On Sunday, the celebrities of the NASCAR Cup Sequence will face their first quick monitor check of the common season on the 0.533-mile Martinsville Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Right here is every part it is advisable know forward of the Cook dinner Out 400:
Favourite: Denny Hamlin (+350, per BetMGM)
Hamlin is the defending winner of the Martinsville spring race and all the time appears to be a consider his house state. His dominance doesn’t cease there, both, as he leads all energetic drivers in wins (six), prime fives (21), prime 10s (27) and laps led (2,722).
Moreover, Hamlin has completed inside the highest 5 in 4 of the final seven races at Martinsville and can begin Sunday’s race from the entrance after tying Bobby Isaac for the Tenth-most pole awards in sequence historical past.
Underdog: Josh Berry (+2200, per BetMGM)
Berry enters the Virginia quick monitor in search of a momentum enhance after a irritating begin to the season. Since his ninth-place end within the season-opening Daytona 500, Berry has completed seventeenth or worse in each race since, three of which have been exterior the highest 30.
Why is he value keeping track of Sunday? For starters, Berry is thought for his short-track background, and his Wooden Brothers Racing staff is affiliated with a Workforce Penske group that all the time runs nicely at Martinsville. He was additionally Tenth within the 2025 fall race and can begin Sunday’s race from third.
Tyler Reddick trying to proceed sizzling begin
After overcoming a grueling day at Darlington, Reddick turned simply the third driver in Cup Sequence historical past to win 4 of the primary six races of a season. That kind of begin has given Reddick a 95-point benefit over Ryan Blaney within the standings and put him in a league of his personal thus far.
Martinsville, nevertheless, could possibly be a unique story. Reddick has not found out quick tracks in his Cup Sequence profession and solely has two top-10s in 12 begins at “The Paperclip.” Of all of the tracks Reddick has made not less than 10 begins at, it’s the just one the place he has not produced a prime 5.
Hendrick Motorsports nonetheless looking for first 2026 win
The powerhouse group has not gone winless by means of the primary six races of a season since 2019, however that’s the place it finds itself in after a disappointing 400 miles at Darlington produced just one top-10 finisher (William Byron, eighth).
Byron (second) and Chase Elliott (Tenth) each certified inside the highest 10, whereas Kyle Larson (thirteenth) had one of the best 25 and 30-lap common in observe. If there was ever a weekend to lastly break by means of this season, a monitor the group has received a sequence document 30 occasions at current, a golden alternative.
New guidelines package deal will face its hardest check but at Martinsville
The elevated horsepower package deal will likely be used for the third time in a regular-season race on Sunday. Nonetheless, whereas it was in play for the exhibition Cook dinner Out Conflict at Bowman Grey Stadium earlier this season, Martinsville will by far characterize the shortest monitor of the primary seven regular-season races.
It is without doubt one of the most historic tracks within the sport’s historical past, however after years of subpar racing and a scarcity of pleasure that followers have come to count on, Sunday’s race would be the most important test so far for the brand new package deal.
