The Cup Series caps off a triple header weekend and ends the short track swing with the NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

The last time the Cup Series were at Martinsville, it was the sight of a historic moment that has since been outlawed by NASCAR.  In an attempt to make it into the final four in the battle for the championship Ross Chastain hit turn three at full throttle and rode the wall.  Named the “Hail Melon”, at one point Chastain was running speeds 60 miles per hour faster than anyone else on the track and set a new track record in the process.

There will never be another “Hail Melon” but on Friday night during the Truck Series race, Martinsville the again the sight of a historic event when the race started under wet weather conditions with the “rain tires” on the trucks.  Last year NASCAR made the decision to expand racing in foul weather past the road courses and allowing it on short tracks.  While the Craftsman Truck Series drivers did not race in the rain itself, they did race under damp race track conditions.

Earlier in the week Hendrick Motorsports announced that Chase Elliott has been cleared and will drive the number nine car in the race.

Last Monday Rick Ware Racing announced that after missing the race at Richmond last week, Cody Ware has been arrested and charged with assault.  NASCAR has since suspended the driver indefinitely.  RWR has selected Truck Series champion driver Zane Smith to take over the driving duties of the number 51 car.

Zane Smith is the first driver on the track to make a qualifying run with a time of 20.571 seconds around the half mile track.

Back in the first time in six weeks, Chase Elliott makes a qualifying run of 20.384 seconds.  Elliott reports that he feels good and there are no issues with the repaired leg.

Daniel Suarez just posted a time of 20.139 seconds.

Martin Truex Jr posts a time of 20.106 to top the list of drivers in Group A; Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick will all move on to round two for a shot at the pole.

Anthony Alfredo is the first car from Group B to make a qualifying run with a time of 20.478 seconds around the half mile track.

With a qualifying run of 20.046 seconds, Ryan Preece has set the record for the fastest time of the day.

Halfway through Group B qualifying; Ryan Preece leads the pack with Aric Almirola, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Alex Bowman rounding out the top five.

Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola, and William Byron will move on from Group B to round two for a shot at the pole.

Tyler Reddick is the first car on the track in round two of qualifying and posts a time of 20.128 seconds to set the time to beat.

Chris Buescher is up next and posts a time of 20.191 seconds.

The first of the four Stewart-Haas Racing cars is Kevin Harvick with a time of 20.150 seconds.

Daniel Suarez posts a time of 20.081 seconds…wiggle and all…to sit on the provisional pole.

Martin Truex Jr led the group in Group A and posts a time of 20.162 seconds.

Kicking off the Group B drivers is William Byron with a time of 20.155.

Aric Almirola posts a time of 20.081 – tied with Daniel Suarez.

Bubba Wallace posts a time of 20.256 seconds.

Chase Briscoe comes in with a time of 20.191 after locking up lap two.

Ryan Preece is the final driver in the top 10 and breaks the 20 second mark with a time of 19.979 seconds to earn his first career pole.  Daniel Suarez will start alongside Preece on the front row.

The starting line up for the NOCO 400:
Ryan Preece
Daniel Suarez
Aric Almirola
Chase Briscoe
Martin Truex Jr
Tyler Reddick
Kevin Harvick
William Byron
Bubba Wallace
Chris Buescher
Denny Hamlin
Ty Gibbs
Todd Gilliland
AJ Allmendinger
Joey Logano
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kyle Busch
Austin Dillon
Kyle Larson
Michael McDowell
Brad Keselowski
Christopher Bell
Alex Bowman
Chase Elliott
Austin Cindric
Justin Haley
Corey LaJoie
Erik Jones
Noah Gragson
Anthony Alfredo
Ryan Blaney
Harrison Burton
Zane Smith
Ross Chastain
Ty Dillon
JJ Yeley

Denny Hamlin will start the race from the back of the field after the crew had to make a change to the water tank.

Hall of Fame driver Bobby Labonte will join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the FOX broadcast booth for today’s race.

Stage one of the race is 80 laps long, stage two is 100 laps in length, and stage three will be 220 laps for a total of 400 laps around the half mile track.  The drivers can run around 155 laps on a single load of fuel; but tires are much more important to the drivers.

There is some possibility for bad weather before the race is over.

After earning his first ever pole, Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the inside lane with Daniel Suarez on the outside.  Preece edges out for the lead with Suarez in second.

