsville every time we’ve gone there over the last two years, and have probably done everything but win the race, it seems like. We’ve led a ton of laps and things like that, so hopefully this will be the time we can improve on our recent finishes – ninth, ninth, fifth, fourth – hopefully we can finish better, but would love to obviously bring home a grandfather clock. It’s one of the more iconic trophies and we’ve been really close and almost close enough to where we could see it – see where we want to put it, we just haven’t been able to put it there, yet.”

How physical is a race at Martinsville? You’re on the brakes hard at least 800 times, so your lower body gets a workout as much as your upper body.

“It’s really hard. I probably didn’t realize how hard it was until the last time we were there in the fall. For whatever reason after the race, I couldn’t even bend over to take my shoes off. I had to have my wife help me because my back was in so much pain from all the braking we were doing. It’s a really hard place to run, and even mentally it’s a place where you’ve got to be on your game. So Martinsville is probably overlooked a lot of the time, the physicality of it, just because the speeds and the G-forces are what we would have at other places. There’s a lot that goes on with your body at those races so you definitely feel it the next day. Martinsville’s definitely gotten a little more challenging with the NextGen car because, before, you would leave it in fourth gear and just run the whole time in fourth. Now, we’re downshifting every single corner, and then upshifting down the straightaway, so you’re just busier inside the racecar. It definitely has made Martinsville more physical overall. Your arms are getting more of a workout, your feet are doing a lot more with the pedals and things like that, so there’s just a lot going on at Martinsville in a very short lap.”

When you have a race that’s as physical as Martinsville, how does the simulator help prepare you?

“The sim’s really hard at Martinsville. It seems like the shorter the racetrack is, the harder it is sometimes to manage the simulator. Really flat tracks and really, really high-banked tracks sometimes throw it for a little bit of a loop. But I will say I feel like we’ve done a really good job over the last year trying to make our Martinsville simulator better, in general. I think that is some of the reason why we’ve seen us have success on the real racetrack, as well. Martinsville’s a hard one just because there are so many variables that go into it. The weather is always really important there with how the rubber gets laid down. At that racetrack, just where the rubber is laid down and things like that really change the grip level. That’s what makes the simulator so challenging there.”

When it comes to on-track contact at Martinsville, what’s OK and what isn’t?

“It’s hard to say until you’re in it. It’s hard for me to say this would be OK, or this wouldn’t be OK. Once you’re in the moment, you kind of make up your mind as soon as it happens what you’re going to do to somebody else. It’s one of those deals where if you’re getting held up by a guy time and time and time again, you finally just kind of get fed up with it and you go and move him and go on. I feel like early in the race you try to give him at least a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, but anymore, it’s so hard to pass that as soon as you get to him, you try to move him and go on. It’s definitely evolved a lot over the last couple of years with the NextGen car.”

When do you need to just let something go and when do you need to stand up for yourself and give a shot back?

“I think it’s different for everybody. I don’t ever really get worked up, but I think there are some drivers who get worked up and just go ballistic, and that’s when it’s better if you just let it go and forget about it. You see some guys where somebody does them wrong early in the race, it just derails their whole race because they’re more worried about getting that guy back than just trying to run their race. I think it’s different for everybody. Everybody’s personalities and attitudes are so different that it’s a different answer for all. For me, it’s hard to say what you’ve got to do. If somebody does you wrong, you definitely have to get them back at some point just to stand up for yourself because, if you don’t do it and you let somebody walk all over you on the racetrack, they’re just going to do it time and time again because they know you’re not going to do anything about, so you have to stand your ground.”

How challenging is pit road at Martinsville, from navigating the curves, the tight boxes and all the traffic?

“Martinsville’s hard. It’s just so narrow on pit road and there’s not a whole lot of room. It’s always hard when you’re leaving your pit box there just because there are normally cars coming around on the outside line. It’s only two lanes wide, in general, so then you’re in the inside lane while those other pit crews are trying to change the right-side tires and it’s really, really tight. And just with how slow the speed is, the RPM change is very, very tight, and that’s why you see so many speeding penalties at a place like Martinsville.”

