NASCAR at Martinsville live race updates, results, highlights from Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400

By | April 9, 2022
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NASCAR drivers already face plenty of pressure in short-track racing. Having a race that has historically been 500 laps reduced to 400 amps it up a notch.

That’s what they’ll be facing when the green flag waves for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 on Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway. They’ll have 100 fewer laps than before to navigate the 0.526-mile “Paperclip.”

Martinsville has been Martin Truex Jr.’s course in the recent past. He has won this race the past two years, and he has not finished outside the top 10 at the track since 2017. Only two other active drivers have won the race multiple times: Denny Hamlin (2008, 2010) and Brad Keselowski (2017, 2019).

The Sporting News is tracking live updates and lap-by-lap highlights for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville on Saturday. Follow below for complete results from the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400.

MORE: Watch NASCAR Cup Series races live with fuboTV (free trial)

NASCAR at Martinsville live updates, highlights from Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400

(All times Eastern)

10:09 p.m.: Byron has been able to create some separation from Elliott with 188 laps to go. He’s now up by three-quarters of a second.

10:03 p.m.: Stage 3 is underway, and Byron immediately races out ahead of Elliott to take the lead, the first new leader in the race so far.

10:02 p.m.: Suarez will move up to being just a lap down after he decided to stay out and avoid a trip to pit road.

9:59 p.m.: That loose tire goes as a penalty for Custer, who will go to the rear. He had finished the second stage in eighth.

9:57 p.m.: There was a loose tire bumping around on pit road.

9:57 p.m.: The first five off pit road are: Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Logano and Dillon.

9:52 p.m.: Suarez bumped Elliott to try to get back just a lap down just as the two drivers cross the finish line, but he just came up short. Elliott wins the second stage.

9:50 p.m.: Hamlin is now two laps down.

9:47 p.m.: Byron has not been able to make up the distance on Elliott. He’s still a half-second back of the leader with less than 15 laps to go in the second stage.

9:39 p.m.: BJ McLeod has taken the first driver to make a green-flag pit stop. He’s in last and is already 11 laps back.

9:36 p.m.: Halfway through Stage 2, there has only been one leader during this race. Byron has closed the gap, but Elliott still leads the race by more than a half second.

9:31 p.m.: Jones has passed Hamlin for 24th. The two have been battling it out for the free lap position. It has not been Hamlin’s night.

9:27 p.m.: Kyle Larson bumps Kurt Busch to pass him for the 11th spot. The two are chasing Austin Dillon for 10th, who is around 0.3 seconds ahead of the two.

9:22 p.m.: Stage 2 is underway.

9:21 p.m.: Quite a bit going on at pit road. Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace are both going to the rear on pit road penalties, and Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch made contact on pit road.

9:16 p.m.: First five off pit road are: Elliott, Byron, Bell, Almirola and Custer.

9:12 p.m.: Michael McDowell gets passed by Elliott, which means that Hamlin will go a full lap down. McDowell will get the free pass as Elliott wins the first stage.

9:10 p.m.: Hamlin keeps holding off Elliott, and led both the leader and Byron past Erik Jones. But Hamlin left just enough space on the inside, and Elliott took that chance to pass him on lap 77. Hamlin has been put a lap down. 

9:06 p.m.: Suarez is finally nudged away by Elliott, but it gave Byron enough to catch up to the leader. He’s now just over 0.3 seconds back.

9:05 p.m.: Daniel Suarez is trying to hold off Elliott and avoid falling a lap down on lap 601. But Elliott is the faster car on the track right now, and should be able to pass him before too long. Next up after Suarez would be Hamlin.

9:01 p.m.: Elliott keeps pulling away from the rest of the field. He’s more than two seconds over Byron for second, and about four seconds ahead of Custer, who is in third.

8:57 p.m.: Elliott is already putting a few drivers a lap under. There have already been five drivers put under one. Last week’s winner, Denny Hamlin, is sitting in 26th and could soon see Elliott in his rearview mirror.

8:53 p.m.: Elliott is still leading 24 laps into the race at Martinsville, and with that, Hendrick Motorsports has hit an impressive milestone. They are the first organization to ever lead 10,000 laps or more on a single track.

8:47 p.m.: Aric Almirola is struggling early. He started on the front row, but has been passed by Cole Custer, William Byron and Christopher Bell already. Chase Elliott is leading by about 1.2 seconds 10 laps into the race.

8:44 p.m.: There’s the green flag, and this race is underway.

8:33 p.m.: AJ Allmendinger will need to have a pass-through for the green flag, per NASCAR.

8:26 p.m.: It will take longer than normal for this race to get started since pit road will need to be dried.

8:20 p.m.: The command has been given by Whit Blattner for drivers to start their engines.

8:16 p.m.: This race is get pretty cold later on tonight. But drivers are heading over to their cars as planned.

8:03 p.m.: Drivers are going to be back at their cars by 8:15 p.m., with the command scheduled for 8:20 p.m.

7:57 p.m.: If there’s no more rain, NASCAR thinks the race track will be ready by 8:25 p.m. ET.

7:44 p.m.: Follow along here for more weather updates for the race.

7:43 p.m.: The driers have been deployed, but are currently on hold for the invocation and the national anthem. They’ll then resume after pre-race ceremonies.

7:31 p.m.: Rain has threatened the start of the race in Martinsville, but the air titans are currently out on the track to try and keep it dry.

What time does the NASCAR race start today?

  • Date: Saturday, April 9
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 is listed to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, though with prerace ceremonies, the green flag is expected to wave at 7:58 p.m. ET.

NASCAR LINEUP AT MARTINSVILLE: Starting order, pole

What channel is NASCAR on today?

  • TV channel: FS1 (U.S.); TSN3 (Canada)
  • Live stream: Fox Sports Go, fuboTV

Saturday’s race will be carried by FS1 in the U.S. and TSN3 on Canada.

Mike Joy will call the lap-by-lap action, with Clint Bowyer and Chad Knaus providing analysis. Fox has been using a rotating set of analysts to replace Jeff Gordon, who left the booth to rejoin Hendrick Motorsports as an executive.

Streamers can watch the race on either the Fox Sports Go app or by streaming FS1’s broadcast of the race using fuboTV, which offers a free trial.

NASCAR lineup at Martinsville

Here is the complete NASCAR starting lineup for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

Starting pos. Driver Car No. Team
1 Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
2 Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
3 Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
4 Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
5 William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
6 Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
7 Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
8 Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
9 Brad Keselowski 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
10 Todd Gilliland 38 Front Row Motorsports
11 Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
13 Austin Cindric 2 Team Penske
14 Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
15 Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports
16 Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
17 Justin Haley 31 Kaulig Racing
18 Kurt Busch 45 23XI Racing
19 Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
20 Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
22 Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
23 Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
24 Erik Jones 43 Petty GMS Motorsports
25 Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
26 Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
27 Ross Chastain 1 TrackHouse Racing
28 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
29 Harrison Burton 21 Wood Brothers Racing
30 Daniel Suarez 99 TrackHouse Racing
31 Josh Bilicki 77 Spire Motorsports
32 JJ Yeley 15 Rick Ware Racing
33 BJ McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
34 Ty Dillon 42 Petty GMS Motorsports
35 Cody Ware 51 Rick Ware Racing
36 AJ Allmendinger 16 Kaulig Racing

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