Lap two, the top five are Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe.

Lap three, Tyler Reddick passes Chase Briscoe for fifth.

Lap six, Ryan Preece has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap eight, the drivers are single file through the top 17 cars.

Lap 10, Ryan Preece has a one second lead on Daniel Suarez.  Austin Cindric and Erik Jones make contact with Cindric getting loose but he saves the car and the track stays green.

Lap 13, Ryan Preece has a lead of over a second on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 17, has increased his lead to a second and a half on Daniel Suarez as the drivers get spread out; Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 28, Daniel Suarez has cut into Ryan Preece’s lead to under a second; Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr, and Tyler Reddick continue to round out the top five.

While most of the field is finding it difficult to pass their fellow drivers, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron have had no problem passing cars; moving up nearly 10 spots since the race start.

Lap 35, Ryan Preece has a one second lead on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Martin Truex, and Tyler Reddick continue to round out the top five.

Leader Ryan Preece has already begun lapping cars; there are 33 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 40, Ryan Preece has led every lap so far and has now led more laps than he has in his entire career.

Lapa 41, known as “the paperclip”, Martinsville Speedway has become a conveyor belt with few drivers moving forward.

Lap 45, with Ryan Preece amid slower traffic, Daniel Suarez has closed the gap to under a second to Ryan Preece.

Lap 48, in 32nd place, Joey Logano is the last car on the lead lap.

Lap 49, Ryan Preece has a once second lead on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Lap 57, Ryan Preece battles with Preece passing Logano to put Logano a lap down.  Daniel Suarez is less than a second behind.  Ryan Preece and Joey Logano raced together as six year olds.

Lap 60, Ryan Preece has a one second lead on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr reports that he has no lateral grip and is falling back in the field; on lap 63 he is in 12th place.

Lap 66, there are 31 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 68, Ryan Preece continues to dominate the race with a lead of nearly a second and a half on Daniel Suarez; Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Aric Almirola passes Daniel Surez for second.

Tyler Reddick passes Daniel Suarez for third.

All four of the Stewart-Haas Racing cars are in the top six – Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Kevin Harvick.

Lap 75, Ryan Preece has a lead of over a second on teammate Aric Almirola; Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Since the start of the season in 2021, SHR has just four stage wins.

After leading every lap, Ryan Preece wins stage one for his first ever stage win.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Ryan Preece
Aric Almirola
Tyler Reddick
Daniel Suarez
Chase Briscoe
Kevin Harvick
Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Larson
William Byron

Drivers come down pit road for service with Ryan Preece winning the race off of pit road; followed by Daniel Suarez.

Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two from the inside lane with Daniel Suarez on the out side on lap 92.  After going side by side, Preece edges out to hold on to the lead.  Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola battle for second.

Drivers are double wide through the field.

Lap 94, the top five are Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin.

Zane Smith was caught speeding during the pit stop.  Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher were both charged with equipment violations.  All three drivers had to restart the race from the back of the field.

The number 10 pit for Aric Almirola is questioning whether or not they got all four of the lug nuts tightened.  Almirola is reporting an issue in the car.

Lap 105, Ryan Preece has a lead of over a half a second on Aric Almirola; Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 110, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Ty Gibbs battle for position with Gibbs eventually taking the spot – 18th.

Lap 110, Ryan Preece has dominated the race and has led every lap so far.

Inflation has taken its toll everywhere…except the Hot Dog stand at Martinsville Speedway.  There the popular hot dogs are still just $2!

Alex Bowman is running the fastest laps on the track.

Lap 124, Ryan Preece continues to lead the race  and is over half a second infront of Aric Almirola; Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.

Lap 130, Alex Bowman passes Kevin Harvick for fourth.

Harrison Burton brings out the first caution flag of the race for an on track incident when he spins out after contact form Erik Jones.

Drivers come down pit road for fresh tires and adjustments.  In a three wide battle, Ryan Preece edges out for the lead to win the race off of pit road.  Despite leading the race by a good margin, Preece was complaining of a loose car.

After taking only two tires, Todd Gilliland advanced 10 positions.

Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Truex Jr were all caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

Ross Chastain stayed out on the track and will bring the field down for the green flag restart from the inside lane with teammate Daniel Suarez on the outside on lap 143.  Chastain edges out for the lead.

Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez battle for second.

Lap 144, the top five are Ross Chastain, Aric Almirola, Daniels Suarez, Todd Gilliland, and Kevin Harvick.

Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, and Todd Gilliland are in a three wide battle for position with Gilliland taking second, Suarez in third, and Almirola falling to sixth.

Drivers are double wide through the field.

Lap 149, Ryan Preece is back in 29th after having to restart the race from the back of the field.

Lap 152, Ross Chastain has a near one second lead on Todd Gilliland; Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, and Chase Brisvcoe round out the top five.

Lap 154, Michael McDowell has dropped 14 spots from 12th to 26th since the restart.

The sun has come out at Martinsville!

Lap 158, Ross Chastain has a lead of over half a second on Todd Gilliland; Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Leading 24 laps and counting, this is the first time that Ross Chastain has led any laps at Martinsville.

With just 15 laps remaining in stage two, Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick battle for the lead with Harvick taking the spot.  Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Tyler Reddick rounding out the top five.

Lap 171, Kevin Harvick has a near one second lead on Chase Briscoe; Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr is the last car on the lead lap in 31st place.

With six laps remaining in stage two, Kevin Harvick has a half second lead on Chase Briscoe; Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Kevin Harvick wins stage two after not leading a race at Martinsville since 2016.  This is his first stage win since 2020.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kevin Harvick
Chase Briscoe
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Brad Keselowski
Ross Chastain
Todd Gilliland
Daniel Suarez
Aric Almirola
Kyle Larson

Drivers come down pit road for service and will have to make another stop at some point during stage three.  Chase Briscoe just edges out Kevin Harvick to win the race off of pit road. 

After a 9.9 second pit stop, Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 193 and jumps out in front for the lead with Kevin Harvick in second.

Lap 194, the clouds return with Chase Briscoe in the lead; Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Lap 199, Chase Briscoe has a narrow lead on Kevin Harvick; Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.  Chase Elliott is in 20th place.

Currently in third place, Denny Hamlin has not had a top five finish so far this season.

Lap 206, there are 32 cars on the lead lap with all 36 cars still on the track.

Chase Briscoe has pulled out to a half second lead on Kevin Harvick; Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.

Some nasty looking clouds have entered the skies around Martinsville.

Lap 221, Chase Briscoe has just a quarter of a second lead on Kevin Harvick; Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Daniel Suarez is reporting a brake pressure issue in his number 99 car.  After starting the race in second place, Suarez in ninth place.

Lap 233, Chase Briscoe is slowly increasing his lead on Kevin Harvick and is now nearly half a second in front; Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Lap 240, Chase Briscoe has a quarter of a second lead on Kevin Harvick.  He has been in the top five more today than all of the previous eight races this season.

The shortest track on the circuit at just over half a mile, there has been only one caution flag today for an on track incident.

One hundred fifty laps to go, Chase Briscoe has a two tenths of a second lead on Denny Hamlin; Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Lap 254, there are 28 cars on the lead lap.

Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead.

Lap 258, Denny Hamlin takes the lead.

Chase Briscoe broke his finger in a dirt race in Richmond; saying that he wanted to get through Martinsville, Briscoe still has not had the surgery on his broken finger.

Lap 262, Denny Hamlin has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second on Chase Briscoe; Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

There are 26 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 267, Ryan Preece has entered the top 20.

Lap 268, Denny Hamlin has a second and a half lead on Kevin Harvick; Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.  There are now only 23 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 275, Denny Hamlin continues to pass cars since taking the lead and there are now just 22 cars on the lead lap.

With 122 laps to go in the race, Denny Hamlin has pulled out to a two and a half second lead on Kevin Harvick; Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

With 118 laps to go, Denny Hamlin put Bubba Wallace a lap down and Wallace comes back to battle to get back on the lead lap.

Lap 284, Denny Hamlin puts pole sitter Ryan Preece a lap down; there are now just 20 cars on the lead lap.  Preece comes back to stay on the lead lap but the battle continues.

Mired back in traffic, Denny Hamlin’s lead is down to under two seconds.

Lap 289, Alex Bowman is the first driver to make a green flag start and starts the cycle of pit stops.

Lap 292, leader Denny Hamlin comes down pit road for his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to Brad Keselowski.

AJ Allmendinger was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty at the pit road speed of 30mph.

One hundred laps to go, Brad Keselowski makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Daniel Suarez.

Anthony Alfredo brings out the caution flag when one of his right side tires is resting against the wall.

