Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (847 m) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in stock car racing, being built in 1947 by partners H. Clay Earles, Henry Lawrence, and Sam Rice, nearly a year before NASCAR was officially formed.[2] It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only oval track on the NASCAR circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways and concrete to cover the turns.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, March 27, at 3:00 PM EST, and would last for 2 hours and 30 minutes.[3]Cole Custer, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 19.711, and an average speed of 96.068 mph (154.606 km/h).[4] Three practice sessions were scheduled to take place, but due to constant rain showers, only one lengthy session was run.
Qualifying was held on Saturday, March 28, at 11:15 AM EST.[3] The qualifying system used is a multi car, multi lap, three round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 25–32. Then, the fastest 24 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 13–24. Lastly, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the third round to determine positions 1–12.[5]
Joey Logano, driving for Brad Keselowski Racing, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary rounds and setting the fastest time in Round 3, with a lap of 19.504, and an average speed of 97.088 mph (156.248 km/h).[6]