No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe

Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey

Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Spotter: Joey Campbell

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal

Hometown: Holland, Michigan

Jack Man: Dylan Moser

Hometown: Monroe, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams

Hometown: Plymouth, Wisconsin

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser

Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips

Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable

Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Dale Lackey

Hometown: Taylorsville, North Carolina

RYAN PREECE
Martinsville Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Event Overview

● Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 8 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 7
● Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
● Layout: .526-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/210.4 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 220 laps
● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Ticking like a grandfather clock, Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, sets his sights on the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he won his first-career NASCAR Cup Series pole in 2023 and led a career-best 135 laps. Preece has nine Cup Series starts at Martinsville and has completed an average of 92.1 percent of the laps at the historic .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval.

● Preece sits 30th in the Cup Series driver standings entering Martinsville, a track where he’s been to victory lane twice in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, including last fall, when he dominated the feature and finished nearly a full second ahead of the night’s second-place finisher in October 2023. Preece’s other Modified Tour win at Martinsville came in 2008.

● Known for his skills on short tracks, Preece is gearing up for a second consecutive weekend in Virginia. Last weekend, he and his fellow Cup Series competitors were up the road at Richmond Raceway, where Preece made a strong move into the top-10 during damp conditions at the outset of the Richmond 400, advancing from his 16th starting position. Preece went on to skillfully navigate around a spinning Daniel Suarez with just five laps left in Stage 1, ultimately securing a 10th-place finish in the stage. Preece had to settle for a 28th-place finish, however, after he was hit with a speeding penalty and an untimely caution in Stage 2, which dropped him to the tail of the 36-car field.

● Back with Preece and the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at Martinsville is HaasTooling.com, the cutting tool division of Haas Automation. HaasTooling.com allows CNC machinists to purchase high-quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users. Haas Automation, founded in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, rotaries and indexers, and automation solutions.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You qualified within the top-10 for both Cup Series races at Martinsville last season, one of which was a pole position. Do you expect the momentum and speed to carry over from last year?

“We had a really fast car at Martinsville last season, but we had a speeding penalty that cost us quite a bit of track position. We were able to get stage points and some of those things. We really found ourselves a direction to head in for this year. Going into Martinsville, a lot of things have changed. With some of the changes that we’ve seen, it should be an interesting race, but we’re looking at carrying as much of that momentum and speed over as possible.”

What’s the key to having speed and racing competitively at Martinsville?

“When we have the right setup, the speed is there. We showed that at this event last year. Unfortunately, it also comes down to not speeding on pit road and losing track position. We are on a different tire and have a different aero package this year. There are a lot of things that are different, but it’s still the same track, so we just need to make sure that our group is continuing to make adjustments to be that much better. Looking back over the past couple of years, Stewart-Haas as a whole has definitely had speed at Martinsville, so we’re looking forward to it.”

What has the experience been like having Josh Berry as a teammate this year, given the similarity in both of your racing backgrounds. Both of you are short-track racers.

“Josh and I share a lot of common interests in terms of how we want to drive a racecar. We can have conversations about what the cars are doing and be speaking the same language, so to speak, when it comes to some of those things. He’s just easy to get along with.”

What do you think the racing will look like at Martinsville this weekend?

“It’s been really nice to see some of the capabilities that we have had at the short tracks this year. I don’t think we will have much rubber build-up at Martinsville. It’s also going to be cooler temperatures this weekend, and based on past experience racing in those conditions, there typically isn’t a whole lot of build-up. However, we also had cooler temperatures at Bristol and had a lot of tire wear there. It will probably be tough to pass at Martinsville this weekend, but the biggest thing to emphasize is the field is closer than it’s ever been, so it’s not easy to pass in general. If you have a car that is maneuverable and can go where other drivers aren’t, you can find a way to pass. Outside of that, it’s going to be about strategy and track position.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Ryan Preece

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Crew Chief: Chad Johnston

Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana

Car Chief: Jeremy West

Hometown: Gardena, California

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen

Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Spotter: Tony Raines

Hometown: LaPorte, Indiana

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Rear Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf

Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida

Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas

Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Road Crew Members

Front End Mechanic: Joe Zanolini

Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Interior Mechanic: Robert Dalby

Hometown: Anaheim, California

Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgeway

Hometown: Carrollton, Georgia

Engine Tuner: Jimmy Fife

Hometown: Orange County, California

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues

Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer

Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania