MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
The Martinsville Speedway is the shortest and most steeped track on the Winston Cup circuit as compare to any other speedway. In the shape of paper clip, this track promises its audiences to have exciting races. The fast straight-aways and tight turns are prominent feature of this speedway making crashes almost a certainty. Martinsville Speedway is host to the two races, the Virginia 500 and the Old Dominion 500, every year. Being the oldest track on NASCAR's Winston Cup circuit, Martinsville Speedway is a significant part of stock car racing history. HISTORY OF MARTINSVILLE Built in 1947, by the legendary H. Clay Earles, Martinsville Speedway was initially hosted only dirt track events with the seating facility of 6,000. Under his direction, Martinsville Speedway grew into one of the most beautiful and modern racing facilities by comfortably seating 86,000 fans around the .526-mile short track. Red
Byron won the first "Strictly Stock" event on the half-mile dirt
track on September 7, 1947 and went on to win the first NASCAR championship in
1949. Six years later, the track was paved and Martinsville Speedway has since
hosted at least two 500-mile races each year ever since. Nestled in the
Virginia Piedmont on Route 220, approximately 50 miles south of Roanoake, Va.
and 50 miles north of Greensboro, N.C., Martinsville Speedway still maintains a
small-track ambiance due in part to Clay Campbell, the third generation of the
Earles family to manage the facility. Campbell continues his grandfather's fan
friendly philosophy that includes an allotment of affordable bleacher seats
that go on sale the day of the race.
Source: Martinsville
Speedway Official Website, NASCAR 2003 The paperclip-shaped
short track known as Martinsville, two years before NASCAR was founded. Under
the direction of H. Clay Earles, who ran the speedway until his death in 1999,
Martinsville grew from a dusty, rough-hewn operation into one of the most
beautiful and modern racing facilities around. HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF MARTINSVILLEv September 7, 1947 - H. Clay Earles buit Martinsville Speedway as a dirt track with 750 seats and a paid crowd of 6,013. Red Byron won the 50-lap feature for "Modified Stock Cars” and received $ 500 out of a $ 2,000 purse. v July
4, 1948 - Martinsville hosted its first race under a NASCAR sanction, with
Fonty Flock winning the feature followed by Pee Wee Martin of Bassett. Va.,
Buck Baker, Bill Blair, and Tim Flock as 4,000 watched. Bill France finishes
eighth while one of those sidelined with mechanical problems is a 19-year-old
Fireball Roberts. v 1950
- The speedway starts running two NASCAR Grand National events races a year on
the dirt track. The Strictly Stock Series was renamed the Grand National Series
that year. The winners of Grand National race from 1950 to 1954 were Curtis
Turner (Oldsmobile) in a 150-lap 75-mile event on May 21, 1950 and Herb Thomas
(Plymouth) for his first Grand National victory in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on
October 15, 1950; Turner (Oldsmobile) in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on May 6,
1951 and Frank Mundy (Oldsmobile) 200-lap, 100-mile event on October 14, 1951;
Dick Rathman (Hudson) for his first Grand National triumph in a 200-lap,
100-mile event on April 6, 1952; and
Thomas (Hudson) in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on October 19, 1952; Lee
Petty (Dodge) in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on May 17, 1953; and Jim Paschal
(Dodge) in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on October 18, 1953; and Paschal
(Oldsmobile) in a 200-lap, 100-mile event on May 16, 1954; and Lee Petty
(Chrysler) in 200-lap, 100-mile event on October 17,1954. v October
3, 1955 - Martinsville resurfaced as the paved track and Billy Myers won the
first race on the smooth pavement. It was a 100-lap sportsman event. v October
16, 1955 - Speedy Thompson became the winner of 200-lap, 100-mile Grand
National event on Chrysler. It was the first Grand National run on Martinsville
Speedway's newly paved track. v 1956
- Martinsville hosted its first 500-lap Grand National race on May 20, 1956,
billed as the "Martinsville Annual 500,” which actually was the First
Virginia 500, won by Buck Baker in a Dodge. v 1960
- Martinsville added the first air-conditioned press box on the circuit, opened
at the Virginia 500 won by Richard Petty in a Plymouth on April 10, 1960. v 1976
- In the fall, Earles reconfigured many lanes of concrete in the corners on both
ends of the track to prevent pavement problems. The concrete lanes are still in
use today. On September 26, 1976, in the Old Dominion 500 with Darrell Waltrip
setting a track qualifying record in a Chevrolet was used. The audiences were
amazed when seeing Earles was awarded with $ 100,000, the highest award money
of any short track and above some of the longer tracks. v 1996
- 7,500 new seats in turn three and four, two rest rooms facilities, one
concession stand were added and completed 50 additional acres of parking,
concession stand and restrooms. v September
28, 1997 - Jeff Burton won the Hanes 500 on the 50th anniversary of
Martinsville speedway. 5, 500 extra seats to the Bill France tower in turns
three and four were added. v 2003
- New infield care center in first-and-second turn area of infield was
constructed with new public relations workroom in infield. Listed below are the
Martinsville Speedway Late Model Stock Winners, the great exponents of the
motor racing at Martinsville Speedway tracks are as follows: 1985- Curtis Markham, Barry Beggarly 1986-
Elton Sawyer, Eddie Johnson 1987-
Curtis Markham, Mark Martin 1988-
Wayne Patterson, Phil Warren 1989-
Ronnie Thomas, Curtis Markham 1990-
David Blankenship, Wayne Patterson 1991-
Jay Fogleman, Mike Buffkin, Curtis Markham 1992-
Dennis Setzer, Jay Fogleman, Joe Gaita 1993-
Eddie Johnson, Mike Skinner 1994-
Bugs Hairfield, Barry Beggarly, Barry Beggarly 1995-
Shayne Lockhart, Tony McGuire 1996-
Donnie Apple, B.A. Wilson 1997-
David Hyder, Billy Hogan 1998-
Dexter Canipe 1999-
Robert Powell 2000-
Philip Morris 2001-
Phil Warren 2002-
Frank Deiny Jr. TRACK INFORMATION
SEATING ARRANGEMENT AND DETAILING
Source: Martinsville
Speedway Official Website. NASCAR 2003 Located in Virginia, close to the North Carolina border, Martinsville Speedway seats more than 80,000 people. The Speedway also boasts of 25 corporate suites. Opened in 1947 with 750 seats, Martinsville Speedway has blossomed continuously over the years. The track design has not changed after Red Byron won the inaugural event. PRICING AND TICKETING INFORMATION
Martinsville
Speedway Ticket orders are normally processed within 24 hours (Monday-Friday)
of when they are placed. If the race is within 72 hours, give us a call
(800-451-8499) to make special delivery arrangements. If, for some reason, the Martinsville Speedway tickets you wish
to purchase are not available, we will give the option to purchase other seats
or to cancel the order. However, once
the order is processed, there are no cancellations.
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