NASCAR Preview: Martinsville 500
The NASCAR Cup Series prepares for tight corners and high aggression in the penultimate round of the 2026 season at Martinsville.
Track preview
Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526-mile oval located in Ridgeway, Virginia. The track features 12 degrees of banking in the corners and no banking on the straightaways.
Martinsville Speedway opened in 1947, and NASCAR has visited every year since the series’ first season in 1949. The track was paved in 1955 with asphalt, but the insides of the turns were later paved with concrete. As a result, it is the only hybrid track surface on the current NASCAR calendar, consisting of both asphalt and concrete sections.
The circuit is known for physical, single-groove racing. Richard Petty holds the record for most wins at the track, with 15.
Weather forecast
The weather report indicates cloudy skies, with temperatures peaking around 18 degrees Celsius. There is a chance of rain in the afternoon.
The race is set to include 500 laps. Stages 1 and 2 will each last 130 laps, and Stage 3 will last 240 laps.
The race is scheduled to begin on November 1 at 14:00 EST (11:00 PST, 19:00 GMT).
The storylines
Chase Elliott won the spring race at Martinsville this year and the fall race during his championship run in 2020. His performances on short tracks this season have not all been spectacular - Richmond marked his only other top 10 - but he has proven reliable at “The Paperclip”, finishing fourth or better in its last five races. With the series title out of his reach, perhaps he can afford to be more aggressive than his counterparts in his quest for back-to-back victories.
Elliott’s teammate William Byron is another Martinsville standout. Byron won the fall race a year ago and also claimed victories in 2022 and 2024. Back in March, he finished fifth. He has been quietly consistent in recent short track events, crossing the line ninth at Iowa, Richmond and Bristol. He came up one spot short of victory last weekend at Talladega - expect him to be in contention again in the final laps on Sunday.
Ryan Blaney was one of the victims collected in a large accident at Talladega. The crash dropped him to sixth in the standings. He will be looking to rebound at Martinsville and has a good chance of doing so. Blaney boasts an average finish of 5.1 in the last 10 races at Martinsville, a stretch in which he won two of the events. He finished sixth back in the spring and performed well at other short tracks throughout the year, earning top fives at Bristol in March and Iowa in August. As one of the most versatile drivers in the series, he is once again among the favourites this weekend.
Ty Gibbs came into the season winless, but he could grab his third victory of the year on Sunday. Gibbs has proven his skill at short tracks in 2026, winning at Bristol and Iowa. When the series came to Martinsville in the spring, he earned his first top-10 at the track, finishing fourth. Gibbs has had an up-and-down last few weeks, with just one top-15 in the last five races and only two top-five results since the Chase started. This weekend gives him another opportunity for a solid performance before heading into the season finale.
Dark horse: Ryan Preece
Preece earned his first NASCAR points race win at Daytona in September, but he also won the exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium in February, held on a tight, flat track half the size of Martinsville. Preece’s background in modified racing has provided him with short track experience that has helped him collect top-10 results at Bristol and North Wilkesboro in 2026. In addition, he has accumulated three top-five finishes in the last five races at Martinsville. He could pull off a mild upset on Sunday.
A look at The Chase
After his championship lead shrunk to a five-point advantage in Phoenix, Kyle Larson responded with a win at Talladega. That first drafting track victory gave him an even bigger lead than what he held previously, now 73 points ahead of Denny Hamlin, who moved back into second after spending a week in fourth. Christopher Bell trails Hamlin by a single point. Chase Briscoe finds himself fourth, 79 points behind Larson. Joey Logano passed Ryan Blaney for fifth in the standings, where he sits 100 points behind Larson.
Weekend snapshot
The Craftsman Truck Series will race on Friday. As it stands currently, Kaden Honeycutt holds a 43-point lead over Layne Riggs. Ty Majeski’s fourth-place finish at Talladega helped him jump from fifth to third in the standings, 141 points behind Honeycutt. When the series raced at Martinsville in 2025, Corey Heim was the winner. Honeycutt finished second, the highest position among full-time 2026 drivers.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will compete on Saturday. Jesse Love leads the standings, with Justin Allgaier 19 points behind. Corey Day is third, 29 points behind Love. Back in the spring, Allgaier won at Martinsville, with Day finishing as runner-up.
Schedule
Friday:
Craftsman Truck Series Practice - 12:30 EST (9:30 PST, 17:30 GMT)
Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying - 13:35 EST (10:35 PST, 18:35 GMT)
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Practice - 15:00 EST (12:00 PST, 20:00 GMT)
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying - 16:05 EST (13:05 PST, 21:05 GMT)
Craftsman Truck Series Race - 18:00 EST (15:00 EST, 23:00 GMT)
Saturday:
Cup Series Practice - 13:00 EST (10:00 PST, 18:00 GMT)
Cup Series Qualifying - 14:05 EST (11:05 PST, 19:05 GMT)
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race - 16:00 EST (13:00 PST, 21:00 GMT)
Sunday:
Cup Series Race - 14:00 EST (11:00 PST, 19:00 GMT)
Edited by Tarun Suresh
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