Martinsville Speedway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Martinsville Speedway

"Half Mile Of Mayhem" "The Paperclip" "The Augusta National of Race Tracks"
Location	340 Speedway Road Ridgeway, Virginia, U.S. 24148
Time zone	UTC−5 / −4 (DST)
Coordinates	36°38′02″N 79°51′04″W / 36.63389°N 79.85111°W / 36.63389; -79.85111
Capacity	44,000-65,000 (depending on stands/configuration)
Owner	NASCAR
Operator	NASCAR
Broke ground	1947
Opened	1947
Architect	H. Clay Earles
Major events	Current: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 (1950–present) Xfinity 500 (1949–present) NASCAR Xfinity Series Dude Wipes 250 (1982–present) Dead On Tools 250 (1960–present) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Long John Silver's 200 (1995–present)
Oval
Surface	Asphalt Concrete
Length	0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Turns	4
Banking	Turns 12° Straights 0°

Martinsville Speedway is a famous short track for stock car racing. It is located in Ridgeway, Virginia, near the town of Martinsville. This track was one of the first paved oval tracks ever built for stock car racing. It opened in 1947, which was almost a year before NASCAR officially started.

Martinsville Speedway is special because it's the only track that has been part of the NASCAR circuit since the very beginning in 1948. It's also the only oval track in NASCAR that has asphalt on the straight parts and concrete in the turns. At just over half a mile long (0.526 miles or 0.526 miles (847 m)), it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR owns and operates the track.

What is the Track Layout Like?

The track's back stretch in 2011

Martinsville Speedway is often called "paper clip-shaped" because of its unique design. The turns are banked (sloped) at only 12 degrees. This combination of long straightaways and flat, narrow turns means drivers must brake hard when entering the turns. They also need to accelerate smoothly when leaving them.

The track was first paved in 1955. In 1956, it hosted its first 500-lap race. By the 1970s, fast cars and special tires were wearing out the asphalt. So, in 1976, the turns were repaved with concrete. This was quite unusual for race tracks back then. In 2004, the concrete was showing a lot of wear. A large piece of concrete broke off during a race, damaging Jeff Gordon's car. After this, the entire track was repaved with new concrete and asphalt.

Until 1999, Martinsville was known for having two pit roads. One was on the front stretch, and the other was on the backstretch. Teams usually avoided the backstretch pit road. If a team pitted there during a caution, cars on the front stretch pit road had an advantage. They could pit first and didn't have to slow down as much. To fix this, the pit road was changed to run from turn 3 to turn 2. This change also allowed a garage to be built inside the track. Now, Bristol is the only active NASCAR track with two pit roads.

A Brief History of Martinsville Speedway

The first race approved by NASCAR at Martinsville was held on July 4, 1948. In 1951, only four cars finished the race. This is the fewest cars to finish any race at the speedway.

In 1960, Richard Petty became the youngest winner at Martinsville. He was 22 years old. To this day, Petty holds the record for the most wins at Martinsville with 15 victories. In 1991, Harry Gant became the oldest winner at 51 years old. This was Gant's fourth win in a row, earning him the nickname "Mr. September."

The tower above the finish line at the speedway.

The track was originally owned by H. Clay Earles, along with his daughters and their children. In 2004, the track was sold to the France family for over $200 million. This happened after one of Earles's daughters passed away. International Speedway Corporation (ISC) then became the owner of the track.

There were plans to add 20,000 more seats along the backstretch, which would bring the total capacity to over 85,000. From 2005 to 2006, the Norfolk Southern Railway behind the track was moved 200 feet to make room for these seats. However, no official updates have been given about adding these seats since the track was sold to ISC.

Martinsville Speedway has hosted many different NASCAR series over the years. From 1982 to 1994, and again in 2006, it hosted Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) events. The track was removed from the Busch Series schedule in 2007.

Today, Martinsville hosts two NASCAR Cup Series races each year. One is the Cook Out 400 in early spring. The other is the Xfinity 500 in late October or early November. This race is part of the NASCAR playoffs. The track also hosts races for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. The Modified Tour race is held on Labor Day weekend under the lights. The NASCAR Xfinity Series also races on the same weekend as the Cup Series playoff race.

