Kyle Larson becomes 58th different Martinsville winner

Kyle Larson’s victory at Martinsville Speedway Sunday in the NOCO 400 was the 2021 Cup Series champion’s first win at the .526-mile Virginia track.

In 16 previous starts at the track, Larson’s highest finish was runner-up last October.

“Being that (the trophy is) a clock doesn’t add any significance to me,” Larson said of the win. “But I think every time you look at it and you look at, it will remind me of the ten years of struggling I’ve had here.

“Then to accomplish the win that we now have and the work, I mean, this was probably the first weekend I’ve showed up here with, like, a positive attitude, honestly. I’ve left here just mad. I hated this place.”

Larson led the final 30 laps to cruise to his second victory of the 2023 season. He is now the sixth different winner in the last six Martinsville races.

“Hendrick has shown for a very long time that they’ve had great setups here and have a handle on things here,” Larson said. “But it wasn’t easy. We didn’t dominate the day at all. We really never even got into the top five there until the last run of the race.

“So just a great job by my team, great job on pit road all day long and great strategy calls and some good restarts there at the end.”

HISTORY
Martinsville Speedway is the only track that was featured on the original 1949 Cup Series schedule. Since 1950, the track has hosted at least two Cup Series races per season, hosting three events in 1961.

The track has hosted 149 Cup Series points races. 1949 series champion Red Byron won the first race at Martinsville.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty holds the most victories at Martinsville with 15.

Currently, 12 active drivers have won at the track. Denny Hamlin leads the active competition with five victories, the ninth most overall.

ALL-TIME MARTINSVILLE WINNERS

Richard Petty 15

Darrell Waltrip 11

Jeff Gordon 9

*Jimmie Johnson 9

Rusty Wallace 7

Dale Earnhardt 6

Fred Lorenzen 6

Cale Yarborough 6

*Denny Hamlin 5

Geoff Bodine 4

Harry Gant 3

Jim Paschal 3

Lee Petty 3

Ricky Rudd 3

Tony Stewart 3

*Martin Truex Jr. 3

Buck Baker 2

Kurt Busch 2

*Kyle Busch 2

Bobby Isaac 2

Junior Johnson 2

*Brad Keselowski 2

Mark Martin 2

Herb Thomas 2

Curtis Turner 2

Bob Welborn 2

Rex White 2

John Andretti 1

Buddy Baker 1

*Christopher Bell 1

*Alex Bowman 1

Clint Bowyer 1

Jeff Burton 1

Red Byron 1

*William Byron 1

Ricky Craven 1

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1

*Chase Elliott 1

Tim Flock 1

Bobby Hamilton 1

*Kevin Harvick 1

Ernie Irvan 1

Dale Jarrett 1

Bobby Labonte 1

*Kyle Larson 1

*Joey Logano 1

Dave Marcis 1

Frank Mundy 1

Ryan Newman 1

David Pearson 1

Dick Rathman 1

Fireball Roberts 1

Earl Ross 1

Morgan Shepherd 1

Jack Smith 1

Nelson Stacy 1

Speedy Thompson 1

Joe Weatherly 1

* indicates active driver