NASCAR at Martinsville: Start time, lineup, TV schedule and more for Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
After a weekend off to celebrate Easter, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to action with short-track racing under the lights Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
It has been an eventful and surprising start for the Cup Series in 2021, with seven different winners in seven races. Michael McDowell pulled off the first shocker, winning his first career Cup race in the season-opening Daytona 500. Young guns Christopher Bell (Daytona road course) and William Byron (Homestead) followed up with unexpected wins in the next two races, while Kyle Larson (Las Vegas), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta) and Joey Logano (Bristol dirt) are the four most recent winners.
So, will we see an eighth different winner Saturday night?
Here's all the information you need to get ready for the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway:
START TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET.
TV: Fox Sports 1. Pre-race broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
RADIO: Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
STREAMING: Fox Sports Go (must have TV provider) and FOX Sports Go app plus other streaming services.
RACE DISTANCE: 500 laps around the 0.526-mile track at Martinsville Speedway for a total of 263 miles.
STAGE LENGTHS (laps per stage): Stage 1: 130, Stage 2: 130, Stage 3: 240.
Chase Elliott (9) leads Joey Logano (22) and Brad Keselowski (2) during the 2020 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Peter Casey, USA TODAY Sports)
LAST TIME: Chase Elliott dominated, leading 236 of 500 laps and beating Ryan Blaney by 6.577 seconds in the November playoff race for his first career win at Martinsville. In the 2020 spring race — which was moved to June — Martin Truex Jr. led 132 of 500 laps, beating Blaney by 4.705 seconds for his second career Martinsville victory.
QUALIFYING: There was no on-track qualifying for this race. Instead NASCAR used a performance-metrics formula to determine the lineup:
- 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race
- 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race
- 35 percent: Team owner points ranking
- 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race
LINEUP:Joey Logano, who won the most recent race at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Cup Series first race on a dirt track since 1970, earned the pole and will lead the field to green alongside Denny Hamlin.
Here is the lineup for the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (with car number in parentheses):
1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford
2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet
4. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford
5. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
6. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet
7. (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota
8. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford
9. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford
10. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford
11. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet
12. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota
13. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet
14. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford
15. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford
16. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet
17. (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet
18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
19. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
20. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
21. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet
22. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford
23. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota
24. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford
25. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota
26. (41) Cole Custer, Ford
27. (42) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
28. (53) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet
29. (00) Quin Houff, Chevrolet
30. (77) Justin Haley, Chevrolet
31. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford
32. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet
33. (52) Josh Bilicki, Ford
34. (7) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet
35. (38) Anthony Alfredo, Ford
36. (78) BJ McLeod, Ford
37. (15) James Davison, Chevrolet
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