Weather Postpones All on Track Activity at Martinsville Speedway Until Monday

750 Laps for 394.5 Miles on Monday

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were able to participate in two practices Saturday before the weather forced the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to be postponed. The initial Sunday doubleheader turned into a full Monday slate after heavy snow Saturday night forced a quick postponement decision.

The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST on Monday, followed by the STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at 2 p.m. EST.

Monday, March 26 Race Detailed Schedule

• 8:00 am 2:00 pm Credentials Open
• 8:00 am NCWTS Garage Opens
• 9:00 am Track Services Meeting (Speedway Operations Building)
• 9:00 am MENCS Garage Opens
• 10:30 am 7:00 pm MENCS ** Hot Pass In Effect **
• 11:00 am NCWTS Race (250 Laps, 131.5 Miles)
• 12:00 pm MENCS Driver / Crew Chief Meeting (Drivers Meeting Tent Outside Turns 3 & 4)
• 1:20 pm MENCS Driver Introductions
• 2:00 pm MENCS Race (500 Laps, 263 Miles)

Ben Rhodes, driver of the #41 Alpha Energy Solutions Ford,
leads a pack of trucks during the NASCAR Camping World Truck
Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway
Credit: Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Martinsville Speedway has seen seven different winners in the last seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at the half-mile track.

A trio of strong series regulars will look to end that streak by returning to Victory Lane at Martinsville.

The most recent winner, Noah Gragson, has just two starts at the short track and finished fourth in his other outing last April. Martinsville was a shining light for him in 2017, as half of his top-five finishes in his rookie campaign came at the track.

Daniel Suarez, driver of the #19 ARRIS Toyota, leads JJ Yeley,
driver of the #55 Adirondack Tree Surgeons Chevrolet, and
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops
Toyota, during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
STP 500 at Martinsville Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion and current points leader Martin Truex Jr. dominated the competition to collect his first trophy of the season in California, snapping an eighteen-race winless streak at the track. But he faces a similar winless barrier this weekend at tiny Martinsville Speedway

Truex is still looking for his first victory in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota after 24 races at Martinsville, where he has only three top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He started on the outside pole and finished runner-up in his last race there in November and has four total top-seven finishes in his last six starts there.

Since Monster Energy NASCAR Cup qualifying was rained-out, Truex inherited Pole via point standings.

Both races will be broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

❄️ pic.twitter.com/HpkHzZUDmr

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) March 24, 2018

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Bayne, DiBenedetto, Allmendinger, Buescher, Whitt Round Out Lineup For STP 500 Pre-Race Experience At Martinsville Speedway

Chase Elliott and Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr. Are Also A Part of The Pre-Race Experience.

The Pre-Race Experience not only gives fans a chance to sign the start/finish line and watch STP 500 driver introductions from the track, it also give them the opportunity to hear from seven different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers in emceed question-and-answer sessions.

Trevor Bayne, Matt DiBenedetto, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Cole Whitt are the latest to add their names to the list of drivers participating in the $25 experience.

“These five drivers all bring a different element to the Pre-Race Experience as we continue to do everything we can to make this a fun, affordable event for fans the morning of the STP 500,” Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said. “They have competed in everything from a Late Model Stock Car to a Cup car at Martinsville and will give fans great insight into driving at our historic facility and their lives outside of a race car.”

Bayne, DiBenedetto, Allmendinger, Buescher and Whitt will join Chase Elliott, the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year and two-time NASCAR Playoff contender, and Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr. as a part of the Pre-Race Experience.

The Pre-Race Experience gives fans the chance to watch driver introductions from the track, along with a morning full of fun and excitement on the track.

In addition to the emceed question-and-answer sessions, the Pre-Race Experience offers fans the opportunity to walk the frontstretch on race morning, sign the start/finish line, have a photo opportunity in mock Victory Lane, and enjoy music, games and prizes.

The cost of the Pre-Race Experience is $25 for adults and $15 for youth 17-and-under.