When the caution flag came out Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr, and Noah Gragson have not make their pit stops yet.

Erik Jones has been charged with improper fueling of his car.

Drivers who have not pitted come down pit road; along with several other drivers for service with Daniel Suarez winning the race off of pit road.

Chase Briscoe is back in the lead with Tyler Reddick in second.  Twelve drivers took the wave around and are back on the lead lap for 24 cars on the lead lap.

Todd Gilliland’s crew reports that he has dropped a cylinder.

Chase Briscoe brings the filed down for the green flag restart with 88 laps remaining in the race.  Briscoe goes side by side with Kyle Larson before taking the lead; Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Lap 316, Chase Briscoe has a lead of over half a second on Kyle Larson; Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Lap 323, Chase Briscoe has pulled out to a one second lead on Kyle Larson; Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

As the laps count down, the drivers are getting three wide in a battle for position.

Lap 328, Chase Briscoe has a lead of nearly two seconds on Kyle Larson; Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, and Daniel Suarez round out the top five.

Just 64 laps remaining in the race; Chase Briscoe continues to lead the race by nearly two seconds on Kyle Larson with Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick, and Daniel Suarez rounding out the top five.

JJ Yeley gets into the wall and brings out the fifth caution flag on lap 344.  There are some serious skid marks on the track before Yeley hit the wall.

Kyle Busch is the “lucky dog”.

Several drivers come down pit road for fresh tires including leader Chase Briscoe.  Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez are the first two drivers off of pit road after taking only two tires.

Joey Logano is the new leader with Aric Almirola in second; Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

The wheel nut came off on one of Kevin Harvick’s tires.  The right rim was almost off.  Out of sticker tires, the crew had to use the qualifying tire scuff to replace the tire.

Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with just 46 laps remaining in the race.  Logano gets out in front for the lead with Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin in a battle for second.

JJ Yeley becomes the  first driver out of the race.

Lap 256, Joey Logano has a half second lead on Denny Hamlin; Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.

Kyle Larson passes Aric Almirola for third.

William Byron reports that his car feels like is is blowing up.

Lap 259, Kyle Larson passes Denny Hamlin for second; three-quarters of a second behind leader Joey Logano.

With 39 laps to go, Kyle Larson is closing in on leader Joey Logano; he is less than half a second behind the leader.

With 36 to go, Kyle Larson is just two tenths behind leader Joey Logano.

Lap 365, Kyle Larson is on Joey Logano’s bumper and is challenging for the lead.

The top five are Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Aric Almirola.

With 31 laps to go, Kyle Larson begins the battle to pass Joey Logano.

With 29 to go, Kyle Larson gets out in front for the lead but Joey Logano is right behind.

In 1984, Hendrick Motorsports was nearly at their end and had planned to run one final race – Martinsville.  They won with the number five car and 27 Martinsville wins later are just six wins away from win number 300.

With 23 laps to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of over two seconds on Joey Logano; Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Aric Almirola round out the top five.  In his return to the racetrack, Chase Elliott is in 13th place.

Martin Truex Jr passes Aric Almirola for fifth.

With 18 to go, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott battle for eleventh.

15 to go Martin Truex Jr battles with Chase Briscoe for fourth.

Kyle Larson now has a lead of three and a half seconds on Joey Logano.

Ten to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of three and a half seconds on Joey Logano; Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin battle for third.

Seven to go, Kyle Larson has a lead of nearly four seconds on Joey Logano.  Chase Elliott has entered the top 10.

Four to go, Kyle Larson continues to lead by nearly four seconds over Joey Logano.  Larson has yet to win a race at Martinsville.

Kyle Larson takes the white flag.

With a lead of four seconds, Kyle Larson wins the race…and his first Grandfather clock.  This is win number 28 at Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports and HMS career win number 695!

Larson did a burnout lap and trashed the rear tires in the process.

The unofficial results of the NOCO 400:
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Chase Briscoe
Aric Almirola
Ryan Blaney
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Bubba Wallace
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Austin Dillon
Ross Chastain
Chris Buescher
Ryan Preece
Christopher Bell
Daniel Suarez
Ty Gibbs
Michael McDowell
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick
William Byron
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Corey LaJoie
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Haley
Harrison Burton
Noah Gragson
Erik Jones
Ty Dillon
Austin Cindric
Zane Smith
Anthony Alfredo
JJ Yeley