MARTINSVILLE, VA — Much is at stake at Martinsville.
Even with one more race to go, next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series championship could be wrapped up on Sunday, Nov. 1 at the old school short track in southern Virginia.
Kyle Larson enters the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway at the top of the Chase standings with a comfortable 73-point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin. If the race ends with Larson ahead by 77 points, he will have secured the championship on Sunday, becoming the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2003 to win the title a week early.
But Larson and his team aren’t celebrating yet. This track is arguably Hamlin’s best with six victories here, the most among any active driver. If the 46-year-old
has a dominant day, Larson could have some real competition at Homestead.
“We're all very aware of how quickly the points can swing. So every week you've just got to be focused on maximizing your day and whatever that's going to take,” said Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “You know, this is certainly a race where (Hamlin) could go lead all 500 laps and we've still got to have a strong day. So our game plan really hasn't changed much.”
Hamlin won the pole on Saturday, marking the sixth time this season he'll start a race at the lead of the pack, the most among all drivers this season. It's also his sixth poll at Martinsville. Larson will start in third.
For the drivers behind Larson and Hamlin but still mathematically alive in the Chase, it’s do-or-die time.
“It's all or nothing,” said Joey Logano, who qualified fifth. “I mean, if you want to win the championship, you must win, and you must win two in a row, and that's even needing some help on the other end. So, yeah, it’s Hail Mary, it's all you got.”
Logano is 100 points behind Larson and in fifth place in the standings. He’s been superb on short tracks in the second half of the season though, taking checkered flags at North Wilkesboro, Richmond and Bristol since July. Logano needs to outscore Larson by 25 points on Sunday to stay alive going into Homestead. Since 2018, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has an average finish of 6.2 at Martinsville with one victory.
Martinsville is arguably the best track for Logano’s Penske teammate Ryan Blaney too. He’s in sixth place, 106 points behind Larson. Since 2019, Blaney has two wins and an average finish of fifth place across 15 trips to the short track. In that span, Blaney’s No. 12 Ford has finished no worse than 11th here.
With many drivers giving this race all they’ve got, Larson is thinking about holding onto his lead rather than what the championship trophy will feel like in his hands for the second consecutive year.
“You never know how it's going to go. Obviously there's some really good drivers here, so I don't anticipate clinching anything. I just want to just have a good day and not give up too much before next week.”
What time does the NASCAR race at Martinsville start?
The green flag is set to drop on the Xfinity 500 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 31, at Martinsville Speedway in Henry County, Virginia.
What TV channel is the NASCAR race at Martinsville on?
The Xfinity500 will be broadcast on NBC. Pre-race coverage will start at 1:30 p.m. ET.
It is the third of four races this season on NBC, but the broadcast will still be produced by the USA Sports crew.
Leigh Diffey will have the call alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte, while Dale Jarrett will offer additional analysis from the pit box. Marty Snider will host the pre- and postrace shows, and he, Kim Coon, Dave Burns and Trevor Bayne will report from pit road.
Will there be a live stream of the NASCAR race at Martinsville?
Despite being on NBC, this race will not be streamed on Peacock.
Subscribers to YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV can watch the Xfinity 500 through those services.
HBO Max will continue to provide live streams of in-car cameras, while MRN will carry the live radio broadcast.
How many laps is the NASCAR race at Martinsville?
The Xfinity 500 is 500 laps around the 0.536-mile asphalt oval for a total of 263.5 miles. The race will have three segments (laps per stage) — Stage 1: 130 laps; Stage 2: 130 laps; Stage 3: 240 laps.
What is the weather for the NASCAR race at Martinsville?
The track at Martinsville Speedway should be dry and the Xfinity 500 should start on time.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a partly sunny afternoon, with a high temperature near 63 degrees and some light winds.
Into the evening, projections say it will be mostly cloudy with a low temperature around 46 degrees.
Who won the last NASCAR race at Martinsville?
Chase Elliott won the race at the paperclip-style track in the spring, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron took the checkered flag at Martinsville last fall.
Richard Petty is the all-time wins leader at Martinsville with 15 wins, while Denny Hamlin is the leader in victories there among active drivers with six.
Hamlin was last a winner at Martinsville in the spring of 2025. Ryan Blaney has won two of the last six races at Martinsville.
In practice on Saturday, Ryan Preece notched the fastest lap.
What are the current standings for the NASCAR Chase?
Drivers already mathematically eliminated have an asterisk.
- Kyle Larson
- Denny Hamlin - 73
- Christopher Bell - 74
- Chase Briscoe - 79
- Joey Logano - 100
- Ryan Blaney - 107
- Tyler Reddick - 126
- Austin Cindric - 183*
- Ty Gibbs - 183*
- Carson Hocevar - 198*
- William Byron - 214*
- Chase Elliott - 218*
- Bubba Wallace - 218*
- Daniel Suarez - 240*
- Ryan Preece - 249*
- Chris Buescher - 255*
Any driver that is at least 76 points behind the leader after Martinsville will be mathematically eliminated from the Chase.
What is the lineup for the NASCAR race at Martinsville?
(Car number in parentheses, Chase drivers designated with asterisk)
- Denny Hamlin (11) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Ty Gibbs (54) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Kyle Larson (5) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Austin Cindric (2) — Ford, Team Penske*
- Joey Logano (22) — Ford, Team Penske*
- Ryan Preece (60) — Ford, RFK Racing*
- Alex Bowman (48) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
- William Byron (24) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Chase Elliott (9) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
- Josh Berry (21) — Ford, Wood Brothers
- Chase Briscoe (19) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Tyler Reddick (45) — Toyota, 23XI Racing*
- Ryan Blaney (12) — Ford, Team Penske*
- Christopher Bell (20) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
- Bubba Wallace (23) — Toyota, 23XI Racing*
- Ross Chastain (1) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Austin Hill, (33) — Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Chris Buescher (17) — Ford, RFK Racing*
- Connor Zilisch (88) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Austin Dillon (3) — Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
- Cole Custer (41) — Chevrolet, Haas Factory Team
- Todd Gilliland (34) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- Brad Keselowski (6) — Ford, RFK Racing
- Daniel Suarez (7) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
- Carson Hocevar (77) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
- Michael McDowell (71) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
- Riley Herbst (35) — Toyota, 23XI Racing
- Ty Dillon (10) — Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
- Shane van Gisbergen (97) — Chevrolet, Trackhouse Racing
- Erik Jones (43) — Toyota, Legacy Motor Club
- Noah Gragson (4) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- AJ Allmendinger (16) — Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
- Zane Smith (38) — Ford, Front Row Motorsports
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) — Chevrolet, HYAK Motorsports
- John Hunter Nemechek (42) — Toyota, Legacy Motor Club
- Josh Bilicki (66) — Ford, Garage 66
- Cody Ware (51) — Chevrolet, Rick Ware Racing
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR race at Martinsville: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup, weather for Xfinity 500