The driver question-and-answer sessions, music, games and prizes will be held on the frontstretch beginning at 10:00 a.m. and will remain open until the conclusion of driver introductions.

Admission to the Pre-Race Experience does not include a ticket for the STP 500.

The STP 500 weekend presented by whosyourdriver.org is March 23-25.

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Hendrick Motorsports Stars Excited to Have STP 500 at Martinsville on Horizon

Rick Hendrick casts a long shadow when he exits the tunnel under Turn Four and enters the infield of Martinsville Speedway. His thoroughbred short-track machines have claimed 24 victories, 17 poles and a staggering 78 top-five finishes in 223 races on the half mile.

Success in the STP 500 on March 25, then, is something that his drivers expect. The fact that Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron are yet to visit Victory Lane in a regular season race in 2018 brings no added pressure, they said.

Bowman, who has taken the reigns of the No. 88, said that he enjoyed his previous four trips to Martinsville and is excited at the prospect of driving a Hendrick car there.

“Going to Martinsville with Hendrick Motorsports is going to be a great time. They always seem to bring really fast racecars there and it’s one of my favorite racetracks to go to,” Bowman said. “There’s really not a whole lot of pressure taking over the 88 car. I’m just ready to go enjoy it, have as much fun as I can and hopefully win some races along the way.”

Jimmie Johnson made Martinsville his personal playground early in his career and he said the positive memories of nine wins at the historic facility give him confidence heading into the first short-track race of 2018.

“I have nothing but great thoughts for Martinsville,” Johnson said. “For me I just love that little racetrack. Martinsville has been a great place for me.” 

Talk about a battle. @JimmieJohnson vs. @JeffGordonWeb at @MartinsvilleSwy. #TBT pic.twitter.com/5azPlMKZHA

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 22, 2018

In regards to his younger teammates, however, Johnson said patience is the key at a unique track like Martinsville.

“It took me a while to figure it out,” Johnson said of the driving style at Martinsville. “We’re not that slow through the center of the corner anywhere we go. There is just a rhythm and a feel and even a look to the way that our cars go around that track and the way we complete laps (that is unique).”

Chase Elliott is in the midst of that learning process and nearly capped it off with a win in the fall of 2017 before a late-race incident with Denny Hamlin saw his hopes of his first grandfather clock trophy fall by the wayside.

“Martinsville was my first start so it’s kind of always going to be a special place,” Elliott said. “There’s been a lot of things that have happened since then, obviously, at the track. But your first of anything is always special. We didn’t have a very good run that day, but it was still my first and I would love to have a great run there. It was my first Cup start and hasn’t been my best track so I would love to figure it out.”

Byron, on the other hand, will be making his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Martinsville on March 25, something he said does come with a little pressure, adding that a fast race car can erase that pressure in an instant.

“It’s definitely a little bit of pressure. They (Hendrick Motorsports) have been so good at Martinsville for so long,” Byron said. “That’s a racetrack you circle on your calendar to hopefully have success at and I feel like we’re going to be capable of doing that this year.”

The Charlotte, NC native noted that Martinsville has a special place in his young career as he drove in Late Model Stock Car and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races there on his way to the Cup series.

“Martinsville has always been special to me. It’s where I went to my first Cup race and it’s also where I got to race a Late Model and do a lot of different races,” Byron said. “It’s always special to me and I think it’s going to be one of those places that you always look forward to and hopefully, one day, I can get one of those clocks.”

As for Johnson, it isn’t just a place he enjoys driving, but a track he recommends people attend in person.

“Because of the history of the track, the connection to history when you experience it first hand, and the tradition of the trophy, I have an experience when I race there that feels like I could be racing in the 50’s or 60’s,” Johnson said. “It has that feel and that intensity to it…it really is a track that I suggest all my friends go to. When people ask me what track to visit, I tell them that they won’t find a more intimate and cool track to experience than Martinsville.”

The STP 500 weekend presented by whosyourdriver.org is March 23-25.

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