Mitchell Northam, USA TODAY Sun, November 1, 2026 at 11:13 AM UTC · 7 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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."
Oct. 11: Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images) Oct. 4: Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) Sept. 27: Kyle Larson celebrates winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) Sept. 19: Joey Logano celebrates after winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Randy Sartin, Imagn Images) Sept. 13: Kyle Larson celebrates in victory lane after winning the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. (Amy Kontras, Getty Images) Sept. 6: Christopher Bell celebrates in victory lane after winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) Aug. 29: Ryan Preece (60) lifts the winner's trophy after winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. (Mike Watters, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Aug. 23: Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Eric Canha, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Aug. 15: Joey Logano celebrates after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. (Greg Atkins, Imagn Images) Aug. 9: Ty Gibbs celebrates in victory lane after winning the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) July 26: Corey Heim celebrates after winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Grace Hollars, IndyStar, USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co) July 19: Joey Logano celebrates in victory lane after winning the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) July 12: Ryan Blaney celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) July 5: Chase Briscoe reacts in victory lane after winning the eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. (Mike Dinovo, Imagn Images) June 28: Shane van Gisbergen celebrates after winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the road course at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. (Stan Szeto, Imagn Images) June 21: Corey Heim celebrates after winning the inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California. (Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images) June 14: Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (David Jensen, Getty Images) June 7: Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) May 31:Denny Hamlin celebrates winning the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Andrew Nelles, The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network) May 24: Daniel Suarez celebrates in victory lane after winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina. (Krista Jasso, Getty Images) May 10: Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates with the trophy after winning the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. (Matthew O'Haren, Imagn Images) May 3: Chase Elliott (9) celebrates in victory lane after winning the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. (Jerome Miron, Imagn Images) April 26: Carson Hocevar celebrates in victory lane after winning the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. (David Jensen, Getty Images) April 19: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his wife, Alexa De Leon, and sons, Beau Reddick and Rookie George Reddick, after winning the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (David Jensen, Getty Images) April 12: Ty Gibbs celebrates in victory lane after winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. (Matt Kelley, Getty Images) March 29: Chase Elliott celebrates with Martinsville Speedway's traditional grandfather clock prize after winning the Cook Out 400 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Jim Dedmon, Imagn Images) March 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family after winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina for his fourth victory of the 2026 season. (Scott Kinser, Imagn Images) March 15: Denny Hamlin celebrates winning the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images) March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) March 1: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. (Logan Riely, Getty Images) Feb. 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. (Mady Mertens, Imagn Images) Feb. 15: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family and crew after winning the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Mike Watters, Imagn Images) 1 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Oct. 11: Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images) 1 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Oct. 11: Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images) 2 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Oct. 4: Chase Briscoe celebrates in victory lane after winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) 3 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Sept. 27: Kyle Larson celebrates winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) 4 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Sept. 19: Joey Logano celebrates after winning the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Randy Sartin, Imagn Images) 5 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Sept. 13: Kyle Larson celebrates in victory lane after winning the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. (Amy Kontras, Getty Images) 6 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Sept. 6: Christopher Bell celebrates in victory lane after winning the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) 7 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Aug. 29: Ryan Preece (60) lifts the winner's trophy after winning the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. (Mike Watters, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 8 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Aug. 23: Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Eric Canha, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 9 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Aug. 15: Joey Logano celebrates after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. (Greg Atkins, Imagn Images) 10 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Aug. 9: Ty Gibbs celebrates in victory lane after winning the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) 11 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners July 26: Corey Heim celebrates after winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Grace Hollars, IndyStar, USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co) 12 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners July 19: Joey Logano celebrates in victory lane after winning the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) 13 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners July 12: Ryan Blaney celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) 14 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners July 5: Chase Briscoe reacts in victory lane after winning the eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. (Mike Dinovo, Imagn Images) 15 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners June 28: Shane van Gisbergen celebrates after winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the road course at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. (Stan Szeto, Imagn Images) 16 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners June 21: Corey Heim celebrates after winning the inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, California. (Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images) 17 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners June 14: Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (David Jensen, Getty Images) 18 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners June 7: Denny Hamlin celebrates in victory lane after winning the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Sean Gardner, Getty Images) 19 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners May 31:Denny Hamlin celebrates winning the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Andrew Nelles, The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network) 20 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners May 24: Daniel Suarez celebrates in victory lane after winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, North Carolina. (Krista Jasso, Getty Images) 21 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners May 10: Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates with the trophy after winning the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. (Matthew O'Haren, Imagn Images) 22 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners May 3: Chase Elliott (9) celebrates in victory lane after winning the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. (Jerome Miron, Imagn Images) 23 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners April 26: Carson Hocevar celebrates in victory lane after winning the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. (David Jensen, Getty Images) 24 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners April 19: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his wife, Alexa De Leon, and sons, Beau Reddick and Rookie George Reddick, after winning the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (David Jensen, Getty Images) 25 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners April 12: Ty Gibbs celebrates in victory lane after winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. (Matt Kelley, Getty Images) 26 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners March 29: Chase Elliott celebrates with Martinsville Speedway's traditional grandfather clock prize after winning the Cook Out 400 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Jim Dedmon, Imagn Images) 27 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners March 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family after winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina for his fourth victory of the 2026 season. (Scott Kinser, Imagn Images) 28 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners March 15: Denny Hamlin celebrates winning the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images) 29 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Meg Oliphant, Getty Images) 30 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners March 1: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. (Logan Riely, Getty Images) 31 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Feb. 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. (Mady Mertens, Imagn Images) 32 / 32 See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners Feb. 15: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family and crew after winning the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Mike Watters, Imagn Images) 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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Drivers already mathematically eliminated have an asterisk.
Any driver that is at least 76 points behind the leader after Martinsville will be mathematically eliminated from the Chase.
(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*
Alex Bowman (48) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports
William Byron (24) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
Chase Elliott (9) — Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports*
Chase Briscoe (19) — Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing*
Tyler Reddick (45) — Toyota, 23XI Racing*
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
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
Daniel Suarez (7) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
Carson Hocevar (77) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports*
Michael McDowell (71) — Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports
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
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
Source: Sports
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