NASCAR at Martinsville preview: How to watch, TV schedule, predictions

Get ready for some short track racing.

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit its oldest venue this weekend, with a 400-lap race set for Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

Martinsville is the only race track that's been on the NASCAR circuit since its first season in 1948. The half-mile, paperclip-shaped track has produced plenty of iconic moments in recent years, with a limited amount of racing space and no one giving an inch.

So, what's in store for Martinsville? What's the TV schedule for the weekend? And who could contend for the win on Sunday? Here’s everything you need to know for Cook Out 400:

When is the NASCAR race at Martinsville?

The Cook Out 400 is set for Sunday, March 30, at 3 p.m. ET.

Before the race, there will be practice and qualifying on Saturday. The 38 drivers will be split into two groups, with each group getting 25 minutes of free practice. For qualifying, each driver will get two laps to set the starting order based on speed.

NASCAR TV schedule this weekend for Martinsville

Mike Joy (play-by-play), Kevin Harvick (analyst) and Clint Bowyer (analyst) will be on the call for FOX and Amazon Prime Video this weekend.

Here’s the full TV and streaming schedule for Martinsville:

Saturday, March 22 (Amazon Prime Video)

• Practice: 2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video
• Qualifying: 3:10 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video

Sunday, March 23 (FOX Sports 1)

• NASCAR RaceDay: 1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOXSports.com
• Cook Out 400: 3 p.m. ET, FS1, FOXSports.com

Who is racing at Martinsville? Here's the entry list

Thirty-eight drivers will race at Martinsville — the 36 full-timers, plus two "open" entries.

Veteran short-track racer Burt Myers, 49, will make his official Cup Series debut for Team AmeriVet after he raced in the preseason Clash at Bowman Gray.

Casey Mears, who last raced in 2019, will make his return to NASCAR as he pursues a milestone 500 Cup starts. The 47-year-old Mears has one win in his 489 career starts, back in 2007 at the Coca-Cola 600.

Here’s the full entry list for Martinsville:

Car number	Driver	Team	Sponsor
1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Choice Hotels
2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Menards/Jack Links
3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Bass Pro Shops
4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports	A&W Root Beer
5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	HendrickCars.com
6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	BuildSubmarines.com
7	Justin Haley	Spire Motorsports	Gainbridge
8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Lucas Oil
9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	NAPA Auto Parts
10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing	Mark III Employee Benefits
11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Progressive
12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Advance Auto Parts
16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Black's Tire
17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Kroger/Old El Paso
19	Chase Briscoe	Joe Gibbs Racing	Bass Pro Shops
20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	DeWalt
21	Josh Berry	Wood Brothers Racing	Motorcraft
22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Shell/Pennzoil
23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	McDonald's
24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Liberty University
34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Colortech
35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing	Lucy
38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Long John Silver's
41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team	Haas Tooling
42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Family Dollar
43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Dollar Tree
45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Mobil 1
47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	SunnyD
48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Ally
50	Burt Myers	Team AmeriVet	C3 Skids
51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Arby's
54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Monster Energy
60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing	Fastenal
66	Casey Mears	Garage 66	Canter Power Systems
71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports	Rockingham Speedway
77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports	Delaware Life
88	Shane van Gisbergen	Trackhouse Racing	WeatherTech
99	Daniel Suarez	Trackhouse Racing	Freeway Insurance

NASCAR picks, predictions, favorites for Martinsville

It takes time to learn how to get around Martinsville. There's no other track on the circuit like it, so even NASCAR's best drivers sometimes take a while to figure it out. Once they get it, though, drivers can rattle off dominant runs.

Looking at the drivers who have thrived at Martinsville recently, four names come to mind: Blaney, Byron, Elliott and Hamlin.

Blaney is the most recent Martinsville winner last fall, where he repeated his performance from 2023. In his last six starts, the Team Penske star has five top-fives and a remarkable 3.5 average finish.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Byron and Elliott have continued their team's legacy at Martinsville, where Rick Hendrick got his first win way back in 1984. Byron was victorious last spring, and he has 351 laps led in the last six races. Elliott, despite not winning at Martinsville since 2020, has led more laps than anyone over the last six races (515) -- and he has seven career stage wins at the track.

Hamlin, meanwhile, was once the master at his home track. The Virginia native won five times from 2008 through 2015, but he's gone winless in the last 10 years. Despite that, he's remained one of the most consistent Martinsville finishers — four top-fives in the last five races with 461 laps led.

Briscoe and Wallace are worth monitoring as potential longshots.

Briscoe, now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the car that Martin Truex Jr. took to victory lane three times at Martinsville, has five top-10s in his last six starts there. Wallace was fourth in this race last year after finishing second in both stages.

NASCAR past winners, race history for Martinsville

Ten of the 38 drivers in the field are past winners at Martinsville.

Hamlin leads the field with five wins (2008, 2009, 2010, 2010, 2015), followed by Busch (2016, 2017), Keselowski (2017, 2019), Byron (2022, 2024) and Blaney (2023, 2024) with two apiece. One-time winners include Logano (2018), Elliott (2020), Bowman (2021), Bell (2022) and Larson (2023).