Virginia Triple Crown Race Series

In 2012, Martinsville Track President Clay Campbell helped create the Virginia Triple Crown. This series includes three important races at different tracks in Virginia. It starts with the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway. Then comes the Hampton Heat 200 at Langley Speedway. The series finishes in September at Martinsville with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. The Triple Crown has been held every year since 2012, except for 2016 and 2020. Only Peyton Sellers and Lee Pulliam have won it more than once.

Adding Lights to the Track

The 2019 STP 500 race at Martinsville Speedway

Some races at Martinsville had to end early because of sunset. This included the 2015 fall Cup race. So, on October 12, 2016, the track announced it would add a $5 million LED lighting system. Martinsville Speedway was the first sports arena to have an all-LED lighting package.

The lights were completed in early 2017. While there were no immediate plans for nighttime Cup Series races, the lights would help if races were delayed by bad weather. The first NASCAR race to run at night with the new lights was the 300-lap NASCAR late model race in October 2017.

In 2017, NASCAR tried a shorter, two-day schedule for some races. Martinsville was one of them. Practice was on Saturday, and qualifying and the race were on Sunday. The playoff race at Martinsville now finishes under the lights. This is because qualifying moved to earlier in the day, and the race starts later.

In 2019, the speedway's seating capacity was reduced from 55,000 to 44,000 seats.

Recent Schedule Changes

On April 3, 2019, NASCAR announced big changes to Martinsville's schedule. The NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to the track in late October 2020. The spring Cup Series race moved to Mother's Day weekend and would be run at night. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour also returned for a Friday night race on Mother's Day weekend. The NASCAR Truck Series would race only once at the track, on a Friday night in late October.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 Mother's Day Cup event to move to a Wednesday night in June. The race returned to April in 2021 and was shortened to 400 laps in 2022. A second Xfinity Series race was added in 2021. For 2022, the Truck Series returned to a spring date, and its fall race was removed.

Martinsville Traditions

Martinsville Speedway has some unique traditions. Winners of the NASCAR Cup Series, Truck Series, and Whelen Modified events receive a longcase clock as their trophy. This tradition started in 1964. The clocks are a nod to Martinsville's famous furniture industry. They are made by a local company called Ridgeway Clocks.

Another notable part of the fan experience at Martinsville is the hot dogs. These famous hot dogs come with chili, coleslaw, mustard, and onions on top.

NASCAR Cup Series Records

(As of September 1, 2023)

* from minimum 5 starts.

Track Records

The finish line at Martinsville Speedway in 2006

• NASCAR Cup Series qualifying: Joey Logano, 18.898 seconds (100.201 mph), March 28, 2014
• NASCAR Cup Series race lap: Ross Chastain, 18.845 seconds (100.483 mph), October 30, 2022
• NASCAR Cup Series race:
  • 500 laps: Jeff Gordon, 3 hours 11 minutes 54 seconds (82.223 mph), September 22, 1996
  • 400 laps: William Byron, 2 hours 40 minutes 30 seconds (79.244 mph), April 9, 2022
• NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying: Brandon Jones, 19.694 seconds (96.151 mph), April 5, 2024
• NASCAR Xfinity Series race:
  • 300 laps: Terry Labonte, 2 hours 12 minutes 25 seconds (71.511 mph), March 20, 1994
  • 250 laps: Jack Ingram, 1 hour 42 minutes 16 seconds (77.751 mph), March 25, 1984
  • 200 laps: Harry Gant, 1 hour 20 minutes 16 seconds (78.637 mph), October 27, 1991
  • 150 laps: Sam Ard, 59 minutes 25 seconds (79.607 mph), September 25, 1982
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying: Ty Majeski, 19.417 seconds (97.523 mph), April 5, 2024
• NASCAR Truck Series race:
  • 250 laps: Rich Bickle, 1 hour 47 minutes 18 seconds (75.296 mph), September 27, 1997
  • 200 laps: Johnny Sauter, 1 hour 25 minutes 29 seconds (73.839 mph), October 29, 2016
• NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying: Ryan Preece, 18.607 seconds (101.768 mph), 2021
• NASCAR Combined Modified race: Ted Christopher, 55.773 mph, 2005

See also

In Spanish: Martinsville Speedway para niños