NASCAR Martinsville Sunday, April 9, 2023
Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Cup Series Stats Highlights
Martinsville 4/22
William Byron
Martinsville 4/22 winner –
Started 5th, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & 2, 212 laps led (most), 212 of final 218 laps led, avg. running pos.: 1.7
Winner pit stops: William Byron (3 Stops) 85, 185, 304 (G)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Chase Elliott (1st & 1st), William Byron (2nd & 2nd), Cole Custer (3rd & 5th)
Speeding (7 Drivers & 8 Penalties):
Kyle Larson 19th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 27th, Denny Hamlin 28th, Corey LaJoie 32nd, Cody Ware 33rd, J.J. Yeley 34th
Best free pass finisher: Brad Keselowski 17th
Best Hendrick: William Byron 1st
Best Gibbs: Kyle Busch 7th
Best Stewart-Haas: Aric Almirola 8th
Best Penske: Joey Logano 2nd
Only 3 qualifying in top 10 finished top 10 at Martinsville 4/22
Martinsville 10/22
Christopher Bell
Martinsville 10/22 winner – Started 20th, finished 6th in Stage 1 & 5th in Stage 2, 150 laps led, 7th -33 into race
Winner pit stops: Christopher Bell (5 Stops) 134, 265, 323, 396, 470
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Denny Hamlin 1st & 1st, Chase Elliott 2nd & 2nd, Cole Custer 3rd & 4th, Kyle Larson 4th & 3rd
Best free pass finisher: William Byron 7th
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 22nd
Best starting rear of field finisher: None
Best Hendrick: Kyle Larson 2nd
Best Gibbs: Christopher Bell 1st
Best Stewart-Haas: Chase Briscoe 9th
Best Penske: Ryan Blaney 3rd
Most Martinsville wins: 15 Richard Petty
2 Finished top 5 both Martinsville races last season – Ryan Blaney & Ross Chastain
6 Finished top 10 both Martinsville races last season –
Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott & Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney: 7 Martinsville top 5 finishes – Finished top 5 both Martinsville races last season
Chase Briscoe: Finished 9th both Martinsville races last season
William Byron: Finished 7th or better last 4 Martinsville races – 3 Top 5 finishes
Ross Chastain: 2 Top 15 finishes in 8 Martinsville races – Finished top 5 both races last season
Chase Elliott: 9 Martinsville top 10 finishes – Finished 10th both races last season
Chase Elliott: 239 Martinsville laps led last season – Most
Denny Hamlin: 100th paved short track race
Joey Logano: 7 Straight Martinsville top 10 finishes – 3 Top 5 finishes
Only track to host a NASCAR Cup Series race every season
57 Different winners in 148 NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville races
5 Different winners last 5 Martinsville races – Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, William Byron & Christopher Bell
25 NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers won Martinsville races
26 of the 35 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Martinsville (94 Total wins)
9 Champions with no Martinsville wins
Driver starting first failed to win last 19 Martinsville races – Last to win from pole: Jimmie Johnson 4/13
4 24-year-olds won Martinsville races (Kurt Busch, William Byron, Chase Elliott & Richard Petty) –
Richard Petty youngest Martinsville winner (22)
Martin Truex Jr. only repeat winner last 11 Martinsville races (3 Wins) – 8 Others 1 win each
Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Wins last 7 Martinsville races
Last to win back-to-back Martinsville races: Martin Truex Jr. 10/19 & 6/20
19 Martinsville win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races
Hendrick Motorsports: 27 Martinsville wins – Most all-time by a team at a single track
Hendrick Motorsports won 27 Martinsville races with 8 different drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing won 14 Martinsville races with 6 different drivers
Chase Elliott: Stage 1 & 2 winner 2 of last 3 Martinsville races – Finished 16th & 10th
Denny Hamlin: Stage 1 & 2 winner last Martinsville race – Finished 5th
Stage 1 winner failed to win last 6 Martinsville races
#11 Won 16 Martinsville NASCAR Cup Series races
Martinsville pit road speeding penalties:
4/17: 9; 10/17: 5; 3/18: 8; 10/18: 4; 3/19: 6; 10/19: 7; 6/20: 6; 11/20: 10; 4/21 8; 10/21 11; 4/22 8; 10/22 2
First Martinsville race under the lights: September 23, 2017 – Late Model Stock Car Race
First Martinsville Cup race under the lights: June 10, 2020
First Martinsville 400-lap race: April 9, 2021
Joey Logano: Pit stall 1 in 5 Martinsville races – Winless all 5
William Byron: Won Martinsville 4/22 from pit stall 22 – First to win from stall 22 since Jimmie Johnson 10/16
Last to win from pit stall 1: Jimmie Johnson 10/12 & 4/13
Driver pitted in stall 1 winless last 19 Martinsville races
Driver starting 1st won 21 of 148 Martinsville NASCAR Cup Series races
13 Won first career pole at Martinsville
12 Won first career race at Martinsville – Last: Ricky Craven (10/15/01)
10/22/06: Denny Hamlin finished 2nd at Martinsville in Rookie season
Last Rookie of the Year contender to finish top 10 at Martinsville: Juan Pablo Montoya finished 8th 10/21/07
25 Won first short track race at Martinsville
2 Rookie of the Year candidates won Martinsville – Earl Ross (9/74) & Morgan Shepherd (4/81)
Most tries before first Martinsville win: 30 – Dale Jarrett (4/01) & Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10/14)
Martin Truex Jr. won Martinsville for first time in 28th try (10/19)
4 Won Martinsville in first try – Red Byron (9/49), Dick Rathmann (4/52), Earl Ross (9/74) & Morgan Shepherd (4/81)
10 To go leader failed to win 13 Martinsville races
3 of 148 Martinsville races settled by last lap pass (9/87, 10/17 & 10/18)
8 Martinsville Overtime finishes
Leader at scheduled distance lost 3 Martinsville Overtime races
Longest Martinsville race: 515 laps (4/12)
Most laps ever led in a Martinsville race: 493 – Fred Lorenzen 9/64
11 Different car makes won Martinsville races
Chevrolet leads all with 59 Martinsville wins
Ford: 4 Wins last 12 Martinsville races – Winless previous 28 Martinsville races
11 Toyota wins at Martinsville – 5 by Denny Hamlin
5/19/57: Buck Baker won Martinsville, but did not lead final lap
2 Drivers didn’t compete in the Martinsville race for which they won the pole
Donnie Allison (5/31/70) & Jimmy Hensley (9/24/89)
Darrell Waltrip came from 4 laps down to win Martinsville 4/80
Morgan Shepherd scored first career win in 15th career NASCAR Cup Series race (4/81)
4/26/81 Martinsville: First Pontiac to win a race since 10/27/63
Harry Gant finished 2nd in 10 races before first career win at Martinsville (4/82)
Harry Gant won Martinsville 9/91 at age of 51 years, 8 months, 12 days (The final of 4 straight wins)
Geoff Bodine won first career race & first race for Hendrick Motorsports (4/84)
Earl Ross was 2nd driver to win a race born outside United States (Canada) – Martinsville 9/29/74
*Mario Andretti 1967 Daytona 500
Jeff Gordon 93rd & final career win came at Martinsville 11/15
Hendrick Motorsports first team to lead 10,000 laps at a track – Martinsville 4/22
Joe Gibbs Racing 200th win came at Martinsville 10/22 (Christopher Bell)