In the heart of the Appalachian Mountains rests a track with a rich history in auto racing.
Martinsville Speedway is the site of the eighth round of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, their second stop in Virginia in as many weeks.
Last week’s Easter special at Richmond Raceway looked like business as usual on paper, only seeing the yellow four times before an untimely caution flew with just two laps to go.
This spelled doom for Martin Truex Jr., the dominant driver of the evening. His Auto Owners Toyota paced the field for a race-high 228 laps before being undone by contact between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson that led to a final set of pit stops for all lead lap cars.
Pit road proved troublesome for the #19 team, dropping a spot on his stop to teammate Denny Hamlin. To rub salt into the wound, several members of Hamlin’s pit crew were once on Truex’s team.
On the restart, Denny Hamlin’s Toyota lurched forward prior to the restart zone, but in an unprecedented move, NASCAR turned the other cheek and claimed that the restart was valid.
The race continued with Hamlin getting ahead by nearly a full car length, diving into turn 1 with Truex struggling to hang with the #11.
The Joe Gibbs Racing duo raced hard and clean through turn 2 with Hamlin establishing the advantage. Truex was unable to respond as his car sunk into the pack, and the jumped restart essentially notched Hamlin his 53rd career Cup Series victory.
That wasn’t the whole story, though.
For the first time in NASCAR Cup Series competition (in a points race), the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series started an oval race with rain tires, powering through the first 30 laps without issue.
It was at that point the competition caution was thrown for teams to pit for slick tires, returning to the norm that fans see every weekend.
Defying all the odds, the tire performed well on the banked surface and allowed for brilliant multi-groove racing throughout the field and bodes well for the future of racing in the rain, regardless of venue.
Denny and his #11 Sports Clips racing team hope to maintain this short-track momentum as they head to NASCAR’s most visited circuit.
Opened as a dirt track in 1947, Martinsville Speedway is the only track to appear on every single NASCAR Cup Series schedule, from the sparse 8-race lineup of 1949 to 2024’s robust 36-race marathon.
The first event took place as the sixth event of 1949 with eventual champion Red Byron scoring his second and final Cup Series victory, crossing the finish line in his 1949 Oldsmobile three laps ahead of runner-up Lee Petty.
After transitioning to asphalt in 1955, the smallest track on the NASCAR circuit developed its definitive paperclip shape that it holds to this day.
Over 20 years of repaves due to the asphalt being overstressed led the speedway to pave its turns with concrete on the bottom grooves in 1976 to give the track its unique look that preserves the track surface.
Drivers cross the start-finish, keeping close to the wall until burying their heavy machines into the ultra tight turns 1 & 2. Banked at 12°, a great Martinsville race sees drivers making a multitude of mistakes due to a lack of grip in the turns.
A trip down the 800-foot back straight funnels into turns 3 & 4 another set of low-banked turns before spitting drivers back out onto the front stretch. Then, drivers must perfect this track for 400 laps in the Virginia heat.
Speaking of that Virginia heat, let’s check out the weather for Sunday as well as my fast facts for the race.
The Weather & Fast Facts
The last decade in Martinsville, Virginia has seen only one instance of rain on the second Sunday of April, coming in 2020 during the pandemic stoppage.
Combined with an average high of 65°F and an average low of 37°F, the weather tends to be fairly agreeable this time of year, and 2024 is thankfully no different.
The forecast for today’s race is a high of 67°F with a low of 36°F being joined by a shining sun that will hopefully glare down on the racetrack to make the tight half-mile slick and even more treacherous.
It’s exceedingly difficult to pass at the .526-mile oval, so oftentimes, drivers resort to using their bumpers to move up the running order or simply expressing their displeasure with another driver.
Due to some less-than-stellar rule changes in the late 2010s, the track saw a massive dip in passing that it has since recovered from with the advent of the NextGen car in 2022.
The field averages 1648 green-flag passes and 15 lead changes over the last 10 spring Martinsville events. The caution flag is also fond of the Half-Mile of Mayhem, generally flying 9 times and slowing the field for 68 laps.
Before dipping into the oddsmakers’ picks, here is today’s starting lineup.
The Odds
Disclaimer: This is not intended to encourage you, the reader, to make a wager on this race. If you feel you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER for support.
The oddsmakers at BetMGM have lines for all drivers heading into the Cook Out 400, so here are their top favorites for this week.
Last week’s top favorite helms this week’s list as well. Chesapeake, VA native Denny Hamlin (+375) notched his second win this season last week at his home track in Richmond and seeks his sixth grandfather clock.
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran stirred up controversy on and off the track this week, begging for a paint scheme reveal to distract from headlines he created.
Starting the race today in eighth, Hamlin wants to supplant William Byron as the regular season title favorite by claiming a third triumph of 2024 before most drivers even have one.
Seven spots ahead on the track is pole sitter Kyle Larson (+375). The 2021 Cup champ controlled the Richmond race in the opening stages before a questionable caution upended the strategy of the #5 team in the middle of the second stage.
The Oak Grove, California native spent the rest of the race chasing Toyotas before tangling with one with the checkered flag in sight. Despite spinning through the infield, Larson righted the car and returned to the racing surface without losing many spots.
A fast pit stop put Larson back in the race for the win, but after Hamlin’s jump, he was left to fight with Martin Truex Jr. for third. Starting on pole position for the second straight week, look for Larson to score another Martinsville victory for Hendrick Motorsports, the place that made this team what it is today.
Speaking of Truex, the driver of the #19 (+700) rolls off the grid a strong fourth today. After flexing his muscle for over half of the race last week, the New Jerseyan got duped by his teammate on the final restart and had what many would call a temper tantrum over the last two laps and post-race.
The 2017 champion allegedly told Hamlin he was sorry for the outburst via text, the conversation being shared on Hamlin’s weekly Actions Detrimental podcast.
Hoping to turn a new leaf this weekend, the JGR stalwart plans to punch his ticket into the Playoffs early, and at a track he’s won at three times previously, he’s got a great shot at making the track Martin’s-ville yet again.
The most recent Martinsville victor is Ryan Blaney (+850). The Team Penske pilot threaded his way through the field last October, granting him a spot in the championship race in Phoenix.
A title he would end up claiming, the defending series champion is still in search of his first win of 2024, much like the rest of his Ford stablemates.
With a sterling 9.4 average finish in the spring race, the Virginia short track has been rather kind to the 30-year-old over the years. He would love nothing more than to rise from the ninth starting spot today to claim back-to-back victories at Martinsville.
Coming in last of the oddsmakers’ top-5 is two-time champion Joey Logano (+850). Logano’s 2024 campaign has struggled to launch, earning just two top-10s in the first seven events.
That said, the driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse should have won last week’s race had NASCAR upheld its own rulebook but settled for a strong runner-up result, his best finish of the year.
The Penske veteran enters his 31st race at the Paperclip with momentum finally on his side. Rolling off sixth today, keep your eyes on the #22 in the closing laps of today’s race as Joey fights to add a second grandfather clock to his already-packed trophy case.
Other notable lines include: outside pole sitter Bubba Wallace (+1400); Hendrick teammates William Byron (+1400) and Alex Bowman (+2500); Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (+1600), Josh Berry (+4000), and Ryan Preece (+6000); and former champions Brad Keselowski (+3000) and Kyle Busch (+3500).
Writer’s Pick
On the 40th anniversary of All Star Racing’s first victory with Geoff Bodine in 1984, my pick is from the same team that’s now known as Hendrick Motorsports.
Chase Elliott (+1200) heads into the Virginia hills on an unthinkable 41-race winless streak, his most recent win coming at Talladega in the fall of 2022.
The 2020 champ seems to have struggled this season in most people’s eyes, but they’re not looking at the bigger picture. Since the start of 2024, Elliott has no finishes outside of the top-20; while his top-10s, top-5s, and wins columns aren’t as populated as his fans might hope, the Georgian is having a solid season thus far.
This is especially true at short tracks where Elliott survived the attrition in Bristol for an 8th-place finish before securing a quiet top-5 at Richmond last week, one of his worst tracks.
After missing out on the postseason for the first time in his career last season, Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson want their golden tickets to the Playoffs sooner rather than later. After a great qualifying effort, the ruby red UniFirst Chevy Camaro starts the day third behind teammate Kyle Larson.
Elliott’s lone win at the track in fall 2020 guided the Dawsonville native’s march to his first title, and with another grandfather clock on the line, my eyes are on the #9 team to score win #19 in Martinsville today.
(Top Photo Credit: GM Authority)
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