New approach gives Denny Hamlin dominating NASCAR Cup victory at Martinsville: It didn’t take Denny Hamlin long to find the recipe for success in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin grabbed the lead on Lap126 of 400 in the seventh NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and never looked back.[Read More]
#11-Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The win is his 1st win of the year, 6th at Martinsville and 55th career win.
Pole sitter #20-Christopher Bell finished 2nd followed by #23-Bubba Wallace, #9-Chase Elliott, #5-Kyle Larson, #1-Ross Chastain, #60-Ryan Preece, #22-Joey Logano, #19-Chase Briscoe and #34-Todd Gilliland.
Hamlin dominated most of the race, leading 274 of the 400 laps and the final 74.
The fastest lap bonus was earned by #11-Denny Hamlin.
Stage 1 was won by #22-Joey Logano. Stage 2 was won by #11-Denny Hamlin.
There were 9 lead changes among 6 drivers and 10 cautions for 86 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 68.170mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
UPDATE: #43-Erik Jones, who finished 24th, was disqualified for not meeting minimum weight.
Race Fast Facts – Martinsville:
Denny Hamlin won the Cook Out 400, his 55th victory in 693 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his sixth victory and 27th top-10 finish in 39 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Christopher Bell (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2025.
Bubba Wallace (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 15 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Riley Herbst (31st) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 16 points over Kyle Larson.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Martinsville:
Race 7 of 36 in the season
1) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 224 points [16 playoff points]
2) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 259 points [regular season points leader], [6 playoff points]
3) #5-Kyle Larson, 1 win, 242 [7 playoff points]
4) #11-Denny Hamlin, 1 win, 217 [7 playoff points]
5) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 146 points, [6 playoff points]
6) #9-Chase Elliott, 226, +76 ahead of 17th
7) #48-Alex Bowman, 223, +73 ahead of 17th
8) #45-Tyle Reddick, 213, +63 ahead of 17th
9) #23-Bubba Wallace, 208 [1 playoff point], +58 ahead of 17th
10) #22-Joey Logano, 199 [2 playoff points], +49 ahead of 17th
11) #12-Ryan Blaney, 193, [2 playoff points] +43 ahead of 17th
12) #17-Chris Buescher, 176, +26 ahead of 17th
13) #19-Chase Briscoe, 169, +19 ahead of 17th
14) #1-Ross Chastain, 169, +19 ahead of 17th
15) #60-Ryan Preece, 164 [1 playoff point], +14 ahead of 17th
16) #71-Michael McDowell, 159, +9 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #8-Kyle Busch, 150, -9 behind 16th
18) #16-A.J. Allmendinger, 148, -11 behind 16th
18) #42-John Hunter Nemechek, 146, -13 behind 16th
19) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 146, -13 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Denny Hamlin. Bell finishes second then Wallace, Elliott, and Larson.
White flag for Hamlin.
Lap 395 – Hamlin now out front of Bell by 3.5 seconds.
Lap 391 – Ten to go. Hamlin in control, ahead of Bell by 2.8 seconds.
Lap 388 – Hamlin is stretching his lead out, now 2.2 seconds ahead of Bell. Wallace is closing on Bell for second.
Lap 386 – Cindric is officially out (electrical).
Lap 381 – Hamlin’s lead now up t0 1.2 seconds over Bell. Still Wallace, Elliott, and Larson rounding out the top 5.
Lap 371 – With 30 laps remaining, Hamlin’s lead is holding pretty steady at .7 second as he works on lapping cars. Cindric goes to the garage. He has continued to have battery problems.
Lap 366 – 35 laps to go, Hamlin over Bell by .8 second.
Lap 356 – Hamlin’s lead is now up to a half second over Bell and he is now staring to reach the rear of the field.
Lap 351 – Down to 50 laps remaining. Hamlin continues to lead Bell by .2 second. Then Wallace, Elliott and Larson.
Lap 328 – Bell has taken second after starting on the outside for the restart.
Lap 326 – Green with 75 laps remaining. Hamlin, Wallace, Bell, Elliott, Chastain, Larson, Briscoe, Preece, McDowell and Blaney the top 10.
Lap 321 – Pit road open. Leaders stay out.
Lap 318 – Caution back out, this time Briscoe gets into Logano and Logano spins. Hamlin still the leader, Wallace up to second.
Lap 316 – Green again. 85 laps remaining. Hamlin still the leader and has been out front for 190 laps today.
Lap 310 – Caution for a spin by Gragson in turn 2 after contact from Buescher.
Lap 307 – Green flag with 94 laps remaining. Hamlin, Bell, Wallace, Elliott, Chastain the top 5.
Lap 301 – Pit road is open but the leaders stay out.
Lap 298 – Caution is back out. Gibbs spins in turn 2. Smith runs into him.
Lap 287 – Green flag back out. Hamlin still the leader. 114 laps remaining.
Lap 280 – Pit road is open. Drivers that had not pitted already come in. Off pit road:Hamlin, Bell, Wallace, Elliott, and Larson. Drivers that had pitted
previously stay out and will take the wave-around.
Lap 275 – Caution is out for a spin by SVG. He lost a right rear wheel after pitting.
Lap 274 – Pit stops continuing through the field.
Lap 267 – Byron and Bowman kick off pit stops. They are breaking the final stage into thirds. Many drivers will split the stage in 2.
Lap 251 – 150 laps remaining: Hamlin, Elliott, Wallace, Bell, Blaney, Larson, Chastain, Briscoe, Gibbs and Logano the top 10.
Lap 231 – No change in the top 5. Hamlin leading Elliott by 1 second.
Lap 208 – Back to green. Hamlin still leads Elliott.
Lap 202 – Caution is out for a spin by Herbst after contact from Cindric. SVG is the free pass.
Lap 201 – 200 laps complete, 200 to go. Hamlin, Elliott, Wallace, Bell and Blaney the top 5.
Lap 194 – Green flag for the start of the final stage. Hamlin still the leader.
Lap 187 – Pit road is open. Leaders are all in for service. Off pit road: Hamlin, Elliott, Wallace, Briscoe, Bell, Blaney, Larson, Logano, Chastain, Gibbs.
Lap 181 – Caution for the end of stage 2. Hamlin wins it. He’s followed by Elliott, Wallace, Gibbs, Briscoe, Blaney, Chastain, Bell, Larson, and Reddick.
Lap 177 – Hamlin still leads but Elliott now up to second. Then Wallace, Gibbs, and Briscoe. Four to go in stage 2.
Lap 151 – Thirty laps remaining in the second stage. Hamlin is the leader over Wallace, Gibbs, Briscoe, and Chastain.
Lap 131 – Green flag back out. Hamlin, Wallace, Gibbs, Custer, Suarez, Larson, Briscoe, Elliott, Chastain and Logano the top 10. 50 laps remaining in stage 2.
Lap 126 – Pit road is open. Most drivers come in but Hamlin, Wallace, Gibbs, Custer, and Suarez stay out to move up front.
Lap 122 – Caution is out for Myers off the pace and then stopped on track.
Lap 110 – Elliot leads Hamlin, Larson, Wallace, Gibbs, Bowman, Custer, Bell, Briscoe, and Reddick.
Lap 94 – Elliott takes the lead from Bowman.
Lap 93 – Green for the start of the second stage. Bowman leads Nemechek, Elliott, Hamlin, Custer, Larson, Bell, Wallace, Gibbs and Reddick.
Lap 87 – Drivers that didn’t pit under the last caution come down pit road for service. Cindric had to change a battery.
Lap 81 – Caution for the end of stage 1. Logano wins it. Then Bowman, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Jones Nemechek, Preece, Elliott, Hamlin, Custer.
Lap 79 – Green flag for a two lap shootout to the end of the stage.
Lap 77 – Berry stopped on track with a possible battery issue. He gets pushed back to pit road.
Lap 73 – A mix of strategies as pit road opens. Off pit road: Elliott, Hamlin, Custer. Staying out: Logano, Bowman, Keselowski, Allmendinger, Preece, Jones, Nemechek.
Lap 72 – Caution out for a spin by Buescher after contact from Hocevar. Berry leads Logano, Cuter, Bowman, and Elliott.
Lap 66 – Casey Mears has been lapped by Berry. Berry’s lead is now 2.4 seconds over Logano.
Lap 50 – Berry leads Custer by 1.8 second. Bell and Keselowski got together a couple laps ago and fell to 12th and 13th,
Lap 40 – Green flag back out with 41 laps left in stage 1.
Lap 36 – Leaders are Berry, Cindric, Custer, Keselowski, Blaney and Herbst. They did not pit. Bell is now seventh.
Lap 34 – Pit road is open. A few drivers stay out. Of those that pit, Bell off first, then Logano, Elliott, Bowman, Hamlin, Larson and Wallace.
Lap 31 – Caution for debris in turn 4. Elliott still the leader.
Lap 25 – Elliott takes the lead from Bell. They are followed by Bowman, Hamlin, Larson, Buescher, Logano, Wallace, Byron, and Reddick
Lap 11 – Bell leads Elliott by a half second after 10 laps. Then Bowman, Hamlin, and Larson.
Lap 2- Bell leads he first lap.
• 3:12pm/et – Green flag at Martinsville. Bell and Elliott on the front row. First stage is 80 laps. Race is official after lap 180.
• 3:02pm/et – Engines are fired.
• 2:54pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 2:46pm/et – No cars to the rear today.
• 2:10pm/et – With an hour remaining until the green flag, the weather is looking good. Rain wet of the track is moving north and away from the speedway.
• Teams have wet weather tires if needed today.
• Rain is possible today. The National Weather service says: A chance of showers, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. Southwest wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
• No cars reported to the rear as of the close of the garage on Saturday evening.
Race details:
Broadcast: FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400 laps / 210.4 miles
Stages: 80 / 180 / 400
Average time of race: 2:47:44
Pit road speed: 30 mph
Caution car speed: 35 mph
Fuel Window: 175 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 2:54:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 2:55:00 p.m.
Command: 3:02:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 3:11:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: none
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #20-Christopher Bell chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #9-Chase Elliott took the 30th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Martinsville Pit Stall page.
#20-Christopher Bell won the Busch pole for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway with a speed of 96.034mph for his 1st pole of the year, 1st at Martinsville and 14th of his career.
#9-Chase Elliott will start second followed by #48-Alex Bowman, #5-Kyle Larson, #11-Denny Hamlin, #17-Chris Buescher, #22-Joey Logano, #23-Bubba Wallace, #45-Tyler Reddick and #24-William Byron.
See the complete qualifying results and the Cook Out 400 Starting Lineup.
Martinsville Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the Cook Out 400 with a lap of 19.718 seconds, 96.034 mph.
This is his 14th pole in 187 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in 11 races at Martinsville Speedway.Chase Elliott (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2025 and his 14th in 20 races at Martinsville
Speedway.
Alex Bowman (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third in seven races this season.
Shane Van Gisbergen (33rd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is over. The results:
#23-Bubba Wallace 94.138
#20-Christopher Bell 93.872
#11-Denny Hamlin 93.826
#77-Carson Hocevar 93.756
#41-Cole Custer 93.742
Slowest: #66-Casey Mears 89.859mph
Most laps run: #77-Carson Hocevar, 68 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 38 drivers): #23-Bubba Wallace, 93.325mph
Notes: The hood came up on #7-Justin Haley’s car while he was on track, but he did not hit anything.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Cook Out 400 Practice speeds page.
Pre-race inspection is complete in the NASCAR Cup Series garage.
- No. 66 failed inspection twice.
- Engineer Hector Flores has been ejected for the remainder of the weekend and the team will lose pit selection for this event.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open teams entered are: #50-Burt Myers and #66-Casey Mears.
See the full entry list on the Cook Out 400 Entry List page.
NASCAR News & Notes:
- This weekend marks the 153rd running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Martinsville is the only track that hosted a race every season (1949-2025).
- Martinsville Speedway, at 152 NASCAR Cup Series points-paying races, has hosted the second-most points paying events all-time, behind only Daytona International Speedway at 156.
- Martinsville is the first of six short track races in 2025.
- Martinsville has held a Playoff race every year of the postseason (2004-2025), and this is the sixth straight year Martinsville held the race prior to the Championship (2020-2025).
- Hendrick Motorsports drivers won five of the last nine Martinsville races with all four active drivers winning at least once (William Byron is the repeat winner with two).
- The last five Martinsville races were won from starting positions outside the top-10, tied for the longest streak ever at Martinsville.
- Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2-3 at Martinsville in April, the first 1-2-3 finish by a team ever at the track.
- The last seven races at Martinsville were won by drivers 30 years old or younger, the longest streak ever at the track.
- All but three of the last 76 races at Martinsville dating to 1987 were won by a driver with at least 100 career Cup Series starts
- A total of 59 different drivers have won in the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway. This weekend, 10 of the 59 different NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville Speedway winners will be active.
Statistical Advance: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Martinsville Speedway.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Martinsville Speedway: Cup teams first ran this combination of left- and right-side tires at Martinsville last November . . . these teams also ran this same tire set-up at The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium this February.
Race rules and information:
