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Since its very first season back in 1949, almost everything about the NASCAR Cup Series schedule has changed. Still, there is one constant at the heart of the now 36-race calendar, which serves as a timeless reminder of where it all began.

This weekend marks the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, the first of NASCAR's two annual trips just over the state line between North Carolina and Virginia to the only track to have hosted a Cup Series race every year since NASCAR's inception. Though its paperclip shape and relatively flat corners seem simple enough, mastering this half-mile short track has long proven anything but easy for everyone from regional short track stars of Virginia and the Carolinas to the very best to have ever raced at NASCAR's highest level.

2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney has gained special distinction among NASCAR's greats at Martinsville, as he has now won two of the last three races at this legendary track. But he's still looking for his first win of 2025 after three straight DNFs, as are other past Martinsville winners like Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and more.

Where to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville

When: Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m. ET
Where: Martinsville Speedway -- Ridgeway, Virginia
TV: FS1
Stream: fubo (try for free)

Starting lineup

Christopher Bell won the pole for the Cook Out 400 in qualifying on Saturday, posting a lap of 19.718 (96.034 MPH) to earn his first pole of the 2025 season.

  1. #20 - Christopher Bell
  2. #9 - Chase Elliott
  3. #48 - Alex Bowman
  4. #5 - Kyle Larson
  5. #11 - Denny Hamlin
  6. #17 - Chris Buescher
  7. #22 - Joey Logano
  8. #23 - Bubba Wallace
  9. #45 - Tyler Reddick
  10. #24 - William Byron
  11. #19 - Chase Briscoe
  12. #8 - Kyle Busch
  13. #54 - Ty Gibbs
  14. #21 - Josh Berry
  15. #71 - Michael McDowell
  16. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
  17. #1 - Ross Chastain
  18. #3 - Austin Dillon
  19. #38 - Zane Smith
  20. #2 - Austin Cindric
  21. #60 - Ryan Preece
  22. #41 - Cole Custer
  23. #16 - A.J. Allmendinger
  24. #4 - Noah Gragson
  25. #34 - Todd Gilliland
  26. #99 - Daniel Suarez
  27. #6 - Brad Keselowski
  28. #10 - Ty Dillon
  29. #77 - Carson Hocevar
  30. #7 - Justin Haley
  31. #43 - Erik Jones
  32. #12 - Ryan Blaney
  33. #88 - Shane van Gisbergen (R)
  34. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  35. #35 - Riley Herbst (R)
  36. #51 - Cody Ware
  37. #66 - Casey Mears
  38. #50 - Burt Myers

Storyline to watch

This weekend marks yet another important litmus test for NASCAR and Goodyear's move towards soft tires, as the field will yet again use the same tire compound that they did for the most recent Martinsville race last fall. Three weeks after a Phoenix race that featured a choice between harder and softer tires, soft tires will now be the standard for this race after last fall's Martinsville race was very well received, with extensive tire wear over the course of a run leading to the sort of quality short track racing that had proved tougher to achieve with NASCAR's Next Gen car than originally anticipated.

After experimenting with alterations to the current generation of Cup car to make it less prone to being impeded by aero effects on short tracks, softer tires more akin to what are traditionally used at the regional level have emerged as a popular solution. Speaking to reporters this week, Ryan Preece -- a very experienced short track racer in Modifieds -- offered an optimistic outlook on short track racing in Cup in what is now the fourth season of the Next Gen era.

"I feel like our short track product is only gonna continue to get better, especially after what I felt like we saw with Martinsville in the fall and really the trajectory that I feel like we're trying to go into for Richmond," Preece said. "And all those things will pay off if we can continue that for a place like New Hampshire or Wilkesboro and continue on, but those type of things don't happen overnight."

NASCAR news of the week

  • Richard Childress Racing has announced that it will field the No. 33 Chevrolet in select races for its NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers. Austin Hill will run Darlington (April), Chicago, Daytona (August), Bristol (September) and Talladega (October), while Jesse Love will take the wheel and make his Cup Series debut at Bristol in April.
  • NASCAR has clarified its minimum requirements for driver approval in its rule book, stating that any previously approved driver who has not competed in an approved series for the last 365 days "may be required" to resubmit an application. This comes after an offseason incident where longtime NASCAR driver Mike Wallace, after not racing in Cup in 10 years, was not approved to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 despite decades of experience in NASCAR.
  • 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports issued a response to NASCAR's countersuit against the two teams, calling NASCAR's actions "retaliatory" and saying that the counterclaim "does not allege the facts necessary to state a claim." NASCAR had filed a countersuit against the race teams a few weeks ago as part of a legal dispute over charter negotiations, claiming that the teams violated antitrust laws through anticompetitive collective conduct in negotiations.

Pick to win

Chase Briscoe (+1200) – For as hard as Stewart-Haas Racing's performance fell off in its final years, Martinsville has always been a track where Briscoe has been able to excel in a Cup car. Briscoe has two top fives and five top 10s (more than he's had at any other racetrack) in eight career Martinsville starts, and he's always had raw pace with five straight starts inside the top five.

Now, Briscoe returns to Martinsville with Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 19 team, which won there three times with Martin Truex Jr. and won the pole for the most recent race there last fall. With the car once piloted by Truex under him, this could mark Briscoe's coming out party at Joe Gibbs Racing, especially on the heels of a fourth place finish at Homestead a week ago.

So who wins the NASCAR Cook Out 400 2025, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2025 NASCAR at Martinsville odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full NASCAR Martinsville projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 20 winners, including Chase Elliott's win at the 2025 Clash at Bowman Gray and Kyle Larson's win in Miami.