The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series compete Monday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. The Truck Series race started Saturday but was postponed to Sunday and again to Monday due to weather. The Cup Series race was postponed from the original Sunday date due to weather. It marks the
sixth race of the Cup Series season and the fourth race for the Truck Series.
Here’s a quick look at some interesting statistics and
tidbits heading into the weekend.
Statistics – Martinsville
Speedway
- This weekend’s race marks the 299th for the series in the
state of Virginia and the 139th at Martinsville Speedway. Red Byron won the
inaugural race at Martinsville Speedway in 1949, which was the first race in
Virginia.
- The winner of the most series races at Martinsville
Speedway is Richard Petty, who owns 15 of his 200 career victories at the
track. His first win at the .526-mile track came in 1960 (when it was listed as
a half mile), while his last win came in 1979 (when the track was listed as
.525 miles). Petty won three consecutive races at the track between 1968 and
1969, and back-to-back races three other times.
- Five Virginia-born drivers have won 12 races at
Martinsville (Denny Hamlin, 5; Ricky Rudd, 3; Curtis Turner, 2; Joe Weatherly,
1; Jeff Burton, 1).
- Overall, a total of 50 drivers have won a Cup Series race
at Martinsville.
- Kyle Busch is the most recent race winner at Martinsville,
last October. It marked his second victory at the track and his 43rd career and
most recent victory.
- Twelve drivers have won at least one race at Martinsville
and gone on to win the series championship in the same season in 28 seasons: Red
Byron (1949), Lee Petty (1954, 1959), Tim Flock (1955), Buck Baker (1956 and
1957), Rex White (1960), Richard Petty (1967 twice, 1971, 1972 twice, 1975,
1979), Bobby Isaac (1970), Cale Yarborough (1976, 1977 twice, 1978), Dale
Earnhardt (1980, 1987, 1991), Darrell Waltrip (1981, 1982), Jeff Gordon (1997)
and Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007 twice, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016). In six of
Johnson’s seven title seasons, he’s won at Martinsville.
- Five drivers have won a Cup Series race and the Camping
World Truck Series race at Martinsville: Bobby Hamilton, Bobby Labonte, Kevin
Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Labonte and Harvick have also won Xfinity
Series races; Harvick won the last Xfinity Series race at the track in 2006.
- The last driver to win consecutive races at Martinsville
was Jimmie Johnson, who won the fall race in 2012 and the spring race in 2013.
- Nine drivers have swept the Martinsville races: Fred
Lorenzen (1964); Richard Petty (1967, 1969, 1972); Cale Yarborough (1977);
Darrell Waltrip (1989); Geoff Bodine (1990); Rusty Wallace (1994); Jeff Gordon
(2003, 2005); Jimmie Johnson (2007); and Denny Hamlin (2010).
- Fred Lorenzen holds the record for most consecutive
victories at the track with four (1963 fall through 1965 spring). In those four
races, he led 1,739 out of 2,000 laps (87 percent of the laps). Lorenzen led
493 laps in the 1964 fall race, a track record.
- The 1949 season was the only season in NASCAR history that
only one Cup Series race at Martinsville was held. The 1961 season was the only
season in which three Cup Series races were held at Martinsville.
- The last driver to win back-to-back spring races at
Martinsville was Rusty Wallace, in 1995 and 1996.
- Joey Logano has led the last eight races at Martinsville
to lead all drivers heading into the event. Kyle Busch has led each of the last
four races and Denny Hamlin has led each of the last three.
- The 2015 spring race was the last race at Martinsville to
feature at least 10 different leaders. There were 13 leaders in that race; the
most since then has been nine (2015 and 2016 fall races).
- Toyota won the 2017 fall race and Ford is the defending
Martinsville spring race winner. Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 56
Martinsville victories, with an eight-race winning streak between the 2011
spring race and 2014 fall race.
- Jeff Gordon holds the race record for average speed,
winning the 1996 fall race at 82.223 mph. Only three races have averaged more
than 80 mph, most recently in the 2016 fall race, won by Kyle Busch (80.088
mph).
- The driver to lead the most laps of a race at Martinsville
Speedway has gone on to win the race 66 times in 138 races, and only five of
the 16 races this decade. Kyle Busch is the most recent winner to lead the most
laps, leading 184 laps of the 2017 fall race.
- John Andretti led only four laps in the 1999 spring race
at Martinsville, the fewest laps led of a race winner.
- Bobby Allison holds the record for most laps led by a driver
who did not win the race, leading 432 of the 500 laps of the 1972 fall race. He
went on to finish second. Allison also led 379 laps in the 1969 spring race
before finishing third.
- Fred Lorenzen holds the record for most laps led in a
500-lap race at Martinsville, 493 in the 1964 fall race. Jeff Gordon is the
last driver to lead 400 laps in a race at Martinsville, leading 431 laps in the
1997 spring race.
- The last Martinsville spring race to go into overtime was
2012, when Ryan Newman won a 515-lap race, the most laps completed in a race at
Martinsville. There were 10 consecutive races at Martinsville that did not go
into overtime before last fall’s race, won by Kyle Busch, went 505 laps. In
total, six races since the inception of overtime racing came into existence have
gone more than 500 laps.
