On three consecutive days, Martinsville Speedway will play host to a Round of 8 finale that will set the Championship 4 fields for the Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup series this weekend.
The Craftsman Truck Series will be the featured attraction Friday with practice, qualifiying and a 200-lap race.
Corey Heim, who leads the Truck series with 10 victories this season, is the only driver who has locked into the racing for the title Oct. 31 at Phoenix Raceway. Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and Kaden Honeycutt are above the cutline entering Martinsville, and Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger also are trying to earn championship berths.
Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney have both triumphed in must-win situations at Martinsville and will try to do it again Sunday.
In the Xfinity Series, JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilsich and Justin Allgaier have secured two of the four Championship 4 berths heading into Saturday night’s 250-lap race at Martinsville. Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil are in the last two provisional spots on points, and Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed are below the cutline.
With Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe locked into the Championship 4, there will be six drivers vying for the remaining two title-eligible spots over 500 laps Sunday afternoon in the Cup Series. Christopher Bell (plus-37 points) and Kyle Larson (plus-36) are comfortably above the cutline, and William Byron, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney are in must-win territory to make it to Phoenix.
The Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup series also will be racing Thursday at Martinsville.
Martinsville Speedway weekend schedule
(All Times Eastern)
Thursday, Oct. 23
Garage open
9:45 a.m. — Whelen Modified Tour9;45 a.m. — Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup
Track activity
Noon – 12:30 p.m. — MX-5 Cup practice12:35 – 1:05 p.m. — Modified practice1:10 – 1:40 p.m. — MX-5 Cup practice1:45 – 2:15 p.m. — Modified practice2:30 p.m. — MX-5 Cup qualifying3:30 p.m. — Modified qualifying6 p.m. — MX-5 Cup race (100 laps, 52.6 miles)7:30 p.m. — Modified race (200 laps, 105.2 miles, Flo Racing)
Friday, Oct. 24
Garage open
Noon – 5 p.m. — Xfinity Series9 a.m. – 12 a.m. — Truck Series
Track activity
2:05 – 3 p.m. — Truck practice (FS2)3:10 – 4 p.m. — Truck qualifying (FS2)6 p.m. — Truck race (200 laps, 105.2 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 50, Stage 2 at Lap 100; FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday, Oct. 25
Garage open
11 a.m. – 7 p.m. — Cup Series11:30 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. — Xfinity Series
Track activity
1 – 1:55 p.m. — Xfinity practice (CW App)2:05 – 3 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (CW App)4:30 – 5:30 p.m. — Cup practice (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)5:40 – 6:30 p.m. — Cup qualifying (truTV, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)7:30 p.m. — Xfinity race (250 laps, 131.5 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 60, Stage 2 at Lap 120; CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, Oct. 26
Garage open
11 a.m. – 9 p.m. — Cup Series
Track activity
2 p.m. — Cup race (500 laps, 263 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 130, Stage 2 at Lap 260; NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)Weekend weather
Friday: Mainly sunny with a high of 64 degrees and a 3% chance of rain with winds from the northwest at 5 to 10 mph. It’s expected to be 59 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Truck race.
Saturday: Cloudy with a high of 63 degrees and a 4% chance of rain with light and variable winds. It’s expected to be 52 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.
Sunday: Cloudy with a high of 61 degrees and a 7% chance of rain with light and variable winds. It’s expected to be 57 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race.