| | | | | | | | | | Martinsville Speedway | Short Track, Big Action |
| | Martinsville, VA Martinsville Speedway may be the shortest track on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Circuit, but it’s demanding layout results in some of the wildest push and shove racing on the tour. With a distance of slightly more than half a mile, the track has 800-foot straights, and turns banked at only 12 degrees. It has been called “two drag strips with a turnaround on each end.”
The first NASCAR race was held at Martinsville Speedway on July 4, 1948. The next year the facility hosted the sixth race in the series that would eventually become the Cup Series. In fact, Martinsville Speedway is the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track that is still running Cup Series events.
Since first building the track, the late H. Clay Earles philosophy has been to take good care of the fans and competitors. He and track president W. Clay Campbell have insisted on things such as excellent concessions and attended rest rooms at the track.
Since Campbell became track president in 1988, the speedway’s seating capacity has more than doubled, and 25 corporate suites were built. A chalet village for hospitality entertainment has been added, as well as high-rise grandstands and twice as much free parking.
All pits are now on one pit road, and a new entrance for race day traffic was added off the U.S. 58 Bypass. Other improvements include an overhead walkway from the grandstand to the parking area, and infield media center, an infield tunnel, a competitors’ garage and a new scoreboard.
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