Martinsville Speedway 2025 NASCAR Track Profile

[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 Racing Annual magazine. Order your copy online today, or buy one at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

Martinsville Speedway in tiny Ridgeway, Virginia, is the oldest and one of the most action-packed venues on the NASCAR schedule. Oddly, the first couple races on the half-miler with the Next Gen car underwhelmed, but a softer tire used last fall brought “The Paperclip” back to life.

Traditionally, the fall event can be chaotic, due to it being the penultimate race of the season. It’s the final chance for those not locked into the Championship 4 to get a spot, and desperate drivers make for desperate moves (see: Ross Chastain’s “Hail Melon” in 2022).

Denny Hamlin is the active leader in wins (five), top 5s (20), and top 10s (26) in 38 starts at Martinsville. His 2,448 laps led are more than a thousand higher than the next competitor (Kyle Busch, 1,429). However, the Virginia driver hasn’t won at the track since 2015 and his three top-5 finishes the last three fall races weren’t enough to get him out of the Round of 8.

Ryan Blaney and William Byron have been the best racers in the six Next Gen races here, with each winning twice. Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson have earned a Grandfather Clock in the other two. Blaney’s average finish is a gaudy 3.5, as his worst finish is seventh in the Next Gen era. Only Blaney and his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano have finished top 10 in every Next Gen Martinsville race, giving Logano the second-best average finish (5.2).

Fall 2020 Martinsville winner Chase Elliott is winless in the Next Gen car, but he’s led the most laps in those six races (515). Elliott has five top 10s in that span and finished top 3 in both 2024 events. His time is coming once again.

Martinsville Speedway track info

Site: Ridgeway, Virginia

Laps: 0.526-mile oval

Banking/Turns: 11 degrees

2025 Dates: March 30; Oct. 26

Distance: March 30 (400 laps, 210.4 miles); Oct. 26 (500 laps, 263 miles)

2024 winners

April: William Byron

November: Ryan Blaney

Scouting report

Not long ago, Martinsville was the short track that everyone loved coming to. But four years into the Next Gen era, NASCAR still hasn’t found a rules package to compliment the modern car – with its wider tires, underbody aerodynamics, and engine package that has drivers shifting in every corner. Goodyear is making progress with the tire compound, but drivers still feel they need less grip or more power to trade paint and execute the bump-and-runs the Virginia half-mile was once known for. Currently, this car doesn’t even allow drivers to consistently get to the rear bumper.