StatChat 2025 - Cook Out 400 at Martinsville

By Adam Carabine

Happy weekend everyone, it’s time for another edition of Stats Saturday. This weekend NASCAR travels to Ridgeway, Virginia for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

Martinsville is a 0.526-mile oval, nicknamed “The Paperclip,” because of its shape. It’s the only track that has concrete in the turns, but asphalt on the straightaways.  Martinsville is also the oldest track that is still run on the NASCAR schedule.  It opened in 1947, and Red Byron was the first to win there in 1949.

Tomorrow’s race will be 400 laps long (for a total of 210.4 miles), with stage breaks occurring at 80 – 180 – 400.  Pit road speed is 30 mph, and the caution vehicle runs at 35 mph.  The fuel window is between 155-170 laps, though tire wear will probably come into play before fuel does.

This year, the NASCAR Cup Series has run 1,408 laps, for 2,248.96 miles so far this season.  Only 5 drivers have completed all of them – Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek.

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:

Ryan Blaney	8.33 over 18 races (2 wins)
Denny Hamlin	10.05 over 38 races (5 wins)
Joey Logano	10.78 over 32 races (1 win)
SVG	12.00 over 1 race
Chase Elliott	12.16 over 19 races (1 win)

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Martinsville:

Cody Ware	31.20 over 5 races
Justin Haley	30.25 over 8 races
JH Nemechek	29.50 over 4 races
Zane Smith	28.67 over 3 races
Michael McDowell	28.32 over 28 races

Martinsville is a Short Track

Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks:

Joey Logano	11.09 over 186 races (13 wins)
Chase Elliott	11.26 over 99 races (4 wins)
Christopher Bell	11.80 over 55 races (6 wins)
Ryan Blaney	12.64 over 103 races (3 wins)
William Byron	12.92 over 77 races (3 wins)

Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Short Tracks:

Michael McDowell	26.61 over 163 races
JH Nemechek	24.63 over 24 races
Ty Dillon	23.70 over 75 races
Noah Gragson	23.12 over 24 races
Ryan Preece	22.68 over 59 races

Richard Petty is by far the winningest driver at Martinsville, with 15 victories to his name.  Darrell Waltrip has 11, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon with 9 each.  Denny Hamlin is the winningest of the current drivers, with 5.

Notable drivers who have not won at Martinsville: 

Tyler Reddick	(has won at 8 other tracks)
Chris Buescher	(has won at 8 other tracks)
Ross Chastain	(has won at 5 other tracks)
Austin Dillon	(has won at 4 other tracks)
AJ Allmendinger	(has won at 3 other tracks)

No current driver has scored their first ever Cup Series win at Martinsville.

Based on average finish, no drivers list Martinsville as their BEST track, but Justin Haley lists it as his WORST track.

Based on their point pace, let’s have a look at how this season is comparing to last season for drivers:

Drivers Faring Better than in 2024

Tyler Reddick	+658 pts
Chris Buescher	+565 pts
Bubba Wallace	+503 pts
William Byron	+492 pts
Ryan Preece	+282 pts

Drivers Faring Worse than in 2024

Ty Gibbs	-563 pts
Brad Keselowski	-434 pts
Todd Gilliland	-273 pts
Joey Logano	-229 pts
Denny Hamlin	-192 pts

Next, let’s look at who’s having their best and worst career year by Average Finish:

Best Career Year

William Byron	8.67
Alex Bowman	9.50
Chris Buescher	11.83
Christopher Bell	12.50
Tyler Reddick	12.67
JH Nemechek	15.67
Chase Briscoe	15.83
Michael McDowell	16.33
Josh Berry	18.33
Ryan Preece	18.33

Worst Career Year

Cole Custer	27.67
Ty Gibbs	25.67
Brad Keselowski	25.00
Carson Hocevar	24.67
Ryan Blaney	21.50
Zane Smith	19.83

Rookie of the Year Battle

Riley Herbst	83
SVG	77

The Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position.  (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.)  No stage points or playoff points count.

Manufacturer Standings        

Chevrolet	219
Toyota	214
Ford	197

Here is the same formula, but used on a team-vs-team basis:

Chartered Team Standings

Hendrick	216
Joe Gibbs	211
RFK	173
23XI	166
Trackhouse	160
Penske	159
Spire	149
Legacy Motor Club	136
Kaulig	135
RCR	134
Front Row	133
Hyak	118
Wood Bros	117
Haas Factory	56
Rick Ware	37

At each stage break, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points based on their finishing positions.  Here are the leaders this year:

Stage Point Leaders

Ryan Blaney	66
William Byron	62
Bubba Wallace	51
Kyle Larson	49
Joey Logano	45
Austin Cindric	43
Alex Bowman	40
Tyler Reddick	36
Chase Elliott	33
Christopher Bell	26

Milestone Watch

Chase Elliott	Looking for his 20th Career Win
Christopher Bell	Looking for his 50th Career Top 5
Josh Berry	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
Noah Gragson	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
JH Nemechek	Looking for his 10th Career Top 10
Daniel Suarez	Looking for his 70th Career Top 10

Here are the top 10 longest active winless streaks:

Winless Streaks

Justin Haley	147 races
Cole Custer	100 races
Bubba Wallace	85 races
Erik Jones	85 races
Kyle Busch	63 races
Michael McDowell	54 races
Daniel Suarez	40 races
Chase Elliott	33 races
Denny Hamlin	31 races
Brad Keselowski	29 races

The race begins Sunday, March 30th at 3:00 pm EST (12:00 pm PST) – Enjoy the race everyone!

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Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!