The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday for the seventh race of the 2026 regular season.<\/p>\n
Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526\u2011mile short track founded in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. Originally a dirt oval and paved in 1955, it is the only facility to host NASCAR Cup Series races every year since the series began in 1949. Known for its tight corners, flat turns, and distinctive paperclip layout, the historic venue has produced some of NASCAR\u2019s most iconic moments.<\/p>\n
Kaulig Racing drivers AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon finished 30th and 31st, respectively, in last weekend\u2019s race at Darlington Raceway. Allmendinger sits 18th in the standings, and Dillon ranks 28th \u2014 strong results for the only organization in the Cup Series competing without manufacturer support or an alliance with another team.<\/p>\n
This weekend, drivers will compete with a 750\u2011horsepower package as part of NASCAR\u2019s updated rules for short tracks and road courses. This marks a step up from the 670\u2011horsepower package used in recent seasons at Martinsville, with the goal of enhancing throttle response, overtaking opportunities, and overall racing quality on tracks shorter than 1.5 miles.<\/p>\n
FS1 will broadcast Sunday\u2019s race live at 3:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
AJ Allmendinger \u2013 No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Returns
Allmendinger\u2019s No. 16 will carry Grizzly Nicotine Pouches branding at Martinsville. The company previously appeared on the car at The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, and Darlington Raceway. Grizzly will serve as the primary sponsor for 14 races with Allmendinger this season.<\/p>\n
Martinsville 2025 Results
In March, Allmendinger started 23rd and finished 23rd. In October, he started 33rd and finished 28th.<\/p>\n
Martinsville Career
Allmendinger has 27 Cup Series starts at Martinsville, earning two top\u2011five and seven top\u201110 finishes. His best results are two runner\u2011up finishes (April 1, 2012 and April 3, 2016).
In seven NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, he has one top\u2011five and two top\u201110 finishes.
He made one Truck Series start at Martinsville in 2007, finishing 27th.<\/p>\n
Season So Far (2026)
Allmendinger finished 30th at Darlington. He posted finishes of 24th at Las Vegas, 19th at Phoenix, and ninth at Circuit of the Americas \u2014 his best result of the season. He also finished 12th at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, and 19th in the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n
AJ at Kaulig Racing
2026 marks Allmendinger\u2019s 18th full\u2011time Cup Series season and his fifth with Kaulig Racing\u2019s Cup program.<\/p>\n
Career Overview
Allmendinger is a three\u2011time NASCAR Cup Series winner with 22 top\u2011five finishes, 88 top\u201110 finishes, and five pole awards. He will reach his 500th career Cup start later this year at Sonoma Raceway. He is also an 18\u2011time winner in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series.<\/p>\n
Crew Chief \u2013 Trent Owens
Owens joined Kaulig Racing in January 2022 and became Allmendinger\u2019s crew chief in 2025. The Darlington, South Carolina, native has 20 years of NASCAR experience and has won in all three national touring series.<\/p>\n
Kaulig Racing Overview
Matt Kaulig\u2019s organization has earned two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 27 NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series wins.<\/p>\n
AJ Allmendinger \u2013 Pre\u2011Race Quotes<\/p>\n
What do you think about Martinsville Speedway?
\u201cI think it\u2019ll be interesting to see if it\u2019s different with the more horsepower now. As they soften the tire, tire wear has become an issue there, so it would be curious with more horsepower if it kind of goes back somewhat like the old cars. It\u2019s always a tough racetrack to figure out with these cars, in the sense of all the shifting you do and that fine line of getting the thing to turn but still being able to drive off. But it\u2019s a fun race, especially when you\u2019re good and have a car to win with \u2014 it\u2019s a really fun racetrack.\u201d<\/p>\n
What type of mindset do you have heading into this historic short track?
\u201cYour mindset is that it\u2019s going to be a battle. You\u2019re always going to be surrounded by cars. It\u2019s important to have patience, try to stay calm, and not get yourself in trouble there. At the end of the day, hopefully we go out there, have a good practice, and qualify well. Track position is so important there. Short tracks have probably been our toughest with this car, trying to figure it out. Hopefully we can go there and have a solid day. I feel like the last couple of years we\u2019ve at least made gains to be more competitive, and I like that. Hopefully we keep doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ty Dillon \u2013 No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Dillon has had a solid start to the 2026 season, highlighted by a 14th\u2011place finish in the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n
Martinsville 2025 Results
In March, Dillon started 28th and finished 15th, completing all 400 laps. In October, he started 26th and finished 26th.<\/p>\n
Truck Series Career at Martinsville
Dillon has seven Truck Series starts at Martinsville, including a runner\u2011up finish in spring 2012 and a fifth\u2011place finish in 2017.<\/p>\n
Career Highlights
Dillon\u2019s best Cup Series finish is third at Talladega in fall 2020.
He owns three Truck Series victories (Atlanta 2012, Kentucky 2013, Texas 2013) and one NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014.<\/p>\n
Crew Chief \u2013 Andrew Dickeson
Dickeson, 43, from Melbourne, Australia, joined Kaulig Racing before the 2025 season after a lengthy career in Australian motorsport and an engineering role at Richard Childress Racing.<\/p>\n
2025 In\u2011Season Challenge
Dillon made a Cinderella\u2011style run as the No. 32 seed \u2014 the lowest possible \u2014 upsetting Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and John Hunter Nemechek before falling to Ty Gibbs in the championship round. He frequently joked with rival fanbases online, posting: \u201cI beat your favorite driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
2026 In\u2011Season Tournament
Seeds lock in after the June 14 race at Pocono Raceway. The tournament includes TNT\u2011broadcast events at Sonoma, Chicagoland, Atlanta, North Wilkesboro, and Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Ty Dillon \u2013 Pre\u2011Race Quotes<\/p>\n
How important is Martinsville to you?
\u201cMartinsville is a great racetrack. I\u2019ve always performed well there. I feel like last year was one of our best racetracks for our team, speedwise, and I think this year with the new package, it\u2019s going to be even more exciting. I can\u2019t wait to get out there and see how this car performs with more horsepower than Martinsville has had before.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Kaulig Racing going it alone
\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of everything. We want the tools, and we\u2019re working on developing them, but we had good information and notes from the past, which helped. The decisions we made going into this year kept the nucleus of the Cup team together, and all we focused on was improving on last year. We had a body change, but underneath, these cars are similar for all manufacturers, so we\u2019re able to build on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you get too much information, and it can cloud your decision\u2011making. By necessity, we\u2019ve simplified our thought process and made more confident decisions. We\u2019re saying, \u2018Hey, this is what we\u2019ve got. We\u2019re going with this information and making the most of it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re learning a lot about ourselves right now. We\u2019re all very proud of the way we\u2019ve fired off this year. The real test will be how we perform throughout the season. Right now, we\u2019re heading in a great direction, and hopefully we keep going this way. I think we can. We have the right people and the right mindset to continue running well and developing at our own rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaulig Racing PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday for the seventh race of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[1701,49,48,925,77099,26793,720,634,13257,582,721,722,82],"class_list":["post-557130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-1701","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-daytona","tag-dirt","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-motor","tag-nascar","tag-october","tag-racing","tag-series","tag-speedway","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}