Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The first practice session was held on Friday, October 27, at 1:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2]Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 20.129 and an average speed of 94.073 mph (151.396 km/h).[3]
The final practice session, sometimes known as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, October 27, at 3:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2]Stewart Friesen of Halmar Friesen Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 19.993 and an average speed of 94.713 mph (152.426 km/h).[4]
Qualifying was held on Saturday, October 28, at 10:00 AM EST.[2] Since Martinsville Speedway is less than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.[5]
Chase Briscoe of Brad Keselowski Racing would win the pole after advancing from both preliminary rounds and setting the fastest lap in Round 3, setting a time of 19.774 and an average speed of 95.762 miles per hour (154.114 km/h) in Round 3.[6]
Mike Senica was the only driver to fail to qualify.
