Chevrolet
| “The Paperclip” also holds a special place in the legacy of two of Chevrolet’s longest-standing team partners. For Hendrick Motorsports, Martinsville Speedway is the site that delivered the organization its first-ever Cup Series victory (Geoff Bodine; Apr. 1984) – beginning its journey towards becoming the winningest organization in series’ history. Richard Childress Racing also added to its already storied history book one year ago when Austin Hill drove the organization to its milestone 100th all-time win in NASCAR’s second-level series during the series’ spring visit to the track. |
 William ByronNo. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet NASCAR Cup Series Win Martinsville Speedway –   Austin HillNo. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series WinMartinsville Speedway – Mar. 29, 2025 |
| BYRON BACK TO DEFEND William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team are quickly finding early-season consistency. With a third-straight top-eight finish, the Charlotte, North Carolina, native left the “Lady in Black” with a two-position gain in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings to now sit sixth in the rankings. With momentum on his side, what better place to knock-out the team’s first win of the season than at the track where his last visit turned into a near dominate weekend – sweeping the pole, both stages and the race win to earn a spot in the Championship Four for the third consecutive season. Byron has made 16 career Martinsville starts under the Hendrick Motorsports banner – tallying nine top-eight results, including three trips to victory lane. |
 SPIRE SHOWING SPEED Spire Motorsports put on a statement performance once again last weekend at Darlington Raceway – netting two top-10 finishes to further prove the organization is a force to be reckoned with each week. Among those results included a monstrous charge by Carson Hocevar and the No. 77 Chevrolet team. Despite being forced to start at the rear of the field for an unapproved adjustment, the Portage, Michigan, native turned the uphill battle into his career-best finish at the “Track Too Tough To Tame”. After a progressive move through the field during the first two stages, the No. 77 Chevrolet made its presence known during the final stage. With pristine pit strategy by the Luke Lambert-led team, a culmination of their speed and a fresher set of tires on the final run put Hocevar in position to make a quick climb up the leaderboard – ultimately leading the Bowtie brigade with a fourth-place finish. Hocevar and his Spire Motorsports teammate, Daniel Suarez, who also earned a top-10 finish, were among the short list of drivers that made a move up the points standings with the pair heading into the Martinsville race weekend ranked 13th and 14th, respectively. |
KESELOWSKI MAKING 600TH START
Brad Keselowski will join an elite list as he becomes the 35th driver in NASCAR history to make 600 starts or more when he takes the green flag this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Keselowski, who made his Cup debut in the 2008 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and finished 19th, has 36 career victories to rank 25th on NASCAR’s all-time list. From a Ford Racing perspective, Keselowski has posted 27 wins, including marquee races such as the Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. Keselowski will become the second Ford driver in as many years to hit that milestone after Joey Logano reached it last year at Dover.
SITTING ON 749
The next Ford win will be its 750th all-time in NASCAR’s top series. Ned Jarrett is Ford’s win leader with 43 while Bill Elliott is second with 40. Shirtless Jimmy Florian scored the Blue Oval’s first series victory when he upset the likes of Lee Petty, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly at Dayton Speedway on June 25, 1950. Florian earned his nickname after getting out of his 1950 flathead Ford without a shirt. Overall, 91 drivers have won at least one series race with Ford, including notable drivers Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.
LOGANO LOOKING TO KEEP STREAK ALIVE
Only one other track on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit has been better for Joey Logano when it comes to qualifying than Martinsville Speedway. Logano enters this weekend with an average starting position of 8.3 at the half-mile facility and is only bettered by his 8.2 average at Las Vegas. He has five poles, including three in a row in 2015-16, and had a streak of 18 straight top-10 starts (including races where qualifying was rained out) at one point. In 34 career races at Martinsville, Logano has an average finishing position of 10.6 and has been running at the finish of every event. He comes into Sunday’s race with a streak of 13 straight top-10 finishes.
