NASCAR Martinsville Sunday, October 22, 2023
Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Cup Series Stats Highlights
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
Martinsville 4/23
Kyle Larson
Martinsville April winner – Started 19th, finished 9th in Stage 1 & 10th in Stage 2, avg. running pos.: 7th, only final 30 laps led
Winner pit stops: Kyle Larson – Lap 85, 135, 185, 293 (G), 345
Stage 1 winner: Ryan Preece 15th
Stage 2 winner: Kevin Harvick 20th
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Tyler Reddick 3rd & 4th, Chase Briscoe 5th & 2nd
Most points scored: Chase Briscoe 47
Passed for final lead change: Joey Logano 2nd
Winner final laps led: Kyle Larson 30
Cautions: 5
Longest green run: 111 Laps (193-303)
Best free pass finisher: Joey Logano 2nd
Best finisher with pit road speeding penalty: Martin Truex Jr. 3rd
Best starting rear of field finisher: Joey Logano 2nd
Best Hendrick: Kyle Larson 1st
Best Gibbs: Martin Truex Jr. 3rd
Best Stewart-Haas: Chase Briscoe 5th
Best Penske: Joey Logano 2nd
Only track to host a NASCAR Cup Series race every season
58 Different winners in 149 NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville races
27 of the 35 NASCAR Cup Series champions won at Martinsville (95 Total wins)
8 Champions with no Martinsville wins
6 Different winners last 6 Martinsville races –
Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, William Byron, Christopher Bell & Kyle Larson
11 Different winners in 19 Martinsville Playoff races
9 Different winners last 9 Martinsville Playoff races –
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano,
Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman & Christopher Bell
Chase Briscoe: Passed for final lead change last Martinsville Playoff race – Finished 9th
Denny Hamlin: Passed for final lead change 3 of last 7 Martinsville Playoff races
Denny Hamlin: 5 Martinsville wins – Winless last 16 Martinsville races
Martin Truex Jr.: Only repeat winner last 12 Martinsville races (3 Wins) – 9 Others 1 win each
Tyler Reddick: 1 Top 15 finish in 7 Martinsville races – Finished 8th (4/21)
Chris Buescher: 1 Top 10 finish in 16 Martinsville races – Finished 9th (10/21)
20 or more lead lap finishers 12 of 18 Martinsville Playoff races
15 or more cautions 11 of 18 Martinsville Playoff races
Final green run 7 or fewer laps 12 of 18 Martinsville Playoff races
Martinsville Playoff race winner went on to win championship 7 of last 16 seasons
Champion finished 6th or better 16 of 19 Martinsville Playoff races –
Kevin Harvick finished 33rd in 2014, Kyle Busch finished 14th in in 2019 & Kyle Larson finished 14th in 2021
Jeff Gordon (2005), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014) & Alex Bowman (2021) only Martinsville Playoff race winners as non-Playoff drivers
26 NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers won Martinsville races
Driver starting first failed to win last 20 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 12 Martinsville races (3 Wins) – 9 Others 1 win each
Martin Truex Jr.: 3 Wins last 8 Martinsville races
Hendrick Motorsports: 28 Martinsville wins – Most all-time by a team at a single track
Hendrick Motorsports: 10,531 Laps led – Most all-time by a team at a single track
Hendrick Motorsports won 28 Martinsville races with 9 different drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing won 14 Martinsville races with 6 different drivers
Stage 1 winner failed to win last 7 Martinsville races
Stage 2 winner failed to win last 5 Martinsville races
First Martinsville race under the lights: September 23, 2017 – Late Model Stock Car Race
First Martinsville Cup race under the lights: June 10, 2020
Joey Logano: Pit stall 1 in 5 Martinsville races – Winless all 5
Last to win from pit stall 1: Jimmie Johnson 10/12 & 4/13
Driver pitted in stall 1 winless last 20 Martinsville races
Last 2 Martinsville winners pitted in stall 26 – Christopher Bell 10/22 & Kyle Larson 4/23
Driver starting 1st won 21 of 149 Martinsville NASCAR Cup Series races
Jimmie Johnson leads all winning 3 Martinsville races from 1st starting position
14 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)
Last to win back-to-back Martinsville races: Martin Truex Jr. 10/19 & 6/20
19 Martinsville win streaks – Drivers winning consecutive races
Both Martinsville races swept 12 times – Last: Denny Hamlin in 2010
Drivers swept both Martinsville races and won NCS championship 4 times – Last: 2007 Jimmie Johnson
3 of 149 Martinsville races settled by last lap pass (9/87, 10/17 & 10/18)
2 of last 6 Martinsville Playoff races settled by last lap pass
10 To go leader failed to win 13 Martinsville races
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 60 Martinsville wins
11 Toyota wins at Martinsville – 5 by Denny Hamlin
#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; 4/23 5
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)
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)