A Closer Look at Martinsville Speedway

NASCAR rolls on as they continue their fourth week since coming back from the pause in the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing a pair of races at Darlington and Charlotte in the first two weeks, the circuit moved to The World’s Fastest Half Mile at Bristol to close out the month of May with a highly entertaining race that saw four different drivers hold the lead in the final dozen laps. This week, NASCAR saw Kevin Harvick take the checkered flag at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Today, we give you some background on Martinsville Speedway to give you insight before putting down some wagers on Wednesday night’s Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.

Martinsville Speedway was constructed in 1947 and was one of the first paved ovals on the NASCAR circuit. It is the only track that has hosted at least one NASCAR race every year since the circuit came into existence back in 1949. Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the circuit, measuring just .526 miles in length and is commonly referred to as a paper clip-shaped track. Pit road starts in turn three, runs all along the front straightaway and vehicles exit via turn two. That means that pit road covers roughly three-quarters of the track all things considered. The turns are banked at just 12 degrees while the straightaways are completely flat with zero degrees of bank, which is starkly different than most tracks.

Originally, the track was a half-mile circuit from its first race under the NASCAR umbrella back in 1949. That length remained until the fall race at Martinsville in 1969, when it moved to .526 miles, It trimmed back a thousandth of a mile to .525 miles in May of 1970 and remained that way until the April 1984 race when it went back to the .526 mile mark. It has remained at that .526-mile length ever since.

The very first race run at Martinsville under what we know now as the NASCAR Cup Series circuit came with the NASCAR Strictly Stock race on September 25, 1949. In a 200-lap race, it was Red Byron taking the checkered flag. There were only three lead changes in the race with Byron leading the final 97 laps en route to the victory. He was the lone car on the lead lap in the 15-car field with only five vehicles running at the end of the race. For his efforts, he earned $1,500 for the victory.

When it comes to all-time records, Richard Petty owns the majority of them. He owns the record for the most races run on the track (67), the most victories (15) and the most top-five finishes (30) at Martinsville. Darrell Waltrip owns the record for the most poles with eight while Jeff Gordon has the most top-10 showings with 38. When it comes down to active drivers, Kurt Busch has run 39 races at Martinsville to lead the way. Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick each have raced here 37 times. Jimmie Johnson has won here nine times to lead the active drivers on the circuit while Denny Hamlin has five wins. Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch each have won twice while Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman each have one trip to Victory Lane.

When it comes to top-five finishes, Johnson leads the way with 19 while Kyle Busch has 16 and Hamlin 15. Johnson also paces active drivers with 24 top-10 finishes at Martinsville while Hamlin has 21. Harvick has 19 top-10 runs while Newman and Kyle Busch both have 17. Joey Logano has earned five poles at the track to lead active drivers. Hamlin has four, Johnson and Newman have three each and Kyle Busch has two to round out the active drivers with more than one pole win to their name here.

Last season saw the winner in both races come from the #3 spot in the grid. In the 2019 STP 500, it was Keselowski taking the checkered flag by .594 seconds over Chase Elliott on March 24, 2019 for the spring race. In the fall race on October 27, 2019, Martin Truex Jr. claimed the First Data 500 by .373 seconds over William Byron in what was the most recent run at the track. Wednesday’s race is expected to drop the green flag at 7 pm ET with television coverage coming to you via FS1. Pre-race coverage begins at 6 pm ET.

Author Profile
Chris King

Chris King has been immersed in the world of professional and collegiate sports for more than three decades. Whether it's playing pickup games or being involved in organized sports to being a fan, he's checked all the boxes. From the NFL to arena football, the NHL to the KHL, the NBA to the WNBA to college hoops, and even MLB to the KBO. If it's out there, he's covered it and bet on it as well, as Chris has been an expert bettor in his career. Before joining Winners and Whiners back in 2015, his work appeared around the internet and in print. He's written books for Ruckus Books about college basketball, the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, golf, and the World Cup. If you're looking for the inside track on hitting a winner, do yourself a favor and read what Chris has to say.