Table of Contents
All three top level NASCAR series competed in night races at Virginia’s 0.526-mile “paperclip” shaped oval Martinsville Speedway this past week. William Byron, who led a race-high 212 laps, survived a two-lap overtime shoot-out to win Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. He is now the only Cup driver with multiple wins (Atlanta in March) this season.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sat, Apr 9, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway – 400 laps (+3 laps OT)
– Chase Elliott (#9 Chevrolet Camaro) won the Pole Award for Saturday night’s race with a lap of 96.151 mph. This is his 10th pole in 229 NCS races. It is his 1st pole and 4th top-10 start in 2022. It is his 1st pole in 14 races at Martinsville. Aric Almirola (2nd) posted his 4th top-10 start of 2022 and his 10th in 27 M’ville races. Cole Custer (3rd) earned his 1st top-10 start at M’ville and his 2nd in eight races this season. Todd Gilliland (10th) was the fastest qualifying Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Did not qualify: No one. Only 36 teams entered for the 40-car lineup.
– William Byron (#24 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 4th victory in 152 NCS races. This is his 2nd victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2022. It is his 1st win and 5th top-10 finish in nine races at Martinsville. Joey Logano (2nd) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 27 M’ville races and his 4th top-10 finish in 2022. Austin Dillon (3rd) earned his 3rd top-10 finish in 17 races at M’ville. Austin Cindric (11th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Chase Elliott led 185 laps and finished in 10th place.
– NCS points leader: Chase Elliott leads the point standings by 3 points over Ryan Blaney.
– Next: Sun, Apr 17, Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt – 250 laps
TOP-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Chase Elliott 1
2. Ryan Blaney -1
3. William Byron 1
4. Joey Logano 1
5. Ross Chastain 1
6. Alex Bowman 1
7. Martin Truex Jr. -4
8. Aric Almirola 3
9. Kevin Harvick -1
10. Kyle Busch 0
11. Chase Briscoe -2
12. Tyler Reddick 1
13. Kyle Larson -1
14. Austin Cindric 1
15. Austin Dillon 1
16. Kurt Busch 2
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Fri, Apr 8, Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway – 250 laps (+11 laps OT)
– Ty Gibbs (#54 Toyota Supra) won the Pole Award for Friday night’s race with a lap of 95.985 mph. This is his 4th pole in 26 NXS races. It is his 3rd pole and 5th top-10 start in 2022 and his 1st pole in three races at Martinsville. Justin Allgaier (2nd) posted his 3rd top-10 start of 2022 and his 4th in four M’ville races. Noah Gragson (3rd) earned his 4th top-10 start at M’ville and his 6th in eight races this season. Sheldon Creed (5th) was the fastest qualifying ROTY. 43 cars entered for the 38-car lineup. Did Not Qualify: #45 Ryan Ellis, #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr. #13 Chad Finchum, #78 Josh Williams and #52 Harrison Rhodes.
– Brandon Jones (#19 Toyota Supra) scored his 5th victory in 211 NXS races. This is his 1st victory and 4th top-10 finish in 2022. It is his first win and 4th top-10 finish in four M’ville races. Landon Cassill (2nd) posted his 1st top-10 finish in three races at M’ville and his 4th top-10 finish in 2022. AJ Allmendinger (3rd) earned his 2nd top-10 finish in four M’ville races. AJ also won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finisher of the four eligible drivers. Austin Hill (4th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Ty Gibbs led a race-high 197 laps and finished 8th in the 261-lap event.
– NXS points leader: AJ Allmendinger by 20 point over Ty Gibbs.
– Next: Sat, Apr 23, Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway – 113 laps
TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. AJ Allmendinger 0
2. Ty Gibbs 0
3. Noah Gragson 0
4. Brandon Jones 3
5. Josh Berry -1
6. Sam Mayer 0
7. Justin Allgaier -2
8. Daniel Hemric 0
9. Ryan Sieg 1
10. Austin Hill -1
11. Riley Herbst 0
12. Landon Cassill 4
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Thu, Apr 7, Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps
– NTS practice and qualifying for Thursday night’s race at Martinsville was cancelled due to heavy rain. The lineup for the event was set based on the NASCAR rulebook. This placed Zane Smith (#38 Ford F-150) P1 and Cup Series regular Kyle Busch (#51 Toyota Tundra) P2 on the front row. #99 Ben Rhodes, #18 Chandler Smith, #4 John Hunter Nemechek, #52 Stewart Friesen, #98 Christian Eckes, #16 Tyler Ankrum, #42 Carson Hocevar and #19 Derek Kraus round out the top-10 in the starting lineup. Did not make the 36-truck lineup: #9 Blaine Perkins, #90 Justin Carroll and #35 Jake Garcia.
– Cup Series regular William Byron (#24 Chevrolet Camaro), driving the Spire Motorsports #7 Chevrolet Silverado, led a race-high 94 laps and scored his 8th victory in 26 NTS races. This is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in three NTS races at Martinsville. Johnny Sauter (2nd) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 27 Martinsville races and his 1st top-10 finish in 2022. Cup Series regular Kyle Busch (3rd) posted his 8th top-10 finish in 11 NTS races at Martinsville. Lawless Alan (20th) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter Zane Smith led 55 laps and finished in 9th place.
– NTS points leader: Ben Rhodes leads the standings by 4 points over Chandler Smith.
– Next: Sat, Apr 16, Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt – 150 laps
TOP-10 NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Ben Rhodes 1
2. Chandler Smith -1
3. Zane Smith 1
4. Stewart Friesen -1
5. John Hunter Nemechek 3
6. Christian Eckes 0
7. Tanner Gray -2
8. Ty Majeski -1
9. Matt Crafton 2
10. Tyler Ankrum -1
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Fri, Mar 11 General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway – 154 laps
Winner: Taylor Gray – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Daniel Dye
Next: Sat, Apr 23, General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway – 76 laps
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Mar 19, Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Leland Honeyman Jr. – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Fri, Apr 29, Dover 125 at Dover Motor Speedway – 125 laps
ARCA Menards West:
Sat, Mar 26, NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway – 150 laps
Winner: Tanner Reif – P1: Tanner Reif – Points Leader: Jake Drew
Next: Sat, Apr 23, Kern County 150 at Kern County Raceway Park – 150 laps
Whelen Modified Tour:
Fri, Apr 1, Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway – 150 laps
Winner: Justin Bonsignore – P1: Justin Bonsignore – Points Leader: Eric Goodale
Next: Sat, May 14, TBA – Riverhead Raceway – 200 laps
NASCAR Pinty’s Series:
Season Opener: Sat, May 14, TBA at Sunset Speedway
NASCAR Mexico Series:
Sun, Apr 10, NASCAR Mexico Race #1 at Super Ovalo Chiapas – 170 laps
Winner: TBA – P1: Giancarlo Vecchi – Points Leader: TBA
Next: Sun, May 8, NASCAR Mexico #2 at Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera
Track Details
Autodromo del Ecocentro de la Union Ganadera – 0.79-mile oval – Queretaro
Bristol Motor Speedway – 0.533-mile (Dirt Race) – Bristol, Tennessee
Dover Motor Speedway – 1-mile concrete oval – Dover, Delaware
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Irwindale Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Irwindale, California
Kern County Raceway Park – 0.5-mile oval – Bakersfield, California
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Richmond Raceway – 0.75-mile oval – Richmond, Virginia
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas – 0.75-mile tri-oval – Tuxtla Gutierrez
Talladega Superspeedway – 2.66-mile tri-oval – Talladega, Alabama