BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway will air live on NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. Can't make it to a television? The race can be heard live on MRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Below is the broadcast schedule for the weekend.
Saturday, October 28
11:30 a.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBC Sports App
4 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBC Sports Network/NBC Sports App
Sunday, October 29
12:05 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, NBC Sports Network/NBC Sports App
3 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series race, NBC Sports Network
THIS WEEKEND'S PAINT SCHEMES: Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 UniFirst Chevrolet SS, Chase Elliott will man the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS, Jimmie Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet SS and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS.
KAHNE AT MARTINSVILLE: Kahne has one pole award at Martinsville in his first start at the 0.526-mile track for Hendrick Motorsports. In 2012, he edged Kevin Harvick to earn the top starting position after posting a 19.496-second lap. In April 2016, the 37-year-old started on the outside pole with a lap time of 19.515 seconds, just 0.002 shy of the pole-winning time. In Kahne’s 11 starts with Hendrick Motorsports at the paperclip-shaped track, he has earned three top-10s and a pair of 11th-place finishes. Throughout his Cup Series career, Kahne has led 60 laps at the Ridgeway, Virginia, track, which ranks him 14th among active drivers.
ELLIOTT'S MARTINSVILLE STATS: Elliott is set to make his fifth start at the 0.526-mile speedway on Sunday. In his four previous starts at the Virginia track, Elliott averages a starting position of 11.0 and finishing position of 18.2. At Martinsville in March, the second-year driver collected a stage win and led 20 laps en route to a third-place result -- his best career finish at the track. The same weekend, Elliott also earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory after starting from the pole and leading 92 laps.
JOHNSON'S MARTINSVILLE STATS: According to NASCAR's loop data since 2005, Johnson has the series-best driver rating at Martinsville Speedway with a score of 116.9. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
EARNHARDT MAKING PASSES: Earnhardt is one of the best drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville, and NASCAR’s loop data since 2005 backs up that claim. He ranks first among active drivers in green-flag passes (1,450) and second to teammate Jimmie Johnson – by just six passes – in quality passes (864 to Johnson’s 870). Earnhardt ranks fourth among all active competitors with an average driver rating of 97.8 at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS ranks fourth in several categories, including average running position (12.050), fastest laps run (586), laps in the top 15 (8,769) and green-flag speed (91.210 mph).