Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway at a glance

Location

Ridgeway, Virginia

Type

oval

Length

0.526 mi (0.847 km)

Turns

4

Direction

counter-clockwise

Banking

12° in the turns, flat straights

Surface

asphalt on the straights and upper turn lanes, concrete on the lower turn lanes

Opened

1947

Owner

NASCAR

Capacity

44,000

Address

340 Speedway Road

Phone

+1 877-722-3849

Website

martinsvillespeedway.com

Track map and layout

Martinsville Speedway is NASCAR's shortest and oldest track still on the national schedule, a paperclip-shaped half-mile oval with long, flat straightaways connecting two tight, near-180-degree turns. The corners are banked at just 12 degrees, far less than most NASCAR ovals, which keeps speeds low and forces cars to brake hard and turn sharply, producing heavy contact and old-school short-track racing. A distinctive feature is the surface itself: the straights and upper turn lanes are asphalt, while the bottom groove through both turns is concrete, a patchwork dating to a 1976 repair that drivers still feel through the car today. The paperclip shape and flat, tight corners make Martinsville one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar for brakes and patience alike.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Martinsville hosts two NASCAR Cup Series weekends a year, in spring and fall, both paired with Craftsman Truck Series races; the fall date has long served as a Playoff cutoff race that decides the field for NASCAR's championship finale. The track is one of only a handful that has held a Cup Series date every year since NASCAR's Strictly Stock/Grand National era began in the late 1940s. Martinsville also hosts historic short-track events and community races on non-national-series dates.

Getting there and parking

Martinsville Speedway sits in rural Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of the city of Martinsville near the North Carolina state line, off US Route 220. The nearest airports with commercial service are in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Roanoke, Virginia, each roughly an hour's drive; most fans drive in from the Carolinas or Virginia given the track's location well away from a major hub. Because the surrounding roads are two-lane rural highways, race-day traffic can back up for miles, and locals recommend arriving early or using the track's suggested traffic routes.

• Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) · about 60 min drive
• Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) · about 65 min drive

Parking

General parking is available in surface lots around the speedway, typically included with or sold alongside race tickets; lots open several hours before green flag.

Expect slow-moving traffic on the two-lane roads approaching the track; arriving well before the stated gate times is standard advice from regulars.

Hotels and camping near Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville is a small city with limited hotel inventory, so many race weekend visitors stay in Greensboro or Winston-Salem, North Carolina, roughly an hour away, or camp on-site. Rooms in Martinsville itself sell out quickly for both Cup weekends, especially the fall Playoff race, so early booking is important.

Where to look

Martinsville/Henry County itself for the closest stay, or Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for wider hotel selection

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Martinsville does not have a standing public driving-experience program comparable to the ride-along and behind-the-wheel operators found at many other NASCAR ovals; the track's tight, flat, high-contact layout is not typically used for commercial track days. Fans instead get close to the cars through the speedway's Pre-Race Experience add-on, which includes driver introductions, Q&A sessions and pre-race access to the track surface on race day rather than driving laps themselves.

Lap records

Spectator guide

Martinsville's grandstands rise steeply along both long straightaways, putting fans very close to the low, flat corners where most of the passing and contact happens. Because the track is so short, nearly every seat offers a view of most of the lap, and the paperclip shape means fans in the stands can watch cars set up for a pass in one corner and follow them all the way through to the next.

Seating

Frontstretch and backstretch grandstands run the length of both straights; corner seating near either end gives the closest view of the track's signature side-by-side, bump-and-run action.

Best places to watch

Seats near either end of the paperclip, close to the flat, tight turns, are favored for the closest view of contact and passing.

Bag policy

Clear-bag guidance applies; check the current policy on the official fan guide before arrival, as unattended or restricted items are not permitted through the gates.

Weather

• April: cool spring weather, highs typically in the 60s°F, chance of rain
• October/November: cool to cold fall conditions, highs often in the 50s-60s°F

History of Martinsville Speedway

Clay dirt to NASCAR's oldest track

Martinsville Speedway opened in September 1947 as a red clay dirt track built by Henry Clay Earles, making it the oldest track still on the NASCAR national schedule today and one of the sanctioning body's original venues from its earliest years. The track was paved with asphalt in 1955, and its distinctive half-mile paperclip shape, with long straights and tight, near-flat turns, has remained essentially unchanged since.

The concrete turns

A defining moment in the track's evolution came in 1976, when the lower lanes of both turns were repaved in concrete after the asphalt repeatedly broke down under braking loads in the tight corners. That patchwork surface, asphalt on the straights and upper groove, concrete on the bottom, is still there today and remains one of the most talked-about characteristics among drivers, who feel the transition through the chassis every lap.

Growth and tragedy

The track expanded steadily through the late 1980s and 1990s as NASCAR's popularity boomed, adding grandstands and modern amenities while keeping the short, brutal layout intact. Martinsville's history has not been without tragedy: spectator and competitor fatalities occurred in the 1980s, sober reminders of stock car racing's rougher decades. The Earles family owned and operated the speedway until 2004, when International Speedway Corporation purchased it; permanent lighting was added in 2017, enabling the track's races to run into the evening.

Present day

NASCAR has owned and operated Martinsville since 2019. The track remains a Playoff mainstay, with its fall race serving as the elimination round that sets the Championship 4 field for NASCAR's title decider, and it continues to draw some of the closest, most contact-heavy racing anywhere on the calendar. Fans still line up for the track's famous inexpensive hot dogs, a concession tradition nearly as old as the speedway itself.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Virginia International Raceway (VIR) · 36 mi · road course
• Charlotte Motor Speedway · 100 mi · road course & oval
• Bristol Motor Speedway · 134 mi · oval
• Richmond Raceway · 149 mi · oval
• Carolina Motorsports Park · 154 mi · road course
• Darlington Raceway · 162 mi · oval