NASCAR is headed for its first short-track stop of the 2026 season with the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. A week after running at Darlington with the short track aero package, the garage heads to Virginia with a clearer read on where things stand. The tire fall-off and lap-time swing did not stretch as far as some had hoped, yet voices such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney backed the push and urged NASCAR to stay the course.
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Now, Martinsville will be the next test, with added horsepower ready to show what the Next Gen car can do at Bullring-style venues. Goodyear has also put its stamp on the weekend. A new left-side tire, introduced at Martinsville last October, returns with a brief to wear more over a run. It pairs with the right-side tire that has been in use since the fall of 2024.
The combination points to a race where grip would be expected to come and go, and where teams must keep their wits about them across 400 laps, especially with more money on the line.
Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass laid out the numbers ahead of the weekend, with the Cup Series purse sitting at $11,233,037. The purse for the junior O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stands at $1,651,939, with the totals covering payouts across the field, charter shares, and contingency awards.
Purses for Martinsville weekend including all payouts for all positions, charter payouts, contingency awards, etc.:
Cup: : $11,233,037
O’Reilly: $1,651,939
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 25, 2026
For context, last year’s spring event at Martinsville carried $11,055,250 for the Cup Series and $1,651,939 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, while the fall race posted $8,991,338 for Cup teams and $1,441,088 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Favorites heading into Martinsville
All eyes will track Tyler Reddick as he looks to add a fifth win to his tally this season. However, Martinsville has not been a place where the numbers line up in his favor. In 12 starts at the 0.526-mile oval, Reddick holds an average finish of 19.4 and has reached the top 10 only twice. Last season, he crossed the line in 14th and 11th after starting ninth and 14th in the two races across the year.
Denny Hamlin walks in with the edge. He is the winningest driver at the racetrack (six wins), and carries an average finish of 10.4, along with 21 top-five results and 27 finishes inside the top 10. He was also the winner of last year’s spring race, though an engine issue dropped him to 35th in the fall.
Ryan Blaney will also be the driver to look forward to. His runs at Martinsville have often paid off when the pressure rises, yet his record holds up across the board. In 20 starts, he has two wins, 11 top-five finishes, and 13 top-10 results. Over the last six races, he has averaged a finish of 4.5.
In the Next Gen era, the No. 12 Team Penske driver has led 359 laps, and with him looking like the fastest of the Fords this year, the Penske driver could be logging his first win of 2026 this Sunday at ‘The Paperclip.’
