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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.