Where is martinsville motor speedway

Big racing slicks were proving too damaging, and in addition, winters in the Virginia mountains are hard on asphalt.

Water freezes and expands underneath, and that weakens the surface. The concrete corners are less susceptible to excessive wear. A lot of that can be attributed to the design of the Modifieds at the time, and changes did come afterward. Evans won his ninth title in , having already clinched the honor before the practice crash that claimed his life, and with eight of those titles coming in a row, he sets the gold standard for NASCAR titles sorry Jimmie Johnson.

And a quick look at the best at the little track suggests that the best drivers there are also the best drivers, period. Nearly every major Cup record at the track is held by a driver with at least one championship, most of them by drivers with multiple titles. Richard Petty holds the all-time win 15 and top-five 30 records. Another seven-time champion, Johnson, holds both those marks among active drivers, along with the active leading average finish of 8.

A daily email update Monday through Friday providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Dabble in Draftkings or Fan Duel? Identify drivers who have potential to score high. Identify the chalk drivers vs the value drivers with upside. Our Owner subscribers access all DFS tools. Jeff Gordon. Darrell Waltrip. Geoff Bodine. Joey Logano. Buck Baker. Cale Yarborough. Jimmie Johnson.

Bobby Allison. Denny Hamlin. Fred Lorenzen. Glen Wood. Ricky Rudd. Ryan Newman. Junior Johnson. David Pearson. Rex White. Rusty Wallace. Tony Stewart. Mark Martin.

Fonty Flock. Neil Bonnett. Kyle Larson. Richard Petty. Lennie Pond. Ernie Irvan. Bobby Hamilton. Kyle Busch. Jamie McMurray. Jim Paschal. Martin Truex Jr. Joe Eubanks. Gwyn Staley. Bobby Johns. Bobby Isaac. Terry Labonte. Morgan Shepherd. Kyle Petty. Ricky Craven. Joe Nemechek. Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick. The 0. Seating was provided for a modest spectators and to promote the first race, Earles and France proclaimed that it would be dust-free because of the oil and other materials they spread on the track.

Evidently the marketing ploy worked, as more than 6, paying fans showed up for the race, many dressed in their Sunday best, with another 3, able to watch without shelling out for the privilege. The Earles and the Frances made a small profit on the event and Earles soon set about beautifying the facility, adding seating for up to 5, and ensuring the ancillary amenities were up to scratch.

The dust didn't prove too much of a deterrent to the fans either and, by , France had gone on to found the NASCAR championship with Martinsville was awarded the sixth round of the series. As stock car racing's star began to rise, so did Martinsville's.

A steady stream of improvements came over the years, with Earles always keen to ensure that customers always went away with positive memories.

In , the dust bowl gave way to an asphalt surface for the first time, with two foot straights joined together by short, tight and almost flat turns with just 12 degrees of banking. The compact nature of the track required pit facilities on both straights in order to accommodate a full race field. An unusual tradition was started in , when Earles began awarding the winners of the main NASCAR evens with grandfather clocks instead of trophies, a nod to Martinsville's famous furniture industry.

Into the s, the rising speed of NASCAR events meant the old asphalt surface was struggling to hold up to the rigours of high-traction slick tyres. In , the course was completely repaved, this time with a concrete surface in each of the turns quite an innovative concept for the times.