The NASCAR Cup Series visited Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon for the Cook Out 400. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell started the race on the pole with Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott starting second.
Christopher Bell led the opening 24 laps before losing the lead to Chase Elliott on lap 25. The first caution came out for debris on lap 31. It was one of ten cautions in this race for 86 laps. On lap 72, Chris Buescher spun on the frontstretch bringing out the second caution. Joey Logano went on to win Stage 1, and Denny Hamlin won Stage 2.
In the final stage, Riley Herbst made contact with Austin Cindric and spun at Turn 1 which brought out the sixth caution on lap 202. On lap 298, Ty Gibbs made contact with Tyler Reddick sending Gibbs for a spin while Zane Smith made slight contact with Gibbs’s car bringing out the eighth caution of the afternoon.
Denny Hamlin first got the lead on lap 126 through 325. He took the lead from Christopher Bell a lap later and led the last 74 laps to win his first race of the season by 4.617 seconds over Christopher Bell. Hamlin led the most laps in this race (274). It was Hamlin’s first win of the season, his first win at Martinsville since 2015, and the 55th career win tying Rusty Wallace for 11th all-time in career wins.
The rest of the top ten finishers were Bubba Wallace third, Chase Elliott fourth, Kyle Larson fifth, Ross Chastain sixth, Ryan Preece seventh, Joey Logano eighth, Chase Briscoe ninth, and Todd Gilliland tenth. There were nine lead changes among six drivers.
The Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway next Sunday at 3 pm on FS1. Purchase NASCAR Cup Series tickets today at StubHub.
