NASCAR race

Rain and a smidgen of wintry weather have placed the start of Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series race on hold at Martinsville Speedway.

No cars are scheduled to drop to the rear during pace laps. That delayed the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which was initially scheduled for a 7:58 p.m. ET green flag. AJ Allmendinger will start last in the 36-car field and will have to serve a pass-through penalty shortly after the start after his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times.

The Sporting News is tracking live updates and lap-by-lap highlights for NASCAR's race at Martinsville on Saturday. Follow below for complete results from ...

But Elliott is the faster car on the track right now, and should be able to pass him before too long. He started on the front row, but has been passed by Cole Custer, William Byron and Christopher Bell already. 9:05 p.m.: Daniel Suarez is trying to hold off Elliott and avoid falling a lap down on lap 601. He's more than two seconds over Byron for second, and about four seconds ahead of Custer, who is in third. 10:44 p.m.: Everyone has cycled through pit road on green, and Byron is back in front as the leader. 9:27 p.m.: Kyle Larson bumps Kurt Busch to pass him for the 11th spot. 11:24 p.m.: Byron (inside) and Logano (outside) are on the front row. 10:47 p.m.: Elliott, Harvick and Kyle Busch take the route to pit road. Blaney is the new leader, for the moment. The two have been battling it out for the free lap position. Despite a late push by Joey Logano, Byron took the white flag as the leader and hung on for the win at Martinsville Speedway. He became the Cup Series' only two-time winner in 2022. Byron decided to stay out — as did the rest of the top five — and went to overtime on older tires.

Snow and sleet have hit the track at Martinsville. How will that impact the race?

Mike Joy will call the lap-by-lap action, with Clint Bowyer and Chad Knaus providing analysis. 7:25 p.m.: Rain is expected to end around 7:45 p.m. ET, according to The Weather Channel. The site indicates that there is going to be occasional rain until around 10 p.m. ET, but that doesn't mean the race will be held up until then. The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 is listed to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, though with prerace ceremonies, the green flag is expected to wave at 7:58 p.m. ET. Saturday's race will be carried by FS1 in the U.S. and TSN3 on Canada. What time does the NASCAR race start today? 7:48 p.m.: The Weather Channel shows that rain has stopped for now with rain possible agin around 8:45 p.m. ET. No word yet on when the race will officially begin. 7:42 p.m.: The driers have also been deployed, but have been put on hold for the invocation and the national anthem. The current start time for the race is 7:58 p.m. ET. Will it be delayed? 7:57 p.m.: Expect the track to be ready by 8:25 p.m. ET. 8:03 p.m.: Drivers are going to be back at their cars by 8:15 p.m., with the command scheduled for 8:20 p.m. The area around Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., has been experiencing rain, sleet and snow before the start of the race, bringing into question whether the race will start on time. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the first night race of the NASCAR season.

Friday's NASCAR Cup Series practice session gave bettors plenty of information to work with in trying to handicap tonight's Martinsville race.

Driver A Wallace looked very comfortable in the No. 23 car in practice. Driver B The Bet: Bubba Wallace (-130) over Daniel Suarez The Bet: Bubba Wallace to finish as top Toyota (+3300) My model has Cindric finishing in the top five 16.7% of the time, which beats the 11.1% implied odds quite comfortably. His 10-lap average was sixth best among all drivers. I’m not saying Cindric should be at the same odds as his teammate Logano, but the gap should not be this wide. Bubba Wallace (-130) over Daniel Suarez The gap appears to have closed among the Toyotas this week, and my model reflects that — it gives Wallace a 5.9% chance of finishing as the top Toyota driver. Wallace has a driver rating 17.2% higher at Martinsville than the average of all other tracks if we discount his rookie season. Bubba Wallace Top Toyota (+3300)

MARTINSVILLE, VA (WGHP) – When two young NASCAR drivers had a wild scuffle, a fistfight if we're not mincing words, after the Xfinity Series race at ...

A fight broke out between two drivers following a NASCAR Xfinity Series event. Here's how fans reacted to the news.

“I tried to talk to him and he got all in my face and at that point, we’ve got to start fighting,” Gibbs said via ESPN. “We got put in a bad position there. In a video, Gibbs can be seen wearing his helmet, while Mayer is not. A post-race melee sparked after Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer had a little trouble with each other on the track.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race Friday night at Martinsville Speedway was not an artistic success, but there was a whole lot of drama.

He threw a couple of punches, they were weak, so I can't say much about that, it's kind of funny. At that point we've got to start fighting," Gibbs told FS1's Vince Welch in his postrace interview. Their fracas pushed one of the race's main storylines far into the background. Gibbs confronted Mayer during and after the cooldown lap. The tension reached a crescendo in OT when Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer wrecked just before the finish while racing behind eventual winner Brandon Jones. Harsh words and shoves were exchanged, and then Gibbs started swinging.

Martinsville Speedway's previous 131 NASCAR Cup Series races were scheduled for 500 laps, but the 2022 spring races is a shorter affair.

However, that race got caught in the shuffle as NASCAR revised its schedule during the early days of the pandemic. Track officials intended to push back the start of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 in 2020. With the race scheduled to start shortly after the 7:30 p.m. air time for FS1 television coverage, the concern was that a 500-lap race could run deep into the night. The majority of races on the annual NASCAR Cup Series schedule incorporate both a presenting sponsor’s name and a number indicating the length of the race. - Miles: TheDaytona 500is the best-known race in the category. Given that the track is the oldest facility from NASCAR’s original schedule in 1949, according to CBS Sports, it was not a move made without considerable thought.

William Byron won Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

He did what he was supposed to do, and kind of got me all stuffed up behind him, and I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into 3 to execute the ol’ bump-and-run. NOTE: NASCAR’s inspection is complete in the Cup Series garage with no issue, confirming William Byron as the race winner. That was the last yellow flag until the final caution on Lap 393. Byron retained control of the race after the subsequent Lap 325 restart, with Austin Dillon moving past Joey Logano into the second position. It means a lot to have her here, and it’s been a crazy year, but she’s doing great, and thanks, everybody, for the support. Got cleared to second, and Willy kind of messed up off of (Turn) 4 and let me get to him, and he did a really good job of brake-checking… Elliott leads the series standings by three points over second-place Blaney. Byron is third, 12 points back. Just hate being that close to winning and not making it happen. We felt like we could refire on the tires and be OK. Logano had mixed emotions after the race. Byron, who also won Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, is the first driver to win two events this season. Byron led 212 of the 403 laps.

The Sporting News is tracking live updates and lap-by-lap highlights for NASCAR's race at Martinsville on Saturday. Follow below for complete results from ...

But Elliott is the faster car on the track right now, and should be able to pass him before too long. He started on the front row, but has been passed by Cole Custer, William Byron and Christopher Bell already. 9:05 p.m.: Daniel Suarez is trying to hold off Elliott and avoid falling a lap down on lap 601. He's more than two seconds over Byron for second, and about four seconds ahead of Custer, who is in third. 10:44 p.m.: Everyone has cycled through pit road on green, and Byron is back in front as the leader. 9:27 p.m.: Kyle Larson bumps Kurt Busch to pass him for the 11th spot. 11:24 p.m.: Byron (inside) and Logano (outside) are on the front row. 10:47 p.m.: Elliott, Harvick and Kyle Busch take the route to pit road. Blaney is the new leader, for the moment. The two have been battling it out for the free lap position. Despite a late push by Joey Logano, Byron took the white flag as the leader and hung on for the win at Martinsville Speedway. He became the Cup Series' only two-time winner in 2022. Byron decided to stay out — as did the rest of the top five — and went to overtime on older tires.

Martinsville race results from April 9, 2022 for the NASCAR Cup Series. NASCAR results from the night race at Martinsville Speedway.

1 to go, Logano nudges the bumper of Byron into turn one. William Byron cycles back to the race lead. Kyle Busch is the first to pit from 9th. Byron wins the race to the pit exit. He drives it deep into turn three for the final time but can’t get to his bumper. Elliott falls all the way to 5th as he gets trapped on the outside lane. His teammate, Chase Elliott drops to the inside lane and holds the race lead. Byron drops down in front of him to lead the field into turn one. Lap 307, the green flag pit cycle is complete. As he re-enters the track, he runs wide on old tires. As he does that, Elliott puts the bumper to Suarez and forces his way by. He jacks him up pretty good but McDowell holds the spot and will get his lap back.

Byron is the first two-time winner of the 2022 season, which means he is also the first driver to win two races in the Next Gen car.

This year, teams will have to contend with the second draft of a Bristol dirt track in a Next Gen car that has never seen a dirt surface in race trim. That was the first Cup dirt race in decades, but it was building on a foundation of successful races on dirt by the Truck Series that had fundamentally similar cars. He, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson have now combined to win four races for Hendrick Motorsports in the year's first eight races, and an additional win for Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain means that Chevrolet has won five of those eight races.

Byron is the first driver to win two Cup Series races this season.

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William Byron fended off Joey Logano and Austin Dillon on an overtime restart to pick up the win at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

Who had a good race: Austin Dillon proved to have an excellent car Saturday and was one of very few cars who could charge through the field, particularly on the long run. Ryan Blaney led for five laps during a green-flag pit cycle, and Austin Dillon was credited with a lap led on the Lap 320 restart in which he beat Byron back to the start/finish line. The five-time Martinsville winner finished 28th, three laps off the pace. Bell finished 20th, the first car off the lead lap. The lack of lead changes highlighted the difficulty drivers found while attempting to pass around the tight 0.526-mile oval. Chase Elliott led the first 185 laps, sweeping each of the night’s two stages.

Prior to his once-a-year race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he'd raise a can on pit road with any driver interested.

— Ryan Vargas (@RyanVargas_23)April 9, 2022 — Jeremy Clements (@JClements51)April 9, 2022 So long as he finished the race.

NASCAR ride-height rule under fire after boring short track race at Martinsville. Martinsville Speedway has fans asking what could be changed.

That’s good because it appears that’s about the only way to pass on short tracks in recent years. A caution at the end of a race on a short track can change the game. Visually displaying the change in short track racing. I’m telling you, you can go back and look, it flipped the switch, at that moment. However, that doesn’t appear to have helped the product on tracks under 1-mile. Yet, short tracks have taken a focus on the schedule in recent years. And you’re going to laugh at this a little bit. Joey Logano tried to beat on the bumper of William Byron and steal the race win. Since 2014, there’s been no ride height rule in the NASCAR Cup Series. It can produce a great finish but what about the other 390 laps of the show? With 7 laps to go, a caution was thrown as a car tagged the wall. The night previous proved it’s a track that can do that.

The Sporting News is tracking live updates and lap-by-lap highlights for NASCAR's race at Martinsville on Saturday. Follow below for complete results from ...

But Elliott is the faster car on the track right now, and should be able to pass him before too long. He started on the front row, but has been passed by Cole Custer, William Byron and Christopher Bell already. 9:05 p.m.: Daniel Suarez is trying to hold off Elliott and avoid falling a lap down on lap 601. He's more than two seconds over Byron for second, and about four seconds ahead of Custer, who is in third. 10:44 p.m.: Everyone has cycled through pit road on green, and Byron is back in front as the leader. 9:27 p.m.: Kyle Larson bumps Kurt Busch to pass him for the 11th spot. 11:24 p.m.: Byron (inside) and Logano (outside) are on the front row. 10:47 p.m.: Elliott, Harvick and Kyle Busch take the route to pit road. Blaney is the new leader, for the moment. The two have been battling it out for the free lap position. Despite a late push by Joey Logano, Byron took the white flag as the leader and hung on for the win at Martinsville Speedway. He became the Cup Series' only two-time winner in 2022. Byron decided to stay out — as did the rest of the top five — and went to overtime on older tires.

He's followed 1.2 seconds back by William Byron, who's been chasing his teammate all race. Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick finish the stage in the top 10 ...

He also noted the heavy shifting drivers are doing in the Next Gen car at a short track like Martinsville, and its durability. “When the track is this cold and it doesn’t lay rubber, the tires just don’t give up,” Gordon said. After being treated in Charlotte, Byron said in July that the tumor responded positively to radiation and that she’d have regular MRIs, but that it was “the best possible outcome.” Both of Byron’s parents were present at the track to watch his win. The start was delayed roughly an hour for rain and even light snow that touched down at the track, which made a difference on how the race played out. That’s night racing, and especially a cold night race.” Nothing more special than tonight to kind of cap it all off a year later on the same weekend.” “I was surprised,” Hendrick Motorsports executive and nine-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon said. They finished third and fifth, respectively, with Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon wheeling it from 23rd at the start to a second-place finish. Byron chased Elliott down for around 140 laps from second place, and was only able to pass him with a faster stop. He led a race-high 212 laps, most of which came after taking the lead from teammate Chase Elliott after the second stage. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be okay, and you’ve got one of the most aggressive guys behind you in Logano.” His car was superior than mine getting to the corner for sure.

Drivers explain why the Martinsville Cup race didn't have the typical action that has made the event a favorite among NASCAR fans.

The car was dramatically better from when I tested in Charlotte (in November) from when the guys went back, but it doesn’t address this type of racing.” We can’t even get the parts we’ve got now,” he said. “It was a different type of race,” Keselowski said. We’re learning, we’re trying to get better, but no idea of how you fix this thing right now.” “I just aero blocked,” Hamlin said. You just try to take away his air and run on the curb and maybe he’ll mess up. He regained the point and went on to lead the final 43 laps. “The left sides just don’t wear on this car,” he said. He never recovered, finishing 21st, the last car on the lead lap. “It’s crazy to say that. “That’s just kind of how it is, so I know they’ve been playing around with softer lefts and things like that, so go for it. Chase Elliott led the first 185 laps, and Byron led the next 118 before green-flag pit stops.

After dominating the first half of the race, circumstances and pit stop issues cost him a win, leaving him as the only winless HMS driver thus far in 2022.

Elliott slowly dropped through the pack before a slow pitstop on Lap 313 dropped him from fifth to completely outside the top 10. If the fastest car for most of the weekend -- and with a driver who has previously won at the track -- can’t make passes, it shows how difficult passing was for every driver on the .526-mile track. He led the most laps to start a Martinsville race since Darrell Waltrip in 1980, but teammate William Byron stayed within striking distance the whole time. The long green flag runs of the surprisingly tame race played right into Elliott's advantage as he showed long-run speed throughout the first two stages. Elliott started from the pole and showed no intention of looking back. Yet after losing the lead on pit road to William Byron following Stage Two, Elliott struggled to maintain his commanding pace and slowly faded out of contention for the rest of the night.

It looked like old times at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night, with William Byron ripping the No. 24 around the track in the lead and Austin Dillon ...

First place: Jeff Gordon, No. 24. First place: Jeff Gordon, No. 24. First place: Jeff Gordon, No. 24. First place: Jeff Gordon, No. 24. It looked like old times at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night, with William Byron ripping the No. 24 around the track in the lead and Austin Dillon hounding him in the No. 3. First place: Jeff Gordon, No. 24.