- The last race that did not go the scheduled distance or
more was the 1995 fall race, which was shortened to 356 laps due to rain. Rusty
Wallace won the race.
- The last race at Martinsville that was contested on a
Monday was the 2010 spring race, won by Denny Hamlin.
- Only 21 of the previous 138 races at Martinsville Speedway
have been won from the pole position. Jimmie Johnson is the last driver to win from
the pole, in the 2013 spring race. A total of 36 races have been won by a
front-row starter.
- Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon hold the track record for
most pole positions with eight each. A total of 62 drivers have started from the
pole coming into the weekend.
- Kurt Busch started the furthest back of any race winner,
when he won from the 36th starting position in the 2002 fall race. That race marked
the last time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that a driver won any
race from the 36th starting position.
- Overall, only seven of 138 races at Martinsville have been
from outside the top 20. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the last to win the race after
starting worse than 20th, when he won the 2014 fall race from the 23rd starting
position.
- Martin Truex Jr. has finished on the lead lap in each of
the last six Martinsville races, dating back to the 2015 spring race. Kyle
Busch has finished on the lead lap in each of the last 10 races in which he has
competed, dating back to the 2012 fall race. He missed the 2015 spring race due
to an injury ahead of the Daytona 500.
Statistics – 2018
Season and Series Overall
- Three drivers have won races this season: Austin Dillon,
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. Harvick has won a season-high three races,
all in succession.
- Harvick has 101 career NASCAR national series victories.
- Harvick leads all drivers in victories (3), top threes (3;
tied with Kyle Busch), laps led (433) and stage victories (3) this season.
- Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch
have each earned four top 10s in five races.
- Martin Truex Jr. is the only driver to lead laps in each
of the past six races – the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and
the first five races of the 2018 season. Truex led 125 laps in winning the Auto
Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway last weekend.
- Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield) and Gray Gaulding (Colonial
Heights) are the two drivers competing in the race that are from Virginia.
- Jimmie Johnson is making his 585th consecutive series
start this weekend to lead all drivers.
- Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney lead all drivers in laps
completed this season, with 1,310 laps completed out of 1,311.
- Kevin Harvick is the last driver to win back-to-back
races, when he won three consecutive races earlier this season.
- Kyle Busch is making his 950th career national NASCAR start (currently has 467 in MENCS; 340 in NXS; and 142 in NCWTS).
- Kyle Busch is making his 950th career national NASCAR start (currently has 467 in MENCS; 340 in NXS; and 142 in NCWTS).
NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series (Alpha Energy Solutions 250; 11 a.m. ET Monday)
- This is the 39th race at MartinsvilleSpeedway. The first
race was in 1995, when Joe Ruttman scored the victory in a Ford.
- Four drivers have won at Martinsville Speedway three
times: Mike Skinner, Dennis Setzer, Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter.
- Noah Gragson is the most recent winner of a Camping World
Truck Series race at Martinsville, having won the race in October 2017. Gragson
was the 27th driver to win a Truck Series race at Martinsville.
- Chase Elliott is the defending race winner of the spring race
at Martinsville.
- Overall, 27 drivers have won a Truck Series race at
Martinsville: Skinner, Setzer, Harvick, Sauter, Joe Ruttman, Rich Bickle, Jay
Sauter, Jimmy Hensley, Bobby Hamilton, Scott Riggs, Jon Wood, Rick Crawford,
Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, Ricky Craven, David Staff, Jack Sprague, Johnny
Benson, Timothy Peters, Ron Hornaday Jr., Denny Hamlin, Darrell Wallace Jr.,
Matt Crafton, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Noah Gragson.
- Toyota leads all manufacturers in wins at Martinsville
Speedway with 15 (last win in 2017 fall), followed by Chevrolet with 13 (last
win 2017 spring). Ford has five wins (last win 2015 spring).
- Nine of the previous 38 races at Martinsville Speedway
have been won from the pole position. Chase Elliott was the most recent driver
to win a Camping World Truck Series race from the pole at Martinsville, the
2017 spring race.
- Drivers who have led the most laps in a race at
Martinsville Speedway have gone on to win the race 16 times in 38 races.
- Kevin Harvick holds the record for most laps led in a race
(248) at Martinsville Speedway, when he won the 2012 spring race.
- Joe Ruttman led the fewest laps for a race winner at
Martinsville Speedway, leading only two laps in the inaugural race in 1995.
- Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jeb Burton hold the record for most
laps led in a race at Martinsville Speedway without winning – 154. Hornaday led
154 laps in the 2008 fall race before finishing 29th, while Burton finished
third in the 2013 spring race.
- Dennis Setzer started 33rd in the 36-truck field in the
2002 race, the furthest a driver has started from and won.
- The last Camping World Truck Series race to be completed
on a day other than the scheduled day was the 2014 spring race, which was
completed on a Sunday. The last time the series completed a Martinsville race
on a Monday was the 2009 spring race.
- Johnny Sauter is the last driver to win consecutive races
in the Camping World Truck Series, when he won back-to-back races during last
season’s playoffs, at Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway.
- Points leader Johnny Sauter leads the series in top threes
and top fives (three), and is tied with Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger with
three top 10s each.
- Sauter, Rhodes, Enfinger, Spencer Davis and Dalton
Sargeant have completed all 368 laps this season.
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