Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Martinsville, Virginia. At 0.526 miles in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

NASCAR Paperclip

The track was also one of the first paved "superspeedways" in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. The track is often referred to as paper clip-shaped and is banked only 12° in the turns. The combination of long straightaways and flat, narrow turns makes hard braking going into turns and smooth acceleration exiting turns a must.

Original Ownership

The track ownership was a joint venture of brothers Jim and Bill France, Jr., and H. Clay Earles, the majority owner, along with daughters Dorothy Campbell and Mary Weatherford, and Dorothy Campbell's children, Sarah Fain and Clay Campbell.

Grandfather Clock Trophy

Winners of Martinsville's Nextel Cup and Whelen Modified Tour events receive a longcase clock as a trophy instead of a regular trophy, a tip of the cap to the fame of the Martinsville furniture industry. One of the neat things one can see while watching a NASCAR race is a Norfolk Southern train running along the tracks outside the speedway, although the tracks were recently moved back 100 feet.

$192 Million Price Tag

Although sold for $192 million in 2004, the track continues to prosper under the new ownership of International Speedway Corporation. The track hosts two Nextel cup races, currently the DirecTV 500 in April and the Subway 500 in October, along with Busch, Craftsman Truck, and Late Model Stock Car races. The track had plans to add an additional 20,000 seats along the backstretch, boosting capacity to over 85,000 seats, but nothing more has been officially mentioned regarding this by track management since the sale of the track to ISC.

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Trivia

May 19, 1957: Buck Baker is declared the winner of the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway after a crash halts the event on lap 441 of the scheduled 500-lapper.

April 9, 1961: Former USAC champion Fred Lorenzen racks up his first NASCAR win in the rain-shortened Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Only 149 of the 500 laps are completed before rain forces cancellation, but NASCAR officials decide to call the race complete and reschedule another 500-lap race at Martinsville later in April.

April 27, 1969: Richard Petty, with relief help from James Hylton, wins the Virginia 500 at Martinsville. Petty's Torino Talladega finishes three seconds ahead of runner-up David Pearson.

April 27, 1980: Darrell Waltrip erases a four-lap deficit and storms back to win the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Waltrip violates a new rule stating teams aren't permitted to change tires during caution periods.

April 26, 1981: Rookie Morgan Shepherd drives to an upset win in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville, giving the Pontiac nameplate its first NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National win since 1963.

April 25, 1982: Harry Gant, a bridesmaid for his entire career, finally hits the jackpot by winning the Virginia National Band 500 at Martinsville. Gant finishes a lap in front of runner-up Butch Lindley to score his first win in his 107th start.

April 29, 1984: Geoff Bodine runs away from Ron Bouchard in the final laps and scores his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National win in Martinsville's Sovran Bank 500. The triumph also gives team owner Rick Hendrick his first NASCAR win in the team's eighth career start.

September 27, 1987: Darrell Waltrip barges through Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte on the final lap to score his first win with Hendrick Motorsports in the wild Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Labonte and Earnhardt spin in the third turn as Waltrip shoots the gap to score the win.

April 20, 1998: Bobby Hamilton's dominating performance nets an overwhelming victory in the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Hamilton finishes 6.3 seconds ahead of runner-up Ted Musgrave to score his third career NASCAR Winston Cup victory.

April 18, 1999: John Andretti overcomes a spinout and a lap deficit to win the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Andretti, driving for Petty Enterprises, finishes 1.06 seconds in front of runner-up Jeff Burton to grab his second career NASCAR Winston Cup victory.

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