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Martinsville Speedway Set To Host Thrilling Halloween NASCAR Playoff Weekend

by Hunter Thomas October 27, 2021 0 comments

RIDGEWAY, Va. – Martinsville Speedway may not be too spooky this Halloween weekend, but the action on the track will be thrilling as drivers in all three of NASCAR’s national series will compete in the final races prior to the Championship 4 round of the NASCAR Playoffs.

This season has certainly been one to remember, and come this weekend, fans are going to be treated to some of the best racing that NASCAR has to offer. The speedway will host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rental 200 on Saturday afternoon, followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series Dead on Tools 250. Fans will be able to experience both race on Saturday for the price of one ticket. The race weekend will conclude with the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 on Sunday. This weekend will mark the first time since 2019 that Martinsville has opened its grandstands to full capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It has been fantastic,” Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said about this year’s NASCAR season. “I think that this has been a great year for NASCAR. I think the moves that NASCAR competition has made, tweaking the cars and the various packages that they have, it’s paying off.”

In the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Larson is the only driver mathematically locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. Although he has been dominate this season, he only has an average finish of 21.1 at Martinsville, so the door could be open for a bubble driver to find Victory Lane. Chase Elliott is 34 points ahead of the cutline, while Denny Hamlin is 32 points to the good. Kyle Busch currently holds the fourth and final transfer spot by only a mere point. He is a two-time winner at Martinsville. Ryan Blaney trails Busch by a point, followed by three-time Martinsville winner Martin Truex Jr. (-3), Brad Keselowski (-16) who has won twice at Martinsville and 2018 winner Joey Logano (-26).

“Out of the eight guys, all of them are good, and Larson is probably the only one that hasn’t run well here,” Campbell said. “Blaney, he hasn’t won, but he has been really close, and everybody else has won. To go for that final spot or wherever it is by the time they get into it, it’s a nail bitter. I think that’s why fans are turning out in droves to see these races, and this weekend is going to be phenomenal with the crowd and the excitement that this race brings.  

“Besides the race itself, we’re having a lot of things going on, on the property from basically Friday night, a concert in the campground, things in the Midway Saturday, from pretty much the time it opens until right before the race starts for the Camping World Truck Series. The same thing on Sunday. It’s just something going on all of the time.”

Martinsville Speedway will be celebrating Halloween this weekend with an array of events. In the GEICO Campgrounds on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Martinsville Speedway will host the Pumpkin Carving Content. The track will provide pumpkins for the first 40 participant; however, the participants are responsible for their own decorations. Prizes will be awarded to first, second and third. There will also be a Halloween Costume Content on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the GEICO Campgrounds. The speedway says that it is looking for “the craziest costumes”. When the Midway opens on Saturday and Sunday, kids can sport their Halloween costumes and participate in Track-or-Treat. Vendors will be handing out candy to the kids.

“It’s Halloween weekend, so we can’t ignore that,” Campbell said. We’ll have Track-or-Treat for the kids. Pass out candy to those youngsters and have fun with it. They’ve got a big area down in the midway for them to have fun. A new NASCAR ride for them. It’s just going to be a great weekend for families to come out and enjoy the race.”

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race will get underway at 1 p.m. ET (FS1) on Saturday, followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at 6 p.m. ET (NBCSN). Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race will broadcast live at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.