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About The Track
Founded in 1947 by the late H. Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway is only track which has hosted NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races every year since the division’s inception in 1949.
At .526 miles in length, Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit. But because of its size and shape – described most often as the shape of a paperclip – Martinsville offers some of the most exciting and close racing in the sport.
Also because of its size, fans are closer to the action than any other track. The cars are never more than a few hundred yards away and sometimes they seem close enough to reach out and touch.
The track is also one of the most modern, with high-rise aluminum chairback seating for over 63,000 fans, 25 VIP suites and state-of-the-art facilities for the media.
In a recent poll of race fans by a major publication, Martinsville Speedway was voted as the top bargain in all of Sprint Cup racing as well as the track having the best view of the action.
Now owned by International Speedway Corporation, Martinsville Speedway conducts four major race event weekends each year. The track annually hosts the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 and TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Seires races, the Kroger 250 and Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, the Made In America Whelen 300 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race, and the Bailey’s 300 NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race.
Track Facts
Length:
.526-mile or 2,777 feet
Distance of NASCAR Sprint Cup races:
500 laps = 263 miles.
Shape:
"Paper-clip"-shaped oval with tight turns and 800- foot straight-aways. Turns are 588 feet long.
Track Width:
55-feet.
Track Elevation:
740 feet.
Banking:
11 degrees in turns and flat on straight-aways.
Pit Road:
46-feet wide with 43 pit stalls beginning in the third turn, wrapping around the frontstretch and exiting in turn two. Pit stalls are 14-feet wide and 28-feet in length.
Location:
Located roughly one-hour south of Roanoke, VA, and one-hour north of Greensboro, NC, one mile north of the intersection of the U.S. 220/58 Bypass and U.S. 220 Business in Henry County, VA. Speedway property covers more 300 acres.
History:
H. Clay Earles built Martinsville Speedway in 1947 as a dirt track before the formation of NASCAR. The first race was run on September 7, 1947 and Robert "Red" Bryon won $500 out of a $2,000 purse. The track hosted the sixth race in the NASCAR series (Strictly Stock) that eventually became the Sprint Cup Series. It also was won by Byron in a 1949 Oldsmobile on September 25, 1949. In 2004 the track was purchased by International Speedway Corporation.
The Icons
The Clock:
Many years ago Martinsville Speedway founder H. Clay Earles decided it was time for a “different” type of trophy for winners at his race track.
His choice? A grandfather clock. Specifically a grandfather clock produced by a local furniture manufacturer. On September 27, 1964, Earles awarded the first Ridgeway Clock trophy to Fred Lorenzen, the winner of the Old Dominion 500 that afternoon.
The long tradition continues today with drivers receiving one of the most distinct and iconic trophies in racing.
Of all drivers who have competed at Martinsville Speedway, seven-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Richard Petty has the most clocks with 12, winning his first in 1967. Jeff Gordon leads all current drivers with seven Ridgeway Clock grandfather clocks.
The Hot Dog:
It started innocently enough decades ago: a hot dog with slaw, chili, fresh onions and a few other secret ingredients, wrapped in waxed paper and sold in Martinsville Speedway’s concession stands.
Today the Famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog is legendary, the concession item that tops all others in NASCAR, the one so iconic that USA Today devoted a half-page to it a couple of years ago.
Team members and drivers are waiting in line when the infield concession stand windows open on race weekends to get the first of what is many hot dogs during the course of the weekend.
Many inquiries are made each year for the recipe, for the secret. But the Famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog secret will remain secret.
