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Joey Logano won for the second time this season in the NASCAR Cup Series with an impressive run at Richmond Raceway in front of a sold-out crowd. Logano led the last 25 laps in his Shell Pennzoil Ford owned by Penske Racing. Chase Briscoe who started second would finish in second, but in between, he would lead a race high 171 laps for his best career finish at the track in his Joe Gibbs racing Toyota. Logano’s teammate Austin Cindric would come home in third place in his Menards/Quaker State Ford, while Briscoe’s teammate Denny Hamlin would finish fourth after leading three times on the night for three laps. Chase Elliott would be the top finishing Chevrolet finishing in fifth place for Hendrick Motorsports. 

The race started with Ryan Blaney on the pole with Chase Briscoe beside him. Blaney would clear Briscoe for the lead after swapping it back and forth for the first nine laps. The field started making pit stops on lap 30 of 70 laps in stage one for new tires, forcing the hand off all the teams to go with a two-pit strategy for the first stage. Austin Hill and Ty Gibbs both had penalties during those stops, Hill for a loose tire and Gibbs for speeding. Blaney would hold off Briscoe for the stage one win, his sixth stage win of the year which is the most for all drivers. 

Coming out of the pits, it was a three-wide race for the first position with Blaney securing first while Briscoe was second and Austin Cindric third. Blaney led them to the green flag, but this time Briscoe would clear Blaney for the lead. Green flag pit stops started on lap 120, the 50th lap of stage two. On lap 125, the first caution for cause came out when Zane Smith spun out and hit the outside wall. The majority of the field was able to pit under the caution and Briscoe restarted in the lead with Joey Logano in second. On lap 159, the next set of green flag stops started, with Ryan Preece and Austin Dillon the first two in. Connor Zilisch picked up a penalty for speeding on pit road. Joey Logano was able to use lapped traffic to pass Briscoe on lap 172 while both were still on used tires. Logano made his pit stop on lap 179, handing the lead to Denny Hamlin who would hold it for a lap before he pitted. Blaney assumed the lead for a couple of laps before he gave up the lead for his stop. The green flag pit cycle was not completed until 182, cycling Logano back to the lead. Logano would remain out front for the remainder of the stage to pick up the stage two win, for his second stage win of the year. 

Logano started the final stage in the lead after a strong finish in the previous stage. Briscoe would take the lead again on lap 244 after a spirited battle for first place at the restart. Lap 278 saw the green flag pit stops begin, committing to a three-stop strategy for the final stage. Briscoe pitted on lap 279, handing the lead to Chase Elliott who led for a lap before his stop. Elliott handed the lead to his teammate Kyle Larson. Larson led a handful of laps then pitted, putting Tyler Reddick in the lead. Carson Hocevar missed a shift, causing the caution flag to be displayed on lap 285. When they went back to green, Briscoe led the race with Logano second. The next set of stops started on lap 324 when Briscoe pitted, handing the lead to Logano for a couple of laps until he made his stop and Christopher Bell assumed the lead. Briscoe passed Bell for the lead with 58 laps to go, then Bell made his stop. Logano passed Bell to move to the front with 40 laps remaining. Both drivers dove into the pits the next lap for their final pit spot, turning the lead over to Hamlin, who only then in turn make his stop. Bell would go back to the lead and remained there until Logano passed him with 25 laps to go. Briscoe would make it interesting in the closing laps but could not get past Logano. Logano held Briscoe off to win by four car lengths, after leading 95 of the 400 laps. 

The NASCAR Cup Series returned to Martinsville Speedway for the Cook Out 400. In what would turn out to be a winning strategy call, Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Chase Elliott, brought Elliott’s number 9 Chevrolet in early for a pit stop, flipping the script on what the rest of the field had planned to do. When the caution flag fell late in the race, most of the leaders pitted, but Ross Chastain stayed out and led the field to the green flag with Elliott in second and Denny Hamlin third. Elliott would jump out front and never look back, winning his 22nd career Cup race.

Denny Hamlin started the race from the pole position, earning his 49th career pole. He controlled the majority of the race and swept both stages in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota while leading a race-high 292 laps. Hamlin would make a strong run trying to take the lead back from Elliott but would come up just short and finished second.

Joey Logano would start the race in ninth place and would bring his Penske Racing Ford home in the third position. Hamlin’s teammate Ty Gibbs finished fourth while Elliott’s teammate and last year’s winner William Byron was fifth.

The series takes a break next weekend for Easter Sunday and then heads to Bristol for another short track shootout. 

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series delivered another classic short-track battle in the NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28, 2026. The 250-lap race featured heavy contact, frequent cautions, and late-race drama, but in the end, it was a familiar face standing in Victory Lane. Veteran driver Justin Allgaier dominated the event, starting from the pole and ultimately taking the win after leading a race-high 114 laps. His performance marked his third victory of the 2026 season and continued a strong early-year surge.  

Allgaier capitalized on his front-row start by leading the opening 65 laps and controlling the pace early. The race itself featured 14 lead changes among eight drivers and multiple cautions that kept the field tightly bunched throughout the afternoon.  Allgaier bookended the race by dominating early and late, while Mayer and others battled for control in the middle portion. Other leaders on the day were Corey Day, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Rajah Caruth and local short track sensation Lee Pulliam. The race featured 14 lead changes, highlighting the back-and-forth nature of Martinsville’s tight, half-mile layout.  

Late-race restarts and incidents—typical of Martinsville—shuffled the running order before Allgaier surged back to the front in the closing laps for the win. Day’s runner-up finish marked a career-best performance, while JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith finished third. Sheldon Creed was fourth and Pulliam fifth.

The 2026 NASCAR season kicked off with the Cook Out Clash at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston‑Salem, North Carolina. The event was scheduled for Sunday February 1 but was moved to the following Wednesday night due to an unexpected snowstorm that dropped around eleven inches of snow on the track. Ryan Preece started in the 18th position and battled his way to the front to claim his first career Clash victory. Not only did he have to deal with a strong field of competitors, but also the frigid temperatures, wet‑weather tires and 17 cautions to secure his first Cup exhibition win. The victory places him in the company of Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin as the only drivers to win the Clash before earning a Cup Series points win.

The qualifying session set the top twenty positions for the main event and Alex Bowman qualified for the Clash based on being the highest points finisher in the 2025 season that did not make the field on qualifying time. Positions 21 and 22 were awarded to the first and second place finishers in the Last Chance Qualifier. Josh Berry dominated the LCQ race, leading 64 of the 75 laps with Austin Cindric securing the final transfer spot after a fierce multi‑lap duel with his RFK Racing teammate Corey LaJoie. LaJoie was filling in for Brad Keselowski who is recovering from a shoulder injury. 

The 2025 Cup champion, Kyle Larson, started on the pole for the main event while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron was beside him. Larson led a race high 67 laps to start but was caught up in an accident and never recovered, finishing in 16th place. Byron would end the race in the same position he started, second place. Ryan Blaney came home in third place in his Team Penske Ford. It was an emotional win for Preece who said after the race “I don’t even know what to say. It’s been a long road… years and years of grinding. I’m just super thankful for Brad Keselowski, all our partners, Jack Roush. Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut. Man, I’m just super, super emotional”. Preece led 46 of the 200 green flag laps. Next up is the Daytona 500 on February 15.