BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 2 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to a television? The race can be heard live on MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Below is the broadcast schedule for the remainder of the weekend:
Friday, March 31
11:30 a.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1
4:35 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, FOX Sports 1
Saturday, April 1
10:00 a.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
Sunday, April 2
2:00 p.m. ET: NASCAR Cup Series race, FOX Sports 1
THIS WEEKEND’S PAINT SCHEMES: Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS, Chase Elliott will debut the No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet SS and Jimmie Johnson will man the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will pilot the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT MARTINSVILLE: At
Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports has team records for wins (24), top-five
finishes (77), top-10s (121) and laps led (9,074) at a track. The organization
has earned at least one win there in each of the past five years.
KAHNE'S MARTINSVILLE STATS:
The 36-year-old
has one pole award at the 0.526-mile track. In 2012, he edged Kevin Harvick to
earn the top starting position after posting a 19.496-second lap. In last
year’s spring race, Kahne started on the outside pole with a lap time of 19.515
seconds, just 0.002 shy of the pole-winning time. In Kahne’s 10 starts with
Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville, he has garnered five top-11 finishes,
including most recently an 11th-place finish at the paperclip-shaped track in
last year’s fall race. Kahne has led 60 laps at the Ridgeway, Virginia, track,
which ranks him 14th among active drivers.
ELLIOTT AT MARTINSVILLE: Elliott will
make his fourth start at the 0.526-mile speedway. In 2015, he made his NASCAR
Cup Series debut driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports at
Martinsville. In three previous starts at the track, Elliott averages a
starting position of 14.0 and finishing position of 23.3.
JOHNSON MASTERING THE PAPERCLIP: Forty-nine different NASCAR Cup Series drivers have won at Martinsville Speedway, led by Richard Petty with 15 victories. Johnson has the most wins among active drivers with nine victories. Former teammate Jeff Gordon also has nine wins. Johnson is also the most recent driver to win consecutive races (fall 2012 and spring 2013) at Martinsville.
EARNHARDT LOOKING FOR ANOTHER CLOCK: Earnhardt
earned his first victory at the historic 0.526-mile Martinsville Speedway
on Oct. 26, 2014. He held off former teammate and nine-time Martinsville winner
Jeff Gordon to score the win, taking home the iconic grandfather clock that the
speedway gives as its trophy. In the last 12 races at the paperclip-shaped
oval, Earnhardt has earned five top-five finishes and eight top-10s, which
bodes well for the 42-year-old veteran’s chances to capture his second
grandfather clock this weekend.