MARTINSVILLE, Va. — NASCAR rolls into Martinsville Speedway this weekend, March 28-30, 2025, for a tripleheader featuring the Cook Out 400 (Cup Series), US Marine Corps 250 (Xfinity Series), and Boys And Girls Club Of The Blue Ridge 200 (Craftsman Truck Series). The 0.526-mile asphalt oval, the shortest track on the circuit, hosts its 153rd Cup Series race Sunday, continuing a legacy that began in 1949.
The Cup Series headlines the weekend with the Cook Out 400 on March 30 at 3 p.m. ET, offering an $11,055,250 purse. Spanning 400 laps (210.4 miles), the race includes Stage 1 ending at Lap 80, Stage 2 at Lap 180, and the Final Stage at Lap 400. FS1 airs the event starting at 1:30 p.m. ET, with MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90) providing radio coverage. Martinsville’s tight turns and short straights promise intense racing as drivers vie for the iconic grandfather clock trophy, a tradition since 1964.
Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, the US Marine Corps 250, kicks off at 5 p.m. ET with a $1,651,939 purse. The 250-lap (131.5-mile) event features Stage 1 at Lap 60, Stage 2 at Lap 120, and the Final Stage at Lap 250. The CW broadcasts from 4:30 p.m. ET, with MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR on the airwaves. The weekend opens Friday with the Craftsman Truck Series’ Boys And Girls Club Of The Blue Ridge 200 at 7:30 p.m. ET, boasting a $782,900 purse over 200 laps (105.2 miles). Stages end at Laps 50, 100, and 200, with FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR covering the action.
Martinsville, the only track to host a Cup race every year since NASCAR’s inception, holds the second-most points-paying events (152) behind Daytona (156). This weekend marks the first of six short-track races in 2025 and the sixth consecutive year Martinsville hosts the playoff race before the Championship 4. Hendrick Motorsports, with five wins in the last nine races here, looms large. William Byron (2024, 2022), Kyle Larson (2023), Alex Bowman (2021), and Chase Elliott (2020) have all triumphed for the team, which also notched a historic 1-2-3 finish in April 2024.
Active winners include Denny Hamlin (five victories), Ryan Blaney (two, including the last two playoff races), and Brad Keselowski (two). Blaney’s recent dominance—top-seven finishes in his last six Martinsville starts—makes him a favorite, while Joey Logano’s 11 straight top-10s highlight his consistency. The last seven races went to drivers 30 or younger, a track record, with the past five winners starting outside the top 10.
Practice and qualifying set the stage. Friday features Truck Series sessions at 2 p.m. ET (FS2) and Xfinity at 4:30 p.m. ET (CW App), followed by the Truck race. Saturday’s Cup Series practice and Busch Light Pole Qualifying air at 2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN, and SiriusXM, before the Xfinity race. Sunday’s Cup event caps the weekend.
Opened in 1947 by Henry Clay Earles as a dirt track on a 30-acre cornfield, Martinsville paved its surface in 1955 and added concrete corners in 1976. NASCAR acquired it in 2004 for $192 million, and lights arrived in 2017 for $5 million. Richard Petty holds the record with 12 clock trophies, while Hendrick and Team Penske dominate recent history alongside Joe Gibbs Racing.
With 201 lead changes in 2025—the most ever through six races—and 153 lead-lap finishers, competition is fierce. William Byron’s streak of leading in all six races this year and Kyle Larson’s 2.8 average finish in his last five Martinsville starts signal strong contenders. Fans can expect close racing on the “Paperclip,” where the pass for the win has come in the final 30 laps in each of the last five races.
