Entry List

Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400

Saturday, April 9th, 2022

Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, VA

  • 15 Chevrolet
  • 15 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Martinsville Speedway
  • 73rd Annual Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Chase Elliott
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No. 9 - LLumar Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
  • Chase Elliott won the Pole Award for the 73rd Annual Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 with a lap of 19.694 seconds, 96.151 mph.
  • This is his 10th pole in 229 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first pole and fourth top-10 start in 2022.
  • This is his first pole in 14 races at Martinsville Speedway.
  • Aric Almirola (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2022 and his 10th in 27 races at Martinsville Speedway.
  • Cole Custer (third) posted his first top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway. It is his second in eight races this season.
  • Todd Gilliland (10th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Saturday, April 9th, 2022
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
William Byron is NASCAR Cup’s first double winner with victory at Martinsville

The first night race for the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway was a cakewalk for Hendrick Motorsports—until a late caution sent the race to overtime, that is.

But William Byron survived a final restart and a mistake on the white-flag lap to win Saturday night’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at the .526-mile short track.

Byron led 212 of the 403 laps. Teammate and pole winner Chase Elliott led the first 185 circuits, as Hendrick Motorsports surpassed 10,000 laps led at Martinsville, becoming the first Cup organization to hit that prodigious number at a single track.

At the end of the two-lap overtime, Byron crossed the finish line .303 seconds ahead of runner-up Joey Logano, who couldn’t get close enough to Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet in the final corner to make a move for the win.

Byron, who also won Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, is the first driver to win two events this season. Saturday night’s Cup victory was his first at Martinsville and the fourth of his career.

With his parents on his pit box for the entire race, Byron dedicated the win to his mother.

“When that last caution came out (for Todd Gilliland’s brush with the Turn 4 wall on Lap 393), I thought everyone behind us would pit,” Byron said. “Luckily, we stayed out—we were aggressive. We felt like we could refire on the tires and be OK.

“You’ve got one of the most aggressive guys behind you with Logano. I chattered the tires in (Turns) 3 and 4 (on the white-flag lap) and left the bottom open, but I was able to kind of block my exit to get a good drive off (the corner).

“This one’s for my mom. This same weekend last year, she had kind of a mini-stroke and was diagnosed with brain cancer. It means a lot to have her here, and it’s been a crazy year, but she’s doing great, and thanks, everybody, for the support. I kind of felt like she was riding in there with me. It’s cool to have her here, and I’m definitely going to enjoy this one.”

Logano had mixed emotions after the race. The strong second-place run was gratifying, but it was second place, not first, and it extended his winless streak to 37 races.

“That final restart there, had a front row,” Logano said. “That’s what you can ask for. Got cleared to second, and Willy kind of messed up off of (Turn) 4 and let me get to him, and he did a really good job of brake-checking… He did what he was supposed to do, and kind of got me all stuffed up behind him, and I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into 3 to execute the ol’ bump-and-run.

“Couldn’t get quite to him, but his corner entry was really strong, too, which I think allowed him to get in there pretty strong. Overall, the Shell-Pennzoil Mustang had a solid run. Just hate being that close to winning and not making it happen. But big points today, and it just stings. Second just sucks sometimes, that’s all.”

Austin Dillon ran a strong third behind Logano, with Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain claiming the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Elliott completed the top 10. Elliott leads the series standings by three points over second-place Blaney. Byron is third, 12 points back.

Leading the first 185 laps, Elliott won the first two stages in the process. But Byron won the race off pit road under caution at the second stage break and remained out front for 118 laps until he came to pit road during a cycle of green-flag stops midway through the final stage.

Blaney held the top spot for five laps before making his final stop, and Byron regained the lead when Blaney came to pit road on Lap 308.

After completion of the green-flag cycle, NASCAR called the third caution of the race when Denny Hamlin’s ill-handling car stopped on pit road. Byron retained control of the race after the subsequent Lap 325 restart, with Austin Dillon moving past Joey Logano into the second position.

That was the last yellow flag until the final caution on Lap 393. The four cautions total—with two for stage breaks—were the fewest in a Cup race at Martinsville since 1997. Then again, Saturday night’s race was shortened from 500 to 400 laps.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 400
  • Laps Actual: 403 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.303 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 40 Minutes 30 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 79.244
  • Cautions: 4 for 36 laps
  • Lead Changes: 5
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,233 (3.4 passes per green flag lap)
Christian Darrisaw with Bubba Wallace
Martinsville, Virginia - April 9, 2022 : Christian Darrisaw, former Virginia Tech football player and first-round NFL draft pick(R)poses with Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 DoorDash Toyota, during a meet-and-greet prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.
Meg OliphantGetty Images
Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 16 AJ Allmendinger Los Gatos, CA Dec 16, 1981 42 Chevrolet Action Industries Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
2 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Smithfield Spirals Stewart-Haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
3 6 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford Fastenal RFK Racing Josh Sell
4 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota Sport Clips Haircuts Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
5 15 JJ Yeley Phoenix, AZ Oct 5, 1976 48 Ford Rick Ware Racing Rick Ware Racing Kevyn Rebolledo
6 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
7 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Subway Stewart-Haas Racing Rodney Childers
8 45 Kurt Busch Las Vegas, NV Aug 4, 1978 46 Toyota McDonald's / MoneyLion 23XI Racing Billy Scott
9 18 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Toyota M&M's Crunchy Cookie Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
10 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
11 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford Navage Nasal Care Front Row Motorsports Blake Harris
12 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet Get Bioethanol Richard Childress Racing Justin Alexander
13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger/ Louisiana Hot Sauce JTG Daugherty Racing Brian Pattie
14 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
15 48 Alex Bowman Tuscon, AZ Apr 25, 1993 31 Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Greg Ives
16 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford Advance Auto Parts Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
17 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Built.com Spire Motorsports Peter Sospenzo
18 42 Ty Dillon Lewisville, NC Feb 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet Chevyliners.com Petty GMS Motorsports Jerame Donley
19 9 Chase Elliott Dawsonville, GA Nov 28, 1995 28 Chevrolet LLumar Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
20 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Fastenal RFK Racing Scott Graves
21 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet FOCUSfactor Petty GMS Motorsports Dave Elenz
22 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Ford Epilepsy Foundation Live Fast Motorsports Lee Leslie
23 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet GoPro TrackHouse Racing Travis Mack
24 51 Cody Ware Greensboro, NC Nov 7, 1995 28 Ford Nurtec ODT Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
25 1 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet GoPro TrackHouse Racing Phil Surgen
26 23 Bubba Wallace Mobile, AL Oct 8, 1993 31 Toyota DoorDash 23XI Racing Dave Rogers
27 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet RaptorTough.com Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
28 41 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 26 Ford HaasTooling.com Stewart-Haas Racing Mike Shiplett
29 77 Josh Bilicki Menomonee Falls, WI Jun 3, 1995 29 Chevrolet Zeigler Auto Group Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
30 8 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Chevrolet 3CHI Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
31 31 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Caleb Williams
32 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota Yahoo! Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
33 2 Austin Cindric Columbus, OH Sep 2, 1998 26 Ford Menards / Moen Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
34 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford Mahindra Tractors Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
35 21 Harrison Burton Huntersville, NC Oct 9, 2000 24 Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson
36 38 Todd Gilliland Sherrills Ford, NC May 15, 2000 24 Ford Cross Country Adjusting Front Row Motorsports Troy Raker