CONCORD, N.C. — The West Coast swing has come to a close and it’s time for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to head east to Ridgeway, Virginia.
Martinsville Speedway awaits, and all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers are ready to take on the half-mile short track this weekend.
Before watching the drivers race on the paperclip-shaped oval, here are a few key notes to watch out for during Sunday’s race in Virginia.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday’s race will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to the television? Listen to the race live on MRN and SiriusXM to catch the radio coverage. Here is the full broadcast schedule:
Friday, April 1:
11 a.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
4:15 p.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
Saturday, April 2:
10 a.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
Sunday, April 3:
1 p.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Cup Race, FOX Sports 1/MRN/SiriusXM
THIS WEEK’S PAINT SCHEMES: This weekend, Great Clips returns as primary sponsor of Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS. 3M will be the primary partner on board Rookie of the Year contender Chase Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS for the first time this season. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS and the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, respectively, at the 0.526-mile Virginia short track.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT MARTINSVILLE: At Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports has team records for wins (23), top-five finishes (76), top-10s (118) and laps led (8,982) at a track. The organization has earned at least one win there in each of the past four years.
KAHNE AT MARTINSVILLE: Martinsville Speedway marks the third of 11 primary races this season for Great Clips. Kasey Kahne's lone pole award at Martinsville came in April 2012. Last season's fall event at the track saw Kahne race from the rear of the field in a backup Chevrolet SS all the way to a ninth-place finish.
ELLIOTT AT MARTINSVILLE: Elliott is coming off of his third top-10 finish of the season heading into this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway. The driver earned Sunoco’s Rookie of the Race honors at Auto Club Speedway after capturing a career-best sixth-place finish. His first top-10 finish of 2016 was at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and he also earned a top-10 finish at Phoenix International Raceway.
JOHNSON AT MARTINSVILLE: Johnson has many series-best accolades at Martinsville Speedway according to NASCAR’s loop data. Among active drivers, he has the series-best average finish of 6.909, the best driver rating of 118.4 and the series-fastest green-flag speed of 91.629 mph. He also leads all active drivers with 9,425 laps in the top-15 during that span.
EARNHARDT AT MARTINSVILLE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his first victory at the historic half-mile Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26, 2014. He held off former teammate and nine-time Martinsville winner Gordon to score the win, taking home the iconic grandfather clock that the speedway gives as its trophy. In the last 10 races at the paper clip-shaped oval, Earnhardt has earned five top-five and seven top-10 